by Laura Pavlov
If she wanted to provoke him, she’d found his kryptonite. He fucking hated Edward Efant and the way he manipulated the situation to keep Elle around.
“You saw Edward before you saw me? I thought you flew in this afternoon?” Elle’s voice trembled. She was always strong, so seeing her vulnerable cut him deep. He wanted to attack anyone who came at her, but this was her mother, and he needed to tread lightly.
“We’ve been here for a few days. I don’t know why you assumed we just got here.” Her mom beamed. She appeared to get off on hurting her daughter. It made him sick, and he’d had enough of it.
“I guess I just thought you’d want to see me as soon as you got here,” Elle said quietly. Her fork rested on her plate and she sat back against the brown velvet chair. He noticed her glossy gaze and his hands fisted beneath the table. How long did they have to sit here and endure this?
“Don’t be silly. You have Nick here in town. We’ve always played second fiddle to him, haven’t we?” A fake ass smile plastered across her mother’s frozen face. There wasn’t so much as a line on her forehead. Caroline Humphries was all ice, and somehow her daughter was all warmth.
“Nick? You’ve never played second fiddle to my dad. I love you all the same. It’s why I wanted to see you. To fix this, Mama. Whatever this is between us.” Her voice wobbled and tears streamed down her gorgeous face.
He fought the urge to throw her over his shoulder and get her the hell out of here. It was like watching a scorpion play with a kitten. No wonder Peaches dreamed of princes on white horses whisking her away. Life with her mom was like a dark fable. The non-happily ever after kind. No, his girl had unicorn blood pumping through her veins and it sure as shit didn’t come from her mother.
“If you loved us the same, you would carry the Humphries last name. Instead, you chose to shame your family as a drop-out debutante, for God’s sake, Elle. I’m the head of the Savannah debutante cotillion, and you quit when the going got rough. Do you know what you’ve done to my reputation? All the work and money we put into your pageants, and how did you thank us? Oh, yes, by making us the laughingstock and dropping the batons in your ridiculous performance. It was your legacy, and you let it all go up in flames. Then, finally you date Edward Efant, a man worth bringing home, and what do you do? You throw him away. You want to know if I’m disappointed in you? The answer is yes. You are my greatest disappointment.”
A gasp escaped Elle, and her skin paled. Winston’s jaw dropped, and Maverick felt the anger radiating from the older man. And Maverick? He’d had enough. He could sit beside his girl through a horrific dinner if it helped her, but no way in hell was he going to allow her to be disrespected like this. He pushed to his feet, his chair made a loud screech against the dark, wood floor, and he reached for his wallet.
“Winston, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. But we’re leaving.” He put his hand out to Elle, who remained completely bewildered. She took his hand and moved to her feet. Tears streamed down her pretty face, and he made a silent promise to never let anyone hurt her like this again.
“Caroline, wish I could say it was a pleasure, but it would make me a liar. And a liar I am not.” He tossed five bills on the table, more than enough to cover dinner. “I know it’s not old money, but as far as I can tell, most places accept new money.”
Elle’s mom shook her head with disapproval. “You can’t leave dinner. We haven’t even had dessert.”
The lady was seriously insane. She was concerned about etiquette, now? Elle gathered her purse and looked up at him with her big trusting gaze. He turned back to her mother. “Well, this ain’t the cotillion, lady. This is real life. And if you ever talk to my girl like that again, it’ll be the last time you speak to her if I have anything to say about it.”
A cold laugh escaped her. “Please. You won’t be around long enough to hold that promise. You may not understand tough love, Maverick, but my daughter is in need of a reminder of how her actions have hurt our family name.”
Elle shook her head in disbelief and threw her arms in the air in frustration, but Maverick wasn’t done yet.
“You want to talk tough love? You’re shaming your daughter for using the name of her biological father. The man you lied to and hid his own child from—and now you shame her for acknowledging him? As far as I can see, the only one disrespecting Winston is you. Elle loves him. She isn’t the one who betrayed him. So, if you want to pass judgment, take a long look in the mirror. You’ve done some evil shit to your daughter, and in spite of it, she’s still trying to repair things. Shame on you.”
Her mother pushed to her feet. “How dare you speak to me like that,” she hissed. “Elle’s paychecks sure won’t cover her expensive condo, will they, dear? You better watch who you cross, or you can start paying your own way.”
“Sit down, Caroline. Those aren’t your checks paying for her condo either. Stop this nonsense now.” Winston kept his tone in check, but his anger was impossible to miss. His wife finally dropped down in her seat.
“Let’s go. I’ve had enough.” Elle tugged at his hand.
He led her out of the restaurant, like they were escaping the gates of hell. Once out on the street he turned to look at her and she fell into him. Crumbled into a million little pieces. So much more fragile than she wanted anyone to know.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he whispered against her head.
Standing out in the street, with his arms wrapped around her, she broke down. Let it all out.
When she finally pushed back, she wiped her face and straightened her shoulders.
“I’m sorry she was so awful to you, Maverick.”
“I don’t give a shit how she treats me. I’m concerned about you.” He placed his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to meet his stare.
