Page 58 of Shot to the Hart

“You’re crazy, Maverick Hart.” I laugh lightly, going through my new collection.

“Crazy for you, Kodi Roscoe.” He doesn’t know, but I share the same sentiment. “Is Bella sleeping?”

“Yes, she just went down, want me to call you with her later?”

“That’d be great. I have thirty minutes around four if you can make that work?”

“Of course I can, she’ll be excited to see you,” I tell him, and he beams at me through the phone.

“I promised Nik I’d grab lunch with him, so I need to go.”

“No problem, tell him I said hi. Talk to you later.”

“Bye, baby.”

“Okay, little black dress or leather skirt and bodysuit?” I ask, turning to Darcy and Sin who are sprawled across my bed the night before my first official date with Mav. Between the incident with Bella, games, appearances, and other events, our date got pushed two weeks out, but we finally are able to send Bella off to Stu’s and have our first official date night.

“Black dress,” Darcy states just as Sin says, “Your tits look great in that dress.” I don’t know how that woman works in a hospital's children's unit, she has absolutely no filter.

“Alright, black dress it is then. Do we go with a leather jacket or maroon suit jacket?”

“Let us see them both,” Darcy says. Stripping down I pull the black dress on my body then slide the suit jacket on first. Sin scrunches her nose at me, “You can’t see your curves at all now. Put the leather one on.”

“I was just trying to add some color but definitely want to show the curves off on my first official date with Mav.” I slide on the leather jacket, it fits a little tighter but doesn’t hug my body too closely. I twirl around in a slow circle so that Darcy and Sin can get the full picture.

“Yep, that’s the outfit. What were you thinking for shoes?” Darcy asks as I change back into Mav’s t-shirt and some yoga pants.

“Heels? But short ones, I only need maybe an inch or two.”

“Oh, I am sure you will be getting more than an inch or two tonight,” Sin purrs, and we all burst out in laughter. A throat clears from the doorway, and I look up to see Mav leaning against the frame, his gear bag slung over his shoulder and an amused smile on his face.

“Just wanted to let you know I was home.” He winks at me then continues down the hallway, sending shockwaves right to my core.

Once Mav is out of earshot, we burst out in giggles again. “Do you think he heard that?” I ask, mortified.

“Definitely,” Darcy states, sending us into another giggle fit.

It takes us a few minutes to gain our composure enough to pick out my jewelry, including one of the fidget rings that Mav bought me.

33

MAVERICK

LEAP OF FAITH

The restaurant around us is buzzing with people, a live pianist plays softly in the corner, but all I see is Kodi. Sitting across from me, lifting her wine to those plush, pink lips, a tight, black dress with a leather jacket covers her body that I can’t wait to reacquaint myself with later. She’s also wearing her silver fidget ring that has a little spinning smiley face on it. She’s been wearing one every day, and I haven’t seen her snapping her hair tie since. Between Bella being sick and my schedule, all I’ve gotten from Ko is her being asleep in my bed and stolen kisses late at night. All I've wanted to do was have her to myself, so Bella is staying with my Dad again and he is loving the extra time. This time I feel calmer, knowing no matter what happens that she will be okay.

“You’re staring,” she says, pulling her lip into her mouth.

“Well, you look beautiful tonight, it’s hard not to stare.”

“It’s freaking me out. You look like you want to eat me.” Her sweet and light laugh fills my ears, her eyes crinkling in the corners.

Dropping my voice an octave lower, I say, “I do and I will.” Her face immediately blushes and she drops her gaze into her lap. The waitress comes by and I place our order as Kodi takes another sip of her wine.

“I never thought that hiring someone to assist me with my daughter would lead to this.” I motion between us.

“Me either, but I am glad it did. Let's talk about those boundaries.” Kodi laughs but it’s almost strangled. I hate that we had to push this conversation off. I’ve learned over our brief time together that she needs communication and reassurance. I’ve also learned that I want to be the only one to give that to her.

---