More Than Cookies (The Maple Leaf Series) by Christine DePetrillo Read Free Book Online Page A

her sister to know she was visiting a stranger in the hospital? Yeah, probably. “I repeat, what do you want?”
    “A simply ridiculous bouquet of red roses was delivered for you at Mom’s. Card says, ‘To Sage. I can’t stop thinking about you. Scott.’ Who’s Scott?”
    Damn.
    She hadn’t told her family about her date with the detective. It had basically been a non-event, and she didn’t need the inquisition that always accompanied the arrival of a new man. Rick could be particularly prickly to a new man. Scott hadn’t even made it to the dessert round, never mind the this-is-my-family round. He definitely should not be sending her roses.
    “Scott was a guy I met for dinner last night. No spark. Moving on.” Sage played with the frayed threads on her jean shorts.
    “This bouquet would tend to indicate you are the only one moving on,” Hope said.
    “Hey, not my fault. I made it clear there wouldn’t be a date number two, Hope.”
    “That’s it? No details?” A pleading edge worked its way into Hope’s voice.
    “Nope. Not worth the details. Honestly.” Besides, she didn’t want to waste time explaining it now. She wanted to get back to Orion. “Listen, I’ll talk to you later. I’m in the middle of something.” The middle of what, she had no idea, but that wasn’t going to stop her.
    “Where are you anyway?” Hope asked.
    “Out. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
    She ended her call while Hope was still talking. She’d get some grief over that later, but for now, she jammed the phone into her back pocket and made her way back to Orion’s room. Voices reached her ears before she entered.
    “This is why she can’t live with you, Orion,” a shrill woman’s voice said. “Bullets? You can’t have a child around guns and bullets.”
    “It was an accident, Adriana, and I wasn’t the one with the gun or the bullets. Victim here. I wasn’t doing any shooting. I got shot.” Orion’s voice wasn’t the quiet calm it had been when they were chatting. Now it was angry and frustrated, but still sexy as hell.
    “My daddy got shot,” a higher and almost crying voice said.
    “It’s okay, baby,” Orion said gently. “The hospital fixed me up, and I’ll be as good as new in a few days.”
    “I miss you, Daddy.” Definitely crying now.
    Sage’s throat tightened as she listened in the hallway. True, she didn’t have any kids of her own, but she could easily imagine how hard it would be to not see one’s child every day. It sounded as if Myah was as miserable as Orion was about them not being together.
    “I miss you too, angel, but Daddy needs to stay here and rest. Then I’ll come for you,” Orion said.
    “You can try,” the woman said.
    “I will try. Try and succeed.” Sage loved the tone of Orion’s voice now. Determined. Strong. Protective.
    The woman scoffed and Sage pictured a hideous witch of an ex-wife in there.
    “With your father roaming and rambling like a moron, your high-risk line of work with chainsaws—yeah, that’s good for little girls to be around—and no money for a lawyer to match mine, you don’t have a chance at getting Myah, Orion. Not even the hint of a chance.”
    “I want to be with Daddy.”
    “Doesn’t matter, Myah. You’re not going to be. Get your fill now. I only brought you so you’d shut up about seeing him.”
    Wow. Bitchtastic.
    It got quiet in the room, except for the sounds of Myah crying, and Sage couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped into the doorway as Orion’s ex-wife was saying, “Who the fuck does this purse belong to?”
    “That would be mine,” Sage said as she walked into the room.
    A dainty little girl with tons of black curls was draped over Orion, her pale white arms looped around his neck as she clung to him. She blinked tears out of blue eyes exactly like Orion’s, and Sage nearly stumbled over the child’s beauty and resemblance to him.
    “And who are you?” Witchy Ex-wife asked.
    “A friend.” Sage took in the