Page 40 of The Cupcake Cottage

Jenny sat back in her chair as though the conversation was over. “This was a very good meal, Carol. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I think you two have more to discuss. Have you been to that restaurant with all the hubcaps out on the highway. Myles loves it. What’s it called Maverick?”

He shrugged.

“It’s closed for renovations,” Daisy-Mae said. “They had a flood.”

“Well then—”

“Thanks, Carol,” Dylan interrupted. “But I don’t think it would work out with Jenny. I like having a girlfriend who’s around.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t be around! I just happen to be busy too.”

“Yes, very good supper,” Violet said quickly, the rest of the table chiming in.

Jenny’s cheeks were pink, and her hands were clutched into fists on the tabletop. “It’s not about stardom,” Jenny said. “It’s about time.Makingtime even if you’re both busy. If you love someone and they’re important to you, you find the time.”

“So wanna go on a date?” Dylan asked quietly.

At the end of the table, Carol’s eyes danced and her chest expanded as she held her breath for Jenny’s reply.

“Sure. Maybe. I don’t know,” Jenny said, clearly flustered. “Call me.”

Daisy-Mae felt a warm hand squeeze hers. Maverick was watching her with a soft smile. He said quietly, “I’m glad we had the time for this supper tonight.”

“Me, too.”

He was a busy man with his career, commuting, renovating his house, and maintaining a close relationship with his mom. And yet he still found time to spend with her, to treat her right. And even though he was slow to allow her fully into his life, it was because he was careful with his trust. Being invited here along with a few of her friends to celebrate a holiday with him, his mom, and his friends was a big step. An important one where they would begin to blend their lives.

It felt like he was not only inviting her into his life but also to become a part of his family.

CHAPTER 7

Maverick took Daisy-Mae home after work, and as he dropped her off, he couldn’t help but feel how wrong it was for them to be living apart. They’d been dating just shy of five weeks, but he wanted her to become a permanent fixture in his life. Even if it was too soon to think that way.

The sponsorship deals weren’t rolling in for anyone on the team yet, his reputation had yet to be rewritten, and the publicity around them as a couple still remained pretty low-key as he did his best to avoid media frenzies. But he was happy, and he had a perfect excuse to spend time with his gal Daisy-Mae.

A timer flicked on Christmas lights that ran along the edge of her house as the sun set behind them.

“I like your lights,” he said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to let her out of the vehicle, didn’t want the evening to end. “Supper,” he said in a fit of inspiration. “Have you had supper?”

“No. Have you?” She sounded amused.

He shook his head.

He was exhausted from commuting, practices, traveling for away games, and renovations. His life had become go, go, go,and he feared he wasn’t showing Daisy-Mae how important she was to him. Maybe that was part of why he wanted her in his home. It would be easier to hang out. They could go home together, enjoy a morning chat over coffee. Stealing minutes, making hours. Definitely easier than trying to navigate their schedules and separate households.

Yes, that was all. He wasn’t in over his head with a woman who was dating him partly as a way to help others—and him.

Or at all paranoid about his mother’s words about him not letting Daisy-Mae into his life enough so she’d know he cared as deeply as he did.

“Want to grab something at the Longhorn?”

“You can’t eat there.”

“Why? Because of Henry?”

She laughed. “No, because you’re on a strict diet and the diner is all burgers and fries.”

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