Chapter 12
Sydney
Maverick places his hands on my waist and lifts me onto his lap. I straddle his hips and rest my hands on his chest. His piercing blue eyes take in every little detail as they roam my face.
“What are we doing, Mav?” I loop my hands around the back of his neck and toy with his wavy hair.
“Well, right now, I'm trying to decide if I want to kiss you or if I want to talk some things out with you.” He places his hands on my hips and slowly slips them under the hem of my shirt until they’re resting on my bare waist.
“If you want to talk, you’ll have to stop touching me,” I mumble. The feel of his hands on me is too good. I can't focus on anything other than the way he’s kneading my flesh.
“I don’t really want to. Honestly, I'm not sure I could stop touching you if I tried,” he murmurs as he presses his lips to my neck.
“I think we need to talk though,” I whisper.
“Ok.” The single word comes out half way between a groan and a growl.
“You don’t have to babysit my kids, Mav.” I lean back so he can't kiss me without tugging me back into him.
“I know I don’t have to. But I'm more than happy to do it… Unless you don’t want me to.” His brows furrow like the thought never crossed his mind before.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, so get that out of your head. I just… They’re not your job to take care of. You’re not obligated to do anything with them.”
“So, because I'm not their dad, I shouldn’t show any interest in them?” He arches a brow, his face emotionless. I can't tell if he’s angry, confused, or annoyed.
“That’s not…” I let out a long sigh and drop my head to his chest. “I keep opening my mouth and nothing comes out right.”
“Let me make this simple for you, Syd.” He slips his hands around to my back and rubs up and down my spine, making me relax into him.
“I want to date you. I want to get to know your kids. I want to help you and make your life easier. I don’t care if that means babysitting, cooking dinner, cleaning the house, whatever.
I want to be there for you in whatever capacity you need me. Do you understand that?”
“I understand what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make sense to me,” I whisper.
“Why?”
“Because Rob didn’t do any of that! He never watched the kids.
He’d rather go hungry than cook dinner for the family.
He’d never help clean because that’s woman’s work and he’s not going to do it.
I don’t understand why you want to volunteer to do something you’re not required to do.
” I stare at him like he’s crazy. It’s either that, or I’ve finally fallen off the deep end and all of this is made up in my head. There’s no way Maverick is real.
“What did he do? How did he help you?”
“He didn’t. It was the Rob show all day every day. He didn’t listen to the kids tell stories. He didn’t go to baseball games or dance recitals. He didn’t show up to anything physically or mentally. The only thing he did was stay late at work and bang the receptionist.”
“I see you, Sydney,” he whispers. He cups my cheek and slowly rubs his thumbs back and forth across my skin.
The rough pads of his fingers send a chill through my body.
“I see how hard you’re working to do everything alone.
I’m telling you that you don’t need to do it.
You can lean on me. And I promise I’ll never bang my receptionist.”
“Do you even have a receptionist?” I arch a brow.
“Nope. I don’t even have a female employee. And if I ever get one, you can choose who gets hired.”
“You really want to date me, huh?” I smirk, loving when his own smirk lifts the corner of his lips.
“I don’t think there’s a single thing I want more in this world.”
“I don’t want the kids to know,” I whisper, unsure of how he’ll respond to my request. He might flip out and get mad, or he might like the idea. Either way, I'm not ready to introduce him to my children as more than a friend and a helping hand.
“I understand. I don’t love the idea, but I get why you want to keep things quiet. For now.”
“I don’t want them to get attached to you,” I attempt to explain where my head is with all of this.
“Danny struggled when Rob left and he didn’t do anything with his son.
I can only imagine how hard he’d take it if we dated for a few months and he grew close to you. If we broke up, he’d be destroyed.”
“We can keep it quiet for now, but not forever. Eventually, you’re going to have to tell them.”
“Let’s see how long we last first.” I roll my eyes.
“You don’t believe in love, do you?”
“It’s hard to believe in something you’ve never experienced before.” I lift my shoulder in a weak shrug.
I want to believe in love. I want to think everyone has their perfect person out there. One that’s made to fit them exactly. Someone who’s going to make your life amazing. Make you feel loved and cherished, not a chore or obligation. I'm just not sure that’s real.
“You love your kids,” he says it like a statement, not a question and that makes me smile.
“Of course I love my kids.”
“Then you’ve experienced love. Just because it wasn’t a romantic love, doesn’t mean it’s a lesser type of love.”
“Are you saying you love me, Mav?” I quirk a brow, teasing him more than anything.
“I think it’s too early for me to confess my undying love for you when you’ve barely agreed to dating me,” he chuckles. “I think you’d be easy to love though. The kids too.”
“Is it Bree’s ability to strong-arm you into dinner with us multiple times a week?”
“It’s the love and kindness they show the world even though they’ve been hurt. They get it from their mama.” He brushes a few strands out of my face and trails a finger over my jaw and down my neck. “Now, am I allowed to kiss you yet?”
“Who am I to deny my boyfriend a kiss?”
As soon as the word boyfriend crosses my lips, Maverick pulls me in close. The last word is barely out of my mouth when he covers my lips with his own.
He tilts his head to the side and threads his fingers through my hair. He’s addicting. Delicious. Perfect.
Mine.
We kiss for what feels like hours and seconds all at the same time. He knows I'm still struggling with starting a new relationship. He’s respecting me and giving me the chance to control what happens between us.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a kiss like this. Kissing you is different,” he murmurs against my skin as he kisses up and down my neck.
“Kissing you is different too,” I whisper. The last thing I need is to wake up one of the kids and make them come in search of what the weird noise they’re hearing. “Honestly, I think you’ve given me the best kiss of my life.”
“Good, I’ll make sure to keep doing it.”