Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“No, thank you, and yeah, I ate lunch.”
“What’s going on, Stella?”
“Derrick texted me this morning that he was coming to Willow River to see me. He said he wanted to talk. I thought maybe he was finally coming around, you know? He’s her father. He’s missing so much. She’s this amazing, smart little girl with so much love to give and he’s missing all of it. Every day I think about the things he’s missing out on. I thought he finally had his shit together.” She huffs out a humorless laugh. “I guess he does, just not in the way I had hoped. I really wanted my little girl to have a daddy who loves her.”
“She has that.”
“What?” She tilts her head to the side in confusion.
“Me, Stella. She has me. You heard her earlier.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“I’m not.”
“Maverick, my head is a jumbled mess, and I can’t process this.”
“Then let me help you. I’m her father. The two of you are mine. My girls. She’ll never know what it’s like to grow up without a male role model in her life. She has nine uncles, because we have to count Deacon.” I smile. “And me.”
Her bottom lip trembles and it reminds me so much of Ada. “Help me understand.”
“I’m fucking this up.” I stand and drop to my knees in front of her on the couch. I take her hands in mine, tracing her knuckles with my thumbs while I try to gather my thoughts.
“I’m going to screw this up, but I’m just going to be me for a minute. Bear with me, okay?”
She nods. “Okay.”
“I learned something today.” She smiles at that. “I saw you with him. Let me back up. I saw your car as I was driving through town, and you know me. I take every opportunity to be with the two of you. So I stopped. As I was walking inside, I saw you with him. I didn’t like it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I’m pretty sure I know what a heart attack feels like. I was angry, jealous, envious, confused. I didn’t want another man anywhere near my family. Not a man I didn’t know. I didn’t want another man holding my little girl or putting his hand over my woman’s.”
I stare down at our joined hands, trying to find the right way to say what I need to say.
How do I make her understand? How do I make this incredible woman fall in love with me? There is no such thing as life without the two of them being mine. It sounds crazy and possessive, but I don’t care.
“Maverick?” I can hear the confusion and hope in her voice.
Peering up at her, her big blue eyes are swimming with tears, but inside them I see faith. I latch on to that and tell her exactly what’s inside my heart. “I’m in love with you. Not because you’re my best friend, but because you live here.” I pull one hand away and place it against my chest, over my heart. “You and Ada, this is where you’ll stay.”
“M—Maverick.”
“All this time, I was determined to keep you in this box, as just friends, because the thought of not having you and that little girl in my life hurt too much. So, I did what I thought I needed to do. I kept you close yet still so far away. I should have been gripping you as tightly as I could. I should have held you both close. Without me realizing it, you both slipped over the walls around my heart and made it your own.”
“You love us?”
“I do.” My admission has her lips pulling up in the corner. “I love both of you with everything that I am.”
“I love you too.” Her grin is now a full-blown smile.
“Yeah?”
She nods.
“That’s good, angel, because I want to build a life with you. I want to be Ada’s daddy and give her brothers and sisters to play with.”
Her breath hitches. “I want that too. I’ve loved you for so long. I hid it because I knew that’s not how you felt.”
“I was too stupid to see it. My brothers tried to tell me. I refused to listen. I wasted so much time.”
“No. It gave us time to fall in love. To get to know each other without the pressure of a relationship. I wouldn’t change it, Maverick.”
There is nothing left to say, so I slide my hand behind her neck and guide her lips to mine. I kiss her with all the love that’s been bottled up in my heart. I kiss her until we’re both breathless.
I move to the couch and pull her onto my lap. “Now, tell me about Derrick. What did he want?” She tries to move off my lap, but I hold her tight.
“I need to get something. I’ll be right back.”