Hold Me Close (Ryker Falls #5) - Wendy Vella Page 0,1
turn her weak, though. Maggie had other things to think about now, and men were definitely not one of them. In fact, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready to have a relationship again. Any man she got close too would need really broad shoulders and compassion. Plus patience; he’d need buckets of that.
It will take time, Maggs, but you will heal.
The doctor she’d seen in London had said that. She wasn’t sure she agreed, but she was hopeful. Time was something she now had.
“What the hell? I didn’t know you were back for Christmas. Nobody said a word.” He looked pissed off about that, his baby blue eyes narrowing.
Thick brown hair stood off his head as if he’d been out in the wind. He had dark brows and lashes and a face made up of angles and planes all put together to make a woman sigh. He was handsome in big neon flashing lights. But there was a bit of something extra to Fin. She always thought he stepped just to the right of wild. That he had a streak he subdued, but it was there. His best buddy, Joe Trainer, was the same. Maggs had seen it once or twice when he let his control slip.
Dressed in jeans and a thick gray sweater, over which he wore a black down jacket unzipped, he looked as he always did, vital and strong. Maggie dug her toes into her boots to keep from moving back a step. She’d forgotten just how big he was.
“You need a haircut,” Maggs said, as she had nothing else.
“That’s all you have to say to me after two years?” Before she could stop him, he’d stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her. “Welcome home, baby girl, we missed you.”
She tried not to stiffen up. The old Maggs would have stolen a kiss or put her hands on his ass. Instead she inhaled his scent, smelling the outdoors on him. As the local park ranger, he was always trekking over the mountains or doing something outside. Sniffing him again, she thought it felt good to be in the arms of someone she cared about. One of her people.
“What’s wrong?” He eased back, his hands gripping her arms.
“Nothing. Just thinking how soon I can grab your ass without it being rude. I mean, it’s been a while. I just thought I’d give you some time.” She stepped out of his reach. Buzz moved to her side, and she dug her fingers into the fur on top of his head briefly.
Fin’s eyes narrowed. “You never need permission to grab my ass, you know that. You didn’t hug me back, and why is your hand clenched in a fist?”
He was following her as she walked backward, which she hadn’t even realized she was doing.
“Stop moving.”
“For heaven’s sake, Fin. I just drove into town, I’m tired, and I need to head home and get ready for the invasion from my girls.”
“Did you just arrive now?” He was frowning, his eyes running over her face. “You’ve lost weight.”
“Yes and yes. I was fat. Now, bye, I need to go.”
“You weren’t fat; you were perfect.”
She would not cry. No one had said anything like that to her since she left Ryker Falls. The men and women in her life here were always throwing about compliments right alongside insults.
“Aww, that’s very sweet of you to say so, Fin.” She stopped moving and made herself smile. She hoped it was like the cheeky ones she often used before she’d left. Unclenching her fist, she leaned in and patted a cold cheek, feeling the rasp of his chin. “You always know the right things to say.”
“What’s wrong, Maggs?” He stood there, a big hunk of confident man who had more women in lust with him than was healthy for his ego.
She hated him for that confidence. Maggie had once been exactly the same.
“Nothing’s wrong. What could possibly be wrong?” She backed toward her car. “I’m tired like I said, Fin. And arriving unexpectedly is a surprise for everyone, so I need to wash and get ready for the celebrations.” She turned, about to scurry to her driver door. Scurry, for pity’s sake! The old Maggs would never do that.
He stepped closer and grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving. His eyes then ran over her face.
“I heard something bad went down when you were over there. You were involved in a terrorist attack. But I also heard you were just shaken up, unhurt.”