After a restless night of sleep, I swung my legs around the side of the bed and stood, stretching out stiff muscles in my back and arms. Sleeping without Magenta’s soft curves was an exercise in frustration. The only saving grace was that I knew she was as bad off as I was. Maybe worse if her curt words and evil-eyed glares were any indication over the past couple days.

I shouldn’t have taunted her, but Magenta made it so very easy. She was sexy as hell when she got all riled up, fire burning in her eyes and skin flushed a fiery shade of pink. It had been all I could do not to drag her back to the bunk-rooms in the firehouse and have my wicked way with her. In hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t. The gauntlet I threw down was so much more effective.

And entertaining.

Watching Magenta try to ignore this thing between us was as amusing as it was irritating. She was running as scared today as she’d been seventeen months ago when I wanted to give us a shot. A real shot. She’d been so sure that it couldn’t work, that I let her convince me as well.

Only now fate had intervened to give us another chance to make a better decision and I wanted it.

My determination only grew as I made my way downstairs to see that every hard surface in the kitchen, living room and dining room was occupied by cookies. Rows upon rows of cookies, peanut butter, oatmeal cranberry, shortbread, lemon and chocolate chip just as Aunt Mae had requested, and two dozen macadamia and white chocolate chunk cookies. There was no way in hell I was letting down the spooky voodoo priestess with the all knowing eyes.

Nope, I brought my cookie A game.

But there was one small problem, I had no way to transport the goodies without breaking them all in half on the four block trip to the community center.

“Damn.” There’s always one flaw in the plan, and this was a glaring one. I was just happy Magenta wasn’t awake yet to comment on it.

Then I spotted a sheet of paper with her familiar slanting scrawl sitting in the center of the peanut butter cookies with my name across the front. Picking it up, I held my breath and waited a beat. If this was a letter telling me she took a job in Canada and wouldn’t be back for twelve months, I needed to prepare myself.

“If only someone had thought about cookie transport…”

That was it, all the help contained in the note. Oh, and a smirking smiley face that I could have done without. But she was right, neither of us had given a thought to getting the cookies to their destination. Only her note sounded more smug than mocking, which could only mean one thing. Magenta had remembered.

My feet were on the move, searching every cabinet and drawer in the kitchen for containers. I even checked the drawers too small to hold anything but silverware, one that held the extra serving utensils that didn’t fit on the hanging rack beside the stove, and even one that held several rolls of trash bags. No cookie containers.

But I wasn’t deterred, because I’d never met a woman who was a bigger smart ass than Magenta, and my girl wouldn’t brag if she didn’t have a good reason. Which meant I needed to keep looking. I started on the top of the split level, going into each room starting with the master suite that still remained unoccupied, and skipping over my room because it was too obvious. I got to the lower level and opened the office door, and I laughed my ass off. Stacked in two neat rows of three, were purple and pink plastic containers, girly as hell, but exactly what I needed to get the job done.

I kept a goofy grin on my face as I stacked all six containers and carried them into the kitchen, looking at all the cookies and coming up with a plan of attack. These containers were perfectly Magenta, always willing to help, but in her own unique way. I appreciated it, and it didn’t bother me at all that she’d zinged me in the process.

“I see you got started without me.”

I looked up at the sound of her voice and paused. Magenta was a woman who did devastating things to a pair of jeans and a plain white tank top. Shapely long legs that crawled up forever before flaring over womanly hips and a narrow waist that only made her impressive chest look even bigger.

“Damn Mags, you look smokin’ hot.”

She grinned at me. “Show a little boob, and you’re putty in my hands,” she joked as she stood beside me, scanning the half-packed batches of cookies. “Works perfectly, since I’m here to make sure you don’t eat them, break them or get lost in the process of delivering them.”

I turned to her and batted my eyelashes. “Aww thanks babe, you do care.”

She rolled her eyes. “The last thing I want is for Mae to perform the wrong spell and I end up with triplets growing in my belly,” she grumbled.

I held that tidbit in my mind for another time, and focused on something else she’d said. “You really think I might get lost on my way to the community center?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know what your sense of direction is like, Davis. I’m just here to supervise.”

“Nice dodge, wifey. What time does this supervised delivery take place?”

Her gaze darkened, and she pushed her body up against mine. “Why, what are you thinking?” One finger traveled down the center of my chest until it came to a rest on the button of my jeans.

“I’m wondering if we have time to fool around before we go. Sleeping alone sucks.”

The sound of Magenta’s laugh transported me back to Vegas when that sound was let loose so freely that I’d become addicted to it. Now she was more subdued, but just as feisty as ever.

“That’s what happens to husbands who misbehave.”

I wanted to say something about her finally calling me her husband, but I knew calling attention to it would make her even pricklier, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Maybe you should find another way to punish me, wife.”

“Maybe I will,” she said mysteriously and took three steps back, hands fisted at the hem of her shirt before she tugged it over her head and tossed it at me. “But you’ll have to catch me first.”

She sauntered off and I gave her a moment, my gaze still glued to the sway of her ass in those skintight jeans until she disappeared from my view. Then I followed her. Following this woman, who’d been haunting me for more than a year, in that moment it all became clear.

Magenta.

I wanted her, and now with her so close, there was no reason we couldn’t have a real shot at happiness.

Now I just had to convince her of that.