“Thank you,” I said softly. “She had the time of her life out there with you.”
“It was no big deal.” He shrugged.
“It is to me,” I told him. “Would you like to join us for dinner? It’s nothing fancy, just pasta and garlic bread.”
“That sure as hell beats going home and cooking,” he replied. He carefully took off his boots and left them on the doormat. I slipped out of the way as he joined me in the kitchen, going straight for the sink to clean up. “Does she have a bedtime, or does she just keep going all night long?”
“She sleeps really well. Once she’s out, she’s out. Only storms wake her up.”
“That’s good. Carson sleeps like shit. I typically take him once a week so that Roxy can get some sleep.”
“That sucks.” The worst I dealt with was storms waking Aria up, but when that happened, she just crawled into my bed and slept there for the night. I couldn’t imagine if she didn’t sleep well. And while I was curious, I didn’t ask more. It wasn’t my place to ask medical questions about someone else’s kid.
Thundering footsteps on the stairs made us both turn. Aria appeared around the corner in a pair of clean pajamas. Her face lit up when she saw Maverick in the kitchen.
“Are you staying for dinner? Is he staying for dinner?” She gasped, answering her own question. “Daddy!”
“Yes?”
“Daddy! I have an idea!”
“Yes?” I repeated. Maverick leaned against the counter with me. I was all too aware of how his gaze drifted between the two of us as a silent observer.
“Can we make brownies in a cup after?” Aria asked. My chest constricted instantly, but she never missed a beat as she turned to Maverick. “My daddy makes thebestbrownies in a cup! He says they’re his feel-good food. I don’t know what that means, but I love brownies. Do you like brownies?”
The weight of Maverick’s stare has my ears and cheeks burning. Out ofallthe things my daughter had to bring up, whydid it have to be brownies? It was the one thing I’d carried with me from Maverick over the years. I could’ve gone a long time without him learning that.
I cleared my throat, desperate to make the moment pass.
“Why don’t you head to the table, little love?” I said. “I made your plate already. We’ll be there with ours in a minute.”
“Okay!” She skipped to the table and out of earshot, completely oblivious to everything else.
Without her there, a thick silence settled between us. The kind of silence that was charged with everything we weren’t saying. I moved across the kitchen to put some distance between us, doing whatever I could to avoid him. Cabinets opened and closed as I searched for plates and silverware, focusing a little too hard on the simple task—anything to keep my mind and eyes off the man standing only a few feet behind me.
The man I was trying real damn hard to pretend wasn’t watching my every move.
As I opened another cabinet, he stepped up behind me, close enough that I felt the heat of him against my back.
“Don’t get in your head now, princess,” Maverick whispered, his warm breath fanning over the shell of my ear. “I think it’s kind of sexy that you remembered.”
The gravel of his voice slid down my spine, and I shuddered before I could stop it—just the smallest of reactions. My fingers tightened around the edge of the cabinet door as awareness prickled across my skin.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
The space between us felt incredibly small, every inch of it filled with him. His presence. His heat. His breathing. My heart lodged in my throat as something built between us—something I couldn’t put words to.
Something I couldn’t quite afford. Not now. Maybe not ever.
Without another word, he reached past me and took down a cup. His arm brushed close enough to send another spark of warmth through me. And then he stepped back just as easily, putting distance between us like the moment never happened.
Laughter filled my house as Maverick joined Aria at the table, cracking a joke along the way. But I just stood there, attempting to put back together all the things Maverick had unraveled inside me.
CHAPTER 91
maverick
He remembered.
