Page 26 of Secrets Bared
“Coming right up!” He hurried away from Maggie to the other side of the kitchen. He plated the fries with the roast beef sandwich and handed it to Katya. Maggie almost followed her through the swinging door, but he stopped her. He hadn’t sent her flowers, but he still wanted to do something for her. Luke was drawn to her, and something inside desperately wanted to spend more time with her.
“Maggie? Look, the offer for dinner still stands. We don’t have to go anywhere, you can come to my place and I can cook.” Mom would love the company. Not even a week in and she was starting to go stir crazy.
Maggie’s forehead scrunched as she considered his offer. Her thumb rubbed over her thick bottom lip. Luke’s gaze was drawn to that spot. Then she shook herself out of whatever rabbit hole she’d fallen down. “It’s not necessary, Luke. But thank you.” She patted his arm. “I need to get out there.”
Luke’s shoulders sagged, and he returned to his post to see another ticket hanging for him.
The curiosity burned. Who could have sent Maggie flowers? Was someone else interested in her? Luke’s throat grew tight. It shouldn’t matter. He didn’t plan to stay in Hawthorn Hills,and Maggie had just arrived. If she had an admirer of sorts, he shouldn’t stand in the way. But he could be her friend.
As the shift wore on, they fell into that comfortable rhythm. When Luke had a minute, he texted Felix about adding another player to thePathfindercampaign. Once he heard back, he had to wait for a lull in the Monday night dinner rush to talk to Maggie again.
“Hey, Mags!” He called into the pass-through.
“What’s up, Luke?” She lifted her chin to see him over the counter.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I told you, I’m not going to dinner with you out of some—”
Luke shook his head. “Not that. Do you want to come with me to Underhill and playPathfinderwith us? My friend Felix runs the game.”
She tilted her head at him. “The bookstore?”
He answered with a nod. “Yup. Underhill Books and Games. He runs a tabletop role-playing game on Tuesday nights. I’m just getting into it, myself. Want to join me?”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“All you need is a decent imagination and some dice. And I have plenty, you can use some of mine.” He’d built quite the collection when he and Felix were teens.
She peered at him over the counter, like she was trying to decipher an ancient text. “Why?”
“It’s fun. Unless you’re not into fantasy stuff.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip and Luke swallowed a groan. Why did she have to abuse that poor piece of flesh? “That might be fun.” Then her scrutiny returned. “I never would have taken you for a nerd, Luke.” The tilt on her lips gave away her ruse, though. She was teasing.
He laughed and gave her a wink. “Don’t let the workout routine fool you. We were the nerdiest.” Luke had to keep fit for his job as an agent.
Her giggle was music to his ears. “What time?”
“Felix closes the shop at seven so we usually start around then. His friend Grace will be there, too.” Just in case she got the wrong idea about the situation, he wanted to let her know another woman would be there as well. “What do you think?”
“Okay. I’ll give it a try.” Luke wanted to crow with delight. Even if he couldn’t keep her, he was drawn to her, and wanted to get to know her outside of work.
But he just grinned and kept that to himself. “I’ll let Felix know you’re in.”
Thenextdaywascool but clear, as Maggie walked across the town square after her shift at the diner. She’d stayed a bit later than normal, eating some of Shorty’s meatloaf so she wouldn’t be hungry for game night. Luke didn’t say anything about food or snacks.
Spring was on the way and she couldn’t help but feel that the longer days were symbolic of her coming out of a dark time in her life.
Underhill Books and Games had an interesting façade. Unlike the rest of the stores in the square, it had faux stones along the first floor and dark timbers outlining the window. Ironwork decorated the door, and the wrought-iron handle looked like a dragon. When she opened it, she stifled a giggle. The whole place had a renaissance fair vibe. Forest green walls peeked behind dark wood bookcases. Per Luke’s instructions, she headed for the staircase in the middle of the store and followed it down,immediately feeling like she’d walked into an ancient tavern. More faux stone decorated these walls, an electric fireplace gave off heat in the corner, and … were those axes crossed above it?
“Maggie! You made it!” A familiar voice called. Turning around, she spied Luke rising from a chair sat at what looked like a dining table. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”
Luke pointed around the table. “This is Felix, my friend I was telling you about.”
Felix lifted his head from behind a screen, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Hi, Maggie. Thanks for coming.”
A woman sitting next to him waved. “I’m Grace. Thanks for coming, we need more estrogen around here.”
