Page 24 of The Maverick’s Forever Home (Montana Mavericks: Behind Closed Doors #2)

His lips brushed across hers. “My mistake.” Then his lips sealed against hers. Firm. Warm. Deliberate. One quick kiss became two. Another, not so quick.

She leaned into him, eager to learn the shape and feel of his mouth.

She shut off everything but the feel of him, the scent of him—the taste of him.

The brush of his stubble against her chin and cheek was all kinds of delicious.

But then, so was he. She rose on her tiptoes, slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back with her all.

She wanted him to know this was what she wanted. He was what she wanted.

The moment his lips parted hers, she swayed against him. The way his mouth tugged, ever so gently, on her lower lip, had her clinging to him.

With a hoarse moan, his mouth lifted and he was staring down at her.

This was… He was… There were no words. Only feelings.

So many feelings—many of which were reflected back in his gaze.

Every inch of her was awake and throbbing with desire for him.

Right here and now, she wanted nothing more.

And while it was invigorating, it was also dizzyingly unnerving.

She didn’t know which way was up. Not that she cared.

He had her, safe and warm, against him. All she could do was breathe and hold on to him. Anything else was too much.

“You ready to go?” His voice was thick.

Not yet . “Yes.” Her hands tightened on his shirtfront. She needed a second to take all this in.

“Me, too.” His forehead rested against hers.

She smiled up at him, happiness bubbling up inside her.

Many a night she’d dreamed of Braden Parker, but this was no dream.

No, she was wrapped up in his arms and perfectly content to stay that way.

At the same time, she didn’t want the kids, Mike or her parents finding them this way.

It was a sobering enough thought to have her reluctantly easing her grip on his shirtfront.

What was she supposed to do? Say thank you? Let go of him and crumple into a boneless heap at his feet? “This is surreal.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad our kids set us straight.”

She nodded, smoothing his shirt. “Apparently, they are geniuses.”

“I’d say so.” He took one of her hands. “You okay with skipping the football game?”

“Without my favorite cheerleader? I don’t think it would be as much fun.” She paused, suddenly nervous. The two of them hadn’t spent much time just the two of them. A phone call or two, maybe, but that was nothing compared to this. “What did you have in mind?”

“Dinner.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You know, like a real date.” The corner of his mouth kicked up.

“I haven’t been on a date in… It doesn’t matter.

” Admitting she’d never had much of a dating life wasn’t only a mood killer, it was also pathetic.

She’d rather focus on the here and now. The way the air between them crackled.

The unmistakable desire on his face when he stared at her mouth.

His crooked grin and slight head shake. All of this, all of him, was the only thing that mattered tonight.

* * *

Braden could not have predicted a single thing that had happened this evening, but he had zero complaints.

In fact, he couldn’t stop smiling. Here he was sitting in his truck, holding her hand, and, damn, but he liked it.

He liked that she held his hand back. He liked that she was smiling, too.

And he liked that there was no need to fill the silence with conversation.

If there was any tension between them, it was the good kind.

The “I can’t wait to kiss you again and leave you breathless” kind.

Because kissing Maggie was something he could get used to.

It was a Saturday night, but Castillo’s had plenty of parking.

“Guess everyone is at the football game.” Braden parked his truck and turned to her.

“I guess so.”

Her smile was slow and shy and so damn pretty all he could do was stare. “Something else I should have done is tell you how pretty you are.”

She blinked. “You think so?”

“I know so.” He shook his head, still marveling at the sudden course correction in their relationship. Tonight had been…something.

“I never pegged you as a sweet talker, Braden Parker.” But she sounded pleased.

“I’m not. At all.” He ran his thumb over her knuckles. “But I do pride myself on telling the truth. And you are a beautiful woman.” Was he saying too much? He didn’t want to scare her off. But he also wanted her to know how he saw her.

Her laugh was nervous. “I hate to break it to you, but that, right there, was definitely sweet-talking.”

He shrugged.

“And, for the record, I think you’re a beautiful man.” She winced, then bit into her lower lip. “It sounded less corny in my head.”

He’d never been called beautiful before. Not once. “I liked hearing it.” He liked knowing she found him attractive.

