Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
His declaration was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. This time, the tears that streamed down my cheeks were from pure joy. There was only one small thing missing. “I think you forgot the three magical words that I’ve been waiting to hear. I promise I’ll say them back to you, but I’m feeling super emotional right now and really need them to come from you first.”
I shouldn’t have been scared because he didn’t hesitate for even a second. Sliding the infinity ring onto my finger, he declared, “I love you, Skye Tate.”
“I love you, too,” I admitted softly, feeling overwhelmed with happiness as my emotions got the better of me.
“C’mon, baby. You have to stop crying. It’s killing me,” he pleaded, gliding one of his hands up the outside of my thigh to grip my hip as he reached up with the other to wipe away my tears.
I flashed him a watery smile. “I can’t help it. This moment is so perfect. It’s definitely the proposal we should tell our children about.”
“No way,” he disagreed with a shake of his head. “I love our origin story.”
“Of course, you do. You’re not the one who embarrassed themselves,” I sighed.
“That’s what you think, but only because you don’t know about the advice I got from one of my teammates before you poured scorching hot coffee all over me to get my attention…”
I poked him in the chest and mumbled, “That’s not at all what happened, and you know it.”
He pasted an innocent expression on his face. “I thought we agreed I could tell this however I wanted.”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “That’s definitely not true because it doesn’t sound at all like something I would say.”
“What is one-hundred-percent accurate is that one of the rookies heard about the reason Best Sports was balking at inking the deal with me and made the harebrained suggestion that I should marry the first woman off the street who agreed.”
“Is that where you got the idea for a marriage of convenience? And then I literally bumped into you on the sidewalk.” My shoulders slumped as I muttered, “I always wondered what made you ask me like that.”
“Nuh-uh, baby. My proposal was spur of the moment and entirely because of my reaction to you.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Even without the spilled coffee, you made one hell of a first impression. I’d already decided I couldn’t marry just anyone because I didn’t want to ruin my chances with the woman who was meant to be mine…and then there you were. Our marriage has never been about convenience, but my proposal sure was because it gave me the perfect excuse to tie you to me forever right away. And then I did everything I could to make sure you didn’t want to break that connection.”
As I thought about the likely outcome of what he—more like we since I’d been a willing participant each and every time—had done to ensure we were connected forever, I twisted my hand back and forth as I stared down at the infinity band. Knowing what my husband felt for me, I loved what the ring represented. “My present for you isn’t nearly as expensive as this ring, but if what I suspect is true, I think you’ll appreciate it just as much for what it represents.”
“You didn’t have to get me anything, but I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is,” he reassured me.
“Oh, you’d better.” I giggled as I pressed his palm against my stomach. “Because I’m almost positive that you already got your wish for the family you said that you want to build with me.”
His gaze was locked on our hands, and his deep voice was whisper soft as he asked, “You’re pregnant?”
I nodded. “I think so. I haven’t had a period since we met, and we’ve had a lot of unprotected sex.”
“Fuck yeah, we have.”
He kissed me breathless before jumping to his feet. “Where are you going?”
“I want to know for sure, so I figured I’d run to the store to grab a test. Or two. Maybe even three.”
I laughed softly and rolled my eyes. “I had a feeling one test wouldn’t be enough for you, but I hope two will be because that’s all I bought when I stopped at the store on my way home from class today. That’s what I meant about my present not costing as much as my ring. The same wouldn’t be true if I was talking about the pregnancy or baby.”
“Good point.” He tugged me to my feet and patted my belly before asking, “Where are the tests?”
“They’re in my purse, but I think they’re supposed to work best first thing in the morning.”
“I don’t want to wait. If these are duds because I made you take them at the wrong time, I’ll go out and buy some more,” he promised, excitement shining from his deep blue eyes.