Kissing Maggie Silver (13 page)

* * *

Ruairi was leaning against the doorframe when she opened the door. He was wearing black jeans again but this time with a white polo shirt that showed off his tan skin, the width of his shoulders, the breadth of his chest, and the muscular contours of his upper arms. She stared at him, mesmerized by his tawny good looks and the smile in his hazel eyes. It was a smile that faded as he looked at her and tried to pretend he hadn’t noticed her soft curves, the full pout of her lips, and the tentative promise in her eyes.

It was a long time before either of them spoke
and when they did they both spoke at the same time. Then they laughed and the tension broke.

“Are you ready for today’s mystery tour?” he asked at the same moment that the telephone rang yet again.

Gesturing for him to follow her, she hurried back inside the house to answer it. It was Jenny, again.

“The park at
midday,” she said. “It’s all arranged. All the children will be there. Don’t worry about bringing a picnic, we’ll have plenty of food.”

“I…
Jenny what’s this all about? I didn’t agree to anything. I said I’d call you back after I’d spoken to Ruairi,” Maggie protested, hot color flaming her cheeks.

“Well you’re too late.
We went ahead and organized it without you. As it’s such a lovely day the men are all taking the afternoon off work, including Mark. He wants to spend some time with the girls because he says he hasn’t seen enough of them lately.”

And whose fault is that Maggie wanted to shout into the phone.
He could have come home from the hospital every night to put them to bed, and then gone back again later. She didn’t say it though. She knew when she was beaten. If Mark was going to the picnic then it was up to her to make sure that Sophie and Amy were too.

“We’ll be there,” she said, and banged the phone back into the receiver.

“Problems?” Ruairi, still looking just as devastating, was now propped against the kitchen counter.

Briefly she explained the situation to him.
He stared at her, started to say something, changed his mind, and then gave a shrug of resignation.

“The park it will have to be then.”

“You don’t have to come. I can take them in my car if you wouldn’t mind giving me a lift home to collect it.” She shook her head, trying not to let her frustration show.

“I know I don’t have to, but if it means I
can spend another day with you then I want to.” Without allowing himself think about the implications of what he was about to do, he moved around the end of the kitchen counter so that it was no longer between them, and took her in his arms.

“This is getting ridiculous Maggie!
When Sophie and Amy are not demanding your full attention then the rest of the Silver family is outflanking me. What does it take to get some private down time with a girl around here?”

“Depends on the girl,” she whispered, raising her face to his.

A sound that was halfway between a sigh and a groan escaped him as he captured her mouth, and for a long moment he was only aware of the questing softness of her lips and the sensuous movement of her arms as she slid them up and around his neck. For one blissful moment it was just the two of them. Then it was over.

“Ruairi’s here! Ruairi’s here!” Sophie burst into the kitchen with a gleeful shout, closely followed by her small sister.

“Hello you two,” he released Maggie and caught the little girls to him with an upward swing of his arms. They squealed with excitement and when he put them down, begged for more.

“Not now,” he said.
“Later, when we’re at the park. We’re going for a picnic with all your cousins and your aunties and uncles.”

“Hurray! Hurray! Hurray.” The children started to run around the kitchen in circles, too charged with excited energy to stand still.

“Will Emma be there?” Sophie asked.
Emma was her oldest cousin and Sophie’s biggest ambition was to be like her.

“Everyone will be there, even Daddy. So hurry up and find your sandals.
We’ll take your bathing costumes this time too so that you can paddle in the stream without getting your clothes wet.” Maggie had recovered her poise even though she could still feel the pressure of Ruairi’s hands around her waist and the warmth of his lips on hers. Not allowing herself to think what the kiss might mean, she hurried to collect the things they would need for their trip to the park.

By the time she returned to the kitchen carrying towels and bathing suits Ruairi had lifted both little girls onto the kitchen counter and was fastening their sandals.
She smiled her thanks, checked they had both been to the bathroom, and then lifted them down and shooed them towards the front door. Stuffing everything into June’s capacious bag, she followed them.

In another minute the door was locked and Ruairi was strapping the children in the car for what seemed like the umpteenth time in the past few days.
He straightened up as Maggie opened the trunk and threw the bag in, along with a picnic blanket and cotton jumpers for the girls.

“I mean
to do that again just as soon as I can get you alone,” he told her.

She smiled up at him, her heart suddenly singing.
“I know,” she said.

* * *

The picnic in the park was fun. Everybody enjoyed it. The children because they always had a good time when they were together, especially when Auntie Maggie was around to play with them, and it was even better now that Ruairi was there too; all the adults because they felt they were doing the right thing for Mark and June and the children, the sort of thing Cathy Silver would have organized if she hadn’t been away on a cruise; and Mark, because being there assuaged the guilt he felt for spending so much time at the hospital with June and the baby when he should have been helping Maggie a bit more with Sophie and Amy.

But most of all
, Maggie enjoyed it. Irritated as she was with her family’s well-intentioned interference, she now knew that the message she had seen in Ruairi’s eyes was real, and it was enough. Soon June would be home, and her mother too, and then she and Ruairi would be able to get to know one another properly without the past getting in the way, because when he had kissed her it had been quite obvious that her childhood was the last thing on his mind. She pushed all thoughts of his departure to Mexico right out of her head. Time enough for that later.

With a shout of laughter she kicked off her shoes and chased her nephews and nieces all over the park wh
ile her brothers and sisters-in-law looked on fondly, happy that they were helping out.

