I woke up with a pain in my leg and groaned. I didn’t need to stand to know I still couldn’t put much weight on it. It was throbbing. Other parts of me were sore, as well. My arm where the tote had fallen had a dark purple bruise twice as big as it was the last time I looked at it. I groaned again.

I startled when I felt movement behind me and then grinned when I realized it wasn’t all bad the night before. I had a rock-hard body behind me with his big arms wrapped around me. It was an incredible night and not just from the orgasms. I felt as if the real Brody had started to show himself.

He had a great sense of humor and could take jokes as easily as he could dish them out. I longed for the give and take he did so well. I longed for a cock like his, too, but I was serious about waiting until I was cleared for all activities. I laced my fingers with his and smiled again. His fingers would get me by just fine until I could ride him like I wanted to.

“Are you molesting my fingers this early in the morning?”

I laughed but didn’t stop rubbing my fingers between his. “Consider yourself lucky.”

“I would consider it lucky if you were rubbing something else.”

I let go of his fingers to move my hand behind me, but he held on to them. “I want you to have a lucky morning.”

He kissed my neck. “I already do.” He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. “Come on.” He jerked his thumb toward his back. “Hop on and I’ll take you down to the showers and restroom.”

I sat up and tossed the covers to the side. “How am I going to shower in this wrap?”

He turned around and looked at my foot. “I’ll help.”

“You just told me I couldn’t have any luck this morning.”

He laughed as he turned back around and pointed to his back again. “I promise to be a gentleman.”

“Yep, no luck at all.”

* * *

The shower ended up being lucky for both of us, but not as lucky as we wanted. I told Brody as soon as I was healed, we’d take a week off and spend it in bed. I needed to stock up on condoms.

Brody reached across the table and touched my fingers. We were looking the menu over at Bev’s, but what we really wanted wasn’t on it. I laced my fingers with his. It felt comfortable. I tried to tell myself we were just having a fling. It was just for fun, but I felt myself falling for him more each day. I needed to know what happened with that news article before I got too lost. I had to think of my family, too, and I’d never bring someone into their lives who could hurt them.

Mona came over as she chomped her gum and tapped her notepad. “Why do you need to read the menu every time you come in here? Don’t you have it memorized by now?”

I looked at her and looked around for Bev. “Uh, it helps to decide.”

“It doesn’t look like it helps. You’ve been staring at that thing for the last ten minutes.” She looked behind her to see what I was looking at. “Bev is helping Keith bring the flour in. He hurt his back again, so he can’t lift the fifty pound bags.”

Brody looked up. “She shouldn’t be lifting that, either. Where are they?”

I let him go when Mona pointed to the back. He couldn’t be a bad person. Anyone evil who would’ve kidnapped a woman wouldn’t have been so quick to jump up and help. Unless they were trying to earn trust to do what they wanted later. I shook my head and went back to the menu.

“Nothing sounds good?” Bev sat down where Brody was sitting and motioned to the menu.

“How?” I tilted my head. “That’s nice. I can’t come back there so you distract Brody to have a chat with me out here. Nice.”

“I want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Yes, my foot is fine. It hurts like hell, but I’ll survive.”

“That isn’t what I meant. You two haven’t stopped touching each other since you walked in. It started with fingertips, and now you’re locking your fingers together. You’re sleeping with him.”

I sighed, closed the menu, and put it back on the table. “We haven’t had sex yet, as if it’s any of your business. The moment this foot heals we will, so I’d think twice before coming over unannounced. Actually, I’d think twice about it now. His fingers are very talented.” I shrugged. “It’s why I can’t stop touching them.”

She clenched her jaw to prevent herself from saying the first thing on her mind. When she was a little more controlled, she spoke. “Please be careful. I don’t want to see anything happen to you.”

“I know what I need to do. I know what this is and that it isn’t going to last forever. It’s been a long time since anyone has taken care of my needs and cares about what I want. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that.”

“Your needs are always a priority for me. They always have been.”

“So you say. I have years of blank spaces in my memory where you should’ve been to contradict that claim.”

“Okay, Maggie. You’re a grown woman who can make her own decisions. Please remember I’m here for you if you need to talk. I promise not to judge. I’ll just listen.”

