CHAPTER 107
harley
For the fifth time, I checked Aria’s hair clips per her request. They were even.
They matched her fall-inspired plaid dress.
Her curls looked just fine as they fell around her shoulders.
It was a whole process—one we’d been doing for the better part of an hour.
She fidgeted with excitement and anticipation as she waited for Maverick to knock on the door.
I couldn’t blame her. I felt the same way.
All I had to go on was dress comfortably.
Or in Aria’s case, dress cute and comfortable.
That still meant a dress for her. He had a whole plan for our afternoon and evening, which he wasn’t sharing with me.
I was only given a dress code and a warning that dirt would be involved.
That last part worried me. Just what were we doing that involved dirt?
“Do I look pretty?” Aria’s uncertain voice drew me out of my own thoughts. I squeezed her shoulders as I stared in the mirror at our reflection.
“You look very pretty,” I reassured her. “But you always look pretty. Are you excited?”
“I want to know what we’re doing!” she exclaimed. “How can I pick the best dress if I don’t know?”
I chuckled as I recalled the phone conversation between her and Maverick.
She had damn near interrogated him for information about what we were doing, what she should wear, and what I should wear.
His patience with her was phenomenal, even as the call turned into a video chat so she could show off her dresses and get his help choosing.
He seemed completely unfazed by the whole thing, which was far more attractive than I could put into words. But seeing him prioritize and validate her only made me love him more.
At exactly three o’clock, Maverick knocked on the door. He was barely through the first knock before Aria was screaming and running to get the door.
“Watch your feet!” I yelled after her. Under my breath, I added, “We don’t need a hospital trip.”
Happy shrieking from downstairs made me rush to clean up the remainder of her stuff.
I paused long enough to run my fingers through my hair and smooth a hand over the front of my shirt.
At his insistence, I was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt, under a light blue flannel shirt.
When I was satisfied with how I looked, I hurried down the stairs.
Maverick stood just inside the doorway with a big grin on his handsome face while Aria practically danced across the living room with excitement.
“Daddy!” Aria exclaimed as she thrust a stuffed animal in my direction. “Look how cute he is!”
I kept my expression carefully composed as I stared at the stuffed animal she held out for me to appraise. The dark grey snake was fuzzy from head to toe with long bunny ears attached to its head and big purple eyes that weren’t proportionate to the rest of it. It screamed Aria’s personality.
“He’s very cute,” I agreed, lying through my teeth. The thing was ugly as hell. Standing behind her, Maverick looked proud of himself. “He’ll go well with the rest of the Knights of Chaos.”
“Can I bring him with?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “You’ll have to ask—”
“Can I bring him with?” She whirled on Maverick before I could finish, and I caught a glimpse of her lower lip protruding in a pout. From the look on his face, the poor man didn’t stand a chance.
“Sure,” he relented immediately. “But you have to make sure you don’t lose him.”
“I would never!” Aria gasped dramatically as she hugged the ugly snake to her chest, and I bit back a laugh. His gaze drifted up to catch mine as he smiled.
“Are you two ready to go?” Maverick asked.
“I’m ready. Are you?” I looked down at Aria.
“Yup!” she exclaimed happily and marched her little self right out the front door without waiting for either of us. Maverick took the chance to close the distance between us and kiss me quickly. Twice. Three times.
“She’s really excited, isn’t she?” he murmured against my mouth.
“Yeah. This is about to be the highlight of her month, and it’s Halloween month. That’s spooky month,” I informed him as if he didn’t know. “Where did you find that goddamn snake?”
Sure, I’d bought all her other creepy stuff, but none had been last-minute purchases. They were internet deep dives for the most part.
“I made it,” he said. My eyes widened. He what? “I was going to bring her flowers because every little girl should be given flowers, but then I realized… she’s not a flower kind of girl, is she?”
“No.”
“So, I started looking at the stuffed animals, but they were all so cute. Like sickly cute. But then I realized that the bunny and the snake had the same color fur, and the bunny had purple eyes, which I know she loves. I can’t sew, but Millie can sew.”
