The boy who’d had his heart broken reared his head, warned Maverick to proceed with caution.
The man who should know better fucking ignored that voice.
He was about to pull Ella out of her seat, coax her to straddle his lap, so she could see just how strong an effect she still had on him. His cock was rock hard and ready to return to the only pussy that had ever felt like home to him.
But before he could make good on that plan, a sound pierced the silence of the cellar, and it took a moment before Maverick realized it was Ella’s phone.
Sadly, the disruption broke the bubble they’d been floating in, and Ella leaned away, lowering her arms. Maverick thought she looked reluctant to let go, which was good. Misery loved company, and God knew it was all he could do not to pull her back into his embrace and never—ever—let her go again.
He was about to do just that when her expression morphed to one he hated, one that stopped him in his tracks.
Because her eyes filled with regret.
“I…” she started. “We?—”
“El,” he broke in, desperate to stop her before she said anything crazy. Like it was wrong for them to kiss.
Itwasn’twrong, and if he had to spend the next fifty years kissing her senseless to prove it, he was willing to do so.
Her phone had stopped ringing, but it instantly started again. She reached into her purse to pull it out. Her finger slid over the button to silence it, but she stopped, frowning at the screen. “It’s my mom,” she said, her voice soft. “I should take this. Things at home have been…” She shook her head, and it was clear she wasn’t going to finish her thought.
He was still in the dark when it came to Ella Decker. When he was younger, he’d been too stupid and too cocky to worry about the distance she maintained, certain that with time, he’d learn all her secrets, just like he’d share all of his with her.
Now, his confidence was on shaky ground, and he hated the walls she continually threw up between them.
Maverick wanted to complain about her leaving, wanted to pitch a fit like a goddamn toddler, but there was something in her expression that told him the phone call mattered.
So, he did the adult thing and nodded, even though he wasn’t sure patience was the right move. Ella was a proven flight risk.
The phone stopped ringing again, so Ella rose from the stool. “I need to leave. I’ll call her back on the way home. Besides, Edith will be wondering where I am.”
Maverick wanted to use the storm as a reason for her to stay, but it must have passed at some point during their kiss because he couldn’t hear the rain anymore.
“Dinner tomorrow?” he pressed, unwilling to lose any more ground. He’d let her escape for now. Mainly because he needed some time to wrap his head around the implications of that kiss, needed time to come up with a plan regarding his next steps.
Ella hesitated, then nodded. “Of course. I’ll let Edith know. Thank you for the wine.”
He grabbed the cork, popping it back into the bottle of red and handing it to her.
She took it, smiling in appreciation, though he noticed there wasn’t much happiness in her expression. The problem was, he didn’t know if it was their kiss or the call from her mother that dimmed her mood.
Maverick walked with her to the stairs. “I’ll bring a couple bottles of the Chardonnay when I come. See you tomorrow night.” He’d text Edith later for the time. Ella was obviously anxious to leave.
“Okay. Goodbye.”
Maverick watched as she climbed the steps, every fiber of his being telling him to go after her and pull her back into his arms.
Somehow, barely, he resisted that urge.
God. He needed a drink…or twenty.
He looked around and chuckled miserably.
Lucky for him, he was surrounded by wine.
Chapter Ten
Ella sat in Edith’s living room, soaking up the laughter of the women surrounding her, wishing their happiness was contagious.