Lost Rider(107)

She’s confused. She’s hurt. She’s afraid.

And even though she has her brothers and me, she’s alone.

She’s had a fear of commitment since the day she was old enough to stop thinking boys had cooties. It’s hard not to, when you’re raised like the Davises were. Aside from the one kind of serious relationship she had one fleeting summer, she settles for one-night stands and no strings. Now though, she’s seeing her actions in a new light. One cast out from her mother’s transgressions. I worry that she is comparing her legitimate fear-driven choices to the ones her mother made.

“And blueberry!” Jana yells again, interrupting my thoughts.

Pushing my concerns with my best friend from my mind, I rush around the kitchen. I bring the birthday cake pies out first, not even looking up in my haste. Jana makes a noise to get my attention, but I just hold my hand up and speed-walk back into the kitchen. It takes me three more trips to bring the other nine pies out. When I place the second cookie dough pie on the chilling rack, I finally look up, blowing a piece of hair out of my eyes.

My heart speeds up and my stomach is suddenly filled with butterflies.

“What are you doing here?” I ask breathily.

“Well, if you would have looked up I could have saved you the trouble of those cookie dough pies,” Jana mutters, edging past me and leaving me with the sight of Maverick, glorious Maverick, grinnin’ at me as he shovels a huge bite of cookie dough pie.

“I missed you too, darlin’,” he says with a laugh, standing from the table after placing his fork down. He licks his lips before bending to give me a deep kiss.

“I thought you weren’t coming home until Sunday?” I ask against his mouth before pulling away and looking around at the crowded room, smiling at the familiar faces looking on.

“Change of plans.”

“Change of plans?” I repeat, studying his face. He’s carefree as can be, but there’s something mischievous working behind those green eyes that make my knees weak.

With a wink, he looks over my shoulder. “You good here, Jana?” he calls back toward the counter.

“Hey,” I protest.

“Girl, don’t you argue with your man,” Jana scolds from behind me. “If he wants to steal you away, you let him steal you away. Just don’t let him swallow the key. Nothing good ever comes if the key is swallowed.”

My head snaps over to Jana with a gasp. “Boundaries!” I yell over the laughter that’s now rolling from everyone around us. They’re not even pretending not to watch with rapt attention.

“No handcuffs this time, Jana,” he jokes.

“Do not encourage her,” I hiss.

He holds up his hands, chuckling deeply. “She started it.”

“Maybe you’ll be the one in handcuffs if you keep this up,” I smart.

His eyes darken and he leans closer to me. “Darlin’, you want me in handcuffs and you say the word I’ll be chained to the bed before you can blink.”

“Go grab your stuff,” Maverick breathes against my ear, pulling me back with his hands on my hips so I can feel his thickness against the small of my back. I make a mental note to look into buying some handcuffs before walking to my office and grabbing my purse. I check the ovens on my way back out, trying not to cringe at the mess on my workstation.

“Go on, sweetheart,” Jana says, breaking into my thoughts and pulling me from the kitchen before I can reach for the cleaner. The woman knows me too damn well. “Don’t you dare even think about it. I’m perfectly capable of handling things here.”

“I hate leaving you alone to close.”

“I’m not alone! You’re the one that hired that sweet little Avonlee just last week so we would have another body for nights just like this. Go on and spend some time with that handsome man of yours.” She snaps her towel at me like I’m a pesky fly. “Now go on, shoo.”

I roll my eyes but know she’s right. Avonlee hasn’t been completely trained, but there’s no better time than the present. She’s in good hands with Jana. I purposely hired Avonlee so I would be able to stop working past five. This way I would be able to spend more time with Maverick and hopefully set things up here at the PieHole for a more part-time role for me in the future.

The future that hopefully gives us a houseful of children.

“See you in the morning,” I tell her, pulling my purse strap over my shoulder. She doesn’t respond, but before I can call her on the weird look in her eye, Maverick is back at my side and pulling me out the doorway.

“Would you slow down, you big giant,” I say with a laugh, rushing to keep up with his long strides.