Page 15 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

“A really big bone.” Cody put his hands on his hips. “Bigger than a bear or a moose or a buffalo—Braden said so.”

She agreed with Braden. “What kind of bone is it?” From the sheer size of the thing, she felt confident she knew the answer. But she wasn’t going to deny her son his big announcement.

“I don’t know, Ma. Something big, though.” He was bursting with pride.

“So I see.” She did her best to act suitably impressed.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if it was a dinosaur bone, Ma?

There’s lots of ’em in Montana. They roamed all over here back in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

” He stopped talking and scratched his temple.

“Shouldn’t we wake Delilah up so she hears all this, Braden?

She said she wants to know about dinosaurs. ”

“We should. Sorry she fell asleep on you, Maggie.” He rested their find on the ground.

Maggie peered down at Delilah. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. She’s a tiny thing.” Tiny and precious and missing her mommy. She reached up to smooth the hair from Delilah’s forehead.

Braden knelt in front of them. “Delilah, wake up now.” Once again, he was right there, so close, and so…

so irresistible. He had the slightest scar along the right side of his jaw.

His eyelashes were thick and long—even with mascara, hers would never look that good.

And he was looking at his daughter with so much love.

“Delilah.” He grinned. “We’ve got a surprise for you. ”

Delilah wriggled and stretched. “What, Daddy?” She stretched some more—and slipped from Maggie’s lap.

She and Braden caught Delilah at the same time.

While Braden was chuckling at his daughter, Maggie was scrambling to breathe.

It didn’t help when his blue eyes zeroed in on her.

The easy smile he’d been wearing shifted into something entirely different.

Something heavier and warm and 100 percent tingle inducing.

And for the first time that day, she sort of liked the tingles.

* * *

Well, damn. At this rate, Braden didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping the promise he’d made to himself.

Not if she was going to look at him like that, anyway.

And he wasn’t sure he was too upset over it, either.

He liked the way she was looking at him—liked the way it rolled over him and made him feel alive.

“We found a big surprise.” Cody was still amped up from their discovery. “Open your eyes and look.”

Delilah’s eyes popped open. “Show me.”

Braden chuckled at how quickly his daughter woke up. One minute she was a limp noodle, the next she was on her feet, waiting for Cody’s directions.

That’s when he saw Maggie jump up and step back—away from him. Like she couldn’t wait to put some space between them. He got it—he was feeling all kinds of eager nervousness along with a healthy dose of awareness for this woman…

But Maggie seemed off . Tense. Agitated. Like maybe she wasn’t on the same page as he was.

Could he be seeing what he wanted to see?

He’d seen a spark in her big green eyes. And the heat there—it had been enough to knock the air from his lungs.

And, dammit, he was sure there’d been some tug in the space between them. It’d been so strong he half expected to see some sort of rope or string tying him to her so she could reel him in. He wasn’t the best at reading people, but there was no way he’d imagined all that.

And yet, it wouldn’t be the first time. He’d thought he and Phoebe were in it for the long haul—that she’d loved him and seen a future together.

He’d believed each and every one of Phoebe’s promises to him.

When she said she loved him more than she’d ever loved anyone else, he’d finally offered up his heart.

But he’d been working odd jobs back then, going wherever an extra ranch hand was needed—as long as it kept him far from home and more, useless arguments with his father.

And when he’d left Florida for Wyoming, it had taken less than three months for her to tell him they were over—and that she was getting back together with her old boyfriend.

Hearing that had him sealing himself off once more and swearing off anything that could lead to heartache.

With Delilah around, he couldn’t afford to get caught up in “does she or doesn’t she” drama.

As tempting as Maggie was, he had to remember he had real-life, adult responsibilities.

He was a father, for crying out loud. He’d grown up with the perfect example of how not to be a good father, so he figured all he had to do was the opposite of what his father would have done when he’d been Delilah’s age.

It was sad, but true. While his father wasn’t as intimidating and demanding as he’d been all those years ago, he was still a far cry from father-of-the-year material.

Still, seeing his dad with Delilah was like seeing an entirely different person—a gentle and loving grandfather.

The grandfather Delilah both deserved and needed.

