The moment they were out of earshot, Nina said, ‘Don’t overthink the photograph. Markus sees people as art, and sometimes he forgets …’
‘I wasn’t overthinking it. I was wondering if I could ask him for a copy.’ He walked around the bed and put his own wrapped gift on the mattress next to her. Before she could move to open it, he leaned down, placed his hands on either side of her face, and brought his lips to hers.
The kiss was as quick as it was hot, over before she could right her addled brain let alone return it. But it still spread through her like wildfire, burning with no thought as to what walls it destroyed.
He straightened, nudged the last gift towards her. ‘Happy birthday.’
‘You guys really didn’t have to go to all this effort,’ she said as she ripped the mangled tape off with quick fingers. ‘I typically don’t celebrate.’
‘At all?’
Nina shrugged. ‘Markus usually forces me to go out. Or, if I refuse, he and Juan come over and harass me into a movie or pizza night.’
Maverick sat on the edge of her mattress. ‘I’m glad he’s there for you. Birthdays should be celebrated.’
‘I don’t know. Celebrating getting older doesn’t always feel fun.’
‘It’s not only a celebration of age. It’s a celebration ofyouand what you bring to the world. It’s one day where other people have an excuse to show you how much you mean to them, and the value you add to their lives.’ He reached out one hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, repeated, ‘Birthdays should be celebrated.’
Nina felt a little choked up, not necessarily because she disagreed, but because his words only proved her earlier thoughts. She had one friend who celebrated her birthday – who celebratedher. One.
But because she didn’t want to be self-pitying on this, the best birthday, she laughingly asked, ‘Oh? And what do I bring to your life, Mav?’
He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, making her laugh.
Nina tore the last of the paper away, but this time, when she saw what the gift was and the emotion clawed up her throat, she had to grind her teeth together to stop it from coming out. Because there, in her lap, was the most beautiful makeup box she’d ever seen.
The wood was dark and smooth beneath her fingers. The box was long, maybe two feet, and had been designed to sit on a bathroom counter. The back opened to little compartments meant to hold brushes and eyeliners or mascaras. The front contained one long drawer beneath which four smaller ones sat. Two little brass hooks for jewellery were on either side, and when Nina opened the drawers, she saw that they were full of product.
‘Sierra’s half was the makeup,’ Mav said. Reaching forward, he brushed an errant tear off her cheek. ‘I insisted you probably had plenty of your own and didn’t need any with that face anyway. She disagreed, said a woman could never have too much.’
Nina didn’t speak for a long moment, only traced the flowers that were carved into the little drawers at the front of the makeup box, but Maverick was looking at her, and he could see that she was struggling with her emotions.
‘Thank you,’ she managed eventually. ‘These—’ She spread out her arms, encompassing all three gifts. ‘These are the best gifts I’ve ever received.’
‘So, why are you so sad?’
‘I’m not,’ she insisted. ‘I’m just … A little …overwhelmed.’
Maverick didn’t try and talk her down from the wave of emotions as she choked on her tears. Didn’t he understand exactly what she meant? Hadn’t he felt that swift kick to the stomach when Nina had thrown her arms around Poppy and invited her to blow out the candles? In that small moment, Maverick had looked at them, and he’d seen everything he’d ever wanted. He’d thought:My girls– and then he’d felt that instant punch of panic.
So, he didn’t try and placate Nina now. He understood. And based on what she’d told him about her childhood, her mother, and, yes, her past lovers, the speed, the intensity, of them was probably even more overwhelming for her than it was for him. And that was saying nothing of the extremely traumatic incident that had brought them together in the first place …
He did reach for her though, and he did haul her across the two feet separating them and onto his lap.
Nina didn’t laugh as he’d hoped. She snuggled into him and sighed as if she’d found a momentary resting place. Her slender fingers, always so anxious, toyed with one of his shirt buttons. ‘I like this,’ she whispered. ‘I like this too much.’
‘Yeah. Me too.’
He didn’t say more. He couldn’t quite manage it against the weight of his past, which pulled him backwards when he’d rather not remember. But he’d been here before. He’d rushed into a relationship with an unavailable woman, and it had almost destroyed him.
As much as he’d never regret Shannon, because she’d given him Poppy, Maverick didn’t want to relive any of that pain, and saying goodbye to Nina was already going to be difficult enough.
He didn’t give her any false comfort, only held her as she regained her composure, and when she seemed to have levelled out a bit, he said. ‘You look like someone who’s never had cake for breakfast.’
She laughed quietly. ‘Do pancakes count?’
‘No.’
