Truth or Dare (32 page)

What a lucky bastard.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he rubbed his head with rough strokes to wake up. And that’s when he smelled it. Warm chocolate. Brown sugar. And toasted nuts.

He was up in a flash, snagging his boxer briefs, and then hopping down the hall on one foot and then the other as he pulled on his jeans. He heard the oven door and after skidding into the kitchen, stopped dead. Whatever smooth cookie-scoring line he’d been about to throw down was burned off his brain by the scorching-hot sight of Maggie, wearing only her white bikini panties and his discarded oxford with the sleeves rolled and a scant two buttons holding it closed beneath her breasts. In one hand, she was holding a half-eaten cookie, and with the other…she was sweeping at the smattering of crumbs across her chest.

And despite his prior conviction that Maggie had used him up completely with the previous night’s myriad bouts of dirty good fun, he was hard as a spike and ready to go. Because, holy freaking hell, this was his cookie-girl fantasy come to life. And he hadn’t even had to ask her to dress up for him or let him crumble cookie bits all over her. She was…authentic. She was…She was everything he wanted. The kind of sexy, smart-mouthed, cookie-baking girl-downstairs he’d thought he wouldn’t be able to have. And she was his.

He was going to marry her.

“Okay, whatever you’re thinking with that incredibly flattering, mouth-hanging-open, tongue-on-the-floor business…I’m intrigued, but you’re going to have to put a pin in it. I’ve got seven minutes on this batch.”

Tyler ran his tongue across his bottom lip and swallowed before she had to add drool to the
flattering business
list. “I’m thinking I want to eat your cookie, Maggie. And I could totally do it in less than seven minutes.”

And now Maggie was the one looking like she had something she wanted. “My cookies are special, Ty. They ought to be savored. Not just snarfed down. And now there’s only six minutes left. Invite your always eager, kinky friend Rosie over and distract yourself while I watch. Then I’ll make a special plate the three of us can share.”

He groaned, denim cutting off the circulation to his groin. “Not helping, Maggie.”

Right, and with the all-innocence “who me?” eyes, too. Unbelievable.

God, she was amazing.

Resigned to the wait ahead—the next grueling five minutes—Tyler pulled out a chair and with significantly more care than he’d generally exercise, tried to lower himself to sit.

Shit
—not happening. But okay, he still had his phone in his pocket.

Digging it out, he swiped the screen to life.

Three missed calls and two messages.

At the sound of the chair clattering against the floor, Maggie jerked back from the tray of cookies she was transferring to a cooling rack, only peripherally aware of the few that fell.

“What—?” she gasped, seeing Tyler’s ashen face as he stumbled back, his knuckles white against the phone he raised to his ear.

He didn’t answer her, but when their eyes locked, suddenly she knew.

“Gina?”

A single nod, and he turned for the hall. The first words out of his mouth cutting like a blade through her soul. “Is Charlie okay? What do you mean you need to get out?…Christ, take him and go to the neighbors. Lock the door and stay there.”

Pulling the last half-baked tray from the oven, she quickly turned it off and then followed down the hall, terrified to find out what had happened. Terrified for Tyler. For all of them.

He was back in her bedroom, pulling on his shoes as he listened. His T-shirt already on, but backward and inside-out.

Maggie pulled on a pair of yoga pants and stripped off Tyler’s shirt, setting it next to him by the bed before getting dressed the rest of the way.

“No, I’m coming. Twenty minutes, less.” Tyler hung up and immediately dialed the police to meet them. Then he crossed to where Maggie was standing by the bedroom door.

“What do you need?” she whispered, a cool numbness creeping through her and snapshots of all the perfect moments they’d shared rolling through her mind. This was it.

Tyler’s face was etched with pain and guilt. “I thought they were fine. I thought he was safe. I thought that Ray was going to give him what I couldn’t.”

Maggie reached for his hand. “It’s going to be okay. Charlie’s going to be fine.”

And so would she.

He crushed her to him, holding her close for two beats of her heart before grabbing her hand. “Get your shoes, Maggie. Let’s go.”

