Maddie and Wyn (3 page)

Devlin’s brow scrunched. “I never had that problem. Before I lived with Garrick I almost always had Maddie with me. There wasn’t much time before that when I was alone.”

With Devlin’s mention of his little sister, something the guy didn’t do much anymore around Wyn, Wyn paused with his second slice of pizza. A new twist in Wyn’s stomach killed his appetite for a second time in minutes. “How is Maddie doing these days?” He tried to keep his tone casual, even though his body had instinctually become alert. “Now that she’s running the garage I don’t cross paths with her at E and Aidan’s place anymore.”
Which is probably how she prefers it
.

“She’s doing well, but she’s tired. The responsibility is immense, but Garrick tells me she’s doing a real good job.” Devlin suddenly grinned, and a soft chuckle followed. “If only her ghost would let her get some sleep at night.”

Delicacy forgotten, Wyn leaned forward in his chair and uttered, “What?” His brain had heard the words, but he could not fathom them put together in the sentence that had just left Devlin’s mouth. “What the hell did you just say?”

Devlin repeated, “Maddie says she has a ghost.”

Every cop instinct in Wyn pushed to full attention, like a wolfhound on a new scent. “What the hell makes her think that?”

“Open doors or garden gate every once in a while, noises sometimes, a few things missing, but every time she goes to investigate there’s nobody there. No trace that anybody was ever there.”

“For her to then automatically assume it’s a ghost is insane reasoning.” Eating no longer even remotely an option, Wyn tossed some cash on the table and shot to stand. “Come on.” He didn’t pause for Devlin to follow. “We’re going out there right now.”

Devlin rushed after Wyn, on his heels. “Wait, Wyn. No. I shouldn’t have said anything.” In the parking lot, he grabbed Wyn’s arm and pulled him around. “She wouldn’t want you to know.”

His skin buzzing too hot, Wyn yanked his arm away from Devlin. “Yeah, no shit she wouldn’t. But this is a potentially dangerous situation. With all the rooms in that place, she probably has a goddamned squatter she doesn’t even know about, not a ghost. I’m involved now.” Wyn stood his ground, knowing his height and build were more menacing than Devlin’s impressive, athletic six-foot frame. “There’s no fucking way I’m ignoring this.”

Glancing around the half-filled parking lot, Devlin lowered his voice and leaned closer to Wyn. “Garrick swept the house when Maddie told us about it.” Caution filled the man’s voice, and Wyn knew it was because there was always some fear when hinting at Garrick’s unspoken, secret past. Wyn was the only person in Redemption to which the two men had even offered a tiny bit of that history, of which Wyn suspected involved the law in some way. “There’s nothing there.”

Wyn’s gut had led him into a life in law enforcement, and he didn’t intend to ignore the instincts shouting inside him right now. “I’m sweeping it again. That’s just the way it is.” He spun and strode to the driver’s side door of his marked vehicle, decision made, no matter what his friend argued.

“Fuck, she’s going to kill me,” Wyn heard Devlin mutter, just before the guy shouted, “I’m right behind you!”

Wyn started his car and tore out of town. Corsini’s was so respected for its history of honest, quality work for a fair price, it didn’t even have to be in the heart of town. People took their cars and trucks to the outskirts of Redemption, the inconvenience worth it because they knew they wouldn’t get ripped off, and would have a respectable, friendly exchange of services. And now Maddie owned a piece of it. And lived all by herself on the land, in an old house way too big for one person.
Which is why it’s entirely possible she’s not there by herself.

Wyn’s heart thumped hard and fast, pounding through his uniform shirt. He didn’t know if those extra beats came out of a healthy fear for Maddie’s safety or from anticipation at seeing the vibrant young woman and finally having a legitimate reason to go toe-to-toe with her again.

* * * *

Maddie, arms crossed tightly against her chest, stared up at Wyn Ashworth as if he’d grown another head. “Are you kidding me?” She was so shocked to have this man standing in front of her at all, let alone demanding entry to her home, she almost couldn’t produce comprehensible sound. “You really think I’m going to let you just waltz into my house and search it?”

“Maddie, this is serious!” Wyn, his whole, big body wide and expressive, took over her cramped office. “Do you get that? You could be in very real danger.”

