“Which is what?”

“I want to set a date for the wedding.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. If I’ve learned anything from this, it’s that life is too unpredictable to let my propensity for self-humiliation stop me from getting hitched. I want to spend the rest of my life with this man, and postponing the start of that because I’m going to embarrass myself is silly. That’s just the way I am. Waiting isn’t going to change it.”

-&-

After lunch I pack a box of files and head home, feeling lighter. I won over the Darcys, I’m going to work from home for a while, and as soon as the time is right, I’m going to tell Alex we should set a date.

I find him in the living room, lying on the couch with the remote control pointed at the TV. He rewinds and then presses play, turning up the volume. He doesn’t notice me watching him. I glance at the screen and realize too late it’s the footage from his injury. The crack when he hits the boards is amplified by the surround sound. Then the screaming fans drown out everything else.

The camera angle changes, giving me a different view of the events than I had at the game. While I was panicking, his teammates were checking for a response. The whole thing comes flooding back in a rush of fresh fear. I put my hand over my mouth to silence my sob, but I’m not quick enough.

Alex suddenly realizes I’m here. He stops the video and pats the cushion beside him. “C’mere.”

He’s wearing his current uniform of a hoodie and sweats, and I’m still in my dress pants and blouse. He moves over so I can get my ass on the sliver of cushion.

“Why are you watching that?” I ask with a sniffle.

“To see if it’ll jog my memory. It sure as hell explains why I look the way I do.” He cracks a smile.

I try to return it, but I can’t. “I’m glad Cockburn got a twenty-game suspension.”

“He deserved it.” He caresses my cheek. “You must have been so scared.”

I nod, working through the lump in my throat. We haven’t really talked about this, mostly because Alex doesn’t have any memory of the hit.

“When you didn’t get up, and then they wheeled you by me on that stretcher and you weren’t moving…I thought I was going to lose you. I couldn’t keep it together enough to be able to get in the ambulance with you. Sunny had to go, and all I could think was that I was never going to…” I don’t continue. The words are unnecessary.

“But I’m going to be okay now.”

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I’ve purposely avoided the footage up to this point. “There was an hour or so when I didn’t know if I was ever going to be okay again. It was awful.”

“I’m sorry I scared you, baby.”

He doesn’t promise not to do it again, and I know it’s because he doesn’t want to lie to me. Which scares me even more. He reaches over, bringing my mouth to his. It’s a soft kiss, and there isn’t any tongue, but he finishes with a lip nibble. When he’s done, I back up a few inches so his eyes don’t merge into one.

“Let’s talk about something nice.” He glances at the clock. “You’re home earlier than I expected. Did the presentation go okay?”

“I got the account.”

“That’s awesome.” He means it; I can tell by the dimple that appears in his left cheek.

I kiss the divot. “I have a question about the Darcys.”

“Oh? What’s that?” He twirls a lock of my hair around his finger.

“There’s a rumor out there—”

“There’s always a rumor. What is it this time? The one about them being swingers?”

“How’d you know?”

Alex rolls his eyes. “People are assholes. They were invited to participate in an event at a hotel a couple of years ago. There were two parties going on the same night in the same venue. One was a fundraiser, and the other was for swingers. They accidently went to the wrong one for, like, a minute, but Darcy’s been fighting the rumor ever since.”

“Wow. People really are assholes.”

“Who told you that?”

“Dean.”

“I really don’t like that guy.”

“He was just being a jerk.” I trace the line of his eyebrow. “I have some more good news.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“I talked to Stroker about working more from home.”

Alex blinks his surprise. “Really?”

“Really. And he said yes.”

“And you’re okay with that?” He skims my bottom lip with his thumb.

“I’m more than okay with it.”

This time when he smiles, I get both dimples.

I drop another kiss on his lips. I’m rewarded with a little tongue action. “Where’s your mom?”

“She went out to pick up more food. I might need to buy another fridge if she doesn’t stop soon.” We’re kiss-talking now, and Alex’s hand has started wandering lower, over my shoulder to my boob.

“The entire freezer is full of meals for the next three months. How long ago did she leave?”

“Maybe twenty minutes?”

“So she won’t be back for a while?” I finger one of the buttons on my blouse until it pops open, revealing cleavage.

“Probably not.”

“Wanna go upstairs so I can hug Super MC with my beaver?”