And even though she has her brothers and me, she’s alone.
She’s had a fear of commitment since the day she was old enough to stop thinking boys had cooties. It’s hard not to, when you’re raised like the Davises were. Aside from the one kind of serious relationship she had one fleeting summer, she settles for one-night stands and no strings. Now though, she’s seeing her actions in a new light. One cast out from her mother’s transgressions. I worry that she is comparing her legitimate fear-driven choices to the ones her mother made.
“And blueberry!” Jana yells again, interrupting my thoughts.
Pushing my concerns with my best friend from my mind, I rush around the kitchen. I bring the birthday cake pies out first, not even looking up in my haste. Jana makes a noise to get my attention, but I just hold my hand up and speed-walk back into the kitchen. It takes me three more trips to bring the other nine pies out. When I place the second cookie dough pie on the chilling rack, I finally look up, blowing a piece of hair out of my eyes.
My heart speeds up and my stomach is suddenly filled with butterflies.
“What are you doing here?” I ask breathily.
“Well, if you would have looked up I could have saved you the trouble of those cookie dough pies,” Jana mutters, edging past me and leaving me with the sight of Maverick, glorious Maverick, grinnin’ at me as he shovels a huge bite of cookie dough pie.
“I missed you too, darlin’,” he says with a laugh, standing from the table after placing his fork down. He licks his lips before bending to give me a deep kiss.
“I thought you weren’t coming home until Sunday?” I ask against his mouth before pulling away and looking around at the crowded room, smiling at the familiar faces looking on.
“Change of plans.”
“Change of plans?” I repeat, studying his face. He’s carefree as can be, but there’s something mischievous working behind those green eyes that make my knees weak.
With a wink, he looks over my shoulder. “You good here, Jana?” he calls back toward the counter.
“Hey,” I protest.
“Girl, don’t you argue with your man,” Jana scolds from behind me. “If he wants to steal you away, you let him steal you away. Just don’t let him swallow the key. Nothing good ever comes if the key is swallowed.”
My head snaps over to Jana with a gasp. “Boundaries!” I yell over the laughter that’s now rolling from everyone around us. They’re not even pretending not to watch with rapt attention.
“No handcuffs this time, Jana,” he jokes.
“Do not encourage her,” I hiss.
He holds up his hands, chuckling deeply. “She started it.”
“Maybe you’ll be the one in handcuffs if you keep this up,” I smart.
His eyes darken and he leans closer to me. “Darlin’, you want me in handcuffs and you say the word I’ll be chained to the bed before you can blink.”
“Go grab your stuff,” Maverick breathes against my ear, pulling me back with his hands on my hips so I can feel his thickness against the small of my back. I make a mental note to look into buying some handcuffs before walking to my office and grabbing my purse. I check the ovens on my way back out, trying not to cringe at the mess on my workstation.
“Go on, sweetheart,” Jana says, breaking into my thoughts and pulling me from the kitchen before I can reach for the cleaner. The woman knows me too damn well. “Don’t you dare even think about it. I’m perfectly capable of handling things here.”
“I hate leaving you alone to close.”
“I’m not alone! You’re the one that hired that sweet little Avonlee just last week so we would have another body for nights just like this. Go on and spend some time with that handsome man of yours.” She snaps her towel at me like I’m a pesky fly. “Now go on, shoo.”
I roll my eyes but know she’s right. Avonlee hasn’t been completely trained, but there’s no better time than the present. She’s in good hands with Jana. I purposely hired Avonlee so I would be able to stop working past five. This way I would be able to spend more time with Maverick and hopefully set things up here at the PieHole for a more part-time role for me in the future.
The future that hopefully gives us a houseful of children.
“See you in the morning,” I tell her, pulling my purse strap over my shoulder. She doesn’t respond, but before I can call her on the weird look in her eye, Maverick is back at my side and pulling me out the doorway.
“Would you slow down, you big giant,” I say with a laugh, rushing to keep up with his long strides.
He turns, and without a word, picks me up bride style and continues to march to his truck, my laughter echoing around us. Maverick effortlessly opens the truck door, has me in the seat, and is walking around to his door. The whole time his smile never dims.
“Well, cowboy, you’ve got me. Now what are you gonna do with me?”
He reaches out and grabs my hand. “Hold on.”
He cranks the truck, the vibrations making goose bumps pepper my skin. When he takes off with a jump out of the PieHole’s side parking area, I settle back with a smile plastered on my face and enjoy the ride. He revs the engine when we pass Quinn standing outside the shop’s bays. Her hands on her hips and a huge streak of black grease across her forehead. She smiles brightly and waves back. Mav turns up the radio, and with some old Lynyrd Skynyrd cranked up, he drops his foot and rumbles through town.
Content not knowing where we’re going, but knowing I love the man who’s taking me there, I look out the window with a smile on my face. If following him blindly keeps him looking as carefree and happy as he does right now, I would follow him to the moon.
MAVERICK
I pull off into the road, right after the turn-in to our house, and throw the truck into park. It was one of the first things I did before starting construction—adding an additional drive that would take people directly to the main barn. I can still get to everything from our personal property, but this way we can keep our lives separate from the training camp.
Leighton looks over at me in confusion before glancing out the window. I wait, knowing she’ll see it without me having to point it out. We had never discussed this, and I know it was a risk without her input, but I have no doubts my girl will understand what brought this about.
All it took was a call to an old friend up in Montana, a former rider like myself that took his passion for welding and made it a thriving business after he left the circuit, and part one of my plans for today was in the works. It was harder than I thought to be home a night early, hiding out back in my old bedroom at the Davis ranch, but seeing Cliff install his work this morning made it all worth it.
I hear her gasp and I look proudly from where she’s sitting to the huge wrought-iron arch ten feet from the road, over the gated entrance.