If his father could become a good grandfather, Braden could be a good father.

A father’s duty was to provide stability, love and safety.

Fulfilling those duties to his daughter surpassed everything else—including his attraction to Maggie Cooper.

Attraction was fleeting, and romantic attachments were fickle.

Family and friendships, however, had more longevity and less difficulties.

He had plenty of family, but when it came to friends, they were mostly single drinking buddies that avoided anything related to commitment or responsibility.

Meaning, he didn’t have a whole lot he’d want to introduce his daughter to.

Delilah adored Maggie—and Cody. Through Maggie, maybe he’d meet more parents—and fathers—to guide him along his parenting journey.

Just another item to the reasons-he-had-to-resist-Maggie-Cooper list.

By the time he’d finished his mental assessment, he reaffirmed being friends was the best thing all around. It was a good thing she wasn’t interested in him—even if it didn’t feel that way.

“I guess a monster bear could be that big,” Cody was explaining to Delilah. “If they were real. But they’re not so it can’t be a monster bear bone.”

Braden sat back on his heels, thankful Cody had the others so engrossed in his name-that-bone debate they hadn’t picked up on anything else. He took a deep breath, put a smile on his face and leaned in to join the conversation.

Delilah pressed her hand against the object in question. “Humongous.”

“You can’t say dinosaur but you can say humongous?” Cody scratched his head. “You are so weird.”

Delilah giggled. “Okay.”

It was her laugh that eased the final knots from his neck. Whatever emotional game of tug-of-war he was having with himself, hearing his daughter’s delight overshadowed all else. “Look at how tiny your hand is next to it.”

“If it was a dinosaur, it’d step on us and squish us like a bug.” Cody cocked his head to one side, likely imagining, before he shuddered and shook his head. “Glad they’re extinct.”

“Me, too. I wouldn’t want to get stuck between some dinosaur’s toes.” Maggie laughed.

This statement had Delilah giggling all over again—which led to them all having a good laugh.

“We’re takin’ it home, right, Ma?” Cody stared at his mother expectantly. “We gotta find out what it is and all that. I gotta know.”

“Me, too.” Delilah mimicked Cody’s stance and expression, staring up at Maggie with wide eyes.

“Like I can say no to those faces.” Maggie’s smile grew as she glanced between the two of them. “We’ll find someone to identify it.”

“Take it for show-an’-te-ll, Cody. It’d be the bestest show-an’-te-ll ever.”

Braden had to grin at how hard his little girl was working to say her l’s.

“Only kindergartners have show-and-tell, Delilah.” Cody eyed the bone. “But you can take it if you want.”

Over the course of the morning, Braden thought Cody had warmed up to his little girl somewhat but he was still pleasantly surprised by the boy’s offer.

“I can?” Delilah’s eyes had never gone so round. “Reawwy?”

“Sure. I can help, if you want.” Cody shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Yes, pwease, Cody.” Delilah grabbed his hand and hopped up and down. “You know all the dino stuff. Pwease, pwease.”

“Okay.” Cody chuckled. “You’re still weird, though.”

But, Braden noticed, the boy didn’t shake off her hand this time.

“It’s getting late, so we should probably start heading back to the cars.” Maggie adjusted the backpack.

“Aw, Ma.” Cody sighed. “Are you sure? We could keep going so you and Braden can spend some more time together.”

It wasn’t the first time Cody had brought this up and yet it still caught Braden off guard. He hadn’t figured out the boy’s motivation yet, but he could appreciate the kid’s determination.

“Wike on a date.” Delilah added this with a wide smile.

“You two look good together.” Cody crossed his arms over his chest and gave him, then his mother, an assessing look. “Delilah and I think you should date.”

“Boyfriend an’ girfriend.” Delilah imitated Cody again.

There was no way Delilah would have come up with this on her own, but she looked so adorable, he found himself laughing in spite of himself.

“Exactly. Boyfriend and girlfriend.” Cody gave them a thumbs-up. With all the effort he was putting into this whole “couple” thing, he had to be after something.

Instead of getting sidetracked by Cody’s motivation, Braden decided this was the opportunity to make things clear—to everyone. “Your mother and I are real glad to have a friend, guys. Being single parents, we have a lot in common—”

“Uncle Mike says having stuff in common and being friends is important when you get a partner.” Cody clearly wasn’t ready to give up.

