Page 56 of Maverick

She beams at me, cheeks flushed, looking pleased. "Secret family recipe," she says with a wink.

Cadence snorts and Nan gives her a death glare. "Hush missy."

Giggling, Cadence shakes her head. "I'm sorry. It's just…the box is still on the counter."

Yep, there it is. The blue box is right there, plain as day. But I'm pretty sure if I'd tried to make them, they wouldn't have turned out like this.

"I start with the box," Nan says with a sniff. "But I jazz it up. And these are real blueberries I'll have you know!"

Grinning, I take another bite. "We've made the boxed stuff before, and it never tasted like this." They also taste a fuck of a lot better when they’re not burnt.

Nan looks pleased. "It's the love," she says, patting my hand. "And butter. Because butter makes everything better."

Cadence laughs. "Hell yeah it does. This body is built by butter."

I clamp my lips shut, holding in the 'thank fuck' that immediately springs up. All the lush curves and soft skin make my mouth dry up, so let's keep the butter flowing, thank you very much.

I want her so fucking much.

Step one, get the grandma on board.

Step two, seduce the fuck out of Cadence.

Pleased with my plan, I swallow my bite and turn to Nan. "Tess," I say, going for casual, "what are you up to today?"

"Pickleball. At the seniors center."

"Pickleball? I've never heard of it."

"It's like tennis, but you use a different ball and paddle, and the court is smaller. It's a lot of fun."

So…like old people tennis. I can do that. "It sounds like fun. I don't suppose you'd like a little company?"

One eyebrow quirks up. "You want to come to the seniors center and play pickleball? With me? You're not working today? You've been gone every weekend. What keeps you so busy? Aren't you the boss?"

"That was a lot of questions," I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. "Uh, I'm trying to take a little more time off. I'm the boss at Brash, yeah, but I also take on cases on the side."

Her eyebrows wing down. "You're a billionaire with a side hustle? What, your bank account feeling a little light?"

"No, nothing like that. There are a bunch of people that need help, but unless you know your way around the law, you're not getting it. So I do what I can."

"For example?"

"Well, I help people with their landlords. Or get custody of their kids."

She neatly cuts another bite, and brings it to her mouth. "What kind of a lawyer are you? Don't you run a big company?" She pops the bite in her mouth and chews delicately.

Manners are cool. Not cool enough to eat like that around my brothers, but still cool.

"Most of my work is contracts, yes."

There's that eyebrow again. It's a damn expressive one. So far she's managed to convey suspicion, disbelief, sarcasm and a little bit of humor with it. "And that makes you qualified to help someone on a custody case?"

Where is she going with this? "It's all law. I read up on anything I need to, and I get the damned job done."

"Huh," she says, propping her chin on her hand.

"What does that mean?"

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