Page 20 of Nick: His to Claim

Too late, she thought, butallowwas the final straw. Perversely, Maggie, who had not really wanted to go anywhere in the first place, found herself determined now and changed direction so fast that Nick lost her for a moment. Snatching up her purse, she stalked toward the back door cursing the high heels that slowed her down.

For a large man, Nick moved surprisingly fast when he had to, and he was planted in the doorway before she even got close. The look on his face was fierce, and she knew she’d never get past him. They faced each other, neither giving an inch. Maggie—determined to go on her imaginary date just to prove she could and Nick—equally determined to stop her.

Suddenly the whole thing struck Maggie as bizarrely funny. Poor Nick was trying to save her virtue by forbidding her from doing something she had absolutely no intention of doing. They’d been caught making out like a couple of sex-crazed teenagers by their son, and now she was fighting tooth and nail to do something she really didn’t want to do.

Maggie dropped her head into her hands and started to laugh. The night had turned into a ridiculous fiasco, and it had all started with one little white lie, followed by another, and another. Maggie decided right then that, while she might not tell Nick everything, she would try not to lie to him again.

Nick was not exactly pleased by the sudden turn of events.

“I see nothing funny in this, Maggie,” he told her firmly, definitely sounding more like her father every minute, which only made Maggie laugh harder.

By the time Nick lost his patience and threw Maggie over his shoulder, tears were streaming down her face and she was howling with laughter. Nick stomped out of the kitchen and across the living room, mumbling about hysterical females.

Two heads poked out of the den and watched open-mouthed. Caitlin, he noted had fallen asleep with the game paddle dangling from her fingers.

“Don’t be alarmed, guys,” Nick spoke reassuringly to the boys. “Your mother is having a little meltdown. She’ll be fine.”

Maggie saw them upside down and tried to push the tangled hair out of her eyes. She was still laughing. The boys grinned back and shrugged their shoulders.

Nick took the stairs two at a time and strode down the hall, setting Maggie on her feet outside of her bedroom.

“Stop it, Maggie,” he ordered. “There’s no need to get hysterical just because you didn’t get your own way.”

Maggie sagged against the wall and wiped the tears from her face. His superior attitude still had the power to annoy her, even though she brought this whole nightmare on herself. She pulled down her dress and tried to compose herself, feeling more foolish by the second.

“I’ll be giving Morrissey a call to let him know exactly what I think of him and his ways. What kind of man asks a woman out when he is getting married in a few weeks? I can’t believe the gall of that guy.”

Laughing suddenly seemed the farthest thing from her mind. Maggie knew she would have to confess her lie. It was entirely unfair to put poor Tim in the middle of this, and she’d never be able to look him or his new wife in the eye once they became aware of her deception.

She wracked her brain for another way out. There was no way in hell she wanted to admit this lie to Nick, partly because she didn’t want him to know she never really had a date, but mostly because she vividly recalled the night she’d been caught lying to him. Even though her bottom had been back to normal by the next day, a spanking from Nick was at the top of her list ofthings to avoid at all costs.

Nick watched, puzzled as Maggie went from trying not to laugh, to worrying her bottom lip. A shiver went through her, and before he could blink she threw herself into his arms, holding him tightly and resting her head on his chest. His strong arms closed around her, and he kissed the top of her head. Whatever was wrong with her, he could sure get used to it he thought, breathing in her delicate scent.

“Magpie, what’s wrong, honey? I don’t hold you responsible. Obviously, you would never have agreed to go out with him if you had known he was getting married. I don’t want you worrying about this, baby. I will take care of Morrissey in my own way. I?—”

Maggie’s fingers came up to softly cover Nick’s lips. He kissed and nibbled on them gently, completely robbing her mind of what she wanted to say as his hand soothed her by rubbing up and down her back. For a few moments she let herself enjoy the security of his embrace, sinking into him completely and sighing. His heartbeat was strong against her ear, and she wanted nothing more than to go back in time before she’d created this mess. Good grief. How did she get herself in these predicaments? Lies, lies, and more lies. Not big whopping ones, but little white ones that were probably going to be the cause of a not so white bottom if she wasn’t careful.

Nick felt her shiver again. Something was not right here, and he could see that he was more than likely going to have to pry it out of her. Putting her away from him, his hands firmly on her arms, he gave her a little shake until she looked up at him.

“Maggie is there something you want to tell me?” he asked softly, not wanting to get tough with her unless he had to.

Maggie looked deeply into his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Not exactly want to tell you, but have to tell you,” she responded backing away slowly until he was no longer holding onto her. “You see, Nick, it was all a misunderstanding, sort of… I didn’treallyhave a date tonight with Tim Morrissey. In fact, I didn’t haveanydate tonight… ” she continued, putting her hands behind her and very slowly backing up to her bedroom door. “Nick, I swear to you, I have no idea why I would tell such an outrageous fib but well… sometimes you just make me so mad I don’t even know what I’m saying.”

Nick’s jaw dropped. His hands were fisted on his hips and he glowered at her.

“Let me get this straight. You lie to me, and then you have the nerve to blame it on me?” he asked through gritted teeth. “Do you know how close I was to socking that jerk right in the nose? He not only would have been perfectly innocent, but completelyclueless as to why. I would have been arrested!” Nick ran a hand through his hair, frustrated beyond belief. As he took a step towards her, her hand closed over the doorknob and she quickly backed into her room and shut the door. The click of the lock was the last straw.

“Maggie, open this damn door now,” he hissed, testing the lock and wondering how much noise it would make if he just kicked it in. If the kids weren’t in the house he’d…

Maggie huddled on the other side and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now, Nick,” she spoke firmly through the door, much braver knowing he couldn’t get to her. “Let’s be reasonable about this.”

“Well that would work for me,” he shot back, “But you wouldn’t have any sense if someone handed you a bucket full of it.”

Maggie flinched and felt her face go red at the insult. “I’m really sorry about fibbing to you Nicky, and I promise I won’t do it again.” God, now she was regressing, she hadn’t called him Nicky since high school. Ugh! “Couldn’t we just forget about this little… misunderstanding and… maybe you should go out for a beer or something,” she suggested, or two or six,she thought. “Maybe you need to cool down a little. I hate it when you’re mad at me,” she sniffed, suddenly feeling very bad about the whole thing and even sorrier for herself.