I shake my head. “Not biased. Just stating the truth.” With my arm stretched out across the back of this couch, I brush my fingers just over her shoulder blade. My fingertips find the small sliver of skin at the edge of her shirt. “She was a protective parent, too.”
She studies me. “You didn’t find it annoying?”
“I knew that she loved me dearly. She made me believe that I was the most loved being in the world. How could that ever be annoying? I think your Wyatt probably feels similar.”
“You think? I just—” She sniffs. “I just want him to know he’s wonderful and loved unconditionally.”
“He does.”
And then, Maggie McCrae does something I didn’t see coming. She leans across the small gap between us and presses one soft honey-pear kiss to my lips. It’s short and supple and sends flickers of heat through my entire body. I’m notsure one little kiss has ever caused such a sensation in me before. It’s not only the physical closeness of this woman, but the emotional connection I feel when I’m with her.
Cupping her cheek, I lean in to repeat the process. I’d very much like to try that again. But Maggie recoils, her eyes wide. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t?—”
“Oh, you did.”
“But I shouldn’t have. And I didn’t mean to. You said all those sweet things”—she shakes her hands—“and I lost my mind for a second.” She gulps, and when I move one inch her way, she lurches back into the couch cushions. She leaps from her seat and just manages to not step on her nephew’s head. Maggie gasps, slapping a hand over her mouth. Crouching down, she presses a soft kiss to Wyatt’s temple and whispers, “Oh buddy, I’m sorry.”
But she missed him. He has no idea he was almost flattened.
I stand too. “Maggie?—”
“Wyatt,” she says, shaking his shoulder. “Hey, sweetie. It’s time for us to go. Come on, bud.”
His little eyes blink, but he doesn’t look ready to move. “Nanners?”
“Maggie, let him sleep. It’s fine. We?—”
“Really, we have to go. Lindy would kill me if she knew we were in Tesoro and…” Her head bobbles in a shake. “And clearly I need sleep or sanity or something.”
“No—”
“I’m sorry, Lucca. I’msosorry. I—” She huffs, then slides her arms beneath Wyatt’s body. “Come on, bud,” she groans, hefting him up into her arms. Nanners stretches, her eyes blinking open. Maggie has taken away her snuggle buddy, and we’re both upset about it.
“At least let me take him.”
“I can do it,” she says. “Once he’s out, he’s out, and he’s like moving the dead.”
This time, I don’t ask, I reach for him, scooping him beneath the legs, and move him from Maggie’s hold to mine. The little boy feels a whole lot longer and heavier when he’s sleeping. His arms wrap around my neck, and his head rests on my shoulder. He snuggles against me, not unlike how he and Nanners did just seconds ago.
My heart swells—it’s not just Maggie I’m growing attached to.
“Where do you want him?” I ask her.
“My car—clearly my car. I’m leaving.” Her hands flare nervously. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I didn’t mean to— Ugh—” She squeezes her eyes shut. “Why did I come here?”
Before I can answer that rhetorical question, she charges for the door to my apartment. I follow her to the elevator, where I will have half a dozen floors to convince Maggie she isn’t crazy. She shouldabsolutelybe kissing me.
The doors open and she hurries inside the elevator. I heft Wyatt up in my arms and step inside.
Her fingers drum against her thigh and her toe taps.
“Can we talk about this?” I ask.
“Nope. I don’t think that’s necessary. A mistake was made. I said sorry. You’re the forgiving type, right?” Her words chirp like an anxious bird.
“There’s nothing to forgive—” But I don’t say anymore. On floor three, the elevator opens, and Sawyer steps inside. For the first time in my four years as a Red Tail, I wish I didn’t live in an apartment building with the majority of my team.
“Lucca,” he says, flicking his head my way. He squints, eyeing the limp child in my arms. And then, before he can staretoo long, he glances at Maggie. “McCrae?” he says, almost startled.