Launching up on her tiptoes, Maddie got right in Wyn’s face. “Keep your voice down, and don’t talk to me with that tone.” She kept her voice low, but each clipped word was dripped in a shrieking scream. “Not at all, but especially not here. Not around my men.”

Wyn glanced toward the windows that showed the garage. His cheeks turned ruddy, but he still shot back, “Then let’s take it outside. Let’s take it over to your house, and the issue will resolve itself.”

Rather than answer, Maddie swung to her brother and glared him six feet into the ground. “I can’t believe you told him.”

Devlin muttered, “I’m sorry, sis.” He at least had the grace to look embarrassed. “We were talking and it slipped out. I tried to stop him, but he had his own transportation and was determined.”

Before Maddie could respond, Garrick knocked on the wall and then swung open the half-closed door. His focus alighted on Devlin, and his smile lit up the office. “Hey, beautiful. Ernie mentioned he thought he saw you come in.” With a few steps, Garrick entered the office, slid his hand across the small of Devlin’s back, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He then, after a cursory sweep of Wyn, looked to Maddie and openly showed her respect by addressing only her. “Is everything okay?”

Maddie forced an easy smile to her lips. “It’s fine, G. Thanks.” She didn’t want anyone to start chest bumping on her behalf, particularly not at the garage. She moved past the men, touching Garrick’s forearm along the way. “I’m going to step out for a few minutes. There’s something I need to take care of. If anyone needs anything, let them know I won’t be gone long.”

Garrick nodded, and Devlin added, “Give me a minute, Maddie, and I’ll be right behind you.”

Maddie didn’t even give her brother the respect of another glare. “I can handle myself.” Maddie exited without hearing Devlin’s response. She was still more than a little pissed at him for spilling her secret to Wyn in the first place.

While in the garage, Maddie kept her pace easy and her expression amiable. When she reached the exit, she even held the door open for Wyn. But the moment the heavy thud of metal rattling against metal sounded behind her, she picked up speed, moving somewhere between a fast walk and a run.

Even walking across the field as fast as she did, Maddie couldn’t escape the heat Wyn—who was walking right next to her—emanated without even trying. As a girl and young woman, having reached her nearly six feet in height at the awkward age of twelve, Maddie had secretly viewed herself as too big and gangly, all arms and legs and neck, and always too tall and clod-like around boys, teenagers, and eventually men. Not with Wyn though. In addition to his superior height, his shoulders were so wide, and his back so strong, and his frame so commanding, Maddie actually felt small around him. And often, when she was out of her depth and uncomfortable with the way her body heated so naturally for him, she felt overwhelmed by him, and her guard instinctually went up.

With the July heat bearing down on her through her coveralls, Maddie wiped beads of sweat from her face, even as goose bumps popped up on her arms under her sleeves. “You don’t have any right to do this.” She didn’t look his way, she didn’t have to; his presence dominated the airspace between them. “This is my home, and I did not go to the police with any official concern or complaint.”

In a few strides, Wyn moved in front of Maddie. He walked backward, facing her, and without doing half the work she did, he looked like he was strolling. “I know you don’t like me anymore, Maddie.” His jaw clenched then, and his already blunt features turned to granite. His step hitched too, but he got back on his reverse stride and said, “I get why you feel that way, but this is serious. There is a legitimate chance that someone is squatting at least part time in your home. You could be in very real danger.”

This was the first time Wyn had mentioned the night that had changed everything for them, even indirectly, and Maddie’s heart dropped into her stomach. She hated that her skin burned all over too.

“I’m not in danger,” she insisted.

His mouth twisting, Wyn raised his brows. “You just have a ghost.”

“Yes.”

“Then prove it.” They reached the house, and Wyn stopped at the bottom of the steps, his laser focus aimed squarely on Maddie. “Show me I’m wrong. Let me walk through the house, take in its details, and when I don’t find anything, you are then welcome to get right up in my face and tell me ‘I told you so’.”

Maddie paused, and Wyn added, “That’s hard to resist, isn’t it?” He quirked his brow again. “You really like the idea of telling me off.”

Hackles rising, Maddie shot back, “These days, I don’t care enough to actively like or dislike anything having to do with you.”

Wyn flinched, and shame pooled in Maddie’s belly.

Visibly shaking off Maddie’s barb, Wyn took the steps two at a time, calling back, “Well, how about this then? When I don’t find anything, I’ll feel like a jackass and an idiot, and you’ll at least get some satisfaction in that.”

