He wet his fingers in her mouth and reached between them to find her clit, swollen and slick. “I want your orgasm, Red. Show me how gorgeous you are when you come.”

Her eyes blurred as her breath caught. Endorphins flooded her as she came, eyes still locked with his in the mirror.

“Oh, yes. That’s the way.” He groaned as his own climax shot from the balls of his feet straight into her body in wave after wave until he could no longer stand. They stumbled back into the bedroom together, collapsing on the bed.

She fell asleep fairly soon and he covered her with a blanket before getting up to take his clothes off. He watched the easy in and out of her breath and wanted to kick the crap out of anyone who hurt her or made her feel lacking in any way.

The next morning they made time for breakfast together before each left for the day.

“Your mother invited me to your family dinner tonight, Kyle,” Maggie said as she put a mug of coffee in front of him.

“Good. I’ll see you at six then.” He flashed that sexy smile.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to barge in or anything. And I…well, I don’t want you to get tired of me, seeing me every day.”

“Red.” He hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her to his lap. “I am not going to get tired of you. I like seeing you with my family, they like you. I enjoy being with you. We talked about this. I thought you were okay with it.”

“I thought I was. Are you sure? There’s an awful lot of drama in my life these days. It annoys me, it must really annoy you.”

He sighed. “Sugar, I know how much of a number your mother did on you but you have to stop letting her influence you. Believe me, if I want some space I’ll say so. But I want to be with you. Do you want to be with me?”

Silently, she nodded her head. Afraid to say anything because if she did, she knew she’d blurt out that she loved him.

“That settles it then. I’ll see you at six tonight.”

That night, she stopped by the grocery store to buy pecans and corn syrup for the pecan pies she was going to make for Thanksgiving and some lemons for the tartlets she wanted to try. On her way out she saw Alex Parsons come in and fear gnawed at her. He watched her warily and when it was clear she was leaving, he went back toward the dairy section.

She ran home and put away her groceries and changed, putting her hair back with a loose clip. Once she’d arrived at the Chase’s, Marc came out as he saw she was walking up the front steps. “Thought I’d grab my hug and some sugar out here. Kyle’s crazy jealous.” He gave her a kiss on the temple as he chuckled.

Grinning, she shook her head at his cheek. Once inside, Kyle saw her and got up to give her a hello kiss. “I saw that brother of mine out there, I suppose he accosted you.”

“A girl doesn’t tell tales,” she said before going into the kitchen to say hello to Polly where she helped set out the food on the dining room table.

“Boys! Dinner is ready,” Polly called out and they all came in rapidly. Edward held out Polly’s chair and Kyle held out Maggie’s. He settled in next to her and within minutes, plates were filled and people had eaten enough to take the edge off and begin talking.

“I saw Alex today,” Maggie said quietly.

Shane looked up at her with serious eyes. “Where?”

“At the market. I was leaving. He was coming in. He waited to see which way I’d go and then went in the opposite direction. I hope that means he’s going to obey the court order.”

“Did he say anything to you?” Kyle asked.

“No. He barely even looked at me, thank god.”

“If you see him again and he doesn’t leave or it looks like he’s come to bother you, call the cops immediately. I assume you have the order with you? We’ll get you the permanent ones after Tuesday when he’ll be back in court,” Shane explained.

“Yes, I keep it in my purse. I have one in my car, at work and at my house like you said. By the way, I’m coming to court on Tuesday.”

“Why?” Kyle asked.

“Because, I want to see it. To be able to speak if I can and to be sure that nothing else happens. It’s bad enough he’s getting away with it, I want to be sure he has to do all of the stuff I was told he was going to.”

“Maggie, honey, why don’t you let me go instead? I’m your attorney. I’ll speak on your behalf if necessary.” Edward looked concerned.

“Listen, I know I’m small and all but darn it, I won’t hide from this. It happened to me. I want to witness it to its conclusion. I want those pictures back, with the negatives, so I can destroy them myself. I want my clothes back, too.”

Shane sighed and looked wearily at Kyle, who just rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Fine, Maggie. But, Dad, I think you should be there too, just in case.”

“I’ll be there as well,” Matt and Marc said at the same time.

“Me too,” Polly said.

“Of course I will,” Kyle added, squeezing Maggie’s hand.

She tried not to cry—she’d been doing it so much lately—but she failed. “I’m sorry! I swear to y’all that I’m not usually so weepy. Anyway, thank you all so much. Honestly, I just don’t have words to express just how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me.”

“Well, certainly a bit of cherry cobbler will cheer you up!” Polly winked and passed the large pan around the table.