Page 45 of The Maverick's Homecoming

When she reached the crest, she cried out. Lost in the wonder of that moment, she held Finn tight and whispered his name as she came.

* * *

Finn never wanted to leave.

Their Sunday morning was perfect. After a couple of unforgettable hours in bed, they moved on to her kitchen, where she poured him coffee and then cooked eggs over easy with pancakes, link sausages and blackberries she’d picked herself. He ate everything on his plate and then said yes to more.

Back in her bed, they took up where they’d left off. Her mouth tasted of maple syrup and berries. He couldn’t get enough.

His phone started ringing around one o’clock. He sent the first few calls to voicemail. But there were more—texts, too. He had appointments and he was stalling, because he wanted to cancel everything and spend the rest of the day with Kenzie. Sunday night, too, if she would have him.

But she figured out his game. “You’re supposed to be working this afternoon, aren’t you?”

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled. “I’m always working. It never ends.”

His sulky expression made her laugh. “Oh, Finn. I don’thaveto remind you. Your phone is already doing that.”

As if on cue, his cell buzzed again. “Whoever invented the cell phone should be benched for the season.”

She snuggled in close and kissed him, a kiss that started out short and sweet but quickly turned torrid. “One more time,” she whispered. He pulled her closer still.

If the phone buzzed or chirped again in the next fifteen minutes, he didn’t hear it.

A little while later, she kissed his square jaw and asked, “Coffee to go?”

He buried his lips in her tangled hair. “You really are trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”

“Well, I do have a bunch of random stuff to get done, but if you’re really going to blow off your clients, I’ve got no problem putting off cleaning the bathrooms until some other day—especially not if you do that thing with your tongue again.”

He nuzzled her hair some more and stroked his fingers up and down the satiny skin of her forearm. “Which one?”

They laughed together.

And then, he admitted glumly, “I do have to go.”

* * *

Ten minutes later, Kenzie stood on her porch waving as he drove away.

Back inside, her house was too quiet. She wished that Finn could have stayed. She had such a good time with him. They had fun and there was honesty. They understood each other. Sometimes, when she looked at him, she wished—

Never mind what she wished. This lovely magic between them wasn’t going to last and they both knew it. For now, they could be together, enjoy each other, make the most of each day. She just needed to keep herself in check, not let herself get too attached.

She had her home, her community, work she loved and a baby on the way.

Her life was already complete. She didn’t need a man to make it so.

* * *

Monday was the first day of school.

Kenzie spent that morning dispensing medications, patching up minor injuries and deciding when a student was in bad enough shape to be sent home. By noon, she’d been vomited on by a freshman. And then, Jimmy Trout, a sophomore, came in with a bad nosebleed that he insisted, “Just started out of dowhere, Durse Osborde.”

Once she’d stopped the bleeding, she pointed out that he had a cut on his cheekbone and bruises on his knuckles consistent with a fistfight. Jimmy slumped in his chair and muttered that he didn’t want to talk about it. She let him sulk right there in her office until the assistant principal could take over.

Kenzie had lunch in the teacher’s lounge with Lauren Dalton and Sandy Rice. Sandy taught English and critical thinking. Lauren joked that the students in her earth science class were more interested in throwing spitballs and making googly eyes at each other than in exploring the major cycles that affect every aspect of life.

“Hey, it’s high school,” said Kenzie. “You know what that means.”