Page 63 of Reckless (Adventures in Love 3)
Hearing Maverick chuckle, I glare at him.
“Sorry, babe, but he’s not wrong.”
“Whatever, you guys just don’t get romance.” I roll my eyes at him, and he grins as he squeezes my thigh.
“Now that the waterworks are over, will you dance with me?” Tanner asks as he stands, and Cybil looks between him and Claire, then puts her hand in his, and the three of them head toward the wooden makeshift dance floor.
I watch them as they start to do some kind of chicken dance, then laugh as Claire’s giggles of happiness travel around the room. Picking up my glass of wine, I take a sip, then look at Maverick. “Are you having fun?”
“Yeah,” he says easily, picking up his beer, and I smile at him, then look to the side when I feel a small hand on my arm.
“Do you want to dance?” a cute little boy with red hair who must be nine or ten asks, and I set down my wineglass.
“I would love to.” I look over at Maverick. “Do you want to join us?”
“I’m good, baby. Go on. I’ll be here when you get back.” He grins, and I grin back, then slide off my seat and take the kid’s hand. When we get out onto the dance floor, a song I know starts to play, and I show him how to do the moves that go along with the lyrics. Then one song turns to another, and we dance, sing, and laugh. As I’m in the middle of doing the Macarena, my eyes find Maverick’s, and a flutter happens in my chest as our gazes lock across the room.
“Uh-oh.” Margret bumps into me with her hip, and I look over at her. “Someone is in love,” she shouts over the music and the sound of people laughing and talking.
“What? No.” I look at her while I shake my head from side to side.
“You are, honey, but don’t worry—so is he.” She giggles when Mason spins her around to face him, and my heart pounds as my eyes move to Maverick, who is still watching me with a warm look in his eyes. No way. He doesn’t love me. Right?
“I think I’m going to get a drink,” my dance partner says, and I look down at his adorable little face, which is red with exertion. “It’s been fun.”
“Yeah, it has.” I watch him walk over to an older woman with long gray hair before I leave the dance floor and go back to the table, Margret’s words floating over and over on repeat in my head.
“Did you have fun?” Maverick asks as I take a seat next to him, and I pick up my water glass that was left over from dinner.
“Yes.” I smile at him, and his eyes roam my face.
“Should I be worried that you’re going to leave me for a younger man?”
“No, I’m all yours.” I turn toward him, and he wraps his hand around the back of my neck to drag me forward and kiss me.
“That’s good, but you should know that I would fight for you.”
“Would you?” I ask him on a whisper as my heart pounds, and he holds our faces just inches apart.
“Yes.” He nips my bottom lip, then kisses me again before letting his hand slide away.
“Do you want to dance?” I ask him after picking up my wineglass and drinking the rest of it in two gulps.
“Dancing is not really my thing,” he says quietly, lifting my hand to kiss my fingers. “Do you want to go on a walk with me?”
“A walk?”
“Yeah, I’d like to show you something.”
“Sure.” I set down my glass and stand to take my sweater off the back of my chair. With Blake and Everly’s wedding being outdoors, we were told that we would need to bring something warm for when we walked from the house to the heated tent, then to the backyard, then back to the house again when the party was over. Really, I thought that I would have to wear my sweater the entire time, which would suck because my black body-conforming off-the-shoulder dress is too gorgeous to cover up, but with the magic of at least a dozen heat lamps, it’s as warm as a summer day under the tent.
After I put on my sweater, Maverick places his hand against my lower back and leads me through the crowd to the exit, and then, hand in hand, we walk toward the dock where Everly and Blake got married earlier today. Only now there are no longer flowers tied to each post along the dock, and it’s dark, the moon lighting our path and reflecting off the water while the stars seem to sparkle above us.
“Are we going hunting for the lake monster?” I joke as we walk down the wooden dock, and he laughs, probably remembering the same story I do. A story Everly and Blake told us about how the two of them ended up in the water on their first visit here. Apparently Blake told Everly a story about a monster that supposedly lives in the lake, and Everly was so freaked that when a fish jumped out of the water, she ended up capsizing their canoe.
