Welcome home, Al,” Maverick said, the next afternoon. He had his arm around her shoulders, supporting her weight and helping her across the threshold to his little lake house. They’d been released from the hospital an hour before, but had bowed out of the Saturday afternoon cookout being planned at the Ravens’ clubhouse before the final night of the carnival began. Alexa’s chest still hurt if she undertook much activity, so that was all more than she was up to just yet.
“I’m so glad to be home,” she said. Home. God, that sounded nice. One of the things she’d always wanted but never really been able to find. Lucy came rushing right up to her. “Hi, baby. I bet you were lonely without us.”
“Phoenix came by to feed her and keep her company. I told him to line the toys up on the tub to see what she did. He said we can ask him to Lucy-sit any time.” He lowered her onto the couch.
She chuckled, her hand rubbing the cat’s thin body when she jumped up. “Look at all the new friends you’re making.”
Maverick grinned. “What can I get you?”
“Nothing at all,” she said. “Just be with me.”
“My favorite thing.” He grabbed the remote and put on HGTV, then settled in next to her.
“Ooh, I adore Love It or List It, even though the couple almost always does the opposite of what I would do.” She shifted against him, her head finding his shoulder. He put his arm around her, and she felt like she could’ve purred herself. Besides Jagger being freed, the only thing that could’ve made this moment better was knowing her mother was well, but there still hadn’t been any change in her condition. All Alexa could do was hope and believe.
Mav propped his boots on the coffee table. “I enjoy the rebuild projects. Finding a new home doesn’t feel as special as making the old thing you know and love grow with you and work for you in ways you never thought of before.”
She nodded, loving how he phrased that. It felt like he was talking about them. And maybe he was. Honestly, what relationship wasn’t a fixer-upper? At least the roughest parts of their ride were behind them.
She hoped.
Hours later, Maverick woke her up with a big tray of food. “I made us some dinner.”
“You’re going to spoil me.”
“You’re going to be my wife. There’s no such thing.” He held up a spoonful of mac and cheese to her mouth, since she still didn’t have full use of her hands. Part of her was eager for the gauze to come off, but the other feared how bad all that damaged skin was going to hurt when it was exposed to the world. One day at a time, she guessed. “Want?”
She looked past the food to his face. “Want.”
He chuckled and winked. “I’m not sure either of us is up to wanting.”
Alexa grinned and took a bite. “Probably not. But mac and cheese hand-fed by my man is pretty good, too.”
He shook his head and enjoyed a bite for himself.
Something pinged around in her brain that she’d been avoiding all day. She finally gave it voice. “Today . . . today would’ve been my wedding day.”
“I know,” he said, grabbing another spoonful to offer her.
“Know what I was thinking?”
His gaze cut to hers, the dark blue so intense. “Tell me.”
“Maybe all the bad stuff was supposed to happen to bring me back to you.”
He gave a tight nod. “I hate that bad stuff happened to you.”
“I have no regrets, Maverick. I want you to know that. Except maybe walking away five years ago.”
“Yeah? Well, I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve been thinking that neither of us was ready for us five years ago. You pushed me away and I let myself be pushed. Would you do that now?” He gave her a searching stare.
“Absolutely not.” She shook her head.
“Me, neither.”
They ate the rest of their dinner while watching The Fast and the Furious, and then Alexa was too tired to stay awake any longer.
Mav helped her get ready for bed, and got changed himself. And then she walked into the bedroom—and burst out laughing. “This is perfect!” The llama and hedgehog sat on the bed.
“This is your home now. Our home,” Maverick said. He pointed around the room. “Our bed and our closet and our bathroom and our dresser. I want you to move in, rearrange the furniture, hang pictures, lay your stuff out on the bathroom counter, and leave Lucy’s toys in the tub. Whatever makes you feel at home, I want you to do.”
“I will, but I don’t have to do any of that to feel at home. That’s you, Maverick. Just you.” She wound her arms around his neck, careful not to put too much pressure there.
“Fuck, I love you, baby.” He kissed her on a groan. “Good, then climb into our bed and let me hold you.” It took a moment to get situated, but then she was all snuggled up to the long nook along the side of his lean body.
And that’s when Alexa knew—this was what being home really was. Finding love and belonging and family with one person, one person who could accept her mistakes and hold her tight and be her biggest cheerleader.
Maverick was that for her. She knew that for sure.
And that was everything.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have a lot of people to thank for this one because sometimes books are hard, like this one was, and those are the ones that take the most support to finish. I have to start by thanking Lea Nolan for all the brainstorming, plotting, and hand-holding, and Christi Barth for reading the draft. I also have to thank my writing partner Stephanie Dray for her incredible patience, and Amanda Bergeron for the same! I also have to thank Amanda for the incredible encouragement she gave me by loving the book, and especially Maverick, as much as I do. It’s an amazing experience to work with an editor who gets your worlds and your words and your characters so much, and I appreciate it to the bottom of my heart.
Next, I need to thank my wonderful agent, Kevan Lyon, for everything she did to help me get this one done. And my amazingly supportive husband and daughters for doing so much for me to give me the time I needed to write. I love you guys!
And I also need to thank my Heroes and my Reader Girls for the excitement you all had for the early excerpts I posted from the book—each and every one was a little boost of encouragement and motivation! It’s amazing any time a reader mentions that a certain book of yours is their favorite, but a special thank you to every reader who told me Ride Hard was your new favorite, because that provided me with such wonderful motivation when the going got tough on this one. I hope you find another story that grabs your heart within these pages.
Finally, a thanks as always to all the readers, who take my characters into their hearts and let them tell their stories over and over again.
~LK
EXCERPT FROM RIDE WILD
Don’t miss the next Raven Riders novel RIDE WILD
Coming Fall 2017!