Page 46 of Deserving Maddie

"It's not supposed to be."

That wasn't nice, but at the same time, based on what Ray told her about Trista, it was accurate. It didn't change the fact that she was sure she and Trista would become fast friends.

"I can't wait to meet the rest of the wives. If they are half as fun as Trista is, I think we're going to get along great."

Her words didn't click until Ray stopped dead. She quickly tried to backpedal. "I meantifI meet them."

"Nope, no takebacks." Ray shook his head to emphasize his point. "You said you couldn't wait to meet them, and that makes me happy."

"It does?"

Navigating this relationship stuff was hard. She was completely out of practice and had no idea what was considered normal anymore.

"Absolutely it does. It means you plan on sticking around and that's all I want. Every time you make a future plan with me, I'm reminded this isn't some sick dream I'm going to wake up from."

Maddie let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. The nerves that just moments before were overwhelming her belly suddenly settled. It was as if a huge weight was finally lifted.

"I'm overthinking this whole thing. Or well, I was, until you said that."

Ray was straight out of a romance novel. His hands cupped her jaw, so she was forced to look into his crystal blue eyes.

"You don't need to overthink any of this. Just relax and enjoy our time together. Everything will work out."

Her body involuntarily sagged into him until the only thing holding her up was his strong hands on her neck.

His lips brushed across hers. "Now let's go see what I have planned for us."

With her hand in his, she followed him into the living room where a blanket and pillows were spread out across the floor. The coffee table that normally sat in front of the couch was pushed off to the side and covered in an assortment of desserts.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I kinda went a little crazy and got just about everything I could think of."

Ray wasn't kidding. There were plenty of little chocolate things, cookies, fruits, some pastry thing, and even chocolate-covered strawberries.

"Did you raid a bakery?"

"Something like that. The one downside of small-town living is the lack of options, but it helps to know a caterer. Leah knows all the best places."

"Another wife of one of your team members?"

He mentioned there were two teams but not how many guys were on each. So far, she only had the chance to meet two of them. Both of which were on Bravo Team with him.

"Yeah, she's married to Arlo. He's the team leader for Charlie Team. You'll meet him soon, since he's pretty much in charge of your safety for the foreseeable future."

That was something she had to reconcile when she first found out earlier in the day. Her and her children's lives were now in danger just because she was associated with Ray. She was ashamed to admit there had been a few moments where she freaked out enough to call Kat and ask her best friend's opinion. Kat reminded her it wasn't Ray's fault and there was no way the man would willingly bring her harm.

"Well, I hope he enjoys long nights of just staring at my house because once Kat leaves tomorrow, things are about to get boring real fast."

"You could never be boring." Ray smiled. "But boring also means that no one is after you and I'll take that any day of the week."

Yeah, she would prefer that as well. She had her hands full explaining her car to her son. In a moment of weakness, she went with Ray's absurd story. She doubted Gabe actually believed her, but he didn't question her, and for that, she was grateful.

Now she was here with Ray and she was going to enjoy every second she could before their time together was ripped away by life and responsibilities.

Chapter 21

Theysatonthefloor of his makeshift picnic area. Ray had to stop himself from gorging on desserts; being unable to move would be counterproductive to how he wanted to spend the night with Maddie.

"How was your dessert?"

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