“Can we call anyone for you?” she asked, knowing their five minutes were almost up.
“Connor. I want Connor,” Julia mumbled and cried in earnest.
The nurse bustled into the room, her pale blue uniform rustling with each brisk step. She made shooing motions with her hands.
“We’ll pop in after work tomorrow,” Christina said.
Susan sent Julia a bright smile and followed Christina from the hospital room. Neither of them spoke until they were inside the elevator.
“Do you think Connor is the father?”
Susan shook her head. “I don’t know, but why else would she want Connor?”
“I don’t know. We’d better keep trying to contact him,” Christina said. “You saw how upset she was.”
“I wonder if Greg knows where Maggie is. I’ve tried everywhere else.” As she spoke, Susan pulled out her phone and rang directory service. A few minutes later, her call connected.
“Greg, it’s Susan,” she said and explained the circumstances. “Is Maggie with you?”
“No. Try Connor,” he said and disconnected.
Susan frowned, her confusion giving way to anger.
“What did he say?”
“He told me to try Connor. I don’t understand what’s going on,” Susan snapped.
“Don’t snarl at me.” Christina stomped out of the hospital entrance and made for her car.
“Well, something’s going on. I don’t know what Maggie and Julia are playing at, but it’s clear there’s something stinky here. What happened to trust? And what about our pact?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. It might be nothing.”
“Huh! You know it takes a fire to make smoke, right? What we have here is lots of smoke, so I know there’s a fire somewhere.”
Maggie cuddled up to Connor. Her bottom smarted, but she’d never felt so close to another person. Intimate. That was the word for it. There was a new intimacy and trust between them that hadn’t been present before.
“How did you know I’d like a good spanking?”
Connor’s breath tickled her neck, and she pressed even closer so it didn’t distract her as much.
“You know the blog everyone is talking about at work?”
“Yes,” Maggie said, glad her back pressed to his chest and he couldn’t see her guilty face.
“I guess you could say the blog gave me the idea.”
“Oh. I thought you’d want to stay away from anything like that because of what happened with your mother.”
“It worried me,” he said gruffly. “Which is why I want you to tell me exactly how far you want me to go. I never want to hurt you.Never.”
Maggie pulled away and turned to face him. She cupped his face, his jaw bristly beneath her fingertips. “I feel safe with you. In all the time I’ve known you, you’ve hardly ever lost your temper. Please don’t tell me you’re worried you might take after your father?”
“His blood runs through my veins,” Connor said. “I worry.”
Maggie smiled. “You respect women. I bet you take after your stepfather, Frank. I’ve never seen you brawl at the pub or get into a fist fight at rugby. Oh, apart from you and Greg. What’s up with you two?”
“Greg and I didn’t hit it off the first time we met. There’s no love lost between us, and that hasn’t changed.”
