Page 65 of Maverick

“Okay. With a wishbone, I hold one end and you hold the other and we pull. Whoever gets the bigger side gets to make a wish and it’ll come true. This right here? It’s a wish biscuit.”

She giggled. “I want a wish biscuit.”

“Hold the other end and pull, okay?”

Sophie nodded again.

“On a count of three. One. Two.”

“Three,” she whispered, and pulled the biscuit. Sophie examined it and then looked at Maverick’s piece. “Who won?”

He took a big bite of his half and held it up to hers. “Looks like you did. Make a wish.”

And just like that, the rest of my heart leapt into his big, strong hands.

“I wish you were my daddy,” she said with the ease that only a child could accomplish. She ate the biscuit quickly, smiling and humming to herself. “Mommy, can we watch a movie?”

“Yeah, sure, honey. Go get your pajamas on and brush your teeth and I’ll meet you in the living room, okay?”

“Okay! Be right back,” she shouted, and took off down the hall.

When she was gone, Maverick sighed. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

I nodded. “She is the absolute best.” And the fact that he got it made me fall just a little bit harder.

We worked side by side to clean up the kitchen before settling on the sofa with a small space between us, which Sophie nestled into. She leaned her head against Maverick and rested her legs in my lap, ready for an impromptu movie night.

We chose a movie that was kid friendly, but it didn’t matter because Sophie fell asleep about twenty minutes in.

Maverick’s fingers were doing wonderful things to my hair. His thick fingers sifted through my hair, twirled a lock around one finger, and then skated the tips across the back of my neck until I shivered.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t be,” I whispered back, risking a glance to see a small, satisfied smile on his face. It was such an intimate move, one more meant for a couple who’d been together for years, a couple who was an actual couple. I turned my gaze back to the television because his touch was driving me crazy. Desire, hot and intense, rushed through me. My body was strung so tight I couldn’t move, could barely breathe.

I shot to my feet. “I should put Sophie to bed.”

Maverick grinned like he knew what I was doing, but he only nodded, standing with Sophie in his arms. “I’ll follow you.”

I nodded and made my way to Sophie’s room, which was tidy and smelled like her. This space was more hers than her bedroom in Ohio had ever been because Trent hadn’t allowed me to get much beyond the necessities. “Okay, baby girl, let’s get go.” Maverick flipped the comforter back and then gave us space. I felt his gaze on me while I tucked Sophie in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Good night, honey. Love you.”

I turned and ignored the stab of disappointment that Maverick had disappeared, which was totally illogical. He had no reason to stay and watch the mundane acts of parenting. I turned to watch Sophie one last time as I backed out of the room and into a big, hard wall of man.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He spun me towards him so we were chest to chest, or we would be if he wasn’t nearly six inches taller than me. “Grace.” That was all he said before he captured my lips in a kiss so hot and intense it made my head spin.

I climbed his body until we were face to face, my legs around his waist, the hard length of him cradled between my thighs in a beautiful torture that made it hard to think, to breathe, to do anything other than accept his kisses and the pleasure he gave. My skin was hot, and my body pulsed with need.

Too soon, Maverick pulled back with a sexy smile that did wicked things to my insides.

“What was that for?”

He grinned again, wider this time. “Because I just had to taste you, Grace. I couldn’t wait another fucking minute.”

Oh. “Oh hell,” I moaned, and attacked his mouth in a frenzied kiss that wasn’t anywhere near as seductive and skilled as his kiss. I didn’t have the experience to make it beautiful and exquisite so I just made it impactful, holding his face and devouring his gorgeous mouth because I absolutely had to, because I couldn’t go another minute without taking exactly what I wanted.

Before I knew what was happening, his long legs carried us down the short path to his bedroom. With the door closed and the house silent, the world outside dark and quiet, it was just us and our wants. Our needs. We kissed for an eternity before I fell to the bed and scrambled to my knees and rushed towards Maverick, undressing him feverishly because I needed him. Desperately.

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