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I stared at him in disbelief. When had he become such a snob? Had he always been, and I’d just never noticed before?
Renee hit Ben on the arm. “Shut up! He’s coming this way!”
I felt a strange sensation in my chest as Maverick walked up and stopped at the table. “Renee, Ben.” Turning to me, he smiled bigger. “Lily.”
“Hey, Maverick,” Renee replied with a megawatt smile. Was she batting her eyelashes, or did she have something in her eye?
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” Ben asked.
Renee’s smile faltered for a second before she looked at Maverick once again.
Laughing, I glanced back at him and couldn’t help but notice how incredibly good he looked tonight. I’d never seen him in a suit, and my, oh my. His gray eyes almost seemed like a light baby blue, after all, against the blue tie he wore. And Renee was right about his light-brown hair. He wasn’t wearing his usual cowboy hat or baseball cap, and his hair looked so thick and silky that my fingers itched to run through it and see if it was as soft as I imagined. He was maybe around five-foot-eleven, not as tall as some of the men in my family, but he was built. Even in the suit, you could see how broad his shoulders were, and I knew if I touched his arm, I’d feel the muscles there as well.
I swallowed and looked down at my wineglass for a moment. Why was I thinking about touching a guy who worked for my father? But peeking at him again, I smiled wider. He wasn’t justanyguy who worked on the ranch. Since I’d graduated from college and moved back home, we’d gotten to know each other better, and he really was a nice guy. Andreallynice to look at.
“Would you like to join us?” Renee asked.
Ben shot her a scowl, then looked at me. Before I could second Renee’s request, Maverick spoke.
“I came over to ask Lily for the next dance.”
“Why?” Ben asked with a snarky laugh.
My head snapped to my left to look at him. “What do you mean,why?”
Moving nervously in his seat, Ben looked from me to Maverick and said, “It’s just, youworkfor her.”
“He doesn’t work for me, Ben. He works for my father.”
“Wow, snob much, Ben?” Renee said under her breath.
Maverick cleared his throat. “It’s okay, I’ll just go…” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.
With a smile in my direction, he walked toward where Avery and Morgan stood. Avery was my younger cousin, and I knewshewouldn’t turn down a dance from Maverick if that was where he was heading.
For some reason, I wasn’t okay with him dancing with Avery. She was a lot younger than Maverick. Eighteen to his twenty-six.
Standing, I reached for his arm to stop him.
Yep, just as I’d thought. Hard-as-rock muscle lay underneath that suit. I’d seen him in T-shirts, of course, and I could only imagine what the rest of him looked like.
“Wait. I’d love to dance with you, Maverick.”
His eyes lit up, and I couldn’t help but grin at the look of happiness on his face.
The song ended, and he extended his arm for me to take. I wrapped my hand around it, and we started toward the dance floor. When I glanced over my shoulder, Renee gave me a thumbs-up as Ben scowled and shook his head.
What is his problem?
The next song started, and it was slow, one I hadn’t ever heard before. Maverick placed his hand on my lower back and kept a respectable distance between us.
“Be honest,” I said with a grin. “Did Grams tell you to come over and ask me to dance?”
He laughed. “Truthfully?”
“Yes, please.”
“No, she didn’t. I wanted to dance with you.”
