She stuffed the rest of the roll into her mouth, a distraction no doubt, conflict swirling in her gaze. “I want to,” she finally said, “but Ryder will throw a fit if I go back on the dealI enforced. Not to mention, if Cash finds out, then the whole town might as well know too.”
“That’s fair,” Maverick said, pausing in his cooking to stand before me where I sat on the countertop. He situated himself between my legs, one of his hands brushing my thigh in a soft, reassuring gesture. I don’t know how it was possible to relax with such a simple touch, but I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding in. That’s what him coming around felt like, the impact he had on my anxiety and worries. The calm to my storm.
Mav might be okay with not knowing, butIwanted to know what epic name Charlie and Ryder came up with. It had to be if they were keeping up with the innuendos. “What if we guess?” I asked.
Charlie laughed and reached for another roll. Mav batted her hand away, shaking his head. “Dinner’s almost ready.”
She rolled her eyes but sighed, a grin on her lips. “I highly doubt you’ll guess it, but sure. I’m interested to see what names you guys come up with.”
A trill of excitement shot through me as I racked my brain for potential names. By the downward tilt of Maverick's lips and the line furrowed between his brows, he was thinking too.
“Okay, I’ve got one,” I finally said after a few moments. “Striker. Like Strike her right. It’s also a mix of both his and his daddy’s names.”
Charlie’s grin pulled wider but she shook her head. “Clever, but no.”
Maverick’s voice drew our attention. “What about Slater?”
I bit back a laugh.Slayed her right.
“Another excellent one, but still no.”
I blew out a breath, tapping a finger to my lips. “What about…” even the thought of the name had me grinning. “Wrecker. Wrecker Wright.”
Charlie’s stunned silence sent fireworks of excitement exploding in my chest.
“It’s that, isn’t it? No fuckin’ way. I can just see it now, Cash having some little onesie made that says somethin’ likeget wreckedon it.”
Laughter bubbled out of Charlie. “That was my exact thought, but it’s still not it. Wealmostwent with Wrecker, though.”
“What? It isn’t that?”
“No.” She shook her head. “But I’m loving hearing your ideas, so keep them coming.”
After a few more minutes of guessing, Maverick and I both gave up. Dinner was ready, and I was out of innuendos.
Charlie sat down in a chair opposite me. Cason sat diagonal to us both, his hair mussed up and streaked with sweat from playing outside. Brandy and Dutch panted from the dog bed in the corner of the living room.
“What about y’all?” Charlie asked. “Any contenders for little miss?” It was funny, she didn’t have an accent really, despite growing up here, but now that she was back, every now and then a ‘y’all’ or ‘bless your heart’ would escape her with the barest hint of a twang. Looked like you could take the girl out of the country, but couldn’t take the country out of the girl.
I glanced at Maverick, who sat diagonal to me. His gaze flicked to my swollen belly, his hand reaching out to brush it in reassurance. “Apparently naming babies is far harder than naming animals.” I glanced back at Charlie.
She laughed before taking a sip of her sweet tea. “How so?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just… What if we pick the wrong name? What if we fall in love with one and she comes out and the name just doesn’t fit her?”
“Well, what names were you thinkin’?” Charlie asked.
I looked at Maverick once more. “Might as well tell her. Maybe she’s got some ideas.”
“We liked Kinleigh at first, but it’s kinda popular. I liked Winter, but Chey ain’t a fan. We both like Oakley…like Annie Oakley, but spelled with a l-e-i-g-h at the end,” Maverick replied.
She smiled. “Ooh, Oakleigh is super cute. What about a middle name?”
Maverick huffed before muttering, “We barely got the first name down, now you want a second?”
I chimed in, “I was thinkin’, actually the other day about middle names. What about Mae?”
A muscle in Maverick’s hand flexed, his grip on my belly tightening almost imperceptibly, and when I looked at him, his jade eyes swam with a current of emotions I couldn’t quite place. I frowned. “Do you not like that?”
