Ford’s door thunked closed below as Maggie turned onto the landing half expecting to find Tyler there. Maybe half hoping. Wanting to tell him she hadn’t known he was there. She hadn’t seen the kiss coming. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him.
Then feeling like a fool for thinking she needed to say anything at all.
It didn’t matter. The hall was empty.
—
Tyler was staring out his open window, the phone at his ear, his mom talking about something he’d lost the thread of, when he’d caught Maggie’s laugh, drifting in on the early spring breeze.
She was with Leo again.
Hot Doc. The guy who’d somehow gotten past her guard and was now opening the door to a convertible for her. Wanting to know about dinner. Making a joke and earning that joyful, free sound Tyler couldn’t get enough of from the woman he couldn’t have.
A week already since he’d stumbled upon Maggie taking the first step forward in a life he’d made the choice not to be a part of, and it wasn’t any easier today than it had been when Ford caught him by the chest and physically put his body between Tyler and the kiss he had no fucking business feeling anything about, but had been mindlessly pushing toward to stop anyway.
“Tyler, honey, did you hear me?”
Tyler closed his eyes to focus on the call.
“Yeah, Mom, sorry. Still here.”
“I was just telling you I ran into Mike Zientek when I took the car in for that noise we talked about last week. And by the way, you were right—it was the bearings. But Mike told me they’d been trying to woo you back to the firm.”
Clearing his throat, he sat forward and pinched his nose. “Yeah, I’ve had a few offers, but they want me back in New York.”
“They aren’t the only ones. Tyler, consider it, honey. You loved that job. If it hadn’t been for…her, you never would have left.”
Probably not, but the what-if game was one Tyler couldn’t afford to play and hope to maintain the meager shred of his sanity he had left.
“Honey, it’s time.”
Tyler felt that same coldness settling into his gut as they circled back to the same well-intentioned impossibility. It was time to move on with his life. Come home. Start over.
What he could never understand was how his mother of all people would think something like that was possible.
“No. Gina called. We’ve seen each other a few times.”
Silence as his mother processed the new information.
“Charlie?”
“Not yet. But it’s going to come. Soon.”
Gina had told him she didn’t want Charlie confused any more than he needed to be. And even though it was killing him, Tyler agreed. It wasn’t often Gina put Charlie first, and he wasn’t about to knock it. Even if a part of him knew it was bullshit. Gina wasn’t letting him see Charlie because Charlie was leverage.
“She’s still with the singer.”
“For now.”
“Tyler.” So much said in that single pleading word. “How long—?”
“As long as it takes,” he cut in, hating the desperation in his mother’s voice, and doing everything he could to curb the frustration in his own. “They fight all the time, Mom. It’s not going to last.”
It couldn’t.
They fought about money. Something Tyler’s marketing work had always kept them in plenty of.
About whether Ray was banging groupies after the show. Not part of Tyler’s personality makeup. Whether he and Gina had been together because of Charlie or not, he never would have cheated. Ever.
About what kind of father Ray was to Charlie. And that last was what killed him. The thought that his son wasn’t getting the love and attention Tyler ached to give him was what kept him playing Gina’s waiting game day after day. It was the reason, no matter how long it took, he couldn’t give up.
“All right. All right. I just thought”—his mother’s sigh filtered through the line—“you’ve sounded different lately, is all. More like your old self. And I thought—well, you know what I thought.”
He stared out the window at the empty spot where the convertible had been. For a while things had been different. There’d been more than waiting. There’d been a few months when he’d started feeling like the guy he used to be again. When he said what he thought. When he smiled because he was actually happy. When he’d laughed because he meant it.
Because of Maggie.
She’d made him feel like maybe there was more to life than all the things he hadn’t been able to see past losing. But now he’d given her up, too.
“I just want you to be happy, honey. I love you. We all do.”
“I know. Love you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Maggie stared at the empty wall that had previously showcased one of her favorite artists’ work. It had taken her more than a year to build the relationship with Willa Pinora so the painter would be willing to show her art at the gallery and only one meeting with Royce for Willa to pull her work completely. It wasn’t the end of the world. The space would be filled, but however it was done, Maggie wouldn’t be a part of it.
Packing up Willa’s collection and signing off on the release paperwork had been Maggie’s last task for The Shrone. Royce and Hedda were in the back, probably doing something disgusting, but once they reemerged, Maggie would hand over her keys.
She had the weekend off, and then Tuesday she’d be making the trek down to the River North district, where Dolores had hooked her up with a suddenly short-handed gallery. The pregnant co-owner had been put on bed rest three months ahead of her due date and they’d been scrambling for another body to fill in. The job lasted six months, and it would be time Maggie could use to investigate the neighborhoods, collect a paycheck, and work out her plan.
A half-hour later, the keys were turned over to Hedda, who clung to Royce for support as though she were watching her only child head off to a war from which no one returned. Maggie offered a small wave and then set off for this last walk home.
