Maggie's Mountain by Mya Barrett

get involved with you.”
    He waited for more of an explanation knowing there was something deeper. But her pretty mouth remained closed as she stared at him. What was it she refused to say?
    “Go home, Hale. Please.”
    Home, hell; what he wanted to do was toss her into his car, drive to the nearest town, lock her in a hotel room and make love to her until they were both too exhausted to argue. Then he’d find out what was going on in that head of hers. If she didn’t look so tired, so determined, so damned fragile, he might have acted on the impulse. Instead he pulled the keys from his pocket.
    “I don’t like leaving you here.”
    “I’ll be fine,” she told him. “Just go.”
    He gave her a long, penetrating look and ran a hand through his hair in aggravation. His nerves were teetering on the edge of control; he pulled in a heavy breath and forced himself to think before he reacted. When he spoke, his voice was hard and deep, practically daring her to argue.
    “I’ll come back, Maggie Mae, and when I do you won’t be able to talk your way out of an explanation.” With a final look at her pale face, he got behind the wheel and drove away.

Chapter Seven
    Maggie stared at the box that held her mother’s things and sighed. It had been a long evening and she was exhausted, but her body was still too jittery from the fire. No, not just from the fire she admitted with a grimace. It was because of Hale Warrick, too.
    The man had nearly seduced her in broad daylight, on a public road, with the volunteer fire department looking on. And she hadn’t protested at all. She’d participated completely, falling into his kisses and the heat of his hands like warmed putty. Her common sense had abandoned her the minute he’d pulled her into his arms. Not that she was surprised; she’d always known deep down that she would react just the way she had if Hale Warrick ever decided he wanted her and acted on that impulse. Of course she’d never thought it would come to that. She'd been sure their feuding families would see to it.
    “Momma, this is a mess.” She laid her hand on top of the tall container and shook her head. “He doesn’t even know the truth and he’s after me. Like father like son.”
    Maggie felt tears well in her eyes and she sank back into the cushions of the couch. No, that wasn’t fair, she thought. Hale’s attraction was earthy lust, a physical desire, animalistic in nature and not coated with the brush of messy emotions. But Hale was a rich, influential lady killer and she wasn't about to be added to any list.
    The phone rang. She knew it wasn’t Jolene; she’d already fielded that call earlier. Logically there was only one other person who would call this late.
    “Hello?” she snapped into the phone.
    “Maggie? Maggie, are you all right?”
    Relief flooded her system as she melted back into the couch again. It wasn't Hale, after all. “Brian. I’m fine.”
    The man who’d been her husband’s friend hesitated on the other end. “You don’t sound it.”
    “I’m sorry, it’s been a…long day.”
    “So I’ve heard. You had a fire?”
    She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “I see the grape vine in the law enforcement community is as fertile as ever.”
    Brian chuckled. “You know all we do is sit around and gossip. When I heard someone had set fire to your woods, I got a bit concerned.”
    “You’re sweet to think of me, but the fire department got it under control before it had a chance to do any real damage.” She propped her feet on the coffee table beside her mother’s box. “Apparently no one pays any attention to my warning signs.”
    “Chris always did say he was going to set up a better security perimeter out there. Lights, maybe cameras, definitely better fencing. He said that was about the only thing you two argued over.”
    “I’m not putting flood lights and cameras in the woods. I am, however, going to see about having