Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
She let me hold her. A moment later, her fingertips returned to my hair.
“Sheep…I miss you.” I closed my eyes and felt myself drift away. My arms were locked around her body, and I would never let go. I used to have this every single night until I threw it away. Now that I had it again…I wouldn’t let it slip through my fingertips.
“I miss you too…”
11
Arwen
I took the breakfast tray from Abigail. “Thank you.”
“Is he awake?”
“No. He’s knocked out cold. But maybe when he smells the coffee, he’ll open his eyes.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
I returned to the bedroom and set the tray on the table. It was full of pastries, coffee, fresh fruit, and two hard-boiled eggs.
Maverick was still in bed, dead asleep even though it was almost eleven. He hadn’t moved from his spot since he fell asleep last night. When I got out of bed, I had to fight for my freedom from his grip.
I walked to the bed and looked down at him, his face a major improvement compared to the night before. It wasn’t so sunken and pale. Life and vitality were slowly returning to his skin, giving it a healthy color. The alcohol was destructive to his system, and once it’d been metabolized, he finally came back to life.
I sat beside him and ran my fingers through his hair.
My touch caused him to take a deep breath and slowly wake up from his drunken stupor. His eyes opened slowly, and he took in the sight of my face for several seconds before he registered what he was looking at. His fingers rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and he groaned like he just got hit by a truck. “Fuck, I feel worse than I did last night…”
“No. You’re just sober now, so you can actually feel it.” My fingers continued to caress his hair, gently coaxing him back into reality.
“Then maybe I need a drink…”
“How about coffee instead?” I filled a mug then set it on his nightstand.
He slowly pushed himself up and rubbed his sleepy eyes again. His hand reached for the coffee absentmindedly, floating in midair, until I guided him where it was supposed to go. He lifted the mug and brought it to his lips. “Smells good.” He took a couple of sips before he set it down again.
I’d slept by his side, getting the best night of sleep I’d gotten in a while. His bed was just as comfortable as I remembered—and his touch was even better. When Kent told me about Maverick’s night, I was jealous some beautiful woman wanted to get in his pants so bad…and I was also touched that he didn’t cave. He wasn’t getting sex from me, but he didn’t look for it elsewhere. If he really wanted to be with another woman, he could easily hide it from me. He seemed serious about this relationship now…unlike before.
“I’m sorry you had to drive out there and pick me up. I’m embarrassed by the whole thing…” He didn’t look me in the eye as he made his confession, so it seemed like he meant every word. He was an innately confident man, but underneath that hard shell was a vulnerable soul. “I would have called one of my men if I were thinking clearly.”
“I didn’t mind getting you, Maverick. I’m just happy you didn’t drive home.”
“I probably would have walked to my apartment instead.”
“I have a feeling you wouldn’t have made it that far…or remembered where it was.”
He rubbed his temple as he chuckled. “Yeah…guess not. And Kent is a jerk-off that would have left me there.”
“I doubt it. He did call me.”
“I would have preferred it if he took me home himself.”
“I wouldn’t.”
He dropped his smile and tilted his gaze back to mine. Although foggy with a hangover, Maverick’s clear mind was still there.
“I didn’t mind picking you up, Maverick. I’m your wife. It’s my job to take care of you.”
Anytime he received unconditional affection, he immediately shifted away like it disgusted him. He was incapable of being the recipient of something good, of receiving something rather than giving it. He looked away, right on cue. But then he had a change of heart and looked back at me once more.
“I want to take care of you.”
His chest rose with the big breath he took, but he kept his gaze focused on mine. He didn’t brush it off like all the other times. After a slight nod, he whispered. “Thank you.”
It was the first time I saw a change in Maverick. Sometimes he hovered between being a good man and an asshole, but this was the first time he’d taken a definitive step toward a different life. He crossed a line that could never be uncrossed. He made a gesture he’d never made before.