She watched for Tyler. Envisioning his deceptively easy stride moments before he rounded the corner and his eyes found hers. One wild thump of her heart got away before she reined it in. Before he broke the contact, focusing instead on the ground ahead of him.
Because that’s how it was now.
Maybe today he’d stop. Talk.
She knew better, but still a part of her couldn’t help—
“Looks like you could use a drink.”
Maggie jumped, not having noticed the Mercedes pulling up to the curb beside her. The top was down and with one arm slung casually across the wheel, Leo waved a bouquet of pink roses in her direction with the other.
Walking to the car, she leaned in with a grateful smile.
“I thought you were on tonight.”
“Called in a favor from a colleague. Figured you’ve got a fairly significant life change going down, and thought for this new phase, I’d get in on the ground floor.” Waggling his brows, he grinned. “Hop in and I’ll get you drunk. Or buy you dinner. Either way, we’ll toast new beginnings.”
Sliding into the passenger seat, she glanced down the street to where Tyler was now only half a block away.
“Ready?” Leo asked, and when she looked over at him, he nodded down the sidewalk. “Did you want me to wait on him?”
She could see Tyler watching them. And she knew if she waited, all she’d get was a brief wave and flash of a half-smile that only served to make her want more.
“No reason to.”
—
The ache in his chest wasn’t going away and it had nothing to do with the miles of pavement he’d been eating up. Sucking air, Tyler tried to focus on Charlie. Replay the last conversation he had with Gina when she’d been dabbing the corner of her eyes with a tissue, telling him how much she wished he’d been Charlie’s father. How much easier everything would be. But no matter how he tried to stay on track, his thoughts kept jumping the rails so all he could
see was Maggie watching him from down the street and then getting into Leo’s car and driving off.
All he could feel was this new hole forming in the center of his chest, just a little over from the one he was praying he could repair.
—
“You all right?” Leo asked, propping a shoulder against the stone facing of the building’s entry as Maggie unlocked the security door.
As promised, he’d wined and dined her. Laughed and listened when she talked about her years with The Shrone and offered support and encouragement for her fledgling plans. He was exactly what she needed, when she needed it most.
“Nervous,” she answered honestly, turning back to him, one hand still on the knob behind her. “It’s going to be different, you know? I’m used to being in charge. I’m used to having an intimate relationship with every piece of art that’s shown. But as of Tuesday, I’m going to be the new girl. Learning the ropes. Learning the clientele. Learning…everything.”
Leo reached out and caught a bit of her hair to wrap around his finger. Then, meeting her eyes with his calming, gentle gaze, he promised, “You’ll be amazing.”
He said it as if there were no other possibility. And more than that, when she looked into his eyes, she could see he believed it. Believed in her.
This thing with Leo was good.
Her motives for calling him that first night after meeting Royce may not have been entirely pure, but her reasons for saying yes to the next date and the ones after had been different.
Being with Tyler had changed something inside her. He’d given her a taste of the intimate connection she’d been avoiding for years, one that went beyond friendship. He’d made her love again when she’d thought it impossible. But Tyler wasn’t the right guy for her. Something he’d warned her about from the start.
And now she wanted the right guy, the available guy, to make her feel the way Tyler had.
To make the hurt in her heart go away.
For once, she wanted to set herself up for success instead of failure. Pick the smart path to a happy future, instead of the dead end she’d refused to accept wasn’t the way.
And being with Leo was smart. He was such a decent man, with deep roots in the city she called home and little to no emotional baggage preventing him from making a commitment. He wanted to be there for her, and the only other woman in his life was a sister who couldn’t be more excited he had a woman he enjoyed taking out.
He was easy. Comfortable. Stable. Grounded.
Available.
Leo was everything she should want.
And yet her belly tensed, because she saw the shift of his focus to her mouth and knew what was coming next.
The kiss was soft. Sweet. Simple. Just long enough to ensure there’d been time for her to let go of the knob behind her and put her hands on him…if she’d wanted to.
When he pulled back, she smiled at him and he brushed her cheek with the back of his knuckles.
He wanted more. It was there in his eyes, but he didn’t press.
Maggie half wished he would, because no matter how much she wanted to give him a chance to prove things could be as right between the two of them as they’d felt between her and Tyler, she just couldn’t make herself invite the next step.
For the first time in nearly a year since she’d signed on to Ava’s pact, Maggie truly understood what it meant to be open to the possibilities. And she understood that even now, when she so desperately wanted to be, she still wasn’t.
At least not tonight.
But maybe next time.
Chapter Twenty-seven
MAY
“You’re mad at me,” Gina pouted through the line, causing Tyler to roll onto his back and glare at the ceiling.
“I’m not mad.”
He wouldn’t let himself be. He couldn’t afford to let anything real muck up the drama he was letting play out with Gina. She needed to be the victim, and any hint that he saw her as the villain would undermine everything he’d been working for.
“But you don’t think I should have gone on vacation with him.”
