Chapter Nineteen
Waking up in her own bed was nice.
Waking up with Colton in her bed even nicer.
Maggie snuggled back against him, loving the feel of his warm, hard body pressed against hers.
His arms tightened around her. Lips grazed her brow. “Easy, sweetheart. That sexy little body of yours is damn tempting, but I only brought the two condoms with me. So, unless you have some protection around here?”
Shoot. She didn’t. She wasn’t worried about disease. After she had discovered what a rat Miles was, she had gotten the barrage of testing done. They had always used protection, but you could never be too careful. And she hadn’t been with anyone since getting the all clear on her tests.
“I’m clean, but I always use a rubber. That’s not the only issue here,” his deep voice purred in her ear.
No it wasn’t.
An image suddenly appeared in her mind of a little girl with her dark hair and Colton’s clear blue eyes. A lump formed in her throat, and she had to blink back tears.
Where the hell did that come from?
One night of sex—granted, amazing sex—and she was already imagining their kids? Crap. She was in deep.
“I’m clean, too, but I’m not on…I don’t take…” She couldn’t even say it. Not with the image of her and Colton’s love child fresh in her mind.
He kissed her neck at the tender spot where her shoulder connected. A shiver racked her body. How had he managed to zero in on her most sensitive area?
“Then we’ll find others ways to enjoy the morning.”
His voice was a deep, sexy rumble in his chest as one hand played with her breasts, tweaking her nipple to a stiff point.
“Colt!”
“I’m right here, Magpie.”
She shivered. He had never said her nickname like that before. Like pure sex.
One hand continued to worship her breasts as the other slowly, very slowly, made its way down her body. Fingers teasing, touching, tormenting.
“Let’s see how ready you are.”
She was way past ready. Had been since she woke up.
His fingers found her and dipped slightly inside. “Mmmmm.” His lips grazed the shell of her ear.
The tip of his tongue snaked out, tasting her. Driving her wild.
“So ready for me, sweetheart.”
Yes she was. By the hardness pressed against her backside, he was ready for her, too. Dammit. Why had he only brought two condoms!
His fingers thrust inside her, twisting. A moan escaped from her lips. Oh God. How did he do that?
His thumb found her sweet spot and began those soft, amazing circles from last night. She cried out, arching into his touch. She wasn’t going to last much longer.
“Please.” She was begging, for what she had no idea, but he seemed to.
His fingers pumped faster, his thumb increased pressure, and his mouth went back to that spot on her neck, sucking, biting…it was all too much.
With a keening cry, she arched back as her inner muscles clamped tightly around his fingers. Moments later, her body went limp, intense pleasure draining all the energy out of her.
“Beautiful,” he murmured softly.
His fingers slipped out, but he continued to pet her, stroking her down from an amazing orgasm.
He was still rock hard against her back.
“Turnabout is fair play,” she said, looking over her shoulder with a wicked smile. Shifting, Maggie pushed him back to the mattress.
A smile on his face, he said nothing. Just put his hand behind his head. “Have your wicked way with me, Magpie. I’m all yours.”
“Thank you. I think I will.”
Her gaze ate him up. The man was truly too sexy for his own good. She leaned over, trailing her lips down his chest, pausing to lick and gently bite his nipples. He sucked in a breath, and she felt his harness twitch against her thigh. Moving lower, she circled his belly button with the tip of her tongue.
This time, the breath was a harsh gasp. “You’re killing me here.”
She chuckled. “Fair is fair.”
Maggie glided her hand over his thighs, almost touching him, but not quite. Moving lower, over his hip, down his thigh, and back up to…hello! He was big and hard and looked good enough to eat. So, that’s exactly what she did.
Parting her lips, she ran her tongue over the tip of him. He let out a harsh curse, using a colorful request she fully intended to fulfill, but later. Now, she wanted to taste. With a loud groan, his hand tangled in her hair, pulling, but not hurting. She was pushing him past his control, and she loved it.
Keeping one hand at the base of his shaft, she opened her mouth, wide, taking him in deep. Sucking in her cheeks, she reveled in the pure masculinity of Colton, twisting as her mouth devoured.
So. Damn. Good.
“Maggie. Damn, sweetheart…I’m gonna…”
She knew what he was going to do. Felt it in the tightening of his body, the thrusts of his hips against her.
“Maggie!”
He tried to pull away, but she didn’t let him. She wanted him, all of him.
He let out a long, loud groan, and she reveled in the fact she made this strong man lose his control.
“Hell yeah. Damn, Maggie, that was amazing. You are amazing.”
His hand untangled from her hair, stroking her cheek. She rose, unable to keep the satisfied smile from curling her lips. “Now, that’s what I call a good morning.”
He laughed. “Yeah, but I think I’ll stop by the pharmacy today so we can make it an even better night.”
Just what she had been thinking earlier.
After they took a shower together—to conserve water of course—they sat in her small kitchen drinking coffee and eating scrambled eggs with toast. It was nice, comfortable.
She sat there admiring the cowboy’s very fine backside, clad only in a pair of jeans, as he refilled his coffee cup. Her stomach was full, her mind alert—thanks to the caffeine fix—and her body was deliciously sated.
“So, what did the sheriff have to say yesterday?”
So much for the afterglow.
“He thinks all the incidents might be connected. Including the problems with my old distributor.”
Colton nodded his agreement.
