Winter's Thaw by Stacey Lynn Rhodes Page B

him and his anger deflated. “Ah, Maggie, I’m sorry. I honestly thought this was what you wanted. I thought you enjoyed it.”
    Her face crumpled. “I did .” Then she was sobbing, and he understood. She was upset because she had enjoyed it, had wanted it, and was beating herself up for being human.
    He took her in his arms, and while she was still stiff, she didn’t pull away. “Shhh,” he tried to soothe, wishing he knew what to do or say to take away her pain.
    “I feel horrible. Just horrible. What kind of person am I?”
    “A human one,” he tried to make her see. “There’s nothing wrong about needing comfort, or something to take your mind off things. It’s been a very stressful, painful time, and you have so much more ahead of you. Don’t blame yourself”— or me —“for trying to alleviate that pressure for a little while. C’mon, it’s okay. Shhh…”
    Nick rocked her in his arms a while and she gave herself over to his care, crying herself limp. Finally easing her back down to the pillow, he was about to lie down and join her when his cell phone’s alarm intruded into the quiet.
    Maggie gasped and Nick cursed as he fumbled for the phone on the bedside table and turned it off.
    He turned back toward her. “Sorry about that. I’m on days today.”
    The tone of her voice was calm and distant, and she didn’t meet his gaze. “It’s okay. Go ahead. You can use my shower if you want.”
    His heart ached at the divide she was erecting between them. It was as if he was losing something precious just as he’d discovered it. “Hey.” She kept her eyes averted. They were puffy but dry now, and in a way, it was worse than the tears had been. “Please look at me for a sec.”
    Maggie finally looked up, and he could see the resolve in her expression. Changing what he was going to say, he asked, “Do you need me to do anything before I go? Or after my shift?”
    She shook her head. “No. I have my friend coming over. I’ll be fine.”
    There didn’t seem to be much more to say. He gathered his clothing and gun and dressed, then tucked away his wallet and phone in his jeans. On second thought, he pulled out his wallet and extracted a department business card. Looking around, he spotted a pen on the writing desk across the room, then grabbed it and jotted down his personal numbers and email. “Here’s how you can get hold of me. Call me if you need anything, or if you even just want to chat. Okay?”
    She sat there on the bed, tucked up in her sheet, looking very small and vulnerable with her shoulders bare and hair tousled. But there was steel in her expression—not necessarily directed at him but at trying to keep herself together. The only thing left for him to put on was his footwear, and he knew in a minute he’d have no excuse left to keep him here.
    “Nick?”
    He paused in sliding his last shoe on.
    “Thank you. For tonight. Well, for everything.”
    “My pleasure.” There was absolute sincerity in that response right now. He knew, though, that he’d be thinking about the real pleasure they’d shared for days and nights to come. “Take care, Maggie.”
    “You too.”
    He straightened. “I’ll meet you downstairs if you want to grab a robe or something. I don’t want to leave until you’re there to lock up behind me.” Nick dropped his gaze to her mouth and she parted her lips. Lips he wanted to kiss and be damned with the consequences.
    He strode from the room and waited impatiently downstairs for the few minutes it took her to descend. The sight of her slight frame bundled up in her plush robe, bare feet peeking out from beneath the hem, made him wish foolishly that she could send him off to work every morning just like this.
    She stunned him by following him to the door and hugging him from behind as he reached to unlock it. He froze, not wanting to spook her, confused yet pleased by her initiative. He felt her press her cheek or temple to the middle of his back, and