"I do, Leigh, I really do. This isn't just about that. It means a lot to me that you're part of this. I want everyone to see what we're buildin' here and know that it's forever. I want to give us a solid start, but I want that start to be somethin' that's built on an unshakable foundation. One day, I'm gonna give our kids that foundation, and they're goin' to know their parents built it--together--with their love, merging all the parts of our lives. This land, the memories we shared on it, and us. It will be visible in everything we're buildin', Leigh. Bits and pieces from our past mixing with the people we became while we weren't ready to be us. It's so much more than just leavin' no doubts, darlin', so much more. It's us."
"You're going to make me cry," I speak on a rush of air.
"You'll be there?" he asks again, his face softening with the wetness gathering in my eyes. His thumb presses against my wobbly chin as if trying to ease my emotional heart.
"Yeah, honey, I'll be there." After that, I would give him the world if he asked for it.
"Good." He smiles.
"You hungry?" I question, blinking furiously to clear my eyes, and changing the subject before I end up ugly crying all over him. "I can make you something after I shower, before I head out."
"Starved." His eyes darken, the bright emerald turning murky. That grin turns dangerous and I feel my belly clench.
He moves so quickly, sliding out from under me and standing from the bed in one quick movement. His arms are reaching down to pull me up and over his shoulder before my mind has even registered that I'm no longer straddling him. He stomps to the bathroom, my position over his shoulder giving me one hell of a view of his hard, round ass. Each step he takes makes it flex in the most mouthwatering way.
My God, this man is perfect everywhere.
The bathroom hadn't even had a chance to fill with the steam from our hot shower before I was crying out my second release, coming against his tongue. Only then did he stand and gave me the most devilish grin. My heart racing from the whirlwind of leaving the bed and being at his mercy.
"Thanks, darlin'. That was the best breakfast I've ever had."
Even with my sated body, feeling like I'm incapable of lifting even a finger, his words have me throwing my head back and laughing harder than I have in years. Well, that was until my laugh turned into a high-pitched, toe-curling scream. There really is no better way to wake up than with this man. Especially when that wake-up comes with his hard body pressing me against the shower wall as he takes me in the most deliciously hard way.
Yeah, I want to wake up this way for the rest of our life.
"Someone looks like she woke up on the right side of a cowboy," Jana observes, wagging her brows rapidly when I walk into the kitchen of the PieHole two hours later. My legs still feel weak from Maverick's very energetic good-bye against the front door ten minutes ago, so I almost fall on my ass when she speaks. I had been so lost in my thoughts, I don't even think I realized she was standing there.
"Hi, Jana. Yes, it's a beautiful day. I'm doing great, thanks for asking." I respond smartly, pushing the images of Maverick's good-bye from my mind, and grabbing my favorite apron off the hook of my office door before going to the sink to wash up.
"Don't you be a smart-ass, Leighton dear. Give an old lady something to think about here! Come on, details, missy."
"You really don't understand boundaries at all, do you?" I laugh, moving from the sink to start prepping for today. First up on the list, cookie dough pie, I think.
"There is no such thing. Boundaries are for the boring and the young, too dumb to realize how short life is. Now tell me, how's that broken hooha of yours?"
I hang my head, hiding my smile, and trying my hardest not to laugh at her. It would just encourage her. Which, if I'm honest with myself, doesn't take much. The smallest reaction, even if it's just breathing, will just incite her impossible behavior. I swear she gets more outrageous as the days go by.
"I'm guessing, with that blush you're sportin' now, you definitely fixed that broken hooha," she muses to herself, clearly not needing an active participant for this conversation. Good, maybe she'll move on and go get everything outside of my kitchen ready for the start of our day.
Of course, my relief is short-lived when I hear the back door bang open.
"Who had a broken hooha?" I hear and look up to see Quinn walk through into the kitchen from the mouth of the hallway. "I saw you pullin' up and decided to come over," she says with a shrug, answering my unasked question before walking over to the fridge closest to her and pulling out a pie. With her shop just down the street from the PieHole, this is a normal occurrence, something I would have been anticipating had I not been lost in the Maverick lust fog.
