“Me?” I ask, confused, searching his face for a clue.
“Our future, remember? It won’t just be my name on that land, Leighton.”
My jaw slacks until my mouth is hanging open silently in shock.
“Fuck, you’re cute.”
“Are you sure? I mean, this training school, honey, that’s yours.”
His eyes narrow. “It’s ours. Just because you aren’t gonna be the one runnin’ it or workin’ it doesn’t change that. I’m buildin’ this for us—our future. We’re startin’ our lives together and I want you to know that with no doubts to where I stand when it comes to you.”
“I trust you, Mav,” I respond, slightly troubled that even after last night he still thinks he has to prove something to me. “I thought you knew that, honey,” I say with a sigh.
“I do, Leigh, I really do. This isn’t just about that. It means a lot to me that you’re part of this. I want everyone to see what we’re buildin’ here and know that it’s forever. I want to give us a solid start, but I want that start to be somethin’ that’s built on an unshakable foundation. One day, I’m gonna give our kids that foundation, and they’re goin’ to know their parents built it—together—with their love, merging all the parts of our lives. This land, the memories we shared on it, and us. It will be visible in everything we’re buildin’, Leigh. Bits and pieces from our past mixing with the people we became while we weren’t ready to be us. It’s so much more than just leavin’ no doubts, darlin’, so much more. It’s us.”
“You’re going to make me cry,” I speak on a rush of air.
“You’ll be there?” he asks again, his face softening with the wetness gathering in my eyes. His thumb presses against my wobbly chin as if trying to ease my emotional heart.
“Yeah, honey, I’ll be there.” After that, I would give him the world if he asked for it.
“Good.” He smiles.
“You hungry?” I question, blinking furiously to clear my eyes, and changing the subject before I end up ugly crying all over him. “I can make you something after I shower, before I head out.”
“Starved.” His eyes darken, the bright emerald turning murky. That grin turns dangerous and I feel my belly clench.
He moves so quickly, sliding out from under me and standing from the bed in one quick movement. His arms are reaching down to pull me up and over his shoulder before my mind has even registered that I’m no longer straddling him. He stomps to the bathroom, my position over his shoulder giving me one hell of a view of his hard, round ass. Each step he takes makes it flex in the most mouthwatering way.
My God, this man is perfect everywhere.
The bathroom hadn’t even had a chance to fill with the steam from our hot shower before I was crying out my second release, coming against his tongue. Only then did he stand and gave me the most devilish grin. My heart racing from the whirlwind of leaving the bed and being at his mercy.
“Thanks, darlin’. That was the best breakfast I’ve ever had.”
Even with my sated body, feeling like I’m incapable of lifting even a finger, his words have me throwing my head back and laughing harder than I have in years. Well, that was until my laugh turned into a high-pitched, toe-curling scream. There really is no better way to wake up than with this man. Especially when that wake-up comes with his hard body pressing me against the shower wall as he takes me in the most deliciously hard way.
Yeah, I want to wake up this way for the rest of our life.
“Someone looks like she woke up on the right side of a cowboy,” Jana observes, wagging her brows rapidly when I walk into the kitchen of the PieHole two hours later. My legs still feel weak from Maverick’s very energetic good-bye against the front door ten minutes ago, so I almost fall on my ass when she speaks. I had been so lost in my thoughts, I don’t even think I realized she was standing there.
“Hi, Jana. Yes, it’s a beautiful day. I’m doing great, thanks for asking.” I respond smartly, pushing the images of Maverick’s good-bye from my mind, and grabbing my favorite apron off the hook of my office door before going to the sink to wash up.
“Don’t you be a smart-ass, Leighton dear. Give an old lady something to think about here! Come on, details, missy.”
“You really don’t understand boundaries at all, do you?” I laugh, moving from the sink to start prepping for today. First up on the list, cookie dough pie, I think.
“There is no such thing. Boundaries are for the boring and the young, too dumb to realize how short life is. Now tell me, how’s that broken hooha of yours?”