“I love that.” I smile at Ava. “Being your Pop-Up Pal was a lucky thing for me. I needed your kind words and comfort, more than you possibly could have known.” Even if it causes me embarrassment, it’s only right to give the woman her due.
I look at Roman, and it suddenly occurs to me:Like mother, like son.Indeed, I think it’s fair to say Roman did for meexactly what his mother had done at the airport, only on a much grander scale. In the beginning, I figured Roman did that for sex—but after a while, that answer wasn’t good enough. Well, now I know: he was doing what he’d witnessed his own mother doing his entire life. Being kind. Going out on a limb to help someone in need. Not to mention, like Harper figured out at the bar the other day, I’m sure Roman recognized some of his own struggles in me.
“What a crazy coincidence,” Roman’s father says. “To think you two met at a tiny airport on an island in the Pacific, and now you’re meeting again in a tiny town three thousand miles away.”
“There are no coincidences,” Roman’s mom says ominously, her index finger raised. “Onlysigns.”
“Yep,” Roman agrees, with a visible squeeze of his son’s little hand.
Throughout this conversation, little Maverick has been quietly holding his father’s hand and shyly pressing his cheek against Roman’s thick thigh. But now that my eyes have locked with his, he slides slightly behind his daddy’s leg.
“Hey, Maverick,” I say softly. “Your daddy told me you might like to ride a horse today. Is that true?”
Maverick gasps and looks up at his father, his little eyebrows raised to his scalp.
“You have to reply to Iris if you want to go, buddy,” Roman coos. “She’s the person who can make it happen for you, not me.”
Maverick blushes a deep shade of crimson and his tiny body heaves with his intake of air.
“You don’t have to feel shy with Iris,” Roman persists, his large palm resting on Maverick’s dark mop of hair. “She’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. She’s Daddy’s really, really good friend, and I know you’ll like her, too, if you give her a chance to be your friend.”
My heart flutters at Roman’s amazing words. Also, Roman’stone and body language with his son are so damned gentle and sweet, my ovaries suddenly feel like tiny pitching machines at a batting cage.Pop, pop, pop.
When Maverick still remains silent and blushing, I crouch down in front of him with a soft smile, the same way I do with all of my shiest students. Well, the same way Ididwith them, back when I was still an employed teacher. “I’m thinking you’d really enjoy riding a pony named Tornado. She loves taking first-timers. If you feed her some baby carrots before climbing aboard, she’ll fall madly in love with you and make sure you have a wonderful first ride.”
Maverick wiggles his little body with excitement and looks up at his towering father again. “Can I, Daddy?”
“It’s up to Iris. Muster the courage to look at her and say, ‘Yes, please. I’d love that. Thank you, Iris,’ and see what happens next.”
Maverick takes a deep breath and turns his dark, Roman-esque gaze on me. “Yes, Irish. Tank you, pwease.”
We all melt and chuckle at his cuteness—and thankfully, nobody corrects his precious pronunciation of my name.
“Good job,” I say. I put my hand up for a high five, and he gives it to me. “Let’s go find Tornado and get her saddled up.”
I suddenly realize Harper isn’t standing with the group. Apparently, my best friend drifted away at some point without me realizing it. Probably, knowing her, to give me some privacy with our unexpected guests. That would make perfect sense, actually, given how many times Harper’s had to listen to me babbling about Roman and my aching heart since my arrival in Orchard Blossom almost two months ago.
After leading the group around a corner, I easily find my best friend talking to one of the ranch hands. “Hey, baby,” I chirp. “Is Tornado in the north pasture? I’ve got a first-time cowboy who’d love to feed her some baby carrots and ride her like the wind.”
Harper giggles at my sarcasm. Our beloved Tornado has only one gear: walking very, very slowly. And everyone at this ranch knows it.
“Yep,” Harper confirms brightly. “North pasture. But I’ll grab her for you, while you show everyone around.” To Maverick, Harper adds, “There’s a bunch of horses in stalls over there who’d love to snack on carrots, if you’re willing to feed them.”
As Maverick whoops with excitement, I flash Harper a grateful smile. She’s playing Cupid, obviously—allowing me to spend as much time as possible with Roman and his family. Otherwise, she’d surely let me run hither and yon, looking for that damned pony myself.
“Thanks, Harper. We’ll meet you over at the stable.”
I turn to make sure Roman and his parents are following Maverick and me, and when my eyes lock with Roman’s a few feet away, my body jolts like I’ve gripped an electric fence. He’s on fire as he stares at me. Indeed, his gaze is so intense and sexual, so damned heated, it instantly sends a throbbing ache between my legs.
I force my attention back to the sweet little boy clutching my hand. “When Harper brings Tornado to the stable, you can help me saddle her up, if you’d like.”
Maverick makes a gargled sound of glee that bears no resemblance to the English language, and everyone who loves him—which I’m pretty sure already includes me—laughs uproariously at his exuberance.
“Is that a ‘Yes, please, Iris’?” Roman asks from behind me, eliciting a chuckle from his parents and a swoon from me.
“Yes, please, Irish.”
My chest constricts. My heart throbs. God help me, just this fast, I think I’m already in danger of falling in love with Maverick Maguire, every bit as much as I’m stupidly in danger of fallingmadly in love with his gorgeous, look-alike, football god of a father.