"Hey!" I snap, throwing my hands in the air and narrowing my eyes at the pie in her hand. "Sure, Quinn, help yourself."
She sticks out her tongue, grabs a fork from the cutlery station, and starts eating from the center of the chocolate chip cherry cream pie that she just grabbed. I should have better hidden the featured pie for today. Or, at the very least, realized this could happen and made an extra to cover the one she'll devour in seconds. Her eyes close in bliss around the prongs. She points her fork down toward the pie and then lifts her thumb up. Guess that means the new recipe I had created for the nonbake selections is a go.
"So," she says, ignoring my annoyed glare, "what was all that about a broken hooha?" She finishes her question just like Jana had, wagging her brows in a dramatic fashion.
"Oh, no way! There is no way in hell that I'm having this conversation with you! Do you see what you've done now, Jana?" I complain, huffing at both of them.
They both laugh at my expense, clearly loving the fact that I'm uncomfortable talking about this with them. I mean Jana is one thing, but Quinn? There is no way that she wants to hear about her brother's sex life with me. Scratch that; she's just as shameless as Jana. There is no way I want her to hear about my sex life with her brother.
"Oh, come on!" she whines. "You have to give us something. There has to be some bonus here, being your best friend. I get the scoop the whole damn town is desperate for. The way everyone is talking you would think the two of you are two steps toward the altar! Hell, just this morning Elliott Parker came to pick up his new F-250 and he didn't even want to talk about the lift I specially ordered and installed for him. The same lift I told him might not be available for months but that I was able to get in three days. Did he care? Nope. All he wanted to talk about was you and Mav. You betcha ass I'm going to be getting some details from my best friend if this is what I'm going to have to put up with from now until forever."
I blush. "You're being ridiculous."
Quinn's cheeks get red, not from embarrassment, though. Stubborn as a bull, my Quinn, and she hates when I don't give in to her. "It will happen. I'm going to be hearing all of this, Leigh. You guys are like Romeo and Juliet. No, that's not right--they had that whole-families-that-hate-each-other thing. And they died and shit. Whatever. You two are the town fairy tale, yeah, that's it. They're not going to stop. I just know it. Not even after you guys finally get married. Mark my words."
"I would love a good wedding," Jana adds wistfully.
"No one is getting married!" I yell, still looking incredulously at Quinn.
"Yet," they both add simultaneously before dissolving into uncontrollable laughter.
"You keep it up and I won't let you be my maid of honor," I shoot back at Quinn. She stops laughing, looking over in my direction with wide eyes. I sneak a peek at Jana, seeing the same shocked glaze in her eyes that have taken over Quinn's. Hell, I didn't think they would take me seriously. Like I would ever think of excluding Quinn. I open my mouth to tell her that very thought, but stop dead when I feel the hard body press against my back. Warmth settles into my skin for just a beat before it's zinging and zapping every nerve.
"Who's gettin' married, darlin'?" the deep voice asks, lips poised right at my ear. Chills dance down my skin like a steady rainfa
ll in response to him being this close. My body's reaction to him is something I hope I never get used to.
Instead of looking sheepishly shocked, the brazen duo is fighting with everything they're worth to hold in their laughter. Something they're failing miserably at.
Oh, the hell with this. Tossing the bag of berries that I had just grabbed off the workstation back down, I salute the ladies in front of me with one proud middle finger before turning to face Maverick.
"No one. Especially not you."
He staggers back, dramatically, like I just punched him. His hands going to his heart playfully, and I forget every ounce of my embarrassment I had felt earlier now that I'm faced with a playful Maverick Davis. He continues to sway on his feet before leaning back against the wall behind him. Has there ever been a time, even when we were young and carefree, that I had ever seen him this lighthearted? No, I'm pretty sure I haven't, because this is something I never would have forgotten.
