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I laugh as he pulls away, my hands trembling with anticipation of what nearly happened. So close. We were so close.

Maverick crosses the bar and pulls open the door. “Can I help you?”

“We’re looking for Sadie Eaton? The police said we could find her here.”

That voice. Can it really be? We were just talking about her. “Bella?”

Maverick glances back at me, then pulls the door open. Bella and Darren are standing on the other side. Bella’s eyes are already full of tears.

“Sadie!” she cries out and sprints into the bar to wrap both arms around me. “I am so sorry. I am so sorry,” she repeats.

Darren looks relieved, too, as he shakes hands with Maverick. The two men exchange words I can’t quite hear as Bella continues to squeeze me.

“When Captain Leopold called us, we weren’t sure what to think. Your stuff was gone, you were gone. I should have known you wouldn’t leave like that. The kids were devastated.” She releases me and reaches back for Darren.

“Sadie, we should have known,” he says.

“You couldn’t possibly have known.” Maverick’s jaw is taut, his gaze downcast. I step up next to him. “This is Maverick. He saved me.”

“We cannot thank you enough,” Bella says. “Seriously. Sadie is like family.”

He doesn’t say anything, just offers a nod.

“Is what he said true? Were you really abducted? He asked us a million questions, but I wasn’t even sure how to answer them.” In pure Bella fashion, she’s talking a million miles an hour.

But I can barely hear any of it because my attention is on Maverick. He’s beside me, silent and understanding despite the wonderful evening he worked so hard to plan.

“I’d really rather not go into it right now,” I tell her honestly.

“Oh, I completely understand. I’m an idiot. I just can’t believe it. What you went through is so horrible.”

“I’m doing okay.”

“Of course you are. You’ve always been such a ray of light.”

Darren looks around the room. “Uh, Bella, I think we might be interrupting something.”

“What?” Her eyes widen, and she looks around, then at me, as though she’s seeing it all for the first time. “Oh! Okay. We can catch up tomorrow. The kids are going to be so happy to see you, Sadie. They’re back home with my mom. We just couldn’t bear hiring someone else to take care of them. You were so amazing. Breakfast tomorrow? Please say yes.”

“You guys can come here,” Maverick offers. “I can make breakfast.”

“That would be great, thank you,” Darren says. “Come on, Bella. Let’s let them get back to their evening.”

“Oh, okay.” Bella pulls me in again and squeezes hard. “I’m so sorry, Sadie.”

“It’s okay.” I hold her tightly, then release her as Darren guides her back out. Maverick closes the door and locks it, then pauses a moment before turning back toward me.

“They didn’t have to leave,” he says.

“No, it’s okay.” But the mood has shifted, going from possibilities of the future to reminders of the past. “I’d really rather just be here with you. Which, I know, sounds so—” He moves in and captures my lips with his.

The meeting of lips is a kick to my system. And when he wraps his hand around the back of my neck, pulling me in closer, I wrap one arm around his neck, the other around his back just to keep him from pulling away and breaking the kiss before I’m ready.

He lets out a low growl against my mouth before deepening the kiss. It steals every bit of oxygen from my lungs. I’m drunk on him. Intoxicated by what he makes me feel. Desire burns in me as a battle between what I want and all that I’m afraid of losing plays out in my mind.

Blood hammering, I cling to him.

Maverick.