Maggie cleared her throat. “And that’s true, but—”

“You don’ wike my daddy?” While Cody was definitely working an angle, Delilah’s question for Maggie was innocent and sincere.

“Oh, of course I do, sweetie.” Maggie swallowed, her eyes darting his way. “And that’s why we’ll be friends.”

“And only friends,” Braden jumped in, wanting to drive the point across. “Isn’t that right, Maggie?”

“Yes.” Her nod was emphatic. “Friends only .”

He didn’t know why the emphasis on “only” rubbed him the wrong way—it shouldn’t. That’s how he felt, too.

“No boyfriend an’ girfriend? No more dates an’ hikes?” Delilah’s disappointment was hard to see.

Maggie must have felt the same way because she knelt by his daughter. “We will still do those things, sweetie. Friends get together to do things all the time.”

Cody muttered something under his breath and spun away from them, kicking a rock at his feet. Was he really upset over all this?

“Reawwy?” Delilah was encouraged by Maggie’s reassurances, but she still looked his way for confirmation.

“Really.” Braden nodded—puzzling over the boy’s reaction.

“All the time?” Cody kicked at the dirt again, but kept his back to them. “When?”

When it came to Cody, Maggie’s thoughts and feelings were written all over her face. She seemed just as mystified by her son’s reaction as he was—worried, too.

“You like football, Cody?” Braden wanted to help Maggie, just like she was helping him. “I was thinking about taking Delilah to Friday night’s game. She’s never been to a football game before.”

Cody spun on the heel of his boot. “Football? Yeah, I do.” He sounded more suspicious than anything.

“A football game could be fun.” Maggie winked at Delilah. “But it’s been a while since I’ve been to one. You two will have to help me and Delilah keep up.”

Cody was staring at Braden. “You mean it about Friday? Honest?”

From the corner of his eye, he watched Maggie pull into herself. The light went out of her eyes and her smile turned strained and sharp.

But it was the way that Cody was watching him that put a jagged lump in his throat and coldness settling into the pit of his stomach.

He wasn’t sure who’d let this boy down, but he’d like to find them and give them a piece of his mind.

Kids should be able to count on the adults in their world.

They should know, without a shadow of a doubt, that their adults would honor their word and fulfill their responsibilities.

He was doing his damnedest to make sure his daughter would grow up with that sort of confidence and certainty.

“In my family, a man’s word is his promise.” Braden held out his hand to Cody. “I give you my word.”

Cody’s gaze never faltered, but for a split second, his chin crumpled like he was fighting back tears, and it took everything Braden had not to hug and comfort Cody.

Finally, Cody nodded, took Braden’s hand and shook it with force. “Yessir.” His smile was slow to build. “I can teach Delilah all the cheers, too.” He faced Delilah. “You have to yell them real loud.”

“I’m good at yewwing!” Delilah shouted this to make a point.

Maggie seemed to have recovered. “That’s perfect. We’ll have to see about finding you some pom-poms, too. They help you cheer even louder.”

“Reawwy?” Delilah blinked, then clapped her hands. “Thank you.”

Cody and Delilah chatted the entire way back to the cars—some football and cheer stuff, but mostly about dinosaurs. Braden listened in, too. Better to focus on what the kids were saying than the woman walking, silently, at his side.

Friends only. He and Maggie had made sure the kids understood what their relationship would be. As friends, he could ask if she was all right. Friends did that. He could even ask about Cody and what had happened to him in the past to shake his trust in adults. But he didn’t.

The flare of protectiveness he’d felt for Cody had caught him off guard.

That, and the mix of emotions for Maggie that he was still fighting, made him stay quiet.

He had to be honest with himself, and, like it or not, his feelings weren’t as cut-and-dried as he’d made them out to be.

Until he truly accepted the “just friends” thing with Maggie, he needed to be careful.

He couldn’t get too invested in Maggie or Cody.

No, he couldn’t let his heart get too invested in Maggie and Cody.

He had to remember it wouldn’t just be his heart at risk, it would be Delilah’s, too.