Page 6

CHAPTER SIX

“You’ve been awfully smiley the last few days,” MacGyver said. “What’s up with that?”

Preacher looked over at his teammate. They were currently doing sit-ups in the sand, and in a moment they’d be up and running down the beach again. It was early, the sun had just peeked over the horizon, and Kevlar was working them hard this morning. And yet, Preacher felt as if he was a new man. The last week and a half had been…awesome.

He’d talked with Maggie on the phone every night, even the ones he’d seen her after they’d both gotten off work. Her job at My Sister’s Closet was going great. She said it was hectic, but she enjoyed it more than she thought she would. They’d gotten together three times since he’d taken her for the interview with Julie, and last night, she’d finally let him walk her up to her apartment door.

Things were progressing. Slowly, but any progress at all was a step in the right direction as far as Preacher was concerned.

“I assume things are going well with the chick who was impersonating Adina,” Flash said.

“Her name is Maggie. And she was only using her Uber credentials because she couldn’t find another job,” Preacher said a little testily.

“Are we believing that she was innocent?” Safe asked.

Preacher did his best not to jump down his friend’s throat. He didn’t sound skeptical, was simply asking a question. But it still rankled. To his surprise, it was Smiley who answered.

“She’s innocent,” he said firmly.

“How do you know?” Safe pushed.

“When you meet her, you’ll know,” Smiley said without hesitation. “There’s just something about her that screams innocent.”

“So…is there anything that can be done?” Flash asked.

“About what?” Kevlar questioned.

“About her doing two years behind bars for something she didn’t do,” Flash clarified. “Is there anyone we can call to investigate and get her conviction overturned? Wait—does she know who set her up? What’s up with that person?”

“Yeah, who’s the asshole who set her up?” Blink asked, sounding angry on her behalf .

This was why he loved working with these men. They were always ready to throw down for the innocent.

“Preacher? What do you know about the guy? It was an ex, right?” Kevlar asked.

Preacher stood, along with the rest of his team, and headed down the beach at a fast jog. He might complain about these early-morning workouts, but he secretly loved them. They got his heart pumping and his blood flowing. Helped him think more clearly.

“Yeah, it was an ex,” he confirmed. “But Maggie and I haven’t really talked about it. She’s extremely sensitive about everything that happened, and I can’t blame her. She lives her life in fear of doing even the smallest thing wrong and ending up back behind bars. It sucks.”

“I can imagine,” MacGyver said. “Is her ex still around? Like, could he do something that would put her back in jail? Like make a false report to her probation officer?”

Preacher stopped in his tracks. The rest of his team kept running for a moment, before stopping and turning around to stare at him.

“Preacher?” Kevlar called out in concern.

He felt like an idiot. He hadn’t even thought of that. Preacher was aware that Maggie wanted to get out of California, but he hadn’t pushed her for details. He simply figured it was the bad memories and the high cost of living here that made her desperate to leave. But now that MacGyver had brought it up, she had to be terrified that her ex would do something to send her back to prison. Especially if he’d been the one to put her there in the first place.

And she had hinted during one of their conversations that he was someone pretty high up in the Navy.

His teammates came back to where he was standing.

“What’s wrong?” Smiley asked, his brow furrowed.

“He could absolutely do something that would put her back behind bars,” Preacher said, answering MacGyver’s question. “I think she’s terrified of that exact thing happening.”

“So what do we do?” Safe asked. “To help prevent that?”

Preacher swallowed hard. “I don’t know. Without knowing who this guy is, we’re kind of flying blind. She did tell me that he’s in the Navy.”

“What?”

“He is?”

“Shit. That complicates things.”

Preacher had thought all the same things his teammates were expressing when Maggie had first admitted her ex was a naval officer.

“You need to find out who he is. Get her to tell you his name,” Flash said.

“I don’t think it’s that easy.”

“It should be. Is she protecting him for some reason? Does she still love him?” Safe asked.

“ No ,” Preacher practically growled. He knew that without a doubt.

“I don’t know. Sometimes it’s hard for abused women to leave their abusers. They think they love him, or her, and want to change them,” Kevlar said.

“That’s not Maggie’s issue,” Preacher said firmly. “She’s afraid of him. And she’s been getting phone calls. She doesn’t tell me who they’re from, and she hangs up almost immediately, but I can see they’re affecting her. Scaring her. Now…I think they’re from the ex.”

Kevlar frowned. “That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not,” Preacher agreed.