"Say it isn't so, darlin'," he wheezes after he finishes his dramatic fall against the wall, eyes crinkled at the side and a wide smile on his face. "You wound me."
"Holy shit," Quinn whispers behind me.
Jana giggles.
I just stand there, mouth hanging wide, feeling like something in my chest had shifted with this sight of him. His elated grin doesn't leave his face when he stands to his full height and walks back over to me.
"Hey," he says with a wink, reaching out with two fingers to close my slack jaw, his grin growing knowingly.
"Hey," I parrot lamely in response, still feeling winded.
"Miss me?"
I laugh, the sound coming out more like a wheeze. "I just saw you not even a half hour ago."
"Well, I missed you."
"Oh, my God, Jana," I hear Quinn sputter. I'm sure she thought it was said low and for her ears only but nothing about Quinn is soft; it comes out just as if she were yelling it. That girl doesn't have a subtle bone in her body.
"I see it, sweetheart," Jana says with a sniffle.
Those two are all it takes for me to snap out of whatever spell playful Maverick had me entranced with. I roll my eyes teasingly at him and watch as his smile grows.
"What are you doing here? I thought I was meeting you at two over at the diner."
"You are. I just had something come up that I didn't want to do without you."
"Uh," I lament. "Okay?"
He looks over my shoulder at the girls behind me and tips his hat before grabbing my hand and leading me to the office. He doesn't shut the door, so if privacy was something he wanted by moving us here, he won't get it. Not when I can hear them both rushing around the kitchen to get closer. Thank God we don't open for another hour; judging by the sounds they're making, I'm going to have a mess to clean up, and if I know Jana, she wouldn't leave her post outside this door until she had all the juicy details her heart could handle.
"You know they're going to stand there like the busybodies they are and listen to whatever it is you dragged me in here for, right?"
He chuckles. "Reckoned as much." He turns back and shuts the door softly before returning to my side. "I should have known. Now we have our privacy from their ears and eyes. Which is good because I didn't really feel like kissin' you the way I want to in front of my baby sister."
Oh. Wow.
His pulls me into his arms, his butt resting against my desk, and kisses the strength right out of my legs. When he pulls back, I have to take a moment to get my brain to turn back on. If he hadn't been holding on to me, I would have melted into a puddle.
"Remember those calls I got last night?" he asks in a low tone. Even though the door is shut and I know we can't be heard, he obviously isn't taking any chances. My mind is still knocked drunk by his mouth, so I have to take a second to process his question.
"Uh," I hedge, trying to clear my mind in order to think back to anything that happened last night outside of him and me between the sheets. Or in the shower. Or against the door.
He groans, clearly reading my face. "Right, you'll remember if you think what happened before all that," he jokes. "The calls I got when we were on our way home? Those were from Trey. He left a message, one I got this mornin'. I listened to it when I got in the truck, but decided to come here instead of headin' over for that duffel bag. Wanted to call him back with you."
"Okay?" I drag the word out, confused why he would need me to be with him to call some man back.
"Darlin', Trey was one of the best trainers when I was ridin'. Not only that, but he's my biological father's brother. We got close and he was able to give me parts of his brother that I can't ever get back now that he's gone. He's a big part of my life, Leigh. Trey's still there, but he was callin' because he was offerin' me a spot to train next to him on the circuit."
My eyes widen, what he's telling me registering and wiping that love-drunk feeling right out of my mind. Words escape me. He had opened up to me the other night about his biological father not being alive anymore. He never got a chance to know him so he hadn't felt like it was a big deal. I've worried since about how he was coping with never having a chance to know that part of him, but with this new knowledge about an uncle, I feel as if maybe he has been able to know that part of him. Not directly, but clearly this Trey means a great deal to him. I want to be excited that he got that offer, especially since it means he's close to that part of his family, and it clearly shows that the men he had traveled and lived with for so long know he's an asset to the sport even if he isn't riding anymore. I want to be supportive if this is something he wants. But I would be lying, because just the thought of him leaving fills me with dread.
