Page 1 of Can We Try?

Prologue

Lachlan

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Two by two, my best friends and their wives head up to bed. The fire is still roaring in the fireplace, giving off not only warmth but a comforting glow. Maggie and I remain on the loveseat with her feet in my lap, and I’m too damn comfortable to move.

“Are you going to bed on me too?” Maggie asks. Her voice slurs just slightly from the alcohol we’ve all consumed tonight.

“Nah, not yet.” Not only am I relaxed, but I’m enjoying her company. “This has been a good trip, getting away and just hanging out with everyone.”

“It has been. Who knew the men of Everlasting Ink were really just big, old snuggly bears.”

“Hey, we’re not all snugly bears,” I counter.

“Are you trying to tell me that you don’t like to snuggle?”

I shrug. “I don’t usually stick around long enough to find out.”

“Lachlan!” Maggie scolds me playfully.

“Would you rather I lie to you?” I ask, holding in my laughter. “I’ve never had someone in my life who I wanted to spend time with. The women who come on to me in bars want the bad boy. They don’t care about anything but hooking up with the guy covered in ink, who puts it down on people’s skin for a living.”

“That’s sad,” Maggie says softly.

“It is what it is.” You can’t miss what you’ve never had, right?

“Don’t you want more?” she asks.

I give myself some time to mull over her question before answering. “Maybe. Watching the guys with their wives, yeah, I can see the appeal, but I don’t know. It might happen for me and it might not.”

“You have to manifest it.” She grins. “And maybe get some practice.”

“Practice?” I huff out a laugh. “Trust me, Mags. I’m good.” I wink at her, and I like the slight blush that coats her cheeks.

“Not that.” She rolls her big blue eyes that remind me of a cloudless sky. “Snuggling.”

“I get plenty of snuggle time with the kids.” I know that’s not what she’s referring to, but that’s the extent of my snuggle sessions these days. Hell, ever.

“It’s different,” Maggie insists.

“So what you’re telling me is that you’re clingy after sex?” I watch as the slight blush turns to a bright red coasting across her cheeks.

“No. I mean, yes, I like the intimacy of it. I think cuddling can sometimes feel more intimate than sex. That’s precisely why my ex hated it. He was a closed off, narcissistic asshole.”

“Fuck him,” I say, feeling the words as they wrap around my being. “You deserve better.” A protective feeling washes over me.

“Yeah,” she agrees softly. “It took me some time to believe that, after all the shit he put into my head. Sometimes, I still struggle with believing it.”

“What did he do?” There is a demand to my voice that even I don’t recognize. I try to mask it by picking up her foot that’s resting on my lap, and start to massage.

“Oh, that’s… heavenly.”

I chuckle. “Good. I’ll keep going and you tell me what the fuck off of an ex said to you.”

“You know, I’m a nurse, right? And that I spend hours on my feet. If talking is all it takes for you to keep up with that, then you better settle in.”

I grin. I love her sass. “Good to know. But if you don’t say the words I want to hear, this stops,” I say, digging into the arch of her foot. She moans, a deep throaty sound that has my cock twitching in my sweatpants. I only hope she tones it down, because I can’t hide what that sound does to me in these. I’m a man, after all, and Maggie, well, she’s beautiful. It’s a natural reaction.

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