Page 22 of The Locksmith's Promise

“Are tulips still your favourite?” he murmured.

His question slid over me like a lover’s caress even as my mind went on red alert.

Because he remembered.

I raised a trembling hand to my lips.

“Tell me more about this key. Does it come with a house and a door?” I teased.

He smiled. “Sunshine yellow. Do you want a flowerbed?”

“Tulips and wild roses,” I murmured.

He nodded. “Consider it done. We’ll have two kids, and a dog named Jeff.”

“Mags,” he whispered.

Whirling away from him, I exclaimed, “I don’t know where Corwin got to. You want to sit down?” I continued shrilly as I gestured toward the couch. “We’ll give him a few minutes and then I’ll check on him. He might be nervous.”

Without waiting for his answer, I curled up into a ball on the chair.

He settled his large frame onto my couch and pushed his sleeves up, revealing strong, corded forearms.

Arms that had wrapped around me.

Hands that had touched me in places and ways no one else ever had, before or since.

My breasts tightened with longing, and I swallowed hard, unable to tear my eyes away.

“And what about you, Mags? Are you nervous?”

7

Mini-Me

Baxter

Her eyes darted up to meet mine, then she deflated like a hot air balloon and admitted, “A little.”

I offered her a smile and wiped my palms down the thighs of my jeans. Sitting on the far side of the couch, as far from her chair as I could to give her some room, I assured her, “There’s no need to be.”

She winced and closed her eyes, tucking her pink painted toes under her.

She’d always loved to be barefoot. I was glad to see not everything had changed.

“You must be furious,” she murmured.

“Not with you,” I clipped.

I’d spent hours the night before going over every minute of those last days along with every second of our reunion and came to the only possible conclusion. She hadn’t left me out on purpose.

“Never with you,” I emphasized.

The relief on her pretty face pierced me.

I’d caused her more than enough grief for one lifetime. I couldn’t even imagine what the past ten years had been like on her own with a child.

We turned as one toward the sound of Corwin’s bedroom door creaking open as Maggie sucked in a nervous breath.

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