His brow furrows, and he studies me. “How do you feel about that?”
“Great.” I shake my head. “It’s one of the things I’ve always admired about her.”
I don’t sayalways loved about her, although based on our lie, I imagine he wouldn’t mind me saying the word love.
“I just mean with your schedule and being in LA, that changes things.”
Oh.
“Yeah…” I reach up to rub the back of my neck, feeling like I’m being exposed all of a sudden. “It does make things complicated.”
He stands for a moment, hands on his hips, looking across at the healthy trees, which now seem so vulnerable.
“Is that why I saw you sleeping on the flatbed this morning?” He glances at me, walking slowly to the truck. “Or are you a snorer?”
Shit!My shoulders tense, and I clear my throat, forcing a fake laugh. “I’m not sure what you mean…”
He opens the door to the pickup, and I do the same, thankful he doesn’t seem to be preparing to kick my ass.
“I mean,” he looks straight at me across the cab. “Why weren’t you in bed with your girlfriend this morning? Not that I’m pushing you or anything. Just curious.”
We’re both in, and he turns the wheel, taking us slowly to the house again. I look out the window, pinching my lips with my fingers as I try to think of a reason I wouldn’t be in bed with Dove, the most beautiful girl I know, sliding my morning wood between her soft thighs…
Not now, Mav, jeez.
“Well, you see, all this is kind of new.” I’m fumbling, but the story is forming in my head. “We weren’t expecting to share the cottage.”
“Surely, you don’t mind?”
“No way, not at all.” I look down at my hands. “Last night, it just felt kind of sudden… and I didn’t want to rush her into anything.”
That is actually the truth.
I glance over at him, and he nods slowly. His elbow is propped on the open window, and his hand is on his chin.
“You’re all right, Maverick.” He looks at me again, nodding. “Glad to know you’re still a good kid at heart.”
“I try to be.”
“Just be sure you don’t fail.”
“Yes, sir.” I nod, holding the serious expression on my face as he parks the truck. “Well, I’d better get cleaned up.”
I quickly escape to the cottage before he asks any more unexpected questions.
21
DOVE
“Iwish you’d told me you were bringing Maverick!” Boo sits beside me in the chair, her feet propped on a small stool as a lady paints her toenails. “I could’ve asked Ricky to make him one of his groomsmen.”
“You could not!” I laugh, pushing her arm. “Ricky doesn’t even know Mav. It would’ve been too weird.”
“Besides, now she doesn’t have to lose him to all the bachelor activities,” Darcy teases from Boo’s other side, where she’s having her nails dipped in polish.
My mani-pedi is all done, and I’m sitting in cutoffs and a tank top waiting for my toenails to dry under a small fan. “What are they doing?”
“Sitting out in the woods, drinking beer, and playing Xbox?” Boo laughs. “Ricky keeps texting asking why they can’t come with us to karaoke tonight.”
