The Man for Maggie by Frances Housden

Author:Frances Housden [Housden, Frances]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Silhouette Intimate Moments
Published: 2001-04-18T05:00:00+00:00

If she held the utensils just right she could manage to stir the eggs without her hand stinging the way it had in the shower. All in all, the way she’d coped so far pleased her. Maggie hummed along with the radio and looked out the window as she worked. She felt wonderful and had a good reason to.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Maggie turned around at the sound of Max’s voice. It rasped over her skin, setting off tiny sparks of tension. Hardly the greeting she’d expected, no stroking her senses with honeyed words like he had this morning.

She decided to ignore it, and asked brightly, “I’m cooking breakfast. There’s enough for two. Would you like some?”

“You should have stayed in bed and let someone else do that.”

“Who? You might have noticed there’s a dearth of servants around this place and you were otherwise occupied.” She turned her back on him, catching the eggs just before they burned. “It’s only scrambled eggs and toast, nothing fancy, but you’re welcome to share.”

“No, thanks. Jo will be here any time now. But I’ll take a cup of coffee.”

“Jo?” Maggie felt her happiness slip a notch or two.

“I called her an hour ago, her and the forensic team, though they’ll probably take longer to get here.” He poured coffee from the pot.

“Why does that preclude you eating breakfast with me?”

Max sat down at the table and didn’t quite meet her eyes.

“Don’t tell me. You’re embarrassed Jo might catch us eating breakfast, in case she thinks we spent the night together.” Maggie scraped the eggs onto a plate, letting the fork scratch the bottom of the pan for an unnecessarily long time, before dumping it in the sink and turning to catch the toast just as it popped. Surely a man of his experience could deal with a morning after?

When he still didn’t reply, her stomach knotted. Why didn’t he deny it? What was the saying—Laughter before dawn, tears before dark?

“Max. Jo’s a big girl, she could tell our attraction was mutual.”

“Considering we haven’t known each other that long, I just thought…” He looked over the top of his coffee cup, then took another long swallow. His eyes gave away nothing.

“Long enough.” Why did she feel so angry, so aggressive? Whose reputation was he trying to protect? His or hers, and why? It just didn’t gel. There had to be more. Something he wasn’t telling her.

She sat down opposite Max. “Why’d you ring Jo, anyway? Surely the local cops can handle it?” She forked some eggs into her mouth and chewed, waiting. Max just kept drinking coffee.

“And the forensic team. Isn’t that over the top? I mean, the guy probably only intended breaking in, and I interrupted him.”

Max’s cup clattered to the table. “Dammit, woman! He tried to strangle you!”

Maggie forced down a piece of toast as if it were made of cardboard. His eyes blazed, the only positive sign of emotion he’d displayed since returning from the bottling plant. “I’ve been thinking.

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