Maverick withdrew slowly, struggling to recover his wits, suddenly worried he’d gotten too carried away. Especially when he saw her beet-red ass and the fingerprint marks on her hips. “Are you okay?”
Ella managed to push herself upright, relying heavily on the tree trunk for support. When she failed to answer, her face still turned away from him, he hastily fastened his pants. Stepping next to her, he cupped her cheek, turning her so that he could read her expression.
“Ella,” he said, concern rife in his tone. “Firefly.”
She gave him an exhausted, cat-who-ate-the-canary smile. “Firefly is a sweet nickname. But…maybe in bed you could call me baby girl. Because… Wow!”
He chuckled. “You can say that again.”
“Wow,” she repeated, giggling breathlessly.
He gave her a love tap on her ass, then bent down to help her pull up her pants, even though she was sticky with his come.
She made a face. “This was my last pair of jeans and panties. Which means we need to do laundry, or we need to leave our bubble.”
Maverick knew she was right. But the past, while explained…had still done a number on him. Enough that he couldn’t quite shake the fear that if he let her out of his sight, she’d disappear again.
That was one of the main reasons he was insisting on coming to Idaho with her. That, and the fact, he really—REALLY—wanted the chance to see her father face-to-face and have a few words with the son of a bitch.
“Let’s go get another shower,” he suggested.
“Okay.”
“And then here’s what’s going to happen, Firefly. I’m going to drive you down to Edith’s, where you can pack upallyour stuff. Not sure why you only brought an overnight bag on Sunday. We’re bringing it back here, then we’re booking our flight to Idaho.”
She opened her mouth, but he shook his head, unwilling to hear any complaint or argument she might lodge.
“You live here now,” he said sternly, making sure she understood he wouldn’t change his mind.
“Have you even told your family you want to make this cabin your home?” she asked.
He shook his head. “They won’t care. When Boone took the job running the vineyard, we gave him one of the cabins as part of his compensation package. He and Mila live there now. Theo has claimed another one for him and Gretchen, higher up on the mountain. None of us want to leave the farm, Ella, so I suspect as my other brothers and cousins find their loves, they’ll start claiming their own cabins as well.”
Then he wondered if perhaps this specific cabin brought up unsavory memories for her. “Or, if you don’t like Hideaway, ifit brings up too many bad feelings about the last time we were together, we can choose another.”
“No!” she replied quickly. “I love Hideaway. It’s my happy place. All of my best memories are contained inside the walls of that cabin.”
He smiled, because he felt the same. “Then it’s settled. This is our home. Starting today,” he emphasized.
“Were you always this demanding?” she asked, though there was no heat in her voice.
“I’ve actually mellowed with age,” he joked.
She laughed. “Well, that’s good to know. Fine!” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “Let’s go pack my bags. But you’re going to have to break it to Edith that I’m leaving.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist, the two of them walking through the woods and back to the cabin.
“Fine,” he said, unconcerned. He suspected Edith would be over the moon when they told her Ella was moving here to be with him. After all, the older woman had subjected him to countless lectures over the years about the joys of settling down, which was amusing coming from someone who’d never taken the advice she was giving.
Once they walked into the cabin, Ella moved ahead of him, stripping off her clothes on her way to the bathroom. He followed at a slower pace, enjoying the view.
“This is real,” he murmured under his breath. “She’s here. She’s mine. She’s finally mine.”
Something told him he’d be repeating those words to himself quite a lot before they fully sunk in.
Chapter Fourteen
Ella wiped her hair out of her face, wishing she’d taken the time to pin it up in a ponytail this morning.