Page 47 of Protecting Maggie
Maggie rolled her eyes. “No. I’m sore. I was being serious. You didn’t get much rest.”
The lightness in his expression disappeared in a heartbeat. “I hurt you?” he asked.
“No. Not at all. But I told you it’s been a while for me. Obviously. And you’re not a small man.”
The frown didn’t leave his face. “I’m sorry.”
“Shawn,” Maggie said, leaning closer to him and putting a hand over his. “I’m not complaining. I’m just saying that a few hours’ break for me wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“Right. Tonight, you can teach me what you like when I go down on you. Then maybe I’ll masturbate and come on your pussy and belly. That should give you a decent break.”
Maggie felt herself blushing. “Holy crap, Shawn. I had no idea such a dirty talker lurked inside you.”
“Neither did I. You bring it out in me,” he said with a smirk.
Maggie couldn’t help but return his smile. And she couldn’t stop the image of him kneeling between her legs, stroking himself, from flashing through her brain.
“What do you want to do today?” Shawn asked, smiling as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about. “I need to do some laundry, got a duffle bag full of dirty shit that would probably stand up and walk by itself if it got a chance.”
And just like that, Maggie’s mellow mood vanished. “We need to talk,” she blurted.
Shawn turned to her. “Okay. You know I’m always here for you. Last night…rather, this morning…it meant something to me.Youmean something to me. I’m not a man who hops into bed with women, which you already know. I want to be exclusive, Maggie. I want to be your boyfriend, your man. I’ll do everything in my power to stand by your side, support you, and be your sounding post when you need one.”
He was killing her. Because she wanted that too. All of it. But there was a very real stumbling block to them becoming an official couple. And she wanted to talk to him about it. Tell him about Roman. “I want that too,” she said. “I want to be your girlfriend, and being exclusive goes without saying.”
“If you don’t want to have my baby immediately, one of us will need to do something about birth control,” he added as nonchalantly as if they were talking about whatthe weather was going to be that week. He met her gaze and continued. “Because I have a feeling I’m going to want to be inside you as much as you’ll let me. I’ll wear condoms if you want. Though it’s probably ridiculous of me to admit how much I enjoy coming insideandon you. Okay, that was weird, wasn’t it? I can tell by the look on your face that it was weird.”
Maggie couldn’t help but giggle. “A little. But if you’re weird, so am I, because I like it when I can feel your come dripping down my thighs when I stand up. And I appreciate you offering to cover the birth control. Not every man will do that. They’d simply expect me to take care of it.”
“If you get pregnant, it affects both of us,” Shawn said firmly. “And it shouldn’t only be up to the woman. You tell me what you want. I’ll do what you decide.”
“I can go on the pill. Or get a shot.”
“Okay. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll figure something else out. In the meantime, I’ll get condoms so we don’t have to abstain while we wait for you to get an appointment with a doctor.”
This man. How’d she get so lucky?
Wait…she wasn’t lucky. Not at all. She’d spent two years behind bars because of howunluckyshe was. Especially in love. That thought sobered her.
“Are you done?” she asked, gesturing to his plate.
Shawn nodded, and Maggie immediately stood and grabbed his plate. The food she’d eaten suddenly sat like a lump in her belly. She needed to get this discussion out ofthe way. The sooner Shawn found out who her ex was, the sooner he could get with his connections to see what he might be able to do about mitigating the threats. And he needed to know who was behind his team being sent on that worthless mission. Know that the possibility of them being sent to really horrible places was on the horizon, simply because Roman was a vindictive asshole.
She put their dishes in the sink and turned to go back to Shawn—and gasped when she ran into him. He’d followed and was standing right behind her.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I didn’t hear you.”
“Iama SEAL,” Shawn said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Come on. I don’t like how stressed you look all of a sudden.” He grabbed her hand and led her toward the couch. He sat and pulled her down next to him. They were touching from knee to hip, and he had his arm around her, his hand resting on her opposite hip.
Maggie would’ve preferred some space between them for this conversation, but at the same time, she loved being so close to him. She was a mess, and all she wanted to do was get this done so they could move on.
“I’m ready to tell you about my ex,” she blurted.
“Okay. I’m ready to listen without judgement,” Shawn said calmly.
Taking a deep breath, praying this wasn’t going to backfire, Maggie started to speak.
“I thought he was great at first. He was so gentlemanly. Taking me out to eat at the fanciest places. Wining and dining me. He honestly made me believe he cared aboutme. He’d show up at the pharmacy where I worked with lunch. He complimented me all the time. Thinking back, I realize now that it was over the top. Too much, too soon…and I can’t believe I fell for it. But I did.