“If this guy is in the Navy, we’ll need proof of anything before we can go to NCIS,” Flash said.

“Can’t we just bring our concerns to them and have them investigate?” MacGyver asked. “And you don’t even have to ask Maggie for a name. If he testified against her, his name should be in the court documents, right?”

“Yes. But I don’t want to go behind her back. Not when we’ve just started seeing each other. It would feel like a huge betrayal of trust. She was very reluctant to even tell me that he was in the Navy. If I start investigating her case and find out who this asshole is without her knowledge, I have no doubt it’ll kill whatever it is we’ve started together. I want her to trust me enough to tell me who he is freely,” Preacher told his friends.

“I can understand that,” Kevlar said. “But if he’s threatening her…” His words trailed off.

“Fuck,” Blink said under his breath. “It’s a no-win situation.”

Preacher agreed one hundred percent. He’d been an idiot. Blindly courting Maggie as if she was in a normal situation. But now that he’d stopped to think about it, her situation was anything but normal.

“Are you sure you want to get involved with this woman?” Flash asked. “And I’m not asking to be a dick here. She’s a convicted felon, there will be a lot of things that will be more difficult or impossible for her, or both of you, if you get together.”

Preacher did his best not to lash out at his friend. He was well aware of the consequences Maggie faced in the future because of what happened. She couldn’t vote while she was on probation, it would be more difficult to get loans for everything from cars to homes, and she already knew about the difficulty in finding a job.

But the thought of not seeing her again made his skin crawl.

The thing was, Preacher liked Maggie. She was funny, kind, and considerate. And she was smart as hell. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to be around her. He’d never met another woman who made him feel that way.

“I’m sure,” he told Flash belatedly.

“Okay, then we need to figure this out,” Kevlar said firmly. “You need to work on getting the name of her ex so we know who we’re dealing with.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

That. It was reason number one hundred and sixty-seven why Preacher would give his life for these men if it came down to it. They were loyal to a fault and had no problem throwing down for someone they cared about .

“I’ll see what I can do,” Preacher said, already dreading the conversation he knew he needed to have with Maggie. She wasn’t going to want to talk about her ex. Not only because talking about him would bring up bad memories, but because he honestly believed she was terrified of the man.

“Right. With that settled, everyone get your asses moving. We have four more miles to run before we can turn around and head back to base.”

Everyone groaned but did as they were ordered.

Throughout the rest of the morning, Preacher tried to figure out how he was going to bring up the topic of Maggie’s ex the next time they talked, and by the time they arrived back where they’d parked their vehicles, he was no closer to a viable plan.

But his friends were right. Maggie needed help. And she might not have realized what she was getting into when she’d picked up Remi the other week, but she was about to find out that Preacher and his friends weren’t just pretty faces. They had some amazing connections and wouldn’t hesitate to use them to help someone in need. And Maggie definitely needed someone on her side.

It was weird how much Maggie was looking forward to seeing Shawn tonight. The three times they’d met up in the last week and a half had been really nice. She’d never felt so…excited to be with someone before. Which, ironically, also made her want to be more cautious.

The memory of what Roman had done was fresh in her mind. How could it not be? Sometimes at night, when she was alone, she could still smell the jail cell where she’d spent two long years. The funk that came with so many people living in a small space felt as if it had seeped into her pores.

The thought of making one wrong decision and being sent back there was enough to make her want to hide under her covers and never come out again.

But when she was with Shawn, she wasn’t trying to figure out how and when he was going to screw her over. She could let down her guard and just…be herself. Which was weird in itself, because she was still trying to figure out who the new Maggie Lionetti was. Prison had changed her, as it would anyone. But she didn’t know if it had made her stronger or simply more cynical.

Tonight, Shawn was picking her up and they were going to dinner at a place called Aces Bar and Grill. He’d reassured her that it was laid-back and not a typical pub. Adina had mentioned it as well before she’d been deployed. Bars weren’t Maggie’s thing, but she’d been willing to give it a try.

Now though, she was having second thoughts. When Shawn called earlier, he’d sounded…off. He’d asked if he could come up to her place to talk a little before they’d left for dinner. So of course, she was nervous about what he wanted to talk about. She didn’t think he was going to say he ’d changed his mind about wanting to hang out with her, because he’d confirmed their plans to go to dinner afterward. But she couldn’t think of anything else he’d want to discuss with her that would make him sound so serious.

And yet…she could. The big elephant in the room.

