“For a second,” she said. “Only for a second.”
She was used to Maverick being the joyful one in their relationship, the one who always smiled and laughed, so she wasn’t sure what to do with this role reversal.
Because right now, there was nothing on earth that could wipe the huge smile off her face or stop her from giggling as she said, “We did it,” her tone rife with amazement and happiness.
While it took a moment, her sheer giddiness became contagious, and Maverick laughed as well.
“That was fucking awesome,” he said, the two of them cracking up, drunk on lust and pleasure…and love.
Ella’s eyes slid open,landing on the stuffed cat.
She cursed for letting herself go back to that moment.
Because Jesus.
How was that helping her present situation?
Maverick is the past, she repeated to herself, as she flipped to her back, her eyes locked on the ceiling.
The past.
She huffed out a frustrated breath.
Yeah, right.
Chapter Seven
Maverick sighed, looking around Whiskey Abbey, wondering what the hell he was doing back here again.
Unfortunately, he knew the answer to that question. He just didn’t like it.
It was Wednesday—ladies’ night once more.
Glancing across the bar, he spotted the answer sitting at a table, drinking margaritas with Mila and Gretchen. He’d overheard the two women talking earlier at the winery tasting room about going out tonight.
Boone and Theo, both huge Nationals fans, had made plans to watch the baseball game together, and their ladies had decided margaritas sounded like more fun. When they decided to invite Ella to join them, Maverick’s plans for the evening changed.
From watching the baseball game to coming here.
When he suggested Whiskey Abbey to his brothers, Jace and—shockingly—Grayson both expressed interested in joining him.
Maverick suspected Grayson’s presence was based on the fact he’d overheard the same conversation between the girls, so he knew Ella would be here.
Ever since Maverick had confessed to his brother that she was the one who’d broken his heart, Grayson had been pushing him to talk to her. And since Maverick knew his homebody brother would rather eat shit than spend an evening at Whiskey Abbey, he could only assume Grayson was here to further his agenda.
“Looks like one of us might need to switch to water,” Jace said to Maverick. “The girls just ordered another pitcher of margaritas.”
Grayson had agreed to be designated driver for him and Jace. He’d planned to extend that offer to Mila and Gretchen, but they left the farm in their own car before he could do so. Apparently, the three women had decided to go shopping and out to dinner prior to coming here. So, now they had an extra car to deal with.
“I’ll switch,” Maverick offered, aware it was probably best if he kept his wits about him anyway, given Ella was so close by.
Try as he may, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking of her since spending time with her at the carnival. He still wasn’t sure what had persuaded him to approach her to begin with. Perhaps it was the fact he’d been inundated with all the good memories the two of them had shared. Or maybe it was her books working on him. He’d never been much of a reader, but Ella’s writing—her characters, the storytelling, the romance, and the sex—all spoke to him, making him long for all those things he’d spent the last few years telling himself he didn’t need.
Somewhere along the line, he realized resistance was futile. Ella was his kryptonite…and he didn’t hate that. At all.
He glanced across the bar, his lips quirking slightly when Ella and Gretchen laughed over something Mila said. It was good to see her relaxing and enjoying herself. She was quite reserved when they were younger, but that quiet reticence that always surrounded her seemed to have faded with age.
Though only some.
