"My only goal was getting food and getting you naked," I called from the bedroom. "Sometimes you have to go old school. I'll be more savvy on the next go-round."
My jeans were on the floor beside her scrubs and sparkly red shoes, and I snatched my wallet from the back pocket. I wrapped the towel around my waist and headed into the living room, cashinhand.
A knock sounded at the door, and I called, "Coming."
"Yeah, you were," Alex murmured from thebedroom.
"Someone pulled on her sassy pants," I said as I openedthedoor.
"Someone isn't wearing any pants," sheyelled.
"Surprise!"
I blinked, glancing from the man clutching a pastel pink teddy bear to the woman with her arm curled around a basket of violets. They were nicely dressed, in their fifties or sixties, and their body language suggested they were either married or wellacquainted.
They did not, however, appear to be delivering apizza.
"Hi," I said slowly, suddenly aware that I was dripping wet and clad in an ill-fitting bit of terrycloth. One wrong move, and my dick was popping out to say hello. "Can Ihelpyou?"
"Does Alex live here?" the man asked, squintingatme.
"Yeah," I replied. I gave that teddy bear the side eye. "This is herapartment."
The woman frowned at him. "Oren, we should come back later. I told you we should've calledahead."
From the bedroom I heard a flurry of commotion followed by "Oh, shit," and then I understood. These were Alex's parents and—oh my fucking god—I was practically naked and still panting from fucking their daughter in theshower.
"Because you thought she'd be at work, not"—he glared at my chest—"entertaining."
Alex scrambled around the corner and pressed her hands to my back. She peeked out from behind me. "Mom. Dad. Hi," she said breathlessly. "You'rehereand you'resoearly."
"Your father thought it would be fun to surprise you like you're always surprising us," her mother said. "It seems we've caught you at abadtime."
"Not at all," I replied with every ounce of enthusiasm I could muster. It wasn't much considering my plans for sex and sleep just evaporated. "We were just discussing our favorite spots in town, and now we can get a jumpstart on the tour." I shot a look at Alex and her hastily tied robe. Under my breath, I said, "As soon as we find someclothes."
Alex's mother glanced at my towel and Alex's wet hair. Her cheeks reddened the same way her daughter's did when I saidcunt. "In the shower?" sheasked.
"That's