Page 95 of Protecting Josie
“Nate?” she asked, putting her hands on his chest and leaning into him.
“Yeah?”
“Put on a shirt so you don’t burn yourself,” she said with a smile, then turned and headed for the bathroom. Her giggle echoed in the room around him.
Life would never be boring with his woman. She’d keep him on his toes. And Blink had no problem with that. None.
EPILOGUE
Maggie took a deep breath the moment she stepped outside.
Freedom.
It was something she’d never take for granted again.
The one year and ten months she’d spent behind bars was hell. And nothing she’d been prepared for. It didn’t matter how many times she claimed she hadn’t done what she’d been accused of—no one had believed her. And why would they? With the evidence against her, she’d known she was fucked from the very start.
Resentment welled inside her once more. She wanted nothing more than to get revenge against the man who’d set her up, had her thrown in jail. But she knew better than most that he wasn’t a man to fuck with. If she’d thought the last twenty-two months were bad, they’d benothingif she snitched.
No, the only thing she could do was try to get on with her life.
A car pulled into the small parking lot outside the building where Maggie had spent almost two years of her life locked up. The woman behind the wheel smiled and waved.
Grateful for her friend Adina, Maggie hurried down the steps of the prison.
Adina had gotten out of the car, and now she greeted Maggie with a huge hug. Nothing had ever felt better. Maggie had been starved of basic human contact while incarcerated.
“I’m so happy you’re out!” Adina said.
“You and me both,” Maggie told her with a small smile.
“Come on. I’ve ordered takeout for your first night, and I have my guest room all set up for you. I have a bunch of stuff to tell you before I head out next week.”
“Head out?” Maggie asked as she got into the passenger side of the older-model Honda Accord.
“Yeah,” Adina said with a small frown. “I didn’t want to stress you out before you were released, but I’m leaving for a six-month deployment next week.”
Shit. Maggie did her best not to panic.
“As I told you before, you’re more than welcome to stay at my apartment for as long as you want to get back on your feet,” Adina said quickly. “It’ll be nice to have someone there looking after the place while I’m gone.”
Maggie swallowed hard. She and Adina had met just a few months before…the incident, as she was calling it. And it was a huge surprise when the woman had actually kept in touch while she’d been behind bars. Maggie had lived for her letters. All her other friends had disappeared. The fact that Adina had offered her a place to stay when she got out…it meant the world to Maggie.
But free rent or not, California was expensive. She needed to find a job. And now that she was a felon, Maggie had no doubt that would be easier said than done.
That was a worry for tomorrow. Today, she would revel in the fact that she was free. Away from the hell she’d been living for almost two years.
“Thanks for coming to get me,” Maggie told her friend.
“Of course! You didn’t deserve to be there in the first place.”
She didn’t. And it felt amazing to have at least one person believe that she hadn’t done what she’d been accused of. She didn’t even think her own lawyer believed her when she’d told him she’d been set up.
“I wish we had more time together before I have to leave. I was going to set you up.”
Maggie recoiled as if she’d been struck. “No! No set ups. I’m going to be single for the rest of my life. The very last thing I want is any kind of boyfriend.”
“Ever?”