“He suggested I close up shop until he discovered who’s behind all this.”
“Not a bad idea.”
She glared. “Yes, a very bad idea if I want to keep my business running.”
“What about keeping your life running?” he asked, though it sounded more like an accusation than a question.
“The person is attacking the shop, Colt, not me.”
His hand tightened around his coffee mug. “Whoever is doing this has escalated. Fast. Who’s to say they don’t stop going after your bakery and start going after you.”
She hadn’t thought about that.
“Screwing with your orders and cutting power cords is one thing, but the gas leak? The rock through the window? Those things could have hurt you, Maggie, and this guy doesn’t seem to care.”
When he put it that way…
“I think you should follow the sheriff’s advice. Close up. Maybe come and stay with me for a little bit. Until this all gets cleared up.”
Stay with Colton? The idea had appeal. Still…
“I can’t, Colt. You know that. I have a very important week coming up. The blogger will be here, and I need that good review to get the tourist crowd this summer.”
He slammed the mug down on the counter. “Dammit, Maggie. This is more important than a stupid shop. This is your life.”
Stupid shop? Oh, he did not just say that!
“Yes, it is my life. So I think I’ll be the one to make decisions about it. And it’s not a stupid shop, it’s who I am. My legacy. Passed down from Gran.”
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. She knew he was just trying to protect her, but that didn’t excuse his acting like an ass.
At least he tried to look contrite as he answered, “That wasn’t what I meant. I know how important the shop is to you. I’m just worried. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I can take care of myself. Just because we had sex doesn’t mean you get to dictate to me now.”
His eyes turned hard. Maybe she went a bit too far with that last comment.
Jaw clenched, he stalked toward her. A hand went to the back of her chair; the other slammed on the table, caging her in. He was pissed, but she wasn’t afraid. Colton would never hurt her. She knew that to the core of her being.
“What we have, Maggie, is a relationship. Yes, we had sex, and we’ll have it again. But what we are…is two people who care about each other and want what’s best. I want you happy, satisfied, and safe. I don’t want some crazy asshole hurting you because he wants to destroy your business.”
His mouth was inches away. Was it strange that she really wanted to kiss him right now?
It must not have been, because before the thought left her brain, his head dipped and his lips were on hers in a hard, punishing, delicious kiss.
“Do whatever the hell you want, but know this. I care about you, and I’m not going to stop. Yes, you can take care of yourself, but sometimes it’s nice to let someone else care for you, too.”
With that, he stood and headed toward the door. He tugged on his shirt and boots. “I hope you’ll call if anything happens, but I won’t expect it this time.”
Then he was gone, and Maggie felt like rotten, week old cupcake batter.
****
“What crawled up your butt and died?” Dade asked.
Colton threw another bale of hay down from the truck. Usually, he’d have one of the hands unload, but he was in a piss-poor mood and needed to let off some steam with a little physical work.
His brother shook his head. “Messed up things with Maggie already?”
“Leave it alone, Dade.”
“What did you do?”
His brother could never leave it alone. Not when it came to him.
“I didn’t do anything. She, on the other hand, is acting like an idiot.”
He tossed the last bale down and sat on the end of the lowered tailgate. His brother handed him a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, he downed half in one gulp.
“Does this have anything to do with that rock being thrown through her shop window last night?”
He glanced at his brother in surprise. Dade shrugged.
“Small town, people talk.”
Yeah, he knew. Wasn’t that the way he’d found out, too? It still burned his ass she hadn’t called.
“Yeah.” Removing his hat, he wiped the sweat from his brow. The weather was finally starting to warm up again. “Ryder thinks she’s got someone after her. Someone trying to close her down or something.” He’d called the sheriff after he left Maggie’s. Ryder couldn’t reveal details, police protocol, but he told Colton as much as he could.
“Maybe she should close down,” his brother said. “Just until this guy is caught.”
Seemed everyone was in agreement. Everyone except Maggie.
“She won’t. She’s worried about losing business. Plus, there’s this fancy blogger coming into town. She won’t close down.”
“But, she could get hurt.”
That’s what I said. “She doesn’t care. She says the guy is after her shop, not her.”
Dade grunted. Yeah, he agreed; the woman was being stubborn to the point of stupid.
“Let me guess, you told her you agreed with Ryder and now she’s pissed at you?”
“Something like that.”
His brother hopped up on the tailgate with him. The truck bounced at the added weight. “So, what are you going to do?”
He glanced up. Colton had never really done serious relationships, not since Natalie made a fool out of him. He liked women, and they liked him, but he always made sure they knew the score before he started anything. He wasn’t long-term material. When things got too heavy, he bowed out.
But with Maggie…it was different. The heavy stuff wasn’t putting him off this time. He could see a future with her, and it looked damn good.
“I’m gonna go to her place tonight and make sure that bastard doesn’t lay a hand on her.”
Identical blue eyes studied him a moment, then a smile broke across his brother’s face. “Damn, never thought I’d see the day you fell.”
“What are you talking about?”
Dade laughed. “You got it bad, little brother. She’s way too good for you, but I wish you all the best.”
He shoved his sibling. “Go shovel some manure or something.”
Dade walked away, chuckling to himself. As annoying as the big guy could sometimes be, his brother was right. Maggie was too good for him, and he did have it bad for her. So bad that an idea came to mind. A compromise that would make them both happy.
Very, very happy.