Page 45 of Maverick
I don’t like it at all.
He brought some tape up there with him, along with a flashlight. And then he comes back down a few minutes later, covered in insulation, looking a whole mess.
“Did you find it?”
“I found it. I patched it for now, but I’m going to have to get a new section of pipe and put it in. Goddamn rats chewed it up. It… It makes more sense for you to come stay in the house. I have an extra bedroom.”
I realize what an ask that is for him. Because that’s his sacred space. It’s the place where he still has shrines to her. A place he didn’t let me in; I think by design, when we first got here.
“Yeah. That’s… Okay.”
“Pack up your little bag.”
Which is how I end up heading back to his place.
“You need another shower,” I say when we walk in.
“No argument,” he says gruffly.
I trail after him up the stairs, and he shows me to a guest bedroom that is about as untouched as the rest of the house. Clearly decorated by Sadie.
But there are no personal knickknacks in there, at least. There’s a desk, a comfortable chair, and a bed. It’s lovely and tasteful like the rest of the house. Like the cottage. Which now makes total sense. She probably decorated all these things.
Maverick disappears to go take a shower, and I stand there, entrenched in my feelings.
My heart clenches tight.
This woman built this whole life, and then she didn’t get to live it. Now I’m here with her husband.
“I don’t know if I believe in ghosts,” I say. “But please don’t haunt me. He really… I think he loves you a whole lot. But he’s lonely.” Well, that wasn’t true, and she’s a ghost, so she probably knows I’m lying. He’s horny. And fair enough.
I sit down on the edge of the bed. I’ve invaded his space enough. I know I have.
So all I need to do now is be patient. Be reasonable.
That’s not so hard.
I open up my suitcase, and there’s a condom right on the top.
I’m being tested.
I’m not sure that I’m going to pass.
Chapter Nine
Maverick
I let the hot spray of water sluice over my head. Tonight’s been an absolute shit show. My second shower, and now I have her staying down the hall from me.
It’s ridiculous.
My whole body throbs. The sex was… Now that my head has cleared a little bit, the sex is even more amazing. All I can think about is how she tasted. How it felt to sink inside of her. Now that I’ve cleared out some of the guilt, and it’s weird that acknowledging Sadie made me feel less guilty.
But maybe that’s it. Maybe part of it was needing to have some honesty with Stella. Now she understands. She understands why I can’t give her a whole ass relationship, or even half of one. I gave my heart away a long time ago, such as it was, and I don’t intend to ever do that again.
But damn… I’d give my body to her. Over and over again.
She’s my fantasy.