Maggie knew more than anyone that being with her wasn’t exactly easy. Her past colored everything she did these days. She never drove over the speed limit, never brought attention to herself when out in public, kept to herself more often than not.

And maybe all of that was too much for Shawn. Maybe he was going to try to let her down easy in regard to them being friends, and was still planning on taking her to dinner as a consolation prize. One last meal together before ditching her.

Maggie’s imagination was spinning out of control, and she was on the verge of calling Shawn and telling him she didn’t want to see or talk to him anymore—out of self-preservation, not because it was what she truly wanted—when her phone rang.

It scared the crap out of her. She forgot she’d turned up the ringer today, so she could hear it while she was working—thankfully, at her new job, she could take calls and answer texts as long as there weren’t any customers in the store. She’d missed a few of Shawn’s messages in the last week, and the feeling of disappointment had hit her surprisingly hard, so she’d done what she could to mitigate missing him again.

Looking down, her stomach rolled when she saw “ unknown” on the screen. She wished not for the first time that she could ignore it. That she could send the call to voicemail. But she wanted to be available at all times to her probation officer. The woman wouldn’t report her just for letting a call go to voicemail, but Maggie was desperate to do everything in her power to follow the rules that had been laid out for her when she’d been released from prison. Of course, she had her PO’s office number saved into her cell, but it was always possible she was calling from a different phone.

She couldn’t ignore the call, no matter how much she wanted to or how badly seeing that “unknown” on her screen made her stomach cramp.

Bracing for the worst, Maggie said, “Hello?”

“You’re dating a SEAL?” the man on the other end of the line asked, venom oozing from every word. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Leave me alone, Roman,” Maggie said, getting mad for the first time. It felt good. Usually she simply hung up on him and blocked whatever number he was calling from, but tonight she was done. D. O. N. E. Done . “I think you’ve messed with my life enough. I’ve kept my mouth shut and will continue to do so. But you need to stop calling me.”

“Listen, bitch, you don’t tell me what to do. I’m the one holding all the cards. And damn straight you’ll keep your mouth shut. I can get you put right back behind bars with one phone call.”

Maggie’s knees went weak, and she crumpled to the floor right where she was standing. “Why?” she whispered. “ Why are you doing this? You screwed my entire life, Roman! Why are you still messing with me?”

“Because it’s fun,” was his response.

And the laugh that followed his blunt statement made Maggie realize he wasn’t kidding. He really thought this was fun . Ruining her life was entertainment for him.

In a flash, she realized how badly she’d messed up. She should’ve been recording all her incoming calls. To have proof that Roman was harassing her. That he was the one who’d set her up two years ago.

As soon as she hung up, she’d rectify that, find one of those recording apps. She didn’t know how they worked, but she’d figure it out. Maybe Shawn would help.

The thought of the man who would be at her apartment at any moment made her stiffen once more. And as if her thoughts of him had transferred somehow to Roman, he spoke again.

“I’m warning you now, if you say anything to that Frogman or his friends, you’ll regret it. I’ll find out who he is sooner or later and I’ll make him regret ever meeting you. I told you that I’m a big deal on this base, and I wasn’t lying. I can make sure his team rots in some jungle, or their blood boils in a fucking desert on the other side of the world. Once I know who he is, if I hear even one peep that they’re asking about me, it’ll be a done deal. I own you, Maggie. Don’t you fucking forget that.”

How could she? He wouldn’t let her.

Maggie opened her mouth to once again plead with her ex to leave her alone, but it was too late. The line was dead .

Robotically, she clicked on the number he’d called from and blocked it, despite knowing it would do no good. Roman apparently had an endless supply of burner phones to call her from. She could get another phone number, but he’d found this one—a new number she’d gotten after her release—easily enough. She had no reason to doubt he’d find another number just as easily.

She sat on the tile floor staring into space, racking her brain trying to figure out what to do. She could run, leave the state, hide out, but that would only get her in worse trouble. She had no idea how to disappear or get a new identity. Besides, despite what her record said, she wasn’t a criminal. Didn’t like being in trouble. She was a rule follower, and just the thought of living the rest of her life hiding from the authorities gave her hives.

But Roman’s threat against Shawn and his friends rang true. She didn’t doubt for a second he could totally screw with their team, and she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do so. The last thing she wanted was for someone else to get hurt or in trouble because of her bad decisions. And dating Roman Robertson was one of the worst decisions she’d ever made. It had literally ruined her life.