“So, she made it?”
“No, she said it wouldn’t be as special if she made it,” he told me. “She taught me how to sew and walked me through making it. I even got a needle stuck in my finger at one point.”
He held up his hand, showing off the pinprick on his middle finger. I caught his hand and brought his finger to my lips, kissing it gently.
“That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done,” I whispered, emotion clogging my throat. There weren’t enough words in the world to describe what his gesture made me feel.
“She’s not a flower girl.” He simply shrugged like it was the only logical thing to do for her. As I stared at him, I was fairly certain my heart was about to burst out of my chest. The emotions rolling through me were intense and overwhelming.
“Come on! We’re going to be late!” Aria came barreling right back in the house, wedging herself between us. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
“All right, all right!” I scooped her up around the middle, making her laugh hysterically. I intentionally jostled her around as I walked out of the house. Over my shoulder, I asked Maverick, “Will you lock the keypad behind us?”
“Yeah.” He followed us out the door and locked it for me while I made getting Aria down the stairs a whole ordeal. Her cheeks turned bright pink with her giggles, and her hair flew everywhere.
“There!” I set her on her feet and held onto her shoulders to keep her upright. “See! We’re outside.”
“You’re so funny, Daddy!” she said with that bright smile of hers.
“Show me how fast you can run a circle around Maverick’s truck while we figure out the driving situation,” I ordered gently, turning her around.
It was easier to preoccupy her with some kind of physical activity than to entertain her when she was bored.
When she took off, I turned to him. “Should I follow behind you, or are you going to tell me where we’re going? ”
“I’ll drive,” Maverick replied as he took out his truck keys. With a growing smirk, he added, “You can be my pretty passenger princess.”
My gaze flicked in Aria’s direction. She was none the wiser as she continued to run unnecessary circles, seeing how fast she could go. While I liked him calling me princess, I didn’t know how to explain that one to my daughter.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Mav, she needs a car seat.”
“I know. I’ve got it taken care of,” he said. “You told me that she’s small for her age, so I figured a five-point harness car seat would work best. And it converts to a booster seat for when she’s bigger.”
Was I dreaming? Or was I just hearing things? Had he just said he bought her a car seat? For his truck? He bought her a car seat for his truck?
“You bought her a car seat?” I demanded.
“I bought her a car seat,” he reiterated with a growing smile.
Holy shit, he bought her a car seat.
“That’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said,” I whispered, unable to help myself. The fact that he was actively thinking about her safety—and for the long term—had my chest tightening with the onslaught of feelings.
“Oh, that’s sexy?” Maverick chuckled as he faced me. “Would you like me to talk taxes to you next? I know so much about taxes. Would that do it for you? I’d tell you that I child-proofed my house, but I didn’t do that for you. My dog’s a little bit of an idiot—”
My mouth landed on his softly as I shut him up with a kiss. I kept it brief because Aria would wear herself out running if I didn’t intervene, so I had a little window.
“I love you,” I said. “I really hope you know that.”
“I do,” he replied. His head turned slightly as he yelled, “Hey! Spooky queen, sound off!”
“Spooky queen reporting for duty!” Aria shouted back. She hurried around the back corner and playfully saluted him.
“C’mon, let’s check out your new car seat,” he told her.
“I get a new car seat too?” Her voice rose to squeaky notches. “This is the best day ever!”
I chuckled at her never-ending excitement. Oh, to be young and that happy. I didn’t intervene or join their conversation as Maverick made a whole display of showing off the car seat to her.
Instead, I stood back and just watched as he talked her through it like it was the most important thing in the whole world—and her safety was.
But he made it more than that. He made it fun and necessary.
Treated her to a throne in his big truck.
She lit up like it was Christmas, laughing as he adjusted the straps and double-checked everything.
The level of care he showed wasn’t performative. It wasn’t for me. It wasn’t for show.
It was just who he was. He’d thought ahead and planned. He made space for a little girl who wasn’t his and treated her like she was anyway.
And that… that undid me a little.