Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
They all shake their heads, so I toss our trash and take my seat next to Maverick as my phone rings. No one ever calls me. At first, I think it might finally be Derrick calling to check on his daughter, but I see my grandmother’s name and my heart stops.
“Grams? Is everything okay?”
“Oh, yes, dear, everything is fine. Henry, down the road, was doing some digging, and he hit some underground electricity. The entire road is out of power. They’re saying several hours. Your grandfather and I are going to stay at a hotel in Harris. We were going to get you a room as well.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that. I can get my own room.”
“What’s going on?” Maverick leans in close, putting his hand on the small of my back.
“Grams, give me a few, and I’ll call you right back.” She agrees, and I end the call. “Henry, my grandparents' neighbor, was doing some digging and hit some underground electricity, and the power is out on the entire road.”
“Damn, he must have hit a mainline or something,” Kennedy speaks up.
“Anyway, my grandparents are getting a room in Harris and wanted to know if they should get me one as well.” I stand and reach for Ada. “I should go so that I can get a room.”
“Stay at our place,” Merrick speaks up.
“What? No, I can’t put you all out.”
“You won’t be. I’ve had a few of these.” He holds up the beer he’s drinking. “Besides, Brooks conned us all into helping him build shelves out in the garage tomorrow. I’ll just stay right here, and you can take my room at the house.”
“No, Merrick, I can’t let you do that.”
“You’re right. You’re not letting me do it. I’m offering. Besides, you’ve sat here. You know how damn comfy this couch is.”
“He has a perfectly good spare room he can sleep in upstairs too,” Palmer chimes in. “It’s better than paying for a hotel.”
“Stel, come on. You’ve stayed there before. Don’t waste money on a hotel when you can stay at our place.”
I make eye contact with each of the ladies, waiting for them to offer me a room. By the grins and smirks on their faces, that’s not going to happen. I sigh, wanting to stay with him. I know what happened last time won’t happen again, but I just like being around him. Today has been a great day, and I’m not ready for it to end.
“If you’re sure…?”
“We’re sure,” everyone in the room speaks up, and I laugh.
“Thank you.” I stand and move to the back of the room to call my grandmother back. She seems thrilled that I’m staying with Maverick. With the promise to call her tomorrow, I end the call.
When I get back to the couch that I was sitting on, Ada is awake and drinking greedily from a sippy cup.
“Hey, sweetie. Come see Mommy.” She does without complaint. I’m surprised; she’s been glued to Maverick most of the day. If she wasn’t on his hip, she was chasing after and playing with her new friends.
This is what it’s supposed to feel like to have a partner.
I shut that thought down immediately. I can’t let my mind go there. The attraction I feel is bad enough. My heart is already invested. I can’t make it worse.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
Maverick
“You can have my room,” I tell Stella as we walk into the house. I have a sleeping Ada in my arms. She slept all the way home. She really wore herself out chasing after the other kids today.
“No. No, that’s okay,” she blurts. “I can just take the couch, or Merrick said I could sleep in his bed.”
That’s not happening. “You can sleep in my bed.”
“Really. I don’t want to put you out.”
“Stel, you’re not sleeping in my brother’s bed.” No way. I can’t say why, but the thought of her in Merrick’s bed pisses me off.
“Why? He offered, and that’s why he stayed there, right?”
“No.”
She gives me a perplexed look. “Well, I’m not forcing you out of your own bed when there’s another in the house that’s not being used that I can sleep in.” She places her hands on her hips and stares up at me. All I want to do is kiss the scowl off her lips. Closing my eyes, I take a slow, deep breath and exhale. I have to stop thinking about kissing her.
“The Pack ’N Play is in my room. You should be with Ada.” It’s a stretch, and we both know it. She knows damn good and well that I’m happy to help with Bug if she wakes up tonight. However, I’m not above playing dirty. I don’t want her sleeping in my brother’s bed. She’ll be in mine. That’s how this is going to go.
“Fine.” She huffs. “It’s a big bed. We’ll both sleep there.” Her eyes widen at her own words.