She’d be damned if it would ruin Shawn’s as well.

Knowing what she had to do made Maggie feel even more helpless and scared.

When a knock sounded on her door, she jerked in surprise. Slowly, she stood, her feet tingling from sitting on them for so long. Woodenly, she walked to the door and looked through the peephole. It was Shawn, as she expected.

Opening the door, she swallowed hard. He looked good. Really good. He wore a white and blue checkered flannel shirt, which should have seemed a little silly in southern California, but it only made him look even more handsome than usual. It also seemed as if he’d tried to actually style his hair, rather than simply running a hand through it, as he usually did. His beard was neatly trimmed, and the smile on his face when he saw her should’ve made Maggie’s toes curl. Instead, it made her feel nauseous, considering what she was about to do.

The smile on his face slowly faded and he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Taking a deep breath, Maggie stepped back. “Nothing. Come on in.”

Inviting him in was a big step for her. It showed a level of trust that she’d thought had been pulverized because of all she’d been through. But this man had somehow managed to break through her shields and gotten her to trust him in record time. Too bad she was about to ruin that with what she was going to tell him.

They walked into her apartment and, feeling awkward, Maggie turned to Shawn. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No. I want you to tell me what has you so freaked out. Do you not want me here? I can go. Or have you changed your mind about Aces? We can go somewhere else.”

That was one of the things she liked most about this man. He did whatever he could to always make sure she felt comfortable. And he wasn’t afraid to come right out and ask her what she was thinking and feeling. In her experience, men didn’t do that. They pretended everything was all right, even when it clearly wasn’t.

She needed to get this done. Rip it off like a Band-Aid. “This isn’t working for me, Shawn. I don’t think we should see each other or talk anymore.”

To her consternation, Shawn didn’t have any kind of outward response to her words. He simply stared at her.

To cover the awkward moment, and her unease, Maggie kept talking. “It’s not that I don’t like you. I do. It’s just…I’ve got a lot on my plate. You know, with the job you helped me get, and making sure I don’t do anything that could violate my probation. Adina will be coming home in a few months, and I need to focus on finding a new place to live.”

“I see,” he said when she was finished.

But he didn’t turn around and leave. Didn’t do anything other than stand there and continue to stare at her with those deep green eyes of his.

“Shawn?” she asked, feeling nervous now.

To her surprise, he reached out and took the cellphone she was still gripping like it was a lifeline. She let go and watched as he unlocked it and began scrolling on the screen.

“How did you know my phone’s passcode?” she blurted.

“I’ve been around you enough to see you unlock it a few times. ”

Well, crap. Of course he had. He was a Navy SEAL. Observant. And she needed to be better at protecting herself. Especially with her ex apparently out to get her.

“He called again,” Shawn said. It wasn’t a question.

Maggie held her breath as she stared at him. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to figure out all her secrets and convince her to let him stay, or just turn around and leave.

God, who was she kidding—she didn’t want him to leave. Not at all. He made her feel safe, which was a hell of a thing after not feeling safe for even one minute of the day for the last two years. Even when she was sleeping, Maggie had been on edge. She and her cellmate had gotten along, but all it would’ve taken was one argument and she could have found a homemade shank in her chest.

“I can help you,” Shawn said softly and evenly. “My friends and I have connections. This is what I wanted to talk to you about. All I need is a name and we can do the rest. You don’t have to say anything else, just tell me who your ex is and I’ll make sure he doesn’t do anything that would get you in trouble again.”

Maggie wanted to sink into his arms and tell him all her secrets. But she locked her knees. Roman’s call was still way too fresh in her mind. He’d do exactly what he threatened. He’d somehow get Shawn and his SEAL team sent to the far reaches of the world if they started looking into him. They’d be in danger. Hell, if Roman had his way, he’d probably try to get them killed in the line of duty, just so she’d truly not have anyone on her side.

“I can’t.” She’d meant to stick to her guns and tell him that her decision wasn’t about her ex, but instead, those two little words popped out.

“He threatened you,” Shawn said.

And for the first time, Maggie heard emotion in his tone. He was pissed. Not at her, but on her behalf.

She broke. When was the last time someone had been offended and pissed off because of something being done to her? Years.

Tears filled her eyes, even as she shook her head.

“It’s okay. You can tell me,” Shawn cajoled.

But she couldn’t. She’d protect this man from her ex if it was the last thing she did. Maybe it was stupid, it probably was, but she was so afraid of Roman, of what he could do, that she couldn’t put Shawn at risk.

