Free Winter's Thaw by Stacey Lynn Rhodes Page B

that she was worried her friend would think less of her…though who knew how Sam would react, especially since she was so grief-stricken over the loss of Wade?
    Sam didn’t seem to notice her little stumble. “I’m sure. You had to have been going crazy on the flight home. I’m sorry I didn’t pick up when you called—I think I was working out.”
    Maggie shrugged, trying to look casual. “It was hard, but kind of peaceful too.” Sam looked at her expectantly. More seemed to be needed, so she continued, “In a way, it was good to have the time to start to process it before I got back and had to dive right in. And I had a really nice seatmate who was very understanding.” That was an understatement.
    “Oh no. Not one of those. Did they ever leave you alone? I hate the ones who just keep talking and talking to you.”
    “I know what you mean, but it wasn’t like that at all. He was a really great guy.” She knew she probably sounded defensive but couldn’t help but stick up for Nick.
    “He was, was he?” Sam gave her a probing look. “And where exactly did Mr Wonderful fall on the rating scale?” Maggie shrugged but Sam seized onto the topic like a dog with a bone. “Oh my God, are you blushing?”
    Waving a hand at her persistent friend, Maggie willed her cheeks to cool. “He was…” Ready to assign him to a somewhat plausible ranking like Total Stud, she found she just couldn’t lie. “Off the charts,” she admitted.
    “Did you get a picture?”
    “Sam!”
    “Well?”
    Maggie shook her head. “No…” She cringed, knowing instantly that giving her intuitive friend anything but a decisive ‘no’ was a big mistake.
    As she’d predicted, Sam pounced on the open-ended answer. “You didn’t get a picture, but it sounds like you got something, Margaret Jean.”
    Maggie felt like her face was about to explode. She was really going to have to work on her evasiveness skills. Silence was her only ally now.
    Her cell phone ringing broke their standoff and she half rose then stopped indecisively. What if it was Nick? She didn’t want to take his call in front of her friend.
    Sam showed no such compunctions and headed rapidly for the kitchen.
    She wouldn’t …
    Eyes widening, Maggie pulled herself together and hurried after her.
    “Hello? Maggie’s phone.”
    She would. That witch .
    “May I tell her who is calling?”
    Maggie burst into the kitchen and her gaze collided with Sam’s.
    Her friend held out her cell phone. “It’s…Nick.” Her eyebrows went up so high they were practically in her hairline.
    Maggie yanked the phone out of Sam’s hand and took a deep breath. “Hello?”
    “Hi there.”
    Nick’s deep voice did crazy things to her insides, curling down from her chest to her still somewhat tender pussy, though she tried her best to hide her reaction from Sam.
    “Hi,” she managed, wondering how the hell she was supposed to be able to have a conversation with Sam there. Luckily, Nick was as in tune with her as ever.
    “I understand that you have company right now, so it’s probably not a good time to talk. I just wanted to check in with you and see if you needed me to come by this evening.”
    “Um…” What to do ? “Yes,” she heard herself replying then wondered what the hell she was thinking.
    “Okay. I have to make a couple of stops first, so it’ll be at least an hour. Have you eaten dinner?”
    “Yes.”
    “Good. I’ll see you in a little while. Bye, Maggie.”
    “Bye.” She heard the call disconnect and set her phone down on the counter, then fiddled around plugging it into the charger to buy herself a little bit more time.
    “Nick, huh? Was that Mr Off-the-Charts?”
    Maggie shook her head slightly, not in denial of the question but just because she didn’t want to get into it right now—not when things were so complicated and about a minute old. “Yes,” she admitted. “He was just checking to see if I was doing okay.” She wondered if Sam had been