“Wait!” Maddie chased him up the stairs. “I didn’t say yes.”

“I noticed at no point have you yet explicitly said no to me, either.” Standing at the door, Wyn looked down and studied Maddie for an uncomfortably long heartbeat. His voice dropped to a murmur. “I think deep down you want someone else’s opinion. Particularly if it ultimately backs up your theory.” Then he brightened back up in a blink and laughed. “Imagine that; if I, so confident about what I believe I’m going to find in this house, didn’t find anything, and had to confirm to your face that you might be right about having a ghost.”

Maddie muttered, “You really know how to tempt a girl.”

Wyn’s smile got even bigger, and a glint brought out shades of caramel in his brown eyes. “You said it. Not me.”

Damn it.
Maddie would have made a face at him, but the truth was she’d walked right into that one.
I forgot how flirty he can naturally be.

Nope.
Maddie stopped herself short.
No way.
Before she let the first butterfly take flight in her belly, she pulled her house key from around her neck and jammed it in the lock. “Fine. Satisfy your curiosity. Look wherever you want.” After swinging open the door she swept her arm wide. “Garrick did the same thing a few weeks ago, and he didn’t find anything.”

His jaw tight again, Wyn replied, “Garrick’s not a cop,” and walked into the house.

She stayed right on his hind end. “But he isn’t blind. And neither am I.”

Wyn didn’t respond. He’d already moved into a small front sitting room featuring dark woods and formal furniture and wallpaper—one of the many spaces Maddie didn’t use. When Mr. Corsini had offered to sell her the home, he’d intended to have an estate company come pick up the furniture for a nominal fee. But Maddie didn’t have nearly the furniture or the finances to fill this house herself, so Mr. Corsini had left the home almost completely full, assuring her that soon his son would return to town and decide what he wanted to keep, sell, or donate. The busy man, Nico, had yet to schedule a visit. So while the spindle-legged, velvet-upholstered chairs and coffee table in this room might not be her style, they filled the space, and Maddie was happy to take care of it all until the Corsinis got together and decided what to do with them.

After searching every corner of the room, under cushions, in drawers, under furniture, Wyn, in silence, moved on to the next room, the larger living room Maddie did use to watch TV—this one decorated with her own furniture. Much like the first room, Wyn searched this area square foot by square foot, even though she informed him that she used this space all the time and would have noticed if something was out of place. Room after room after room Wyn moved, meticulously checking every nook and cranny, working quietly, not turning up anything.

Once he finished in the big cream-colored kitchen—the only room she’d completely renovated in the whole house—Wyn took the stairs two at a time, a man on a mission. Maddie followed, interested in spite of herself. Not about expecting him to find anything—she knew he wouldn’t—but because she couldn’t look away from the masterful way Wyn worked. She didn’t want to think so, but one thought kept awakening inside her with every room he neatly dismantled and put back together: he’s so sexy.

Damn it. No.

Wyn moved to enter the room to the left of the landing, and Maddie blurted, “No, you’re not going in there.” He swung and aimed a pointed look in her direction, but she held her ground. “That one is mine. No one other than me ever goes in there, I can assure you of that.”

Wyn turned away quickly, but he curled his lips in over his teeth, stifling some kind of smirk or laugh. Maddie saw him, and too late she realized she’d given away that she didn’t have a man intimately in her life right now. And she’d said it so definitively she might as well have proclaimed at the top of her lungs that nobody had ever shared it at all.

Mortified, Maddie turned away, silently berating her runaway mouth. But instead of poking her with a little jab, as Wyn might have done as little as a year ago, he murmured, “Fair enough,” and walked to the next room.

Once again, Wyn picked up his search of the home, and once again Maddie followed him, watching every move he made, all the while silently telling herself to walk away and ignore him. His very presence lured her to him, though, something unspoken, almost primal. She stayed close, battling a bone-deep need to connect with him, along with an equally soul-crushing pain in her chest that four years had yet to abate.

Suddenly, from where he’d wedged himself partway under the bed in one of the guest rooms, Wyn said, “Found it!” and stuck his arm out from under the frame. Something crumpled was in his gloved hand. With surprising speed and agility he squirmed free, pushed to his feet, and held up two red, yellow, and white colored plastic wrappers. “Someone has eaten in here.”