He kisses my forehead, looking down at me knowingly, with love in his eyes. "It's okay to not be happy about that call, Leighton. Don't hide what you're feelin'."
I try to choose my words carefully before I speak. "You know I only want what is best for you. I won't lie and say that it doesn't fill my belly with lead thinkin' that you got an offer that could pull you away from me, though. I just want you to be happy, honey, and if goin' to your uncle is what you need, I'll support that."
He reaches out, not lifting his bottom off my desk, and grabs both of my hands, pulling me between his spread legs. "I came here after hearin' his message because when I call him back, I want it to be with you. I'm gonna have him in my life regardless. I knew what I would tell him before I got here, but I wanted to do this with you. Together, darlin'."
He doesn't wait for me to speak. He shifts, dropping one of my hands to pull his phone from his back pocket. I watch, my heart in my throat, while he presses the screen a few times before ringing fills the silence around us. He keeps hold of the phone but doesn't let go of my other hand, his thumb continuing to caress it soothingly.
"Well, I'll be!" the disembodied voice booms through the speaker after the click of the call connecting. Maverick's shoulders shake as he turns the volume down on his phone's speaker. "About time your sorry fuckin' ass learned how to return a call."
"Got my girl in front of me, Trey, do me a favor and watch your mouth," he says in lieu of a greeting.
"My apologies," he mumbles. "You get my message?" If he was shocked at Maverick's claim to having his girl with him, he didn't show it.
"I got it, Trey. You didn't have to call fifteen times last night to leave it, though. I would have called you back with one missed call and no message."
"That might be so, son, but have you ever known me for being patient? I was too excited to wait. Not only is it a great opportunity for you, but I knew you would be happy to get that call."
Maverick's face gets soft and he squeezes my hand. I swallow the hot saliva pooling in my mouth. No matter what, I will support him and stand by his side. I will not break down and beg him to never leave. Part of us moving forward, together, means blind support no matter what.
"Well, Trey," he starts and my hand involuntarily flexes within his hold. "I appreciate the offer and for the faith you have in me to even off
er it--"
"Of course I've got faith in your sorry ass," Trey interrupts with a gruff chuckle.
Before panic can fill my system, though, I feel like a slide show of our lives starts playing through my mind. Rapidly, zooming through those memories, until landing on the ones of us since he returned. In that moment, without him even voicing it, I know there is no way that he's going to accept. The clarity of that knowledge beating back the panic.
Even though I know with everything I am that there is no way Maverick would be accepting, the words from a man I've never met feel like a punch to the gut. I cock my head and study Maverick, waiting for him to talk. Raising my brow and mentally beating the doubt back, knowing in my heart that he wouldn't leave.
"Like I said, it means a whole lot to me that you have that faith. You know how much I respect you and I wouldn't be the rider that I was if it hadn't been for your guidance through the years."
"Shit, boy. I might have been guidin', but the rider you are has nothing to do with that. It's in your blood, son. You were born a rider and there isn't anyone else that I want workin' alongside me. I knew you wouldn't turn this down," the man speaks again, interrupting Maverick. I'm starting to think that's normal, since Maverick doesn't seem to be offended or annoyed. But I am.
"I think you should let him finish," I snap. "Sir." I add the last part in a rush as an afterthought, not letting my manners slip just because I'm feeling emotional. Maverick's whole body starts to shakes with hilarity.
The phone is silent between us after my annoyed rush of words. Maverick leans forward and gives me a quick kiss before speaking again. "Like I was sayin', Trey. I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to have to say no. You know I'll always be here if you want to shoot the shit and talk shop, but I'm home now. Where I want to be. When Doc told me I couldn't ride, it was the best news I could have gotten . . . a blessing in disguise. Damn sure didn't see it then. Couldn't see what was right in front of my face long before I got bucked off that last time. I've lived my life being driven by anger, fueled with a whole lot of regrets, but I'm done with that life, Trey. I know we talked about ways to get me back out, to keep me where I thought I needed to be, but I can honestly tell you with no regrets, everything I need is right here in front of me."