Page 58 of Love’s Silver Bullet

“I didn’t know, you bull-headed baboon!” she shouted back.

Blaze paused, chastened by the fire in her eyes, which was about as rare as it was common for him. “You really didn’t know?” His voice softened several degrees.

“No, I didn’t!” She fumbled with the buttons to get her shirt off, obviously flustered when she opted to just fling it up over her head with shaky hands. “Who on earth told you that?”

He scratched his bare chest through the opening of his union suit, which he refused to button up in the summer. “Dash heard it from Sophia’s sister. Seems Sheridan has been meeting up with Morgan on her visits to town.”

Maggie slumped down on the end of the bed, nightgown dangling from her hand while her mouth dangled in shock. “I knew Sheridan wanted to make Jake jealous, but I never thought she would go that far.”

“Well, she has, and it’s got Jake, Dash, and me as hot as a lit fuse on a string of firecrackers, I can tell you that.” He plopped down beside her on the bed, so hot, he was ready to stomp down to Sheridan’s room and rail on her but good. But he knew Uncle Finn didn’t need that aggravation tonight, so he’d deal with it in the morning.

Maggie whirled to face him. “Does Finn know? Because I’m pretty sure Libby doesn’t, or she would have told me.”

“No, Finn doesn’t know—yet. But he will tomorrow when I tell him so we can clip Sheridan’s wings real good.” He released a heavy sigh, slipping her a sideways look. “And I don’t plan to tell him the whole truth with the kiss and all because as cold as it’s been between Libby and him lately, I don’t want to send him over the edge.”

Maggie bumped his shoulder with a trace of a smile as she unbuttoned her skirt. “Oh, not the whole truth, huh? Sounds like you think that’s a good thing if it keeps the peace.”

He slid her a shuttered look out of the corner of his eyes, voice low with tease. “Between me and Uncle Finn, Mrs. Donovan, not between me and my wife.”

She stood up to step out of her skirt. “So, what are you going to tell him, then?”

He perused her chemise head to toe in a slow scan, suddenly not all that interested in talking to Uncle Finn right about now. Hooking an arm to her waist, he tugged her over, conveniently toppling her into his lap with a trip of her skirt. “I’m going to tell him Morgan’s been sniffing around when Sheridan’s in town with her friends,” he said, feathering the curve of her neck with his mouth, “and that I think we should restrict her to the ranch this last week.”

“Mmm …” Maggie dropped her head back to give him full access while he slowly untied the strings of her corset. “But she has her farewell overnight party at Kathy Jean’s the last night before she leaves, you know, so I don’t think it’s fair to keep her from that.”

“No, but it’ll only be for one night,” he said, flinging the corset across the room while he suckled the lobe of her ear. “And you can bet we’ll make darn good and sure Mrs. Edwards keeps a close eye on the girls and turns Morgan away if he tries to show up. Because Jake, Dash, and I want to put an end to this confounded thing once and for all.”

“Ha!” Maggie sat up with an arch of her brow, fingers idly skimming the rasp of his jaw. “You could have done that in a heartbeat, if Jake would just admit he’s attracted to Sher as a woman.”

“Come on, Maggie”—Blaze turned his head into her palm, grazing it with a soft kiss— “Jake only sees Sher as a little sister.”

“Horse apples!” she said, a little of the heat pulsing through Blaze’s body suddenly sparking in his wife’s eyes. She snatched her nightgown off the bed and started to put it on. “If that’s true, then why did Jake kiss the daylights out of her then, huh?”

The moment the words slipped past her lips, she slapped a hand over her mouth, cheeks ashen as the nightgown dropped from her hands. “Uh-oh … I didn’t mean to say that.” She gulped as she pleaded with her eyes. “So, please don’t tell Sher I told you, okay?”

But Blaze wasn’t listening—or breathing, for that matter. All he could do was stare in shock as the blood drained clear out of his face. When his heart kicked back in, he retaliated with a hot flash of eyes. “That’s a bloomin’ lie—Jake said Sher kissed him.”

Maggie hopped off his lap to retrieve her nightgown from the floor. “Yes, she kissed him all right, but the little fact you’re missing, Blaze Donovan, is that Jake kissed her back—passionately, if you must know—so he needs to at least acknowledge he cares about her as a woman and not a little sister.”

“Blue blistering blazes,” he whispered, putting his head in his hands. He was hardly able to believe that Jake had kept this from him. Probably because he knew Blaze would have laid him out flat. He slowly shook his head. “Blue thunder, I had no idea! Jake and I have never had secrets before, but this sure explains his reluctance to teach her to shoot.”

Maggie laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Just talk to him, Blaze. Find out why he’s fighting it like he is, because Sheridan knows that he cares for her that way.”

“I will,” he said with a weighty sigh that depleted his energy as he lapsed into a vacant stare. “Dad-burn-it, Maggie, why does love have to be so complicated?”

A wispy sigh of her own drifted in the air as she sat beside him to rest her head on his shoulder. “Because human beings are complicated, my love, riddled with hurts and insecurities, and hopes that have been dashed. But the good news is, God is love, and when we follow His ways, He teaches us how to make it right.”

He kneaded his temples with his forefinger and thumb. “I know, but blast it all, Maggie—why does it have to be so dad-gum hard?”

She pressed a soft kiss to his sandpaper cheek. “Because it’s been my experience, darling, that anything worth it usually is.” Giving him a tight squeeze, she stood up to put her nightgown back on once again, pausing to deliver a sassy wink. “You know, like me hooking you?” She grinned as her arms grappled to pull the gown over her head.

But not before he tossed her on the bed, flat on her back as she bounced with a gasp. “If that’s the case, Mrs. Donovan,” he said with a husky whisper, smile decadent while he plucked up the nightgown to sail it far away. “Then why are you putting that silly thing on?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

“Table is set. What now?” Overalls splattered with mud, Shaylee dipped a finger in Maggie’s bowl of icing and licked it with eyes closed, emitting a loud, long moan of satisfaction that made Sheridan shake her head with a smile.

“Great day in the morning, Shaylee Ann”—Maggie snatched the bowl out of Shaylee’s reach with an off-center smile—“only God knows where that finger has been, sweetheart.”