“Thanks for defending me. No one ever stands up to her. Not even Winston.” She grabbed his hand and started walking toward the car.
“She doesn’t intimidate me. She’s a wolf in fancy clothes. Her reality is so skewed. She should be the one apologizing to you, your dad, and to Winston. Yet she blames everyone for her mistakes. I don’t know how Winston stays quiet about it,” he said.
“I can’t believe the things she said tonight. I’ve always known I was a disappointment to her through her snide remarks, but she’s never actually come out and said the words.”
Once in the car, he merged onto the freeway. “Listen, baby, don’t let her get to you. Her threats won’t work here. I will pay off your condo, you don’t need her money. Better yet, we could sell it and you could move in with me.” He turned to her and winked.
She sniffed and leaned back against the seat. “I make decent money. Not enough for my condo, obviously, but the money I bought the condo with is in my name. Winston set up a trust for me when I was a kid. I don’t think he’d let her take it back. I don’t want the reason we move in together to be because I can’t afford my condo. I want us to do things right, okay? When we’re ready. But thank you for the offer. It means a lot.”
He hated the sadness in her eyes. The pain written all over her face. “Well, you say the word, and I’m in. I’m ready to have you with me all the time. But I meant it when I said I’d pay off your condo. The offer stands whether you move in with me or not. Tonight was a lot, so we can talk about it later. Right now, I want to know you’re okay.”
She gave him a half smile and leaned back against the seat, staring out the window. “I’ll be fine.”
****
The first two games of the season were in the books, and the Miners were off to a fan-fucking-tastic start. With two W’s, things were looking good. The press dubbed Elle Fiore his lucky charm, snapping pictures of them leaving the games. Hell, maybe she was. He liked knowing she was there, wrapped in his jersey and cheering him on alongside his friends and family. Unfortunately, their first away game was on Monday night, and Peaches had to work. The dickhead found every reason in the book to keep her from taking the day off. He wanted
her with him, but he had to respect her career as she did his.
They’d grown even closer after the visit from her mom and Winston. She and her mother hadn’t spoken since, but Winston called several times to check on her. He apologized for her mother’s behavior and assured her the trust fund was her own to use as she wished.
He told his own mom about what transpired, and she’d really stepped up to support his girlfriend. His family really took Elle under their wings. Aside from attending the games together, his sister Gigi joined Elle and her friends for happy hours in the city. Mimi and Elle had a special bond, and they talked almost daily. For the life of him he didn’t know what they rambled on about, but he liked his family being there for her.
He’d arrived in Minnesota last night. Hated being away from his girl. He’d grown used to having her sprawled across his chest. Elle Fiore was a rule following, proper, etiquette-crazed woman by day—but when she slept, she was out of control and wild. He loved it. He always woke up with her attached to him. Like two magnets, even during sleep, they were connected. Coach sent a text letting him know it was time to head over to the stadium. There was a knock at his hotel room door, and he pulled his bag over his shoulder and stepped out in the hall.
“You ready?” Big Joe, his go-to receiver was always serious on game day.
“Hell, yeah.”
“Let’s go kick some Minnesota ass,” Brent, the leading running back in the league, and also the team prankster said.
His phone vibrated as the elevator took them down to the ground floor. A text from Peaches.
—Wish I was with you. Good luck. I love you so much. I will be cheering the loudest from here. Of course I’ll be wearing your non-bedazzled jersey while doing so—
He laughed. That was his girl. He shot off a reply.—I miss your face. I miss your body. I miss you—
Damn, he had it bad for this girl. Twenty-four hours apart proved torturous.
“Damn, dude. You’ve gone from playboy to pussy-whipped all between seasons.” Brent laughed so loud the elevator shook.
“Get your head in the game, fucker,” Maverick said as they boarded the bus.
****
To say the game was a shit show would be an understatement. They’d had two interceptions, and their first loss. The flight home was long and tense the following morning. When he got in his car, his phone vibrated, and Jackson’s name flashed across the screen.
“What’s up, buddy,” he said, through his Bluetooth.
“You back in town?”
“Yep. Just got here. Driving home now.”
“Sorry about the game. You’ll get ’em next time,” Jackson said.
“Yeah, I played like shit. Need to get back to work and tighten things up.”
“Everyone has off days, Mav. It wasn’t only you, there were a bunch of fumbles and mistakes.”
Jackson always had his back, but Maverick knew he hadn’t led his team yesterday. Hell, those were the worst stats he’d ever put down. “Well, it’s on me. I didn’t make it easy for anyone. But we’ll put our heads down and get shit done.”
“Did you see what’s trending on social media?” Jackson said, and Maverick didn’t miss his hesitation.
“No. I’m menstruating, so I’ve been off social media. Did you and the girls already go to the pep rally?” he said dryly.
Jackson cackled, which caused him to laugh for the first time in two days. “Shut the fuck up. Peyton called and filled me in. Apparently, Elle’s being blamed for the team losing. They’re saying you didn’t have your good luck charm, and she should have been there.”
His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “Where the fuck do they come up with this shit?”