He took a step toward her, and the next thing Maggie knew, she was in his arms. Her nose was buried in his neck as she latched onto him as tightly as she could. It was still shocking, how good the touch of another human felt. She understood now why newborn babies needed their mother’s touch, or that of a warm human body. There was something so elemental about being held as if you were the most important thing in another person’s life.

“I’ve got you. You’re all right,” Shawn murmured as one hand tangled in her hair and the other spanned across her upper back. She felt cocooned by him. Safe.

But he was wrong. She wasn’t all right. Not in the least.

Maggie felt Shawn shuffling them backward, toward her couch. He sat them both down but didn’t let go of her, which was the exact thing Maggie needed right now .

How long they sat on the couch with his arms around her, Maggie clutching him as tightly as she could, she had no idea. But after a while, she leaned back. Shawn still didn’t let go, but he let her put some space between them.

“Okay,” he told her.

Maggie frowned. “Okay what?”

“I’ll back off. Give you time to truly believe that I’m on your side. That I can have your back. I’m not afraid of your ex, Maggie. He’s a bully, and bullies never win.”

Maggie wasn’t so sure about that.

“My friends and I can help you, but I understand that you need more time to let that sink in. We know people. People who can prevent that asshole from fucking with your life any more than he already has. Not only that, but they can look into what it might take to get your conviction overturned.”

He couldn’t have shocked her more if he’d stood up and took off all his clothes and began to dance around the room like a male stripper. “What?” she whispered.

“I don’t know if that can be done, but our connections will do whatever they can to at least see if it’s possible.”

The urge to blurt out all her troubles to this man was strong. But a small part of her was still skeptical. Though she did trust him enough to ask, “Can you teach me how to record calls on my phone?”

“Yes.” The answer was immediate and heartfelt.

Just knowing she’d be able to record Roman’s threats in the future, and maybe catch him incriminating himself, made her feel better. Stronger .

“Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for doing what any decent person would do.”

She did. He didn’t understand how little kindness and decency she’d experienced recently. Adina letting her stay in her apartment had literally been it, before Shawn came into her life.

Taking a deep breath, Maggie straightened, and Shawn’s arms finally fell away from her. The pang of regret was surprising but she pushed it down. “You wanted to talk?” she forced herself to ask.

Shawn stared at her for a moment. “I did. You don’t. So we won’t.”

It struck her then—he’d wanted to talk about her ex. He wasn’t planning on ending their friendship. Relief swam in her veins.

“But when you’re ready, no matter when that is, what time of day, how long from now…I’ll listen. Okay?”

Maggie nodded.

“You hungry?”

As if her stomach heard his words, it growled.

He grinned.

Lord, this man was good-looking. Boyish at times, almost scary in his intensity at others. But carefree and handsome as an actor at the moment.

“Come on. And fair warning?”

Maggie waited for him to continue.

“I didn’t plan on everyone showing up to join us. But I mentioned to Kevlar that I was bringing you to Aces tonight and the next thing I knew, Remi was texting me to find out what time we’d be there. Then the guys decided they hadn’t played pool in a while. And someone called Julie, who called Caroline and Fiona and Summer. Jessyka, who owns the bar, found out…and now it’s a freaking party or something. So if you want to go to McDonald’s, or even stay here and order in, we can.”

Maggie was genuinely shocked. A bunch of random people never wanted to hang out at the same place as her, just because she was there. Granted, none of what Shawn had just said actually indicated it was all about her .

Then his next words blew that thought out of the water.

“Although if we go to McDonald’s, everyone will probably just shift their plans and follow us there. They’re determined to meet you and make you feel welcome.”

Feeling like the Grinch when his heart grew three sizes with the kindness of the Whos from Whoville, Maggie swallowed hard.

“Is the food at Aces good?” she managed to ask.

“The best.”

“Then we can go there.”

“You sure? There’s nothing I want more than for you to join the ranks of my Navy family, but not at the expense of you feeling uncomfortable or unsure.”

“As long as none of your friends is my ex, then I’ll be fine.”

He blinked, then frowned. “They aren’t your ex,” he said firmly. “First of all, no one I hang out with would be douchebag enough to get a woman thrown in prison for two years over drugs. Second, most of my friends are either married, or dating a woman they want to eventually marry. And third—fuck him. Your ex.”

Maggie couldn’t help but smile at those words.

