Susan Mallery - Only His

MAX LEANED IN and kissed Denise on the mouth. They were lying in bed, where they spent a good part of their time together. She found it kind of nice to know that, even at her age, the hormones were alive and well. Being around Max made her feel all tingly and happy.

“My kids really liked you,” she said, staring into his blue eyes and smiling.

“Did they have a choice?”

She laughed. “They could have been difficult, not that I expected them to be. You’d already won over Montana. She loves her job.”

“She’s great to have around. She’s responsible and inventive. A combination that’s hard to find. Nevada avoided looking at me all evening.”

“Can you blame her?”

“No. We really need to start locking the doors.”

“I agree.” She snuggled close, her legs tangling with his.

She’d spent the first few years after Ralph’s death wondering how she was going to survive. Even though her kids were grown, she’d kept busy. Recently, she’d thought it would be nice to start dating again. She’d hoped to find someone who interested her. She’d never thought she would be lucky enough to fall so completely for a man as amazing as Max.

“I never stopped thinking about you,” he told her. “Wondering how you were, what you were doing.”

“I thought about you, too.” She had, fleetingly. After all, she’d been taking care of Ralph and their six kids. There hadn’t been a lot of time for speculation.

“Not the same,” he told her lightly. “You were married to someone else.”

“You never married?”

He shook his head. “Didn’t want to. There were women,” he added.

She smiled. “Dozens. Hundreds.”

“At least.”

He kissed her.

She felt a twinge and pushed the jealousy away. She had no right. She’d been off being happy and she should want the same for Max. Thirty-five years was a long time.

“I wanted to come back when I first heard about Ralph,” he admitted. “But I knew that would be a mistake.”

“You’re right. It would have been. I wasn’t ready. I grieved for him for a long time. Plus with the kids…”

He kissed her again. “I wasn’t ready, either. I knew I had to change, to be the man you deserved. Grow up, I guess. But it’s different now. I can be that guy.”

She traced the shape of his jaw, then rested her hand on his bare shoulder. “You were always that guy.”

“No, but I had potential. I love you, Denise. I want to marry you.”

She heard the words, followed by a rushing sound. The room tilted, then seemed to spin out of control. All she could think about was when she’d married Ralph. How proud he’d been when the minister had introduced them as Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix. How she’d known then she would love him forever.

“No,” she said involuntarily, sitting up and pulling the sheet with her. She scrambled out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her. “I’m sorry. But no.” Her breath came in short gasps as her lungs constricted.

She stared at him, strong and handsome and naked in her bed. In her bedroom. What had she been thinking?

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, giving in to the panic.

Max got to his feet and came around the bed. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

She touched her face and was surprised to feel tears. “You’re a good person. No, a wonderful person. But this would be all wrong.” She knew she wasn’t making any sense, but couldn’t stop herself from speaking.

“Getting married would ruin everything,” she said, backing away from him. “There’s more to a relationship than great sex. More to marriage. Haven’t you figured that out by now? We’re having fun. Just two people having fun.”

He looked concerned rather than angry. “Are you feeling all right?”

“No.”

She ran into the bathroom and closed the door. “I’m not feeling very well,” she yelled to him, through the door. “I think you should go.”

“Denise, you’re not making any sense. We have to talk about this.”

“We don’t. Please, just go away.”

She sank onto the floor and started to cry. Guilt attacked her as she realized she’d betrayed the man she truly loved. She’d cheated on Ralph. She’d allowed herself to believe she could be with someone else.

She heard noises from the bedroom, followed by silence. Seconds later, the front door closed. Max was gone.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She was cold. And alone.

NEVADA WATCHED all the equipment being off-loaded.

“Makes your heart beat a little faster, doesn’t it?” Charlie asked.

The fire department engineer stood next to her, at the job site.

Nevada grinned. “Oh, yeah. I can’t wait to try it all out.”

“Tell me about it. I don’t technically have to be here, but I couldn’t help coming to watch. How’s the surveying going?”

