Page 70 of Maverick

“One of us has to let go.”

“You feel so good like this, though.”

“Now who’s tempting who?”

She shrugged and then laughed, slowly loosening her legs until she slid down my body. “Breakfast,” she pronounced, and shook her head to clear it.

“You feed us, and I’ll get Sophie up and ready for the day.”

She froze and looked up at me with wide, shocked green eyes. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah. I told you, Gracie. We’re a team.” I kissed her one last time and left the kitchen before I stripped her down and took her, right on the counter. “Later,” I promised.

And I fucking well meant it.

Chapter 36

Grace

“I like your skirt, Miss Peyton,” Sophie smiled up at Peyton. “It’s so pretty.”

Peyton bent down and smiled back. “Well, thank you, Miss Sophie. I like your hair,” she said, and tugged on one of her ringlets.

Sophie giggled. “Thank you. Mr. Maverick did it for me and he helped me put together this outfit.” She twirled to show off her jeans and sparkly black t-shirt, before she kicked out one foot to show off her sparkly ankle booties. “Leo!” Sophie took off like a rocket and we all laughed.

“I guess I’ll have that to get used to later, huh?” Peyton watched Sophie dart off and smiled.

“Maybe not,” I tried to assure her. “Sophie hasn’t interacted with a lot of children, so she is particularly attached to Leo right now. I’m sure you won’t have that problem.” Sophie’s attachment to Leo only reminded me that nothing here was real life. She wasn’t enrolled in school, and I still didn’t have a job.

“Hey, are you all right?” Peyton grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face her, concern swimming in her beautiful blue eyes.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted reluctantly. I hadn’t had a lot of friends—any, really—since college, and I wasn’t well-versed in opening up to people about my problems. “This is all great, but it’s not real.”

She frowned. “The biker thing?”

I shook my head, hoping I hadn’t offended her. “This, whatever is happening in my life right now. I’m not working, and Sophie isn’t in school, and we’re just living with Maverick. Our future is completely uncertain.”

Peyton guided me to a table, and I wished I’d taken the other seat because my gaze automatically found Maverick. Once again, the blonde club bunny was hanging all over him. Peyton looked over her shoulder and sighed before she gave me a look of sympathy. “Grace, he doesn’t want her. If he did, she would be in his bed. Not you.”

I frowned and shook my head. “Oh, I’m not.”

She cocked a brow, her lips curled into a grin.

“Okay, fine. I am in his bed,” I whispered. A blush crept over my cheeks. “But I have no claim on him. I can’t.”

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself, sure. But don’t let Simone get in your head. Maverick did your daughter’s hair, Grace. He’s all in. The question is, are you?”

Was I all in? I wanted to be, so badly that I could taste it, but now wasn’t the time to think about that. “It’s not that simple.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. The answer is simple, yes or no. Everything else is the complicated part.”

I nodded, because what else could I do? “You and Rocky got through some pretty difficult times together, but what if there’s nothing there between Maverick and me when this is all over? If it ever ends?”

There it was, my biggest fear when it came to moving forward with Maverick. What if this was all a product of danger and fear and adrenaline rather than something real?

“There are no guarantees, Grace. If there were, you wouldn’t be here running from a very bad man.”

“Good point.” I looked up as Maverick made his way to our table, looking good enough to eat in a pair of well-worn jeans and his MC gear.

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