Protect her.
Or protect the rules that failed her.
I don’t have to think twice about what I’ll do.
Chapter
Twelve
MIA
Isee him from a distance, sauntering toward me.
Ebony hair glistening blue in the sunlight. Square-cut jaw and chiseled face. Gait wary, with a slight limp. Eyes black as a starless sky.
My breath catches in my throat as I walk the clothesline, singing and pinning up white sheets and towels. They flutter in the breeze like ghosts, billowing, unfurling, hiding, and then revealing him to me over and over as he draws closer.
My chest aches, eyes dangerously stinging. Why do I always want the one thing I can’t have? The one person not interested?
But my body won’t listen. A wide grin seizes my face as he draws near, heat radiating from my cheeks. He puts his hands on his hips, staring too long. Like he’s recognizing something that was always there.
“Ms. Love.”
“Holt.”
His eyes narrow, jaw tightening. “Dryer broken?”
I shake my head. “Wanted to do something the old-fashioned way for once.”The way that makes it feel worthwhile.
He nods, brows furrowing. “You okay?”
“Fine.”
He hesitates, mouth working. But nothing comes out. I return to my clothespins and line, humming softly to myself.
Grandma speaks through the whispers of the wind-rustled fabric. Like she talks to me through the yarn and crochet hook. The only person who wantedme—not Mia Love.
Warmth may lurk behind Maverick’s eyes, but he’s no different from everyone else. I’m a means to an end for him. To secure his job. To satisfy his need for responsibility, hard work, whatever.
“Can I help you?” He removes his Stetson, wiping the back of his arm over his forehead.
“No, thank you.”
His face goes stony, body stiff and straight. Wheeling around, he strides away.
Only then, with his back turned to me, do I ask, “What’s the plan for me?”
He stops, head dropping, though he never looks back.
I add, “I know about the cease-and-desist.” I swallow loudly. “Edwin contacted me, too.”
“And what did he say?”
I shrug, though he never looks back. “He talked about contracts, the guardianship … what will happen if I don’t go back on my meds.” I laugh bitterly. “Concerns about my well-being. All very reasonable, even altruistic.”
“Sounds like what happens next is up to you,” he murmurs.
I snort. “Sounds like the opposite of that to me.”
