with his and realizing it was him, she relaxed.
“Brady? I thought you’d left.” She grabbed a towel from the sink. Always busy cleaning something.
“I did, but I think I left my phone. I wanted to let you know before I started searching.”
She’d dropped her gaze from his almost immediately. She glanced at him quickly before turning away. Maybe she was still angry about what had happened with Amber.
“I meant what I said earlier.” He stepped into the room and walked over to where she stood wiping the counter in a circular motion. He settled his hand on hers. She jerked her hand away, dropping the towel.
“I know you’re angry with me, but I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.” He draped the towel over the bar and finally met her gaze. Instead of anger in her hazel eyes, he saw vulnerability and wariness. It made him stop in his tracks. Did she fear him?
She cleared her throat. Her eyes hid her feelings from him once again. “It’s late, Brady.”
“You know I’d never do anything intentional to hurt Amber?”
“Of course.” But there was a hint of skepticism behind her agreement. She moved to the other side of the kitchen and grabbed the broom.
He closed in on her one step at a time. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep her from feeling the pain you felt as a child, Maggie.”
Her lips set firmly together and her chin got that stubborn tilt. It made him want to kiss her until she softened beneath his touch. He stood there, debating whether to close the distance between them or retreat. The emotional roller coaster of the past few hours had him warring with himself. She’d clearly stated that she wanted to keep things as friends between them. But when she was this close, his fingers itched to bury themselves in her hair. His gut tightened and his pulse pounded every time she was in the room.
The few tastes he’d had of her hadn’t been enough. He wanted to feel the curves of her body and explore all those hidden spots that would make her sigh with pleasure. He wanted to nibble along her jawline until the hardness left her face and she sighed his name.
He closed the distance between them. No longer thinking of the consequences. His thumb traced her jawline and her lips parted. Their eyes were locked, but neither of them said a word. All he had to do was lean down and kiss her. He knew she felt it, too.
The noise of the vibration of his phone filtered through the haze his thoughts had left him in. Maggie jumped as if something had bitten her. The broom clattered to the floor. Her head bumped against his chin and he instinctively moved back.
The buzzing continued. Brady looked around the kitchen trying to pinpoint the source until his gaze returned to Maggie’s red cheeks and downturned face.
“Is that your phone?” Brady stood within touching distance of her and much as he wanted to touch her, he felt as if he was missing something important.
She shook her head, but finally lifted her eyes to meet his and that stubborn jaw was set again. Her blush deepened, but she didn’t drop her gaze.
“Is that my phone?” Brady asked. Maggie drew in a breath. “Yes.”
He waited, expecting her to do something. Either return it or explain herself. But she just stood there, defiant and beautiful.
“May I have it?”
“I’ll give it back if you tell me you can separate your work life and your home life.”
“I don’t have a home life.” Brady ran his hand over his hair.
“You do now.” She shoved away from the wall and brushed past him.
His gaze caught the lump of his phone in her back pocket, but that wasn’t what caused his heart to send blood rushing through his body. Her jeans hugged her hips and accented her bottom nicely. He had every intention of getting his hands on those hips again.
She spun around and he barely had the sense to pull his gaze to her eyes. She narrowed her eyes on him. “You have Amber. What’s it going to take before you realize that work is only a distraction to what life is really about? Does Amber have to get hit by a car because of your inattention? What if she comes to stay with you in New York? Who’s going to watch her while you work? What’s the point of her even going if all you are going to do is work? One weekend morning isn’t going to be sufficient time to spend with her.”
“Fine. I’ll leave work at work.”
Maggie pulled the phone out of her back pocket and held it out to him. “How can I be sure of that? You already broke that promise to me once.”
“I’ll leave it at Sam’s tomorrow.” He closed his hand over the phone, but didn’t let go of her hand. “You can’t tell me you haven’t made any mistakes, Maggie.”
“Of course I’ve made mistakes.” Maggie threw her free hand in the air. “But I’ve learned from them.”
She stared pointedly at her hand engulfed by his.
“I see.” He released her hand and shoved the phone in his pocket. “I was a mistake.”
Maggie pressed her lips together as if holding back something. He’d disappointed everyone this week. Amber, most of all.
“I’ll be here tomorrow.” He held her gaze and stepped closer. “You promised to let me make some mistakes. Well, this is one of them. I’m not perfect. I never claimed to be, no matter what this town tried to turn me into.”
She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t withdraw, either.
The temptation was there. The longing to kiss her, to be with her. Was it totally physical or was there something more going on between them? Shaking those thoughts away, he brushed her cheek with his thumb. “I’ll be here. I promise.”
“Do you have the latest BlackBerry?” Brady looked over the small cellular phone offerings at the Electronics Hut in Owen. So much for getting his phone from Maggie last night. This morning it had slipped out of his jacket and a cow had crushed it to pieces with her hoof.
“We can order anything you need.” The white-haired man behind the counter looked as if he had been at the invention of the phone.
“I was hoping to get something now.” Brady glanced over the selection. He was hoping to download his information from the network, which would be easier with another Black-Berry.
“I got in a few new models…” The salesman seemed to drift off for a moment as if lost in a thought, or maybe he fell asleep.
Brady waited for a moment before saying, “Would you please check if you have a BlackBerry?”
“All right. Don’t get your panties in a twist.” The man stood as if every joint fought against him. “I’ll bring out what we have.”