Ruairi watched too, from behind his sunglasses.
Officially he was sitting with the men, talking about male things, and to all outward appearances he was indeed having a deep conversation about the latest cricket scores and the likely future success of the English cricket team. It was only taking a fraction of his attention though. The rest of it was on Maggie as she splashed in the shallow stream with Sophie and Amy, holding tightly to their hands to make sure they didn’t slip. Then he watched her help them to collect twigs and feathers and some of the leathery leaves which were already beginning to fall from the trees thanks to a prolonged hot spell. He saw her fashion them into a boat and then she was lost in the melee as the rest of the children joined her, demanding she show them how to do it too.

“I think Maggie could do with a bit of help,” he said, pushing himself up from the grass and walking casually across to where she sat on the bank of the shallow stream.

“Don’t you believe it,” Peter called after him. “She loves it all as much as the children.”

Ruairi ignored him as he sat down beside her. “Hello you,” he said.

She smiled at him. “You’ve escaped then?”

“Mmm.
Ouch! I didn’t see that coming,” he gasped for breath as Amy jumped on him, and after that the rest of the afternoon was spent refereeing boat races.

It doesn’t matter
though, thought Maggie, glancing across to where Ruairi was concentrating on a minor repair. Soon we’ll go home and the children will go to bed, and Mark will go to the hospital to see June, and then we’ll be able to talk. She wouldn’t let herself think about what else they might do. What it would actually be like to kiss Ruairi again without any fear of interruption.

And when
he turned towards her and saw her looking at him she knew, from his smile, that he was thinking exactly the same thing, and she felt her heart begin to turn slow somersaults in her chest.

It wasn’t to be though, for as soon as everyone began to make a move to leave, Mark came across to where she and Ruairi were sitting.

“If you’ll give me the keys to your car I’ll move the children’s car seats back into mine and take everyone home,” he told Ruairi. “I’m not going to see June tonight. I popped in before I came to the park and she said she wants to rest so she won’t be too tired when I take Sophie and Amy in to see her tomorrow.”

He turned to Maggie then. “She said to tell you she’d love to see you tomorrow
too if you can manage it. Once Sophie and Amy have seen the baby, it’s open house, so I’ve said I’ll babysit while you visit her in the evening.”

“Of course I’d love to see her and the baby,” she said.
“Everyone would. We’ve just been waiting for the all clear.”

“I know!
And she feels bad about having kept everyone away but she’s just been too worried to cope with having visitors until now.”

“It’s okay Mark. Everyone understands.” Maggie touched his arm sympathetically, Ruairi forgotten for a moment when she saw the strained expression shadowing her brother’s eyes and realized he was still traumatized by the events of the past few days.

Ruairi, however, had not forgotten Maggie. If he had thought he was frustrated before, when he was trying to keep his distance, it was nothing to how he felt now he’d declared his feelings. Well, started to declare them if the truth be told, because there was no time to finish anything in the busy chaos that was the Silver family. And unless he got some time alone with her soon he would never be able to sort out the muddle of his emotions, or find out how serious she was about him. It was obvious from the strain on Mark’s face, however, that he still needed her support, so he searched around for a possible solution.

“Why don’t I collect a takeaway for the three of us for later?” he said.

“Thanks but I’d rather pass tonight if you don’t mind,” Mark shook his head as he collected his small daughters and began to herd them towards his car. “I’ve been living on fast food for days at the hospital so I’m looking forward to some of Maggie’s home cooking. Besides, I need to catch up with work. There are a lot of emails that I must answer before I start my paternity leave.”

* * *

While Mark sorted out Sophie and Amy, Maggie and Ruairi walked back to where the others were clearing up so Maggie could retrieve her belongings. Although there was a sizeable space between them they could both feel the tingle of attraction. It’s almost as if we’re magnetized, Maggie thought. If I took one step towards him I’m sure we’d fuse together. The thought made her stomach flip. So did Mark’s plans, but in a bad way.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice low.

“So am I!” The expression on Ruairi’s face was unexpectedly grim.

“Will I…will we see you tomorrow?” she asked, suddenly less sure of herself.
Had her family wrecked a relationship between her and Ruairi before it even started? Was he so fed up with being hijacked that he was just going to walk away?

“Tomorrow you’re going to see Jo,” he reminded her.
“And then in the evening you’re going to see June and the baby.”

“The day after then?” Any pride she might have had, had gone.

He looked at her and she could see he
was struggling to suppress his irritation. “Maybe, but no plans. Not even a time. Instead I’ll call you first thing in the morning. That way we might avoid tempting fate, or at least giving your family a chance to disrupt our agenda.”

She nodded, too disappointed to smile, and the last thing Ruairi saw before he turned away was her bottom lip trembling.

Chapter Eleven

It was a long evening for Ruairi. His mother was still visiting friends and would not return to the hotel until the following afternoon; there was nothing that he wanted to watch on the huge, flat screen television that dominated the hotel suite; he couldn’t concentrate on reading; and he wasn’t feeling sociable enough to call anyone. So, with the aim of keeping his mind away from Maggie for at least an hour or two, he decided to tackle his own backlog of work and dug his laptop out of his half unpacked luggage.

Two hours later he was still busy when a new email pinged onto the screen.
Recognizing the sender he opened it immediately, read it, re-read it, and then read it a third time. As soon as he’d answered it he sat back and stared at the blank television screen on the other side of the room. He needed to do something. If he’d had company he’d have suggested a celebratory drink. As it was he called the only person who he could think of who would appreciate how he was feeling. He called Jo.