Tyler let out a sigh, figuring there were enough ways to interpret it—jealousy, frustration, heartbreak, whatever appealed to Gina’s ego in that moment—that she wouldn’t pick up on the impatience behind it. With his words, though, he needed to be careful.
“It’s not that I don’t think you should have gone…it’s that I wish you hadn’t.” Sitting up, he looked out his bedroom window, angling just right to catch a glimpse of that sliver of sky visible from between his building and the next. “Gina, what are you still doing with this guy? I know you thought you loved him, but you’re calling me from Las Vegas because you had a fight at the blackjack tables and he took off. Again. He belittles you, abandons you, and doesn’t make you happy. And it’s driving me nuts, because I know I could. You and me and Charlie. We could have it all.”
Silence. And then, “What are you saying?”
Suddenly all his senses were on alert, because the tentative quality to that question was different than anything he’d heard from her before.
He swallowed, pushed away the image of Maggie that rose in his mind, and ignored the lead weight in his gut. This was what he’d been working for.
So concentrating on the last time he’d been with his boy, on the feel of his chubby arms clinging to him, the warm weight of his little body against his chest, his silky hair buried in Tyler’s neck, he pulled his next words from the depths of his heart. “I’m saying you could be with me. That this time we could make it work. Let me take care of you.”
That was the key. The lure.
His attention was important, but what got Gina where it counted were things like a maid. Shopping for whatever she wanted. Being taken out and shown off.
She knew he could provide all that. He had before.
God only knew what it was she’d thought she was going to get with Ray when she left, but she’d had enough time to see the life she’d be signing on to for what it was. The drinking, the women, the late nights, and the indifference to a woman who demanded attention had to have been a rude awakening. No doubt Gina thought she could turn it around. But after all this time, had she finally given up?
He could hear her breathing on the other end of the line, and while he wanted to demand an answer, do something to keep this conversation moving because it was as close as he’d ever been to success…he knew better.
“I need to think, Tyler. I need a few days. I’ve made so many mistakes. And…I don’t want to make any more. Can you understand?”
“Of course, I do.” He understood she was two days into a weeklong vacation and she wanted to wait until it was over before she broke the news to Ray. Who, by all accounts, would be relieved. “But if you need anything. Me to fly you home—hell, me to fly out and get you myself, or just someone to talk to—anything, Gina, I’m here.”
—
“What crawled up your ass?” Sam slammed the back door of the portable toolshed that was his van, scowling at Tyler, who’d quite possibly snapped at the guy like a total dick.
He was about to jump out of his skin, waiting for the minutes to tick by so he’d be one day closer to hearing back from Gina.
This was it.
Finally, he was going to get his son back. Be able to give his boy all the things Charlie had been missing without him. He’d make it up to him. Make sure he never wanted again.
Christ, he could be tucking Charlie into bed within the week. Listening to his little boy’s belly laughs and upside-down squeals. He could see his smile and know, know that Charlie was getting what he needed. The love, the attention, the security.
Until then, he needed to take it down a notch.
“Sorry, man. Wound a little tight is all.”
Sam shook his head, offering a pitying look. “This because of Maggie?”
“What?” he coughed, the question catching him off guard.
“Dude, I know you guys had a thing and now she?
??s getting serious with Hot Doc.”
Fuck. This was pretty much just what he didn’t need to hear right then. Like he didn’t need an answer to the question that fired out of his mouth before he could hold it back. “You think they’re serious?”
Sam pulled the garage door down, then secured it with a padlock and set the alarm. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he gave him one of those c’mon, man, don’t make me actually have to say it looks.
“Yeah, guess I sort of figured they were. But it’s really not about Maggie. I’m, uhh, waiting to hear back on something. This position I’ve applied for.”
He felt like an ass for saying it, and doubly so for trying to justify it in his head with excuses about his answer not being a total lie. But for one reason or another, he couldn’t bring himself to tell anyone else about what was going on with Gina. About Charlie.
Anyone but Maggie. Who’d been the one he wanted to talk to about it more than anything. The one he couldn’t.
“A new job? Is it around here?”
“Don’t know. Sort of depends on the hiring manager. But if it works out, there’s a strong likelihood I’d move pretty quick.”
“Back to New York?”
He nodded. “It’s been the plan.”
“When you supposed to hear back?”
“Not until Monday.”
“Look, I’m driving up to Ford’s cabin with him tomorrow to open it up after the winter. You should come. Follow us up, stay over a couple nights, and then drive home Sunday. Keep yourself busy, you know?”
They cut back through the narrow gangway between the buildings, Sam a few feet ahead. “It’s pretty excellent up there. Private lane, right on the bay, can’t even see the neighbor’s place. And Maggie’s got some wedding thing with Hot Doc in town here, so it’d just be the guys. What’dya say?”
He couldn’t believe he was even considering it. But man, he needed a distraction. “Can I get a signal for my phone up there?”
Sam grinned back. “Yeah.”
“All right then, I’m in.”
—