Page 60 of Deserving Maddie

Maddie almost forgot Gabe was still in the kitchen with them. She went to hide the phone, but her reaction time was too slow.

"What the he . . . ck did you get my mother into?"

She would've loved to laugh at her son's attempt to censor himself if the situation weren't so shitty. There was nothing funny about Gabe seeing what some people were capable of.

"Nothing intentionally. My team is looking into a motorcycle club that's threatening a woman who is under our protection. I had no idea they would switch their focus to me or your mother."

"So what do you plan to do about it?" Gabe spat.

Why did her boy have to sound so grown up? He was only fifteen years old and didn't deserve to be thrust into the role of the man of the house.

"I'll be staying here until further notice, and as you heard Zack say, instead of one man sitting on the house, there will be two."

Ah, wait, what? Ray planned on staying here? As in, inside my house? Wasn't that something we should have discussed before Ray blurted it out?

"I hope you fit on the couch because there's no way you're sleeping in my mother's bed."

Gabe stomped out of the kitchen, leaving her alone with Ray.

"Well, that went splendidly." She let the sarcasm pour out. "Don't you think we should've discussed you staying here before you dropped that bomb on him?"

"Maybe, but I'm not going to apologize for wanting to do everything I can to keep you and the kids safe."

Gah! It was the way he included her kids. She couldn't stay mad at him when he said things like that.

"Gabe was serious. He doesn't want you in my bed."

"But what do you want?"

She bit her lip and thought back to how she felt when he first entered the kitchen. That was her gut reaction to having him near her.

"I want to be in your arms," she answered quietly.

Ray stepped into her space and pulled her to him, just like she imagined he wanted to when he first showed up. "Then that's exactly what I'm going to do."

The feel of his arms wrapped around her had the last of the tension melting away. Maddie had known it was what she wanted, but not how right it would feel. Never had she felt so safe as she did right now.

"Why don't you head up to bed and let me check things over down here? Then I'll be up to join you."

She walked upstairs in a bit of a daze. When she had left Ray earlier in the day, she didn't expect that she would be seeing him again so soon and not in her own house. Stepping into her room, Maddie took a quick look around. She wasn't a messy person on principle, but some nights when she was talking to Kat on the phone, things didn't always make it into the hamper. Tonight wasn't one of those nights, so she wasn't forced to do a quick cleanup. She also thanked the universe that she chose one of her nicer nighties to wear. As a single mother, sexy wasn't exactly a top priority, but she loved the feel of the silk ones.

Hanging her robe back up, she climbed into bed and waited for Ray. With a soft click, he closed her bedroom door and started to strip on his way over to the bed. In the soft glow of the moonlight, Maddie admired the way his body moved. The stretch and strain of his muscles with every step he made. When they first met, she assumed he worked every day in some sort of physical job. It never occurred to her that he spent most of his day behind a computer.

"Do you like what you see?" he said coyly.

"Very much so. It's a shame I won't get to take advantage of everything it has to offer tonight." She let her lip fall into a pout. "I don't want to push things the first night. Not with Gabe sleeping in the next room."

"There's no need to pout. I just want to hold you tonight and know that you're safe. Everything else can wait for another day."

"Gabe can't know."

The whole conversation was ridiculous. She was asking him to slip out so her teenage son didn't see that she had a sleepover.

"I'll be gone before he wakes up." He slid into bed and pulled her so that her back was tucked into the front of him. "Close your eyes and leave the worrying up to me. I'll take care of everything.”

Maddie fell asleep believing him. She knew without a shadow of a doubt Ray would take care of the situation, so she didn't have to. It was both a foreign feeling and a great one. She could get used to this. But just like with everything else in her life, she should've known nothing would ever be that simple.

Chapter 27

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