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Her smile was tight. “Yeah.”
The doorbell rang, and he checked his phone to view the camera at the front door.
“It looks like we have a delivery. Did you order something?”
She looked toward the ceiling, as if trying to remember. “No. I haven’t bought anything online.”
Disappearing to retrieve the package, he came back in holding a box, and after looking at the return address, announced, “It’s from my parents.”
“I hope they didn’t send more clothes or toys. They gave him so much while they were here. He’s going to outgrow half the outfits before he has a chance to wear them.”
That was true. The drawers his brothers had bought were filled to the brim, with overflow on the shelves in the nursery closet.
“Let’s find out.” He took his folding knife from his pocket and cut the tape that sealed the package closed.
A wide grin spread across his face when he looked inside.
It was perfect.
He held it up, and she offered another one of the polite smiles she had perfected in the last week.
It was a crystal picture frame with a photo of the three of them: Maverick in his tux, Olivia in her gown, and Sawyer in his tuxedo onesie. His mom had followed the two of them when they slipped away after the ceremony to check on Sawyer and snapped the photo. He hadn’t thought to ask for a copy.
They hadn’t gotten the professional photographer shots from the wedding back yet. They’d taken some of just the two of them, then the usual poses with his family, then hers, and finally, the entire group. They’d taken some in in the upstairs foyer so Sawyer could be included in some, but Maverick didn’t remember posing for any with just the three of them. He was grateful to have his mom’s photo.
He expected Olivia to want to look at it closer, but she didn’t say anything other than, “That was nice of your parents.”
Maverick looked down at the photo—his new little family. “Yeah, it was.” Tracing his son’s cheek over the glass, he murmured, “I sure do love that little guy.”
****
Olivia
She was thrilled that Maverick loved Sawyer as much as she did—really. What made her stomach drop to her feet was when she realized where she fit in the equation.
Technically yes, she was his wife, but in reality, she was nothing more than Sawyer’s mom that he had to live with in order to be with his son. Oh, and an occasional fuck buddy.
Seeing the picture of the three of them had felt like karma biting her in the ass for using deceit to get pregnant. She should have paid the money and used a sperm donor. Or been more patient and found the right guy to fall in love with and have his baby.
Instead, she was in love with the wrong guy—her husband.
She needed to move into her own bedroom. Sleeping in the same room every night like they were a real couple was messing with her head.
And the plan to get him to file for divorce was about to go into full effect. Enough stalling. He wasn’t going to magically fall in love with her—the sooner she accepted that, the better off she’d be.
Chapter Thirty
Maverick
“Everything okay?” he asked when she came to breakfast holding Sawyer at her shoulder, still dressed in her pajamas. Other than Christmas Day, she’d always come down showered and dressed.
But ever since she moved into her own bedroom and Sawyer into the nursery, she’d become even more distant. He blamed it on their lack of spooning.
“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Why?”
“No reason. It just feels like you’ve been upset with me for a while.”
She pulled a mug from the cupboard with one hand, then popped a coffee pod into the new machine he’d bought and pressed start.
