“We need to work on your definition of a one-night stand.”
Tell me about it, she thought. “Liv, meet Chief Hunter Cross.”
Olivia raised an eyebrow. “We’ve met.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw Hunter stand, hook his fingers through the loops in the front of his jeans and smile at Olivia. “Good to see you again.”
“Hunter is my army liaison. We were just starting our first interview.”
“Uh-huh.” Olivia smiled at her. “I knew I’d interrupted something.”
“Wait here,” Maggie said to Hunter. She picked up her pen and laptop and then turned to Olivia, determined to fix this situation so she could get back to her interview. “You. Come with me.”
She led Olivia into the kitchen, dumping her laptop on the marble-topped kitchen island.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered. Brick walls and glass windows separated the porch from the kitchen, but she wasn’t taking any chances. She would have dragged Olivia to her study, but she didn’t want to let Hunter out of her sight for too long. After the way he’d tried to distract her on the porch, she suspected he might take himself on a guided tour—straight to her bedroom.
“What am I doing here? Why is he here?” Olivia demanded, hands on her hips.
“I need him here. For work. Believe me, I’d rather have anyone else.” Like a Ranger who didn’t make her think about sex. “But he’s what they gave me.”
“Lucky you.”
“Liv, he’s not the same man. The man I met Saturday night was a gentleman. That man is dangerous.”
“But in a good way.” Olivia’s attention turned from the window back to Maggie. “Unlike your scumbag ex.”
“Derrick?” What did he have to do with anything? She’d given him back the ring. It was over.
“He called me this morning at the gallery.”
“Derrick called you at work?” Needing to do something, Maggie walked over to the fridge. Her world was usually orderly and predictable, but today? The surprises just kept coming. She was beginning to wonder if this day would ever end. Her one-night fling stood on her porch, her ex-fiancé had called her best friend at work and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
“He wants you back.” Olivia smiled, a wide grin reminiscent of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. Oh, no, this couldn’t be good.
“Olivia, what did you do?”
“I told him to rot in hell. And I may have hinted that you’d moved on. Of course, if I’d known you’d decided to keep your one-night stand until Monday—”
“Enough, Liv. How’d Derrick take that?” Derrick had always been the sensible type. Maggie couldn’t imagine him putting up a fight to keep her, not when he hadn’t really wanted her in the first place.
“Not good. He said he had to see you himself.”
“He’s coming up from the city?” No, this couldn’t be happening. Not now. She had her book to write, a blog to build and her army liaison to manage. Maggie glanced out at the porch. Hunter was still there. And watching her through the glass window with interest.
She opened the fridge and pulled out three beers, then glanced at the kitchen clock. Five till noon. Close enough. She set two bottles on the counter and twisted off the top of the third. She’d bought the beer for one of Derrick’s visits and had forgotten about it until now. But if there was ever a reason to have a drink in the middle of the day, it was when your cheating ex threatened to drop by for a visit. Plus, she needed to keep Hunter occupied.
“Wait here, Liv.”
Maggie marched onto the porch and thrust the beer at Hunter, who, for the first time since he’d entered her home, looked off balance.
“For while you wait,” she said. “This shouldn’t take long.”
“Isn’t it a little early?” he asked.
“It’s been a long day.”
She retreated to the kitchen and sank onto a barstool. Removing the top of her beer, she took a sip, the wheels turning in her head.