“You’d better if you want to keep me,” Marcie huffed.
“You would issue an ultimatum,” Dev joked.
Marcie grinned. “That’s why I’m so good at this. Now I’m going to get back to my baby and let this one get back to hers,” she said with a wink to me.
Marcie and I strode out of the conference room with our heads high and waited until we got outside to hug and celebrate. “Looks like someone’s waiting for you,” she sang as we pulled apart.
And there was Nick, leaning against the bumper of my car with a worried look.
“Did I ruin it?” he asked. “I’m so sorry, Annie. I wanted to fix it and make sure you still had a job. I didn’t want to give you up, but I’d do whatever you needed.”
I threw my arms around his neck and pressed myself into him. “You didn’t ruin it. You did make for a very interesting sideshow though.”
“Oh yeah?” he asked, closing my waist in his hands and bringing his face down to mine.
“Not every day that I get grand gestured in a work meeting,” I said, raising my eyebrows.
“That was Mikey’s idea. Or my idea, and he egged me on. You weren’t supposed to be there for that part, but I had to roll with it. Sorry if I embarrassed you.”
I giggled. “You totally did, but it was sweet.” I blinked, looking up into those color-shifting green eyes. “I love you, Nick.”
“I love you, Annie. So much. I’ve loved you for so long, angel. I hope this was all worth it.”
“Trust me when I say it is. It’s scary, but it’s worth it.”
Life was about to change in a big way, but that was a conversation for another time. For that moment, the most important thing was the person in my arms. Our lips met in a rush, his warmth mingling with the California sun shining down on us. He lifted me so my feet dangled, and I kicked one heel up as I got lost in the sweetest, purest heart I’d ever known.
Chapter 42
Nick
MARCH | Tarot: XIX. The Sun
Annie, Kitty, and Jessie looked back at me through the glass in the front row during a TV timeout. I’d shelled out for them to have overpriced seats on the ice by my goal because Annie was fully mine. No hiding. No sneaking around. I damn well wanted to be able to see her. I shot her a wink.
Annie, looking fine as hell in my jersey, some tights, and some over-the-knee boots. She’d made a point to tell me that WAGs don’t wear jerseys, but this one time, she’d do it for me.
We had big plans for after the game, going out for my birthday with the team, and with Annie claimed as publicly mine.
I shut my brain off to play hockey, going into some zone that’s hard to describe. This night though, I couldn’t have even told you who we were playing. I almost forgot to drink my pickle coffee because I was so thrilled with Annie. She’d figured it out.
My tarot draw was perhaps the most optimistic ever: TheWorld, The Sun, and Ten of Cups. That was Annie for me: my world, my sun. The one who filled my cup.
I felt like I’d had five cups of coffee for how elated I was to see that blonde head behind the glass, laughing with Kitty and Jessie. Edmonton only got off three shots on us in the first, which I easily stopped with my stick, a leg, and my blocker.
In the second, things heated up a bit more. We were up 2-0, and Edmonton was getting more aggressive. I continually pushed their winger out of my crease and he continually skated back.Fucker.
Then in the third, after I stopped his teammate’s puck under my glove, he tried to shove it out with his stick, catching my helmet with the tip of his stick. It didn’t get my face, but it did jar me. Mikey took exception to this, checking him in the back. I skated out of the fray, waiting for things to settle and trying not to get accidentally popped in the mayhem. That’s when I noticed the girls, looking like some chaotic Renaissance painting. Annie was on her feet, pounding the glass, with a wink my way when I caught her eye. Kitty was yelling, “GET HIM, MICHAEL!” while Jessie bit her nails. I settled in front of them, so they could still see, but so maybe they could hear me. “You okay, Mommy?”
“I wish he wouldn’t do that,” Jessie shouted over the noise. “I need a father for this baby.”
Meanwhile, Mikey’s gloves were off with a fistful of Arizona’s winger’s sweater as they alternated swings. Mikey finally slung him down to the ice, blood dripping onto his opponent’s jersey as he yelled, “Never again, motherfucker, you hear me?”
They both got five for fighting, and we got back to the game.
Unlucky for Edmonton, I was both very fired up to play in front of my girlfriend and very protective of Jessie. My birthday game ended as a shutout.
* * *
