Some Like It Ruthless (A Temporary Engagement) (28 page)

She untangled her legs, giving him room to sit up, and wiggled her skirt back down enough to cover the important bits.

He pulled her into his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and sighing. He hooked a finger into the top of her blouse and looked inside. “Did you get a new bra?”

“I had to. I’ve gained five pounds thanks to you.”

He murmured, “And they are five pounds well worn.”

He cupped her, rubbing his thumb against her nipple, making it pucker and looking entirely too satisfied with himself. “I think we should aim for another five pounds.”

“It wouldn’t go where you want it to.”

“Where would it go?” He pulled her across his lap so she was straddling him and cupped her bottom. “Here? I’ll order pizza for dinner.”

Her skirt was hiked back up and she didn’t know why she kept pulling it down. “We just barely had lunch and you’re thinking of dinner?”

“I’m hungry again. Uncontrollable rage does that.”

“You controlled it.”

“Barely. And I think it was more like funneled into a different direction.”

She leaned into his chest, whispering, “Is it bad that I’m thinking of inviting Simon out occasionally to get you into that mood again?”

“Don’t say his name. And yes, that’s bad.”

She smiled and stayed pressed against him. She said, “I keep thinking of you when we were kids. You couldn’t have kept control like that.”

“Think I’ve learned a thing or two in the last twelve years?”

“Yes.”

He played with the edge of her skirt. “Think I’ve learned a thing or two here?”

“Mm. I’ll give you a definite maybe on that.”

He smiled at her, she smiled back. He said, “If we’re traveling down memory lane here, I want your favorite memory?”

“I already told you.”

“No. That’s your
best
memory of us. It’s a sad state of affairs when me lying unconscious in your arms is the best we can do but I’ll let that pass. Now I want your favorite.”

“I feel like we’re splitting hairs here.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You’re the one who was so careful to make the distinction.”

She fiddled with a button on his shirt. “My favorite memory is the last good time. You crawled in through my window, didn’t say a word.”

He choked out, “I’m sensing a pattern. You like it when I’m not saying anything.”

“You open your mouth and ruin it. Just like you did that time.”

He leaned his head back against the seat. “Yeah.”

She said, “We both knew how much it would cost you to help the Beaumonts, what your father would do. And you’d still done it, because I asked you to. And then when you came to me after, wild and crazy. No words because we hadn’t needed any.”

He whispered, “That’s your favorite memory?”

It was. It had turned out to be all wrong, all untrue. But for one hour she’d known what it felt like to have someone so strong. Someone who would never falter, no matter the consequences.

And then he’d crawled out of her bed and opened his mouth, and all the lies she’d been telling herself had been shredded with the truth.

She was glad it had only been for one hour. Could live with herself because it had only been for one hour.

Maggie put her head on his shoulder. “To be fair, it’s not my favorite any more.”

“Oh, God. What have you replaced it with? Tell me it’s not the knee.”

She said softly, “This one’s pretty good.”

He was silent a long, long time. He pulled her into him a little tighter and reached for her left hand.

His ring sparkled in the bright Texas sun and he said, “This one is pretty good.”

Thirteen

Late Thursday afternoon, Paul handed Cole a pair of keys and said, “All done, boss.”

Cole grinned and tossed a key over on to Maggie’s desk. She picked it up and said, “What’s this?”

“I bought a house. If you’re going to come out here, you need somewhere to sleep.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She finally said, “What about the trailer?”

He shook his head. “You need a real bed.”

“It is true that we don’t fit. I don’t know how you lasted on a queen.”

“I slept diagonally. That doesn’t work when there’s two of us.”

“So you bought a house?”

He stood, waving her out the door. “I guess I could have just bought a bed, put it under the stars. You like tents?”

She laughed. “I like plumbing.”

Outside, he helped her into the truck. “It’s just a few miles down the road. And it’s not fancy. Just a little two bedroom that cost more than it should. Paul hired a cleaning crew and got the inside painted, at least.”

He rounded the front of the truck with a spring in his step and Maggie couldn’t help but smile at how excited he was.

He hopped into the truck and said, “But we’ll keep the trailer. You know, for the occasional afternoon delight.”

“You mean your naps.”

“One does seem to lead to the other.”

Ten minutes later, he pulled off the highway into a small, older subdivision and then into a pitted driveway. The house was an old fifties bungalow, and no, it wasn’t fancy. The grass was dead, the paint was peeling. But the neighbors were far enough away and there was a nice-sized backyard.

Cole looked at it and said, “It needs some paint.”

“It’s cute. I think you could make it look real nice.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded, getting out of the truck. He followed her, walking to the front door, wiping at a smudge on the door, toeing the crumbling sidewalk.

He said, “Needs some work.”

He fitted his key in the door. He paused and said, “If you don’t like it, we can find something else.”

She grinned at him. “Show me your house, Cole.”

He twisted the key, pushing the door in. The smell of fresh paint wafted out, new carpet greeted them.

He waited for her to enter and she stepped through the front door, into the empty living room.

It was small, like all older houses, but not cramped, and the sun shone through clean windows. She said, “It’ll just fit two recliners,” and he laughed, taking her hand.

He pulled her into the kitchen. White cabinets, white appliances, pale yellow walls.

He said, “I always wanted a yellow kitchen.”

“It’s sunny. Too bad neither one of us can cook. And if we could, we wouldn’t have time to.”

“But we can sit at our kitchen table, sipping coffee, waiting for our breakfast sandwiches to come out of the microwave. Maybe some real bacon.”

She wrapped her arms around him. “You need a kitchen table, some chairs, and a microwave.”