The ride across town was tense and quiet. Tyler shared what little he knew. Things had gone south with Ray after the wedding. The conflict escalating until that afternoon, when Gina realized they weren’t safe. She needed to take Charlie and go. Ray had taken off—she suspected to the bar again—and she wanted to get out before he got home.

Pulling into a questionably legal spot in front of Gina and Ray’s rented house, Tyler turned off the engine just as the cruiser ahead of them was pulling away from the curb.

Gina stood at the open front door, her arms crossed defensively over her chest as she stared at Maggie through the window.

Tyler turned her to him. “I love you.”

Leaning across the seat, she quickly hooked her fingers into the front of his shirt and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “I love you, too.”

So much that if what Tyler needed was to be with Charlie…she could let him go to do it.

Inside, Tyler introduced Maggie and then asked Gina about the officer.

Her hand fluttered at her chest as she shook her head. “I’m sorry if I made it sound— It wasn’t that kind of a fight. Ray’s not violent or abusive. He’s just an idiot, and I don’t know why I thought if we got married, it—”

“You said you were scared. That you needed help.” Tyler’s eyes were roaming over the interior of the space around them, Maggie was certain looking for evidence of
anything.
“Gina, what’s going on and where’s Charlie?”

A small head peeked out from behind the recliner in the living room area to the right. Charlie’s eyes were bright, his smile pure mischief, as if all of this were one big game.

Tyler stared, knotting his hands into fists at his sides the way he did when he was trying to hold himself back from something. Maggie watched, seeing the
want
in his face. The need to reach out and take the boy he’d thought of as his son and hold him. It pained her to witness his restraint.

“Hey, Charlie. You okay, little man?” Tyler asked with a kind of gentle quiet she’d never heard before.

The boy grinned and then ducked behind the chair again, peeking out with another wild grin.

Gina leaned down and waved her son over. “Sweetie, why don’t you come and give Tyler a hug. I think he’d really like one. Tell him thank you for helping us.”

Tyler’s breath punched out of him at the offer, and Maggie could practically feel it leaving her own chest as she watched this big, powerful man crouch before the boy he’d have sacrificed anything for.

And when those little arms wrapped around his neck, Tyler closed his eyes and turned his face into Charlie’s hair, pushing to his feet as he murmured about what good hugs Charlie gave. Laughing when the boy started patting his back.

It was so sweet. And so tragic.

Over Charlie’s shoulder, Tyler met Gina’s eyes and he mouthed, “Thank you.”

The nod Gina returned was tight and strained. Her throat worked up and down, and then she whispered, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I wish— If you—” Pinching her lips together, she shook her head and then tried again. “This should have been us.”

Maggie stood stone still. Her heart hammering in her chest as she saw the recognition in Tyler’s eyes.

Because there it was. The thing Maggie had feared the most.

Tears filled Gina’s eyes. “It’s not too late. We could go back to New York.”

Maggie waited for her heart to split in two, for the walls to rush in as her whole world fell apart. Only then, the strangest thing happened.

A calm came over her. And she felt the ground, solid and real under her feet. The walls holding strong.

Tyler had told her they were together. That he’d made a choice in New York and it was her. He’d asked her not to doubt him. To trust in him, but until that very moment she hadn’t realized…she truly did. That somehow over these last months, she’d found something she believed lost forever. And she’d given it to him.

Her faith.

The whole of her heart.

And she
knew
…Tyler would protect it.

Tyler gently set Charlie down, the little boy casting his mother a curious glance before darting off to play on the kitchen floor.

Straightening to stand, Tyler met Gina’s eyes. “Gina, I don’t know what this is about. If Ray isn’t whatever you thought he was, or you’re bored, or frustrated—but you need to understand, there’s no chance for you and me. I almost threw away my chance at happiness.” He crossed over to Maggie and took her hand in his. “At having a
real
life, because I couldn’t let go of something I should have known I couldn’t keep. I’ll always love Charlie, I’ll
always
do my best to protect him, and I would do just about anything to be a part of his life. But I can’t be with you. And I can’t be his dad…”

He took a steeling breath before continuing. “Because despite whatever is going on between you and Ray, Charlie already has one.”

Gina’s mouth opened and closed like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“I’m going to ask you once, and for the sake of your son, I hope you’ll be honest. Is there any reason Ray shouldn’t be around Charlie?”