“I love that. Seeing you smile. You don’t do it enough,” Shawn said quietly. He licked his lips, and his gaze locked on her mouth.

Her breaths sped up and her belly clenched, but not with hunger this time. It had been ages since she’d felt desire. She’d been too consumed with protecting herself. But now? Sitting this close to Shawn, smelling his clean scent, seeing how obsessed he seemed to be with her lips… Maggie felt her nipples tighten, and she resisted the urge to squirm, to press her thighs together to try to ease the ache between her legs.

Mimicking him by licking her own lips, Maggie leaned forward an inch.

That encouragement was all Shawn needed. His hand came up and rested on her cheek as his gaze finally moved upward to meet hers. “May I?” he whispered.

Shawn asking for her consent for something as innocent as a kiss did something to Maggie. The shields she’d been desperately holding on to shattered into a million pieces.

Instead of answering him verbally, she leaned in, closing the distance between them.

Their lips met, and any thought of innocence in regard to kissing this man flew out the window. It felt as if she’d touched a live electrical wire. If she thought Shawn being a virgin would mean he didn’t know how to kiss, she’d been wrong.

His hand shifted from her cheek back into her hair and his head tilted. He licked her lips, and Maggie opened for him.

A moan escaped as he devoured her. He licked, sucked, and nipped at her, making her lose all sense of time and place. He tasted like mint, as if he’d brushed his teeth recently, and she needed more.

His hand held her still as they kissed, and Maggie had never felt more feminine in her life. She was a pile of mush, and she found herself melting against him.

He pulled back way before she was ready, and the way he was panting reassured her that he was just as affected by their kiss as she’d been.

Licking her lips, she tasted him there. Instantly, his gaze went back to her mouth, and he ran his thumb along her bottom lip reverently. Some women might think the move was calculated, something he did to seduce. But Maggie could see the awe in Shawn’s eyes.

“Thank you,” he whispered after a moment.

“For what?” she asked, struggling to get her equilibrium back after that kiss had rocked her world.

“For trusting me with yourself.”

Was that what she’d done? To Maggie’s surprise, she realized she had. Usually for the first kiss with a man, she held back. But there’d been no holding back with Shawn. She’d shown him her desire, her wants and needs, and he hadn’t broken that trust by putting her on her back on the couch and pushing for more.

“I thought you were a virgin,” she blurted. “That didn’t feel like a virgin’s kiss.”

Shawn chuckled. “I am,” he said. “And while I’ve kissed women in the past, that was the first time it’s ever felt like that .”

She knew what he meant without having to ask. Knew what that was. It was a deep-seated feeling that she was finally with the right person.

“And for the record, while we’re on the subject. I may not have ever had intercourse with a woman, but I have shared orgasms with one.”

Maggie blushed but asked, “What does that mean?”

“Let’s just say I’m a big fan of oral.”

She felt her cheeks heat even more at that. “Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh. I just want to make sure you don’t think I’m going to be like a fifteen-year-old kid, fumbling around and not knowing what I’m doing in bed.”

“I think that kiss told me everything I needed to know.” Maggie didn’t comment on the fact that his words definitely implied they’d eventually end up in bed together. She was surprised to realize she wanted that. Almost desperately.

This man had changed her life in such a short amount of time. It should’ve scared the shit out of her, but instead it felt…right. For a second, she wished she’d met him in her before life. But then again, since she wasn’t the same woman she was back then, she probably wo uldn’t have recognized how special he was two years ago.

“I’m not going to fuck this up,” Shawn said, more to himself than to her.

“I probably will do something that will fuck this up,” she couldn’t help but say.

“Then I’ll make sure I’m the voice of reason for us both. Now, come on. My phone’s been vibrating in my pocket for the last few minutes, I’m sure it’s everyone at Aces, wondering where we are. You sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure.” And she was. Suddenly, Maggie couldn’t wait to hang out with Shawn’s friends. “And I’m even going to let the comment about your vibrating pocket go.”

He burst out laughing and stood, grabbing her hand and hauling her to her feet in the process. “Appreciate that.” Then he leaned down and kissed her hard and fast, before turning and heading for the door.

Her lips had still been tingling from their last kiss, and that nonchalant smooch, just because he felt like it, almost put Maggie over the edge. “Wait! My purse. Do you still have my phone?”

He waited patiently as Maggie got herself situated and ready to leave.

They walked out the door, her hand in his, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. And for once in her life, it felt as if it was.