Chapter 2 #3
While not afraid of Nick, he had definitely given her something to think about.
Not that she wanted to. Her heart was beating way too fast, and she couldn’t stop the butterflies in her tummy.
Crawling into bed, she made a mental note to herself.
Don’t talk to Nick at night and then expect to be able to sleep!
First thing Monday morning, she would be calling her lawyer to see just how good a case Nick had.
She had berated herself as a hopeless fool all those years ago when she’d secreted away the letters she had sent Nick.
All of them had been returned unopened. Now she was hoping they might be of some use.
* * *
Nick paced the apartment alternately cursing and groaning in frustration.
Let her call her lawyer. Maybe it would help convince her that she didn’t have a prayer of keeping Jason from him.
His jeans rode low on his slim hips, and his bare feet made no sound on the thick carpet.
He’d fallen asleep on the couch, and Maggie’s phone call caught him off guard.
That woman was driving him crazy. It was a good thing she had those kids, because if it had been only her, he’d be beating down her door right now.
Yeah, and do what, a little voice asked him.
Nick ran a hand through his hair and slammed his fist down on the window sill.
The flickering lights of the city held no interest for him tonight.
He wished he knew how to reach her. Jason aside, he wanted her and he had to face it.
His body ached with a hunger he hadn’t experienced in years.
Other women held no appeal for him now. Ever since New Year’s he hadn’t felt even a passing attraction for another woman.
Nick tried to play it cool, and it galled him that he couldn’t.
He had always prided himself in his ability to reason, even with the most difficult client.
He’d always been able to see both sides of an issue, weigh the pros and cons, and come up with a workable solution.
For some reason when dealing with the little redhead, all logic flew out the window.
Trying to change Maggie’s mind once it was made up was the equivalent to beating one’s head against a brick wall.
Resorting to threats was not his style, and although he’d never raised his hand to a woman in anger, his palm itched to make hard contact with the seat of her faded jeans.
An educated man, Nick knew violence never accomplished anything, but he just knew giving Maggie the spanking of her life would make him feel better. A lot better. Damn.
Padding across the carpet, Nick debated for a moment.
Eyeing the well-stocked bar, he headed for the kitchen.
After brewing a pot of coffee, he retrieved a legal pad from the desk and sat down at the table.
He’d always relied on his quick methodical mind in times of trouble, and this problem could be worked out the same way, he reasoned.
Yeah, well you can also thank your quick mind for jumping to conclusions fifteen years ago buddy, his conscience forced him to admit. If you hadn’t been so damn quick to think the worst, Maggie would never have married the wrong man in the first place.
A vision of Caitie popped into his head and he smiled.
Wrong man or not, Jim and Maggie had made beautiful kids.
Not that there was anything wrong with the child he and Maggie had made.
Jason was everything a man could want in a son.
Taking on Todd and Caitie wouldn’t be a hardship, and it certainly wasn’t too late to have another one or two just to round out the bunch.
Nick smiled, picturing a new seven passenger van filled with laughing children.
The fact that Maggie and he couldn’t be in the same room for five minutes without arguing didn’t interfere with this particular daydream at all.
Yes, she was a hot-headed, stubbornly independent little thing, but love had to count for something in this mess, and he’d loved Maggie for twenty years.
Then where were you for the last fifteen?
Nick often hated the times his mind worked both sides of an issue and this was one of them. All right, I’ll admit I didn’t think about her every day for the last fifteen years, but I thought I’d been betrayed, and I certainly didn’t know about Jason. That changes everything.
Not in her book. I think the lady’s done okay for herself, despite the hardship. Give me one good reason for her to let you back into her life.
Jason.
Not good enough, buddy. Jason won’t miss what he never had.
Then Maggie herself. I want her, and not just for Jason. We were good together before but now it’s like magic. I’ve never been with a woman who affected me like she does.
That’s passion, not love, you jerk. She won’t buy it. She’s fighting it tooth and nail now.
“Then I’ll take her to court, damn it,” he shouted out loud, sick of his own arguments.
Win the child; lose the woman. Brilliant, Sherlock.
Nick threw the pad against the wall. “Oh, shut up,” he mumbled.