Beneath the Stars (Falling Stars #4) - A.L. Jackson Page 0,11

twisted up in a way I didn’t get before her brother was interrupting again.

“Need help, Mag Pie?” Royce’s voice was gruff. No question, it was meant for me because it sounded a whole hell of a lot more like a warnin’.

“I got it,” I told him. “Looks to me like you and my Em-Girl have plenty to keep you busy.”

He grunted.

Maggie just ignored him and started for the massive house.

I followed behind. Trying to give her space and not wantin’ to at the same time.

The urge to apologize was overwhelming. To explain what couldn’t be explained.

I knew it’d hurt her. Not returning a single one of her calls. I’d heard it clear in her honeyed voice that had whispered her worry through the line when she’d left a handful of messages over the last six months, her concern stark, all mixed up with this fear and confusion of who I was.

Like she’d known she should stay away but didn’t know how.

Might have been a dick move, but I figured the least I could do was dodge that bullet for her.

Hell, I was the one who’d fired it in the first place.

I’d known from the get-go I never should have taken her there. Never should have put her in that position. Not when she’d made me feel the way she had.

We climbed the five steps, and our feet echoed on the marble tile as we stepped inside. The house was this rambling, white gleaming show of extravagance.

Maggie paused in the middle of the foyer that was half the size of my mama’s house back home, the girl taking in the two-story wall of windows that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean.

Over the mesmerizing ebb and flow of the waves that could barely be heard from where we stood.

“It’s beautiful.” Her voice was filled with all the awe that surrounded the girl.

Her peace.

Her beauty.

My insides shook.

I just kept lookin’ at the stunning line of her profile where I stood three feet behind her and off to the side. “Yeah.”

She peeked over her shoulder. Charcoal eyes flashed. Like they were sketching me. Soft, soft pencil-strokes that wanted to write their own story.

“Isn’t it funny how looking at the sea makes you feel so small? Like how all your problems suddenly seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things?”

There was something knowing in the way she said it. In the tilt of her head that took me in like she was readin’ me. Like her spirit had direct access to mine and there wasn’t a fuckin’ thing I could hide.

Before I could respond, she turned away and heaved her bags back onto her shoulders. “Do you know which room is mine?”

I shook myself from the stupor. Pulled my shit together because I couldn’t be losin’ control again. “Yep. I got you covered, Sweet Thing. Right this way. Hope you’re okay with spending the next three months bunked right next to me. Sharin’ a bathroom, too.”

Shea Stone had made the suggestion to put all the families with children on one wing and those without on the other.

I should have complained.

Found a way to explain why it was a bad idea.

Maybe told a tale or two about how I actually loved the idea of being woken up every night by crying babies.

Supes fun.

I hadn’t.

Those eyes flared.

Concern and attraction.

She seemed to steel herself and lifted her chin. “I guess I’m going to have to be, aren’t I?”

“Good.” Angling around her sweet body, I headed for the grand staircase that curved as it made its way for the second floor, my heavy boots echoing loud against the shiny floors. I hoisted the ridiculously heavy bags higher onto my shoulders and lifted the wheeled suitcase so I could carry it. I tossed a glance at her as she started up behind me. “You need any help?”

Maggie all but rolled her eyes. “I think I’m plenty capable of carrying a couple bags upstairs. You and my brother are going to have to give it up.”

A grin pulled at the corner of my mouth. “And what are we supposed to give up?”

“Treating me like a child.”

Against my better judgment, which clearly was lackin’, my eyes raked her. Head to toe.

“Don’t look much like a child to me. Besides, my mama would have my ass if I didn’t act like a gentleman.” I let the tease wind into the last.

She edged farther up the staircase, and I guess I didn’t really realize all that beauty had brought me to a complete standstill until she