Page 25

I left the room, not surprised when silence followed me, and headed up the stairs toward Maggie’s room. I knocked and waited, listening for footsteps, but never heard them before she opened the door slowly.
She glanced at me and surprise crossed her features before her eyes looked past me.
“Can I come in?”
She nodded and stepped back so I could walk through, which I did and shut the door behind me with a soft click. I waited for her to say something, anything, but she didn’t, so I spoke up. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure.”
“Do you have a driver’s license?”
She looked surprised by my question but answered exactly the way I expected. “No, I never learned to drive.”
“Would you like to learn?” Her eyes widened, and she stood very still. So still, I took a step forward. “Maggie?”
“Learn to drive?” she asked.
My lips tipped up at the look of wonder on her face. “Yeah.”
“How?”
“I’ll teach you.”
Her eyebrows hit her hairline that time. “You will?”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
A small smile began to form, but then her expression changed, and she took a step back. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you teach me?”
I ran my hand through my hair when I heard the suspicion in her voice. Of course, she was suspicious. I’m sure Snake taught her nothing was free. That everything he did for her came with a price tag. “I would teach you because I want to.”
“What do you want from me?” she inquired cautiously.
I shook my head. “Nothing, Maggie.”
“Everybody wants something.”
I moved closer, so close I could smell the sweet scent of strawberries from her shampoo and watched her throat move when she swallowed hard. But she didn’t step back. She was starting to trust me. “You’re right, Maggie, I do want something.” She braced her shoulders, almost as if she was physically bracing for a blow. “I want you to smile.”
She frowned. “That’s all?”
I lifted my hand and wrapped it around the side of her neck. “That’s not all, but what I want from you Maggie, you are not ready to give.” My thumb caressed her throat slowly. “And I will never take something from you that you don’t offer.”
“What do you want me to offer?” she asked, a deep flush working its way up her neck and over her cheeks.
I leaned in closer, placed my mouth near her ear and heard her breath catch before I whispered, “Everything.” Then I reached down and grabbed her hand in mine. “Are you ready?”
She blinked slowly, and I held back my grin but only barely. I loved that she was flustered in a good way because of me. “For what?”
“Your first lesson.”
Her eyes lit, and she smiled softly before nodding her head. I squeezed her hand and tugged until she followed me from the room.
CHAPTER TWELVE