He nodded. “Maybe you can help me pick them out.”

“Paul’s not going to do it?”

He shook his head. “I want to do it. With you.”

She took a deep breath and he said, “Don’t tell me you don’t like shopping.”

“I like shopping.”

“Good. I want a white kitchen table.”

She smiled at him, at the Cole Montgomery who wanted a white and yellow kitchen. “It’s a nice house, Cole. Cozy.”

“I wanted to show it to you before we head back to Dallas tomorrow.” He started walking her backwards to the hallway. “Try out the bed.”

“A king?”

“Mm-hm.”

She closed her eyes, imagining space around her as she slept. “Are we staying here tonight?”

“Could I get you back into the trailer?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so. We’ll have to get some supplies for tonight.”

She hopped up, wrapping her jean-clad legs around his waist. “Do you have sheets for the bed?”

He carried her into the master that was just big enough to fit the bed. “They’re already on.”

“Then what else do we need?”

He grinned, dropping her onto the bed, and said, “Can’t think of one thing.”

The sun had set by the time they’d christened the new bed, the new house. Maggie had fallen asleep and he’d held her, watched the shadows creep across the walls, and thought about this cozy little house that might one day look like a home.

But they needed supplies and he reluctantly woke her. She smiled that sleepy smile she gave him when she was relaxed and happy.

He opened his mouth to say they needed to get to the store, at least get some food for the morning, some plates to eat off. He should have had Paul stock up but he’d wanted to do it. If he’d had the time, he would have orchestrated the cleaning and painting and not leave it to someone else.

But what he said was, “I’d like to stay with you in Dallas.”

She stretched. “Okay.”

He thought about leaving it at that but he knew she didn’t understand. He said, “I want to move in with you.”

“You want to move into the ranch house?”

“With you.”

She sat up, pulling the sheet up to cover herself. She sat there quietly, staring into the darkness. She finally turned to him and said, “Why?”

“Why not?”

“Why not! You want to move in with me and you say why not like it’s no big deal?”

He ran his hand down her back. “We’re sleeping together. Living together during the week. It’s not such a big leap to live together on the weekend.”

“I could move into your place.”

He nodded. “You could. But you live with me when we’re out here. I thought this would be more even.”

She lay back down, the sheet still pulled to her chin. “You’re trying to kill my father, aren’t you?”

“It honestly never entered my mind.”

Although he would admit, it just might finish the old codger off.

She said, “My room’s down the hall from Tanner and my sister.”

“I’m not saying there aren’t drawbacks. But it’ll only be on the weekends.”

Maggie thought for a long minute, then said, “I’m not telling Rosa.”

Cole made sure to keep his breathing even, to not pump his fist with his win. “That’ll come as a shock to her.”

“It’ll come as a shock to you when she greets you in the morning with the butcher’s knife.”

“Should I just plan on not eating anything she makes me?”

She snickered. “Probably. You sure you want to move in?”

He said, “Yes.”

She pulled away from him, getting out of the bed and trying to find her clothes in the dark.

She said softly, “I’m not the only one who gets what I want, am I?”

“Don’t mix up me wanting the house with me wanting you.”

“I don’t think I am. Are you?”

He flipped on the light, blinding them briefly. “I want to be welcomed in your home, Maggie.”

“I already said you could stay there.”

She started to pull up her pants and he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “
Welcomed
. If not by everybody, then at least by you.”

He’d bought a house for her. It hadn’t been for him, it had been for her. And he didn’t expect tit for tat but he thought she could offer something in return.

She just looked at him, not speaking, and he let go of her arm.

He said, “It would be nice if you could look at me when you’re wide awake like you look at me when you’re not.”

“How do I look at you?”

“Right now? Like you’re trying to think three steps ahead of me.”

She said, “How do I look at you when I’m not awake?”

“Like you like me. Like you trust me.”

She finished pulling up her pants, threw on her shirt. She said, “Well, I do like you. And I don’t trust you. They are not mutually exclusive.”

“What do you think it would take for you to trust me?”

She shook her head, not answering.

He sat down on the bed and she stepped between his legs. She tilted his head up and looked into his eyes. She cupped his face with her soft hands and he almost smiled. Soft hands and a sharp voice, and he knew what was coming.

She said, “I’ll trust you when you stop buying up my company behind my back. I’ll trust you when you stop being sneaky.”

“When I stop being an idiot?”

She smiled slightly. “I’m not waiting around for that to happen.”

“You didn’t trust me when I didn’t do those things. I’d like for you to trust me no matter what I do, no matter what it looks like I’m doing, because you know I wouldn’t hurt you.”

“Then tell me why you really want to move into the ranch house. Why we just don’t live at your place.”

He wanted to live in the ranch house because he lived on top of the garage. Because his house was cold and ugly. Because her house was warm and the lights blazed, waiting for everyone to come home. Where you would never be alone, couldn’t ever be alone.

He wanted to live in the ranch house because it was a home.

He said softly, “I want to live with you in the ranch house because I’ve only ever snuck in and out of it. I want to walk through the front door when the lights are blazing. Not climb in through the window, not leave before everyone is awake.”

“I’m not ashamed of you, Cole. I welcomed you into my bed.”

He shook his head. “No, you didn’t. You snuck me into your bed, in the dark.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked away from him, her eyebrows pinched together.

She opened her mouth again, and closed it again.

She looked back at him, realization dawning in her eyes. She blew out a breath and said, “I’m sorry. You are welcome in my home, Cole. You are welcome to come through the front door, to sleep in my bed, to eat with my family.”