“Can I bring him with?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “You’ll have to ask—”
“Can I bring him with?” She whirled on Maverick before I could finish, and I caught a glimpse of her lower lip protruding in a pout. From the look on his face, the poor man didn’t stand a chance.
“Sure,” he relented immediately. “But you have to make sure you don’t lose him.”
“I would never!” Aria gasped dramatically as she hugged the ugly snake to her chest, and I bit back a laugh. His gaze drifted up to catch mine as he smiled.
“Are you two ready to go?” Maverick asked.
“I’m ready. Are you?” I looked down at Aria.
“Yup!” she exclaimed happily and marched her little self right out the front door without waiting for either of us. Maverick took the chance to close the distance between us and kiss me quickly. Twice. Three times.
“She’s really excited, isn’t she?” he murmured against my mouth.
“Yeah. This is about to be the highlight of her month, and it’s Halloween month. That’s spooky month,” I informed him as if he didn’t know. “Where did you find that goddamn snake?”
Sure, I’d bought all her other creepy stuff, but none had been last-minute purchases. They were internet deep dives for the most part.
“I made it,” he said. My eyes widened.He what?“I was going to bring her flowers because every little girl should be given flowers, but then I realized… she’s not a flower kind of girl, is she?”
“No.”
“So, I started looking at the stuffed animals, but they were all so cute. Like sickly cute. ButthenI realized that the bunny and the snake had the same color fur, and the bunny had purple eyes, which I know she loves. I can’t sew, but Millie can sew.”
“So, she made it?”
“No, she said it wouldn’t be as special if she made it,” he told me. “She taught me how to sew and walked me through making it. I even got a needle stuck in my finger at one point.”
He held up his hand, showing off the pinprick on his middle finger. I caught his hand and brought his finger to my lips, kissing it gently.
“That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done,” I whispered, emotion clogging my throat. There weren’t enough words in the world to describe what his gesture made me feel.
“She’s not a flower girl.” He simply shrugged like it was the only logical thing to do for her. As I stared at him, I was fairly certain my heart was about to burst out of my chest. The emotions rolling through me were intense and overwhelming.
“Come on!We’re going to be late!” Aria came barreling right back in the house, wedging herself between us. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”
“All right, all right!” I scooped her up around the middle, making her laugh hysterically. I intentionally jostled her around as I walked out of the house. Over my shoulder, I asked Maverick, “Will you lock the keypad behind us?”
“Yeah.” He followed us out the door and locked it for me while I made getting Aria down the stairs a whole ordeal. Her cheeks turned bright pink with her giggles, and her hair flew everywhere.
“There!” I set her on her feet and held onto her shoulders to keep her upright. “See! We’re outside.”
“You’re so funny, Daddy!” she said with that bright smile of hers.
“Show me how fast you can run a circle around Maverick’s truck while we figure out the driving situation,” I ordered gently, turning her around. It was easier to preoccupy her with some kind of physical activity than to entertain her when she was bored. When she took off, I turned to him. “Should I follow behind you, or are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“I’ll drive,” Maverick replied as he took out his truck keys. With a growing smirk, he added, “You can be my pretty passenger princess.”
My gaze flicked in Aria’s direction. She was none the wiser as she continued to run unnecessary circles, seeing how fast she could go. While I liked him calling me princess, I didn’t know how to explain that one to my daughter.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Mav, she needs a car seat.”
