Page 21 of Maverick

She sighed and pointed over her shoulder to where Leo was hugging Chopper. “My editor showed up on my doorstep today because apparently my new book has all kinds of continuity issues. She’s here for the next twelve hours and I don’t know where Diesel is. Can you watch Leo? I can take the twins with me as they’ll just be napping, but Leo is hyped up enough already, we’ll never get any work done if he’s running around.”

I peeked around her again at Leo and then back at her. “You want me to watch your kid?”

“And Diesel’s kid,” she added as if that was the issue. “And yes, I trust you to watch him. The question is, will you?”

“Yeah, of course.” I motioned around the empty clubhouse. “You have anything planned for him?”

“No, but it would be good if he spent a few minutes outside to soak up some vitamin D.”

“Got it. Take the kid out to sun him and keep him watered. No problem.”

Her lips tugged up into a slight grin. “Look at you, halfway to being a parent.”

“Bite your tongue,” I told her with a glare that made her laugh. I was of an age that I should be ready for kids, but I hadn’t yet met a woman who I’d want to stick around for the next eighteen years, or forever. “I’ll bring him back to you in one piece. Promise.”

With an excited squeal, Ellie wrapped her arms around me and smacked a kiss against my cheek. “You’re the best, Maverick. My favorite other than Diesel,” she whispered, and pulled back. “Leo, you get to spend the day with Uncle Maverick!”

“All right! Are we gonna ride today?” His big smile was contagious, and I was tempted to say hell yes, but the weight of Ellie’s glare burned the side of my face.

“Um,” I slid a glance to make sure and yep, she was glaring at me. “We’ll see, kiddo.”

The kid was a pro because his shoulders sank at my words, knowing that was as close to a no as I was willing to give him. “Okay, fine.”

“Let’s grab some food first and I’ll find something fun to do.”

“I love to have fun!” His exuberance was so damn adorable I knew we’d have a great time together. As soon as I figured out what to do.

“Then let’s get to it while your mom does boring ol’ work.”

He giggled and gave Chopper one last hug before he stopped in front of me with his little hand out. “Yeah, have fun with boring ol’ work, Mom.”

Ellie laughed as she exited the clubhouse, shaking her head. “Have fun and stay out of trouble, you two!”

I had no fucking clue what to do with a six-year-old little boy. At some point I was a six-year-old, but hell, it was so long ago I didn’t remember what I liked to do. Leo looked at me with wide, expectant blue eyes and I knew exactly what to do. “How do you feel about tacos?”

“Oh man, I love tacos, Uncle Maverick!”

Perfect. I got to my feet and took his little hand in mine. “Then let’s go get tacos and then we’re going to see my grandma.”

Leo stopped and slowly looked up to me with even bigger eyes than he had at the mention of tacos. “You have a grandma?”

“Yep. Her name is Mabel.”

His blue eyes were as big as saucers. “Is she one hundred years old?”

A loud roar of laughter barked out of me. “Not quite, but I’ll give you an extra big brownie if you ask her that.”

“Deal,” he shouted, and started walking again.

Thirty minutes and three dozen tacos later, we stood on my grandmother’s doorstep and rang the bell before we stepped inside. “Is that you, Dylan?”

“I thought your name was Maverick,” Leo said in a whisper.

“It’s a nickname. Come on.” Inside the living room, Mabel sat with Sophie looking through photo albums. “Are you showing Sophie embarrassing pictures of me?”

She looked up with a smile. “You bet I am.”

My shoulders fell. “Then I guess I’ll keep these tacos for Leo and me.”

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