Closest To My Heart

Chapter Ten

"Oh look, the night took us home!" Maggie squealed in Tag's ear, and then her voice dropped to an ominous whisper. "How did it know where we live?"

Tag smiled patiently as he backed up to the front stoop so she could slide down from his back. He was still shaken by what had transpired with her back at the bar, but he'd pushed that aside and toted her home piggy-back style as quickly as he could manage. He didn't want the night to end just then, but he didn't trust the influence of the baffling array of emotions he was feeling. The sooner the night came to a close, the better. When her small, pale feet were planted safely on the ground, Tag turned and handed over the prized Lube-a-whoevers, which had turned out to be not-so-comfortable for walking after all. She smiled and turned toward the door, clumsily searching the pockets of her jeans.

"Oh, no! I forgot my key!" she gasped, turning to him with a stricken expression. "I forgot my key!"

Tag extracted his own keys from the pocket of his jeans and dangled them in the air. Maggie's face broke out in a banner smile.

"You're awesome!" she said, her fingers brushing his as she took the keys from his hand.

After three failed attempts on her part, Tag stepped in to unlock the door, then stayed close behind her as she stumbled up over the stairs. In Tag's experience, the cool night air tended to sober people up, but for Maggie it seemed to have had the opposite effect. She actually seemed more drunk now than before they'd left the bar, and he wondered just how many drinks the ladies from the Girls' Night crew had plied her with in his absence.

Finally, they reached the top landing and Tag moved forward to unlock the door. He ushered her inside and then followed, closing the door behind them. Maggie discarded her shoes haphazardly onto the floor, then slipped off her cardigan and tossed it down beside the shoes.

"Honey, we're home!" she called out, and then clapped her hands over her mouth and turned to Tag with owl-wide eyes. "Dammit, we left Sean at the bar!"

"No, Sean left us at the bar, remember?"

Maggie brow furrowed in concentration, and then smoothed out again as the light dawned on her.

"Oh, thaaaa's right," she slurred, her eyes narrowed in outrage. "The li'l fucker ditched us for some girl. He ditched us, the li'l fucker!"

Yup, she's definitely loaded, Tag thought, biting back a smile.

"Okay," he drawled, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her toward the bedroom. "Let's get you into bed."

"Oh, is that what you want?" Maggie teased, turning back to him with a lopsided grin. "You wanna get me into bed, do you?"

Really, really loaded, Tag amended his former assessment, crossing his arms with what he hoped was an authoritative air.

"You know what I meant," he said, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth.

"Oh, I know what you meant all right," she scoffed, her blue eyes glinting mischievously as she took a swaying step closer. "I know exactly what you meant."

"Do you?"

Maggie blinked twice with torpid eyes, and then her brows drew together again.

"Do I what?" she asked, and then brought her fingertips up to her cheek. "Hey, I can't feel my face. 's that normal?"

She looked up at him, her eyes clouded over with genuine concern, and Tag couldn't help but smile.