Page 6 of Maverick
Fuck, I wish I had. I wish Van was his. I wish for so many things.
“I should go,” I said, pushing him away from me so I could breathe, so my body would stop betraying me.
“Did you come here because you knew I was here?” he asked. It was a valid question, but it wasn’t the reason.
“No,” I said. “I honestly didn’t know you worked here. I just need my car to get done so I can safely drive it.”
“Tavi,” he said my name and my stomach fluttered. How could he remember my name after all these years? “There’s nothingwrong with your car, and it’s not due for a service. Why’d you really come here?”
I didn’t answer, just made a move to go and grab my son. When his hand shot out, blocking my way, I looked into his eyes, wishing like hell I could tell him the truth. I wish he could be my knight in shining armour, but when he found out who I was…who I really was…he’d hate me.
“I’m going to find who hurt you, Tavi, and they’re going to regret ever laying a hand on you.”
The way my body hummed with approval was wrong on so many levels, and yet there was a part of me that wanted him to do it. I wanted him to protect me, my son, and to take out the only one who was threatening to tear my very existence to pieces.
“I can save myself, Maverick,” I said, with finality, before I ducked under his arm and made my way over to my son.
The way he’d called him Daddy, that sat in my veins like ice. Never did I think we’d run into him. Never did I think that when I’d showed Van photos of Maverick and told him that was his Dad, we’d ever bump into him.
Because I’d wished like hell he was. That night…that night he’d been called away before we could hook up…I’d gone home, to Hardy.
And then I’d fallen pregnant.
To the wrong man.
Maverick
All afternoon my mind was on Tavi. It had been almost five years since that night where I’d almost had her. She’d come to the clubhouse a few times, but never came near any of the brothers. She was young, younger than any of us, and more than once I had wondered what she’d been doing here, but when I’d gotten back from the run and she hadn’t been here, I’d been gutted.
She’d flirted all night with me, after I finally gave in and flirted my ass off. She was young, innocent and oh so tempting. She’d been up for whatever, and damn if that hadn’t made me hard just thinking about it. It hadn’t just been flirting, something had passed between us that night, something more. Back then, I passed it off on her beauty, but it wasn’t that. We’d talked about music, and bourbon, and the feel of the mountains around us. Every weekend after, I’d waited for her to walk through those doors so I could choose her over a run, so I could fuck her until I couldn’t see straight, and had her crying out my name. But she never came back.
I’d thought about her over the years, the only one I ever gave a second thought to, and yet I hadn’t seen her. Not even around town, which made me think she’d moved or she was from out of town.
But today?
Damn, she looked just as good as back then. That same cheeky grin, those same wide brown eyes that I wanted to look into as I brought her to a soul-crushing orgasm.
She had a son, and by the look of him, that happened just after we had met. I knew he wasn’t mine, we’d never gotten that far, but maybe that’s why she never came back.
I’d thought her a bad mum, before my memory had served me and reminded me who she was. Maybe she was. Maybe she was a bad mum, going back to her abuser and letting her son see her hurt. What was she thinking?
I pulled my phone out and texted the one man who could get me the answers I needed.
Troj. Need information on someone. Need this on the downlow. Name: Tavi, has a four year old son Van.
TROJAN
On it. Give me an hour.
An hour. Jesus. That kid was a freak when it came to tracking. I didn’t know the significance of her coming back into my life right now, but I knew I didn’t want her to be in trouble. That kid was a bright light, making me think of my own boy. He’d called me daddy, and I had liked seeing him look up at me like I was the king of his domain, more than I cared to admit.
Why did he call me daddy?
I moved over to the bar and had Cherry pour me a double.
“Something’s weighing heavy on you,” she said as she placed it on the counter in front of me. “Do you need to talk or fuck?”
I tossed back the drink and chuckled at one of my oldest friends. She was always down to the point, and why we all loved her like a sister. “None of the above.”
