Page 15 of Protecting Maggie
“Julie’s great. And so are all her friends, who I’m sure you’ll meet sooner or later. Caroline and all the others are wives of former SEALs. We’ve all learned so much from them. And knowing they’ve made it, have successful relationships and families with men who did the same thing that our boyfriends do? It’s reassuring.”
“So…Preacher, huh?” Wren asked.
Maggie frowned at the other woman.
“You and Preacher?” she clarified.
She quickly shook her head. “Oh, no. I’ve only met him once.”
“And yet, he arranged to get your car fixed, gave us your number, and he suggested the job with Julie…” Wren said, her voice trailing off suggestively.
But Maggie shook her head again, speaking more firmly this time. “No. It’s not like that. I just met the man yesterday. I don’t know anything about him. That’s not what this is.At all. I’m not looking for a boyfriend. Not that he’s even interested in me that way.” It felt as if she was protesting too much, but the last thing she wanted was these women thinking there could be anything between her and their friend.
Maybe that’s why they’d invited her out today. Because they assumed she and Shawn had something going on?
Disappointment hit her hard. Ofcoursethere was a catch to the invitation to lunch.
“Preacher’s different,” Remi mused. “He’s still badass,like all the guys on the team. But he’s…reserved. He doesn’t flirt. Doesn’t go to the bars to pick up women. From what Vincent has told me, he’s never even known him to have a girlfriend. So for him to have taken the lead in helping you out…it means something.”
Maggie wasn’t interested in hearing about Shawn’s love life—or lack thereof. “You don’t understand. As soon as I can, I’m leaving California. I’m not looking for any kind of relationship.”
Wren and Josie both sat back in the booth, looks of surprise and…disappointment…on their faces.
Shit. Maggie hadn’t meant to infer that she didn’t want their friendship, but it appeared that was exactly what she’d done.
“Oh, we get it,” Remi said, gesturing to the other two women. “None of us were interested in a relationship when we met our guys either. I met Vincent when we were stranded miles off the shore of Hawaii. We were left to die in the ocean. Thelastthing I was thinking about was any kind of relationship with the guy who was stranded with me. And Wren was drugged while on a date, and Safe happened to be there to help her. And Josie…” She paused and reached out to squeeze the other woman’s hand. “She was left to rot in an Iranian prison, where Blink was dragged into the cell next to hers as a POW.
“Trust me, none of us expected, or were looking for, any kind of relationship either. We were all simply trying to survive. But here’s the thing—sometimes the exact thing you need shows up when you least expect it. You might nothave known you needed someone at your side, but suddenly he’s there, and suddenly you can’t imagine living one more day without him.”
Maggie swallowed hard. She felt horrible for these women. She’d been feeling so sorry for herself for being in jail, but what Wren, Josie, and Remi had been through sounded like it was so much worse. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No, don’t be sorry,” Wren told her. “You and Preacher might not turn out to be anything other than friends. But who doesn’t need more friends?”
She was right. Maggie had been so worried about keeping Shawn at arm’s length, she hadn’t considered he could be another potential friend. Look at her right now. She was having lunch with some women she’d never met, yet already genuinely liked. Who was to say she wouldn’t end up feeling the same way about Shawn? She could certainly use some more people on her side.
The fact that he was in the Navy was hard to overlook, but the odds of Shawn and Roman knowing each other were slim…she hoped.
“You’re right,” she said, doing her best to smile reassuringly at the others.
“Of course we are,” Remi said with a grin.
Maggie’s phone vibrated in her purse at her hip, and thinking it might be Shawn—it was unlikely it would be anyone else, since the only other people who had her number besides Adina and her probation officer weresitting at the table around her—she reached into her purse to see who was calling.
It was from an unknown number.
“Do you guys mind if I get this?” Maggie asked. If it was her probation officer, she couldn’t afford to blow off the call. And if it was someone calling for a ride, she’d need to tell them she wasn’t working at the moment.
“Of course not.”
“Go for it.”
“No.”
Clicking on the green button, Maggie brought the phone up to her ear. “Hello?”
“Heard you got out. Congrats. If you say anything about me to anyone, you’ll regret it. If you try to pin what happened on me again, you’ll find out just how much of a peon you are. Keep your mouth shut, bitch.”
Then the line went dead.