“Braden.” She took a deep breath. “We should take this slowly, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know what to think.” He swallowed. “Other than I’m looking forward to more kissing tonight.”

“Oh.” She shrugged, squirmed in her seat, then fanned her face with the hand he wasn’t holding. “You are so a sweet talker.”

His honesty rattled her. “Maggie, I’ll promise you something, here and now.” He leaned over the armrest between them. “I’ll always be honest with you. If I come on too strong, you tell me and I’ll try to tone it down.”

She was staring at his mouth, nibbling on her lower lip again.

“Okay?” He tilted her chin up.

“Okay.” She paused, scooted closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

He was smiling like a damn fool again. “Stay put.” He got out of the truck and came around to open the passenger door for her.

She took the hand he offered and stepped down. “What a gentleman.”

He touched the brim of his cowboy hat. “Yes, ma’am.”

She laughed.

Once inside the restaurant, he was glad they were seated in a table off to the side.

While he didn’t mind folks seeing them out and about, he didn’t want anyone walking over and interrupting them.

There was a lot he wanted to know about Maggie.

Without the kids around, there was no off-limits topic or need to edit their conversation.

After a quick scan of the menu, they ordered and sat staring at each other across the table.

“Is this strange for you? Or is it just me?” She turned her water glass in a circle.

“It’s not just you.” He grinned. “But it’s not bad strange.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Not at all.”

That was all it took to have him smiling—again. But she was smiling, too.

“So…” She took a deep breath. “How are things with Delilah?”

“Good. Really good. A lot of that is because of you and Cody. She’s still not a fan of Montana, but she doesn’t seem to hate it anymore.”

“It is a big change. Florida to Montana.” She stopped spinning her cup. “They’re pretty much polar opposites.”

“Phoebe, Delilah’s mom, loved Florida the way I love Montana. It was home. Which is one of the reasons we’d never have worked out.” He shrugged.

“Can I ask about her?”

He nodded. He had nothing to hide. If she had questions, he’d answer them. “We met in Florida, but it wasn’t a good fit for me. I was traveling for work then and when, we tried to do the long-distance thing, it didn’t last.”

“Long-distance relationships rarely do.” Maggie nodded, all sympathy.

“She got back together with her ex soon after we broke up, and I went on with my life. About six months ago, Phoebe called me out of the blue to tell me about Delilah.”

Maggie’s mouth fell open. “You didn’t know about her?”

“No. No idea. She thought it was her boyfriend’s at first, but somehow it came out that she’d been with me before going back to him.

He insisted on a DNA test, and when it showed he wasn’t Delilah’s father, he took off.

She said she tried to find me but, like I said, I was bouncing from place to place for work so tracking me down wasn’t easy.

” And that still upset him. All that time, he’d been robbed of his little girl.

“Finally, she found someone with my new phone number and called me. She was fighting a losing battle with cancer, worried about what would happen to Delilah and pretty much on her own. As soon as we hung up, I headed to Florida. I stayed there about two months, until Phoebe died, then brought Delilah home.”

Maggie shook her head. “Oh, Braden… I don’t even know what to say.”

“That was pretty much how I was when I found out. Now I can’t imagine my life without Delilah—even if I don’t always know what I’m doing.”

“No parent knows what they’re doing. But, from what I’ve seen, you’re figuring things out. Delilah is healthy and happy—that is a victory in itself, Braden. I’m serious.”

Their meals were delivered, putting their conversation on pause. Once again, he appreciated their ability to have a comfortable silence between them. He also appreciated that she looked cute even when she was eating.

“What about you?” He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Cody’s dad?”

Her expression instantly shuttered. “We met in college. He wasn’t ready to be a father.

I guess he’s still not because he’s never reached out—and he knows where we are.

So, yeah, he’s not in the picture.” She watched a drop of condensation slide down the glass and onto the table.

“Between me, my brother and parents, I think Cody’s happy.

When I was traveling for work, it helped to know he was with the people who love him the most.”

It was his turn to be speechless. A man abandoning his child?

Braden couldn’t wrap his head around it.

But, knowing all this, made him admire Maggie all the more.

Still, he didn’t want past hurts to get in the way of tonight’s conversations.

There were plenty of other things for them to talk about. “You miss your job?”