“Who knows. You know how crazy the fans get. But I wanted to give you a heads up. She probably won’t tell you, but her car got egged at the office and someone wrote something on the windshield.”
His head fell back against the seat in his truck. Could this day get any more fucked up? “What did they write?”
“Support your man, bitch.” Jackson said, and started to laugh. “Dude, I can’t make this shit up. These are some messed up super fans, right?”
Jesus. People were batshit crazy when it came to football.
“I’ve talked to Peaches a few times today, and she never said a word. Why the hell doesn’t she tell me shit?” The girl could be so damn stubborn sometimes.
“She doesn’t want to stress you out.”
“All right, well, thanks for telling me. How’s little Jojo? I hope you didn’t let her watch me play yesterday. I don’t want her seeing her godfather take a loss.”
Jackson laughed. “She fell asleep in the first quarter and seeing she’s not even a year old yet, I think you’re safe.”
“Good. Peaches said I need to wear a suit to the baptism. I told her you said I could wear a polo shirt and nice jeans, but she insisted it was out of the question.” He ran a hand through his hair and laughed.
“Dude, she’s going to have you dressed nicer than me, and it’s my kid being baptized. You’ve got a few weeks to change her mind.” Jackson chuckled.
“Have you ever seen her change her mind? I swear she makes most of these rules up as she goes.”
“Well, you’re a persuasive guy. You’ll figure it out. You heading home?”
He was going to, but instead, he pulled off the freeway and parked in front of the Efant Capital building. “I’m going to stop by and see Peaches at work first. Make sure she’s okay.”
“All right, brother. Call me later.”
He texted her and asked where she was. The building was massive, and she had already completed the lobby renovation. It looked modern and sleek with marble flooring and gray modern accents. She only had a few more floors to finish before this project wrapped up. Couldn’t happen soon enough for him.
The elevator doors opened, and Peaches rushed out and lunged at him. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.
“Hey. I said I’d come up.” He grazed her ear with his lips.
“I couldn’t wait. I’m so happy you’re home,” she said with a big smile.
She wore a pink blouse, and he couldn’t wait to take it off her. He lifted the fabric near the buttons and peeked down her shirt, and her head fell back in laughter.
“Missed you, Peaches.”
“Missed you more. Sorry about the game.” Her head cocked to the side, studying him.
“Yeah, I played like shit. I heard you’re taking a little heat for it?” He wrapped his hand around her waist and tugged her closer.
“It’s fine. I like being your good luck charm.” She tried to make light of what happened, but he knew better.
“Can you leave work now?” He looked down at her. Wanted to take her home.
“No. I have a few more hours. I’ll make dinner tonight though, okay?” She pushed up on her tiptoes and pressed her sweet lips to his.
“Elle. My father wants to see you.” Count Asshat’s voice pulled them from their moment.
His girl straightened, ran her hands down her front to make sure everything was in place, and Maverick glared at the older dude.
“All right, I’ll be right there,” Elle said, with a fake smile plastered on her pretty face.
“I’ll ride up with you.” Edward stepped onto the elevator and held the door open. He was one impatient douchebag.
“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you at your place in a few hours.” She pressed one more kiss to his lips.
“See you soon, Peaches,” he said, as he watched her walk toward the elevator.
“Sorry about the game, Maverick. Tough loss for our city,” the asshole said. His French accent almost made it sound polite. But he knew better. The guy was being a dickhead.
“Well, since you don’t live here, I’m sure you’ll get over it.” He kept his tone calm, but he felt anything but.
Chapter Twenty-One
Elle’s Tip of the Day
Stand up to squirrel tur
ds!
“Those chairs go against the far wall.” She led the two men carrying the furniture across the room.
“Right here?” The older man asked.
“Yes, perfect. Thank you.”
“Darling, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”
Why Edward still called her darling was beyond her. She avoided him at all cost and made it clear on several awkward occasions how fully committed she was to Maverick. The man never gave her this kind of attention when they dated. His little games were getting old. Edward found endless reasons to extend the project, and there wasn’t much more he could add to the list. If this was a ploy to get her back, it had failed miserably.
“What do you need? I’m heading out in a few minutes.” Her tone snippy. Maverick was frustrated with the situation, and honestly, she couldn’t blame him.
“I was going to order in. I wanted to go over some new design options for this last stage.” He leaned against the wall, his gray suit tailored to perfection, and he oozed confidence. But these were exactly the games she wasn’t partaking in.
“Edward, we’ve already ordered everything for the final phase. My workday is over, and I need to get home.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and met his stare. She felt nothing for her ex, aside from irritation.
“It won’t take long. We can have a bite and go over a few quick things.”
“No. I’m having dinner with Maverick. He has a game tomorrow, and I need to get going. I don’t know how many times we need to go over this. I have a boyfriend, and I’m very happy with him,” she said in a huff. The man was relentless.
“You can’t blame a man for trying. I spoke with your mum today. She mentioned the two of you aren’t speaking?” Edward followed as she walked to get her laptop and her purse. Of course, her mother was speaking to her ex-boyfriend, but not to her own daughter. It had been a few weeks since their blowup. She expected an apology at the very least, but none came.