Gina folded her arms across her chest, refusing to look at either of them when she answered. “No.”

“Then don’t try to take Charlie away from him. If you aren’t happy, leave him. Get a divorce. And
split custody.
But don’t do to Ray’s life what you did to mine. Don’t make Charlie lose another father, because this one, Gina, Charlie’s going to remember. Neither of them should have to go through that hell. No one should.”

Maggie squeezed Tyler’s hand, the love she felt for this man overwhelming her. He smiled down at her, and then after one last look at Charlie, suggested they go.

Turning to the front door, they drew up short at the sight of Ray, dressed in stained coveralls, standing on the opposite side of the screen.

Gina’s arms crossed even tighter. “I thought you were at work.”

God,
this woman was a nightmare. And even knowing it firsthand, Tyler had been willing to sacrifice his life to be with her so he could provide for Charlie.

The other man stepped back, opening the door for them. “Grabbed the wrong work ID and had to come back for the other badge—guess I’m glad I did.”

Tyler rested a hand on Maggie’s shoulder, somehow conveying to her it was all right. “We were just leaving, Ray.”

Then, as they were about to pass, Ray stopped Tyler with a hand on his arm, one he rapidly pulled back.

“I heard what you said just now. And”—he cleared his throat—“after what happened, it was big of you. Bigger than I would have been. Thank you.”

Tyler nodded, then asked, “You love him, right?”

Ray blinked, looking away. His voice was hoarse when he answered. “Like my next breath, man. More.”

“That’s what I needed to know.” Tyler cleared his throat, meeting Ray’s eyes. “Get yourself a lawyer, Ray. Protect your rights.”

Back at Maggie’s apartment, Tyler closed the door behind him and added the chain.

Ava was back in town, after all.

“You okay?” he asked, joining her on the couch.

“Just what I was going to ask you.” Taking his hand in hers, she kissed his palm and then placed it over her heart. “But I’m fine.”

“After what Gina said earlier, I was worried you might—”

“Be worried?” she supplied, with a soft laugh.

There was the hint of a smile that always made her ache.

“Yeah.”

Maggie leaned back into the cushions with a sigh. “You asked me not to doubt you, and for a long time I wasn’t sure if it was possible. But then today, when I saw all the things I’d been afraid of actually
happening,
I realized I wasn’t scared. I was angry with Gina. I was hurting for you. But when it was over, I knew you’d be holding me, and I’d be holding you, and no matter what came our way, we’d face it together. That was all that mattered.”

It was as if she could see the weight lifted from his shoulders, the shadows swept from his eyes. The relief softening the hard cut of everything about him.

“I love you, Maggie. For a million reasons, but today, specifically, for being there with me for one of the hardest moments of my life. For helping me deal with the woman I dislike above all others. For standing beside me when I faced the boy I love like a son, knowing when he looked at me, he’d see a stranger. And most of all, I love you for trusting me. For believing in us.”

Tyler kissed her, long and slow and so very sweet.

“For all that?” she whispered softly, suddenly feeling light and giddy. Like she was high on tenderness, trust, and love. “Sounds like you should give me a gold star.”

He let out a gruff laugh and twined her fingers with his own. “I’m going to give you more than that, Maggie.”

She arched a teasing brow. “Dare I ask how much?”

“Truth?” he asked, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Shifting so her knees rested at either side of his thighs, she dotted a line of kisses down his jaw. “Always.”

Before she could pull away, he caught her mouth with his, lingering in the clasp of their lips through a dozen beats of her heart. Then softly, he promised, “I’m going to give you forever.”

In the next breath, Maggie was on her back across the sofa, with Tyler stretched out half atop her, the look in his eyes one of love and confidence and satisfaction. “What do you say to that?”

“Apartment Three, whatever you’re offering, I’m interested.”

S
EPTEMBER

The gallery was coming together better than she could have dreamed. One of her clients had called about a property opening up a few blocks down from The Shrone and when she’d checked it out, the place was gorgeous. Maggie had gotten in early and fallen helplessly in love. If all went according to plan, and Sam thought there was every reason the interior work would be complete on time, Maggie was looking at a New Year’s opening.