A December to Remember (37)
“Yes, if you’d like.”
“Thank you, I would like. That’s two things you’re going to teach me, now we need to think of something I can teach you.”
Duncan smiled. “Perhaps you could show me how to look less like my superpower is concentration.”
“Perhaps,” she replied, though she was beginning to hope that some of his focus would rub off on her. “Right, well, I’m going to start hunting for a strongbox.”
“I thought you were going to clean the silver.”
“Oh, yes. You see, short attention span. When I’m bored of looking for the strongbox, I’ll clean the silver.”
“Deal.” Duncan smiled at her, and she returned it. They stayed that way for just a little too long, as though they each had an inkling that they’d found a friend.
16
The grocer’s was quiet when Maggie got back from the solicitors’. Joe was creating a bounteous display of fresh produce in the window. He smiled knowingly when he saw her.
“Still suffering?” he inquired.
“I think it was the whisky that pushed me over the edge. I may never be the same again.”
“The shop’s been very busy. Lots of people popping in for ‘just a few bits’ and ‘just wondering what that business was about outside North Novelties & Curios last night.’?” He gave her a wry smile. “And apparently there were ‘high spirits’ in the early hours.”
She grimaced. “My singing voice has been likened to mating foxes.”
“I’d have gone with coyotes myself.”
She laughed half-heartedly.
“How did you get on with Vanessa?” he asked.
“We gave her the houses; she gave us a key to an elusive strongbox. God, I feel like death.”
“What if there was something I could do to take your mind off it?”
She managed a half smile. “I’m not sure I’m up to it.”
Joe put the parsnips down, flicked the sign on the door round to Closed, pulled down the blinds, and latched the door. He walked determinedly toward her. Instinctively she took a step backward and found her back against the wall. She ought to at least attempt to protest that it wasn’t good business to close the shop willy-nilly and she really did feel dreadfully hungover, but those thoughts were fleeting, and her body was already in full agreement with Joe’s plan. Her pulse spiked; she squeezed her thighs together in delicious anticipation. He had that look in his eyes, the flash of something dark that took her breath away and brought heat to her cheeks. It was a look that made her forget everything.
“Sometimes,” he said, his voice low as he took her by the wrists and pulled her arms above her head, “you need to counteract one strong feeling with a more powerful sensation to cancel it out.”
* * *
“How’s your hangover?” he asked, his face buried in her hair.
“Cured.” Maggie smiled dreamily.
He pulled away, sweeping her curls off her face and tracing his finger along her jaw. He kissed her softly, his sweetness returned. Maggie enjoyed all the sides of Joe. The attentive, tender lover and the one who could apparently shag a hangover right out of her.
As they put themselves back together, she knew that her cheeks were red from more than just the exertions of the last fifteen minutes. She was embarrassed at her own wantonness. It had been a long time since she’d been so brazen, maybe not since Josh. With Joe, she felt able to embrace all the facets of herself, not just the parts she felt were palatable to others, and that notion both pleased and frightened her at the same time.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he said sheepishly.
“You can’t buy that remedy at the pharmacy.” She couldn’t suppress her smile. “Is it a tried and tested treatment?”
His laugh was soft and low. “A gentleman never cures and tells.”
“Fair enough.” The sharp scratch of jealousy caught her off guard. She had no right to it.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” he asked.
“No thanks, I only came back to see if you needed any help.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she flushed anew. She cleared her throat theatrically.
“Anyway, you seem to be coping, so I’ll get back over the road if that’s okay, see if we can find this strongbox.”
Joe moved toward her and kissed her lightly and the familiar war of emotions filled her chest.
* * *
The morning sky was dark and the rain seemed determined to find its way inside her coat, but the cold helped to crystallize her scattered thoughts on her way to the curios shop. Joe wanted a relationship. She knew all the reasons why it wasn’t a good idea, but still, he wasn’t making it easy for her. If she was being completely honest with herself, it wasn’t only the age and baby thing that was holding her back. In her experience men always left, even the good ones. She’d loved Josh and he’d died; granted he hadn’t done it on purpose, but he’d left her all the same and part of her would be forever broken because of it. There had been others over the years and always they left in the end. Even her own father was only ever a fleeting presence. Each man who left took a piece of her heart with them; some took a bigger slice than others. The truth of it was that what remained of her heart was fragile and she couldn’t risk losing it. After all, life had taught her time and again that she wasn’t enough to make a person stay.