“Great.” Nevada shoved her hands into her back pockets. “We still use tripods for housing construction and remodels. It’s fast and cheap. Here we’re using GPS. We can get within an eighth of an inch using a satellite twenty thousand miles away. You gotta love technology.”

“If only those satellites could put out fires,” Charlie said, watching a track loader being moved off to the side. “That one is going to be fun to ride. No wonder the guys want to keep it to themselves.”

They weren’t the only ones watching the equipment arrive. Several members of Nevada’s team were standing together, supposedly to help should something happen. Nevada caught a couple of them eyeing Charlie with a fair degree of interest.

“I think a few of my guys are going to ask for your number,” she told her friend.

“Don’t bother giving it to them.” Charlie didn’t even glance toward the cluster of men. “I’m not interested.”

“You sure? Some of them are pretty nice and a few are cute.”

“Let me guess. None of them are both cute and nice.”

Nevada grinned. “I can think of one or two who meet that criteria.”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not very successful at relationships. It’s easier to avoid them. So let’s talk about something more fun. The permits for the explosives have been approved. You can go ahead and order the dynamite.”

“I get all quivery at the thought.”

“You should. It’s going to be a hell of a day.” Charlie’s phone beeped. “I can’t believe you got a cell tower out here.”

“It was delivered last week. Janack Construction has friends in high places.”

“So I’ve heard. Let me take this, then we can go into town and have lunch.”

They were meeting Annabelle and Heidi at Jo’s Bar for a quick meal. Something they’d started doing weekly ever since the incident with the flat tire.

While Charlie talked on the phone, Nevada went back to the trailer to grab her car keys. She walked up the stairs and opened the door, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she discovered Tucker wasn’t there.

She wasn’t exactly avoiding him, but she’d been staying out of his way ever since that night at his hotel. When he’d told her he wanted her and she’d turned him down.

She didn’t regret her decision. She sighed. Perhaps she regretted it a little, but she knew she’d made the right choice. Getting involved with Tucker was a complication she didn’t need. Better to focus on what was important rather than what felt good. Although being with Tucker felt really, really good.

She set her hard hat on her desk, then picked up her purse and met Charlie outside.

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in Jo’s Bar with Annabelle and Heidi. They’d gone girly and had all ordered salads, with a plate of fries for the table.

“Don’t let me have more than three,” Annabelle was saying. “I don’t have the advantage of being tall like all of you. Every extra pound shows at my size.”

“Next she’ll complain about being too rich, too,” Charlie grumbled, sipping her iced tea.

Annabelle didn’t look the least bit intimidated. “You try being the size of a flea and we’ll see how you like it.”

“You try being taller than ninety percent of the male population.”

“At least you can kick their butts if they annoy you,” the librarian said with a smile.

Charlie grinned back. “You got that right.”

The women laughed.

Nevada joined in, pleased to be with her new friends. Recently her social life had gotten a little stagnant. She’d mostly hung out with her sisters. As they were moving in a different direction than her — getting married and, in Dakota’s case, starting a family — it was good that she’d branched out. Being the last single triplet was going to mean her sisters wouldn’t have as much time for hanging out.

Reality intrudes, she thought, happy for them but a little sad for herself. While change could be good, it wasn’t always easy or comfortable.

Jo walked over with their salads and fries.

“How’s it going?” Annabelle asked. “I saw Will here the other day. He’s such a cutie.”

“We’re not going out,” Jo said flatly. “I don’t care what anyone says. I’m not dating him.”

The four of them exchanged a look. Nevada found herself feeling badly for her coworker.

“You know he’s a nice guy,” she said quietly. “On the job site all the guys respect him, but they like him, too.”

Instead of looking relieved, Jo scowled. “You think I don’t know he’s nice? Did it occur to you that his niceness is the problem? I’m not going to get involved with him just to screw up everything.”

She slapped the plates on the table, then stalked away.

Nevada looked at Charlie. They’d known Jo the longest. Charlie had shown up in Fool’s Gold about the same time Jo had.