One thing I knew to be true was her ability to listen. She listened to me cuss her out when I first showed up. The anger I felt after my dad died and when I found out he had her information all that time without giving it to me bubbled out when I saw her. It was obvious they kept in contact with each other, but she never bothered to keep in contact with me.

She knew exactly who I was. It wasn’t as if I thought she’d forgotten about me, but there was no hesitation when she saw me. It didn’t take her any time at all to say my name. I wasn’t the five-year-old girl she left behind. I was the thirty-three-year-old woman who had no idea she was my mother until she said my name and I looked at her nametag. All I knew was it was her diner and I’d gone looking for her. I didn’t expect her to be working the counter.

She looked different from the photos I had of her, but the resemblance was still there. I wasn’t sure I could’ve picked her out on the streets, but it was clear she already knew what the adult me looked like.

“I would really like it if we could get past the hostility to have a real conversation about what happened. If all you can give me is a casual friendship, I’m more than happy to take it, but I can’t stop being your mother. I can’t stop worrying about you.

“I know it’s difficult for you to talk to me about any of it, but you stuck around. I have to believe you want to be a part of my life and want me to be a part of yours. You wouldn’t have stayed if you didn’t. If we talk and nothing changes, I’ll try my best to keep the mom comments to myself. What does it hurt to try?”

“I’m not sure I can give you more than a casual friendship. After all, it’s still more than you gave me.”

She placed her palms on the table and nodded. “I know you think that, and until you’re ready to listen, there’s no use in trying to explain.” She pushed herself off the booth and turned to me. “You know where to find me when you want more.”

She walked away when Brody came back. He had a little flour in his hair, so I motioned for him to bend down. He thought I wanted a kiss. I accepted it but brushed the flour out of his hair.

“What did you do, dive into it?”

“Uh, no. I set it down a little too hard and some puffed out.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I ordered for us back there.”

“You did?”

“Yeah, I figured we could use some diner food. Fuck the egg whites.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “So, what’s with you and Beverly?”

“Why do you call her Beverly? Everyone else calls her Bev.”

“Her friends call her Bev. I don’t think she likes me.”

I rubbed his fingers with mine. “We’ve been over this. She’s afraid I’m going to get hurt.”

“I’m afraid of that, too.”

I tried to take my hand back, but he held on to it and massaged it with both of his hands. “That doesn’t make me feel very good.”

“I’m just being honest. I’m not a good person, Maggie.”

“Why do you say that?”

He shook his head and studied my fingers. I didn’t want to push him too far, but he gave me an opening I couldn’t ignore.

“What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to someone?” It was my turn to keep his hand and hold it in both of mine when he tried to pull away. “Just tell me the worst thing you’ve ever done, and I’ll prove to you it isn’t as bad as you think.”

We stared at each other, willing the other to break first. I wasn’t going to break. I wanted him to know I was there for him no matter what he had to say.

Mona placed the food in front of us and broke the moment for us. It wasn’t a conversation to have at the diner anyway. Part of me was still afraid I’d be tangled in a situation I couldn’t get out of if he really did kidnap that woman for malicious reasons. I didn’t believe that to be Brody, but I didn’t really know him.

He dug into his plate after loading it with pepper. “I think we really need to work on the upstairs bathroom. It will help with your current situation.” He pointed to my foot.

“I wanted to concentrate on the gym first, but you’re right. I don’t want to sleep downstairs.”

“Good.” He smiled and took another bite. “We’ll get supplies after this.”

I nodded and watched as Bev came back out to the floor. Why did I stick around? She was the only family I had. I didn’t want to be alone, but having as she called it a casual friendship wasn’t really keeping the loneliness away. I looked at Brody. He helped with that, but what would I do when he left?

I set my fork down without taking a bite and picked up the orange juice. I didn’t have much of an appetite anymore.

“Hey, are you okay?” Brody held his hand out to me.

“I’m fine.”

“You can take the meds if you need to. It won’t bother me if you do. I don’t want to handle them is all.”

“No.” I squeezed his hand. “I can get by with the over-the-counter stuff. This isn’t that kind of pain. I was just thinking about getting back to my dad’s things.”

“You know, I can take care of the bathroom on my own. When we get back, I’ll get everything laid out so you can sit in a chair and roll to each tote or box. It will give you some privacy, too.”

“You just don’t want to carry me up and down to the bathroom all day.”

“There’s that, too.” He smiled and continued eating.