Chapter 10 #2
“Hey.” He reaches out and takes my hand in his. He leads me out of the snow and under the covered porch, but out of sight of the door. “Are you ok?”
“Thank you for… everything.” I chuckle as the first tear slips down my cheek.
“I didn’t do anything, Syd.”
“Yes, you did. It might feel like nothing to you, but it felt monumental to me. You’ve spent your entire day focused on my son.
You stayed calm and collected when he hit you, even though I know you’re in pain.
You brought us home and kept us safe… You made sure he was respectful to me, when you could’ve ignored it or teased me along with him.
” I meet his eyes and the emotions in them makes me want to cry even harder.
I want a man to look at me like this because he loves me and can't help but focus on me and nobody else.
“You’re his mother. It doesn’t matter what he thinks, he should be respectful. My daddy would’ve whooped my butt if I spoke to my mama like that.” He shakes his head. “Did Rob allow that?”
“Allow it? He encouraged it.” I snort, but it’s not funny at all. It’s embarrassing.
“I’ll fix it. Don’t worry about it.” Maverick wraps me in his embrace and presses a lingering kiss to my forehead.
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to memorize what I feel like right now. I know I'm not going to be held or cherished like this again for a long time. I might as well enjoy it.
“It’s not your job to fix my mess of a life,” I whisper.
“Your life isn't a mess, but I’d like a job application.”
“For what?” I scowl up at him, more than confused.
“You said it isn't my job to fix your life, I’d like to make it my job.” He brushes the tears off my cheek with the pads of his thumbs.
“Why?”
“Because I like you, Syd. I’ve had a soft spot for you since the first time I walked into Sydney’s Sweets and I saw you behind the counter smiling ear to ear.”
“What? You’re joking.”
“Not even a little.” He chuckles. “I had to fight with myself when I found out Rob left. Do you know how hard it’s been to stay away from you for so many months?”
“Why did you?”
“Because you needed to be there for the kids. You needed to mourn the loss of your marriage.”
“No part of me is upset about my marriage being over. I'm glad he’s gone. I don’t think I ever truly loved him.”
“Good. That will make it a little easier when I do this…” He leans in and presses a soft kiss to my lips.
Heat spreads up my neck and over my cheeks as electricity pumps through my veins, making me feel like I'm alive for the first time ever. Maverick tilts his head to the side and slips his hand around to the back of my neck. He holds me tightly against him with an arm around my waist.
He’s consuming. Overwhelming. And everything I’ve always wanted. No one has ever made me feel like this with just a kiss. I know I'm never going to forget this moment. It will live rent-free in my head forever.
When he pulls back, he searches my eyes, trying to figure out how I'm feeling. The vulnerability in his features surprises me, but I love it.
“Wow,” I whisper as I lift a shaky hand to my lips.
“Yeah, wow.” A slow smirk spreads across his swollen lips. “Are you ok?”
“I think so? I think you need to give me a few minutes to process what just happened… And then do that again so I can make sure I understand what happened correctly.”
“I can do that.” His rich laugh wraps around me like a warm hug. “Let’s get inside. It’s freezing.”
I don’t know how he knew where we lived. I don’t think I ever told him. After sliding on the ice, I was too focused on not dying to give him directions, yet he knew.
“Where’s Bree?” He glances around the living room.
“What?” I frown, still trying to recover from our kiss.
“Your daughter.” He smirks, loving how much he can affect me. “Was Bree here alone?”
“Oh! No. She was with Pecker but he had to go to work, so she went to the neighbor’s house. I guess I should go get her.” I point in the direction of the house. My brain is barely functioning since he gave me that earth shattering kiss.
“You stay inside and get warm. I can go get her.” Maverick doesn’t wait for me to respond. He walks out the front door and across the lawn to the neighbor’s house.
I blink in surprise, unsure of what to do. I'm used to doing it all alone. Every single thing pertaining to the kids was my responsibility and Rob surely wasn’t going to help.
Needing to busy my hands while my mind tries to come to terms with things, I head into the kitchen and start preparing dinner.
I'm still trying to understand why Maverick would be interested in me in any way? Why wouldn’t he want someone with less baggage and fewer people relying on her?
I'm trying to wrap my head around how he corrected Danny without belittling him or ridiculing him. How quickly Danny apologized to me and how he didn’t get emotional over being corrected in the first place.
“You give the best rides!” Bree squeals.
I lift my gaze and my heart thuds a little harder. Maverick has Bree on his back and they’re both smiling ear to ear.
“You should see when I pretend I'm a horse.” He makes a shockingly impressive horse noise and pretends to rear back like she’s going to fall off of him.
Bree falls into a fit of giggles and wraps her arms tighter around his neck. They look so happy together. Like a father and daughter should. Though she’s never been that happy while playing with Rob.
“Did you have fun today?” I step into the living room, drying my hands on a towel.
“Yes! Peck helped me draw a picture and we painted it! Then he made me a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. Then we ran around the house, pretending we were spies and we had to save the cat from being catnapped and murdered. Then we read five whole books. Then he had to go to work which made me really sad, but he promised we could do it all again next week.” She takes a gasping breath between each sentence, making me grin.
She’s so full of life and energy. I love every second of it.
“Let’s see this picture you drew.” Maverick carefully lowers her onto the couch and then takes a seat next to her after he takes off his coat and boots. He makes himself comfortable, crossing one ankle over the other knee and resting an arm along the back of the couch.
“Let me go get it!” She hurries off to find the painting, more than excited to have someone interested in something she did.
I lean my shoulder against the threshold and watch Maverick carefully. He’s so good with kids. I know he doesn’t have any of his own, but I wonder if he wants some.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” His lips pull up on the ends.
“You look good in my living room. But I'm mostly wondering how you don’t have a family of your own?”
“Well, I never found anyone worthy of my attention.” He shrugs.
“And I am?” I arch a brow, barely stopping myself from rolling my eyes.
“You’re worthy of every ounce of my attention,” his deep voice rumbles. He moves like he’s about to get up when Bree comes racing down the hallway waving her paper in the air.
“Here it is!” She’s so excited and Maverick tries to sound just as thrilled to see it. I love how he’s putting in so much effort with the kids, but it feels like it’s coming out of nowhere.
If he’s always been interested in me, why wait this long to make a move? Why not come find me as soon as Rob moved out? I have so many questions, but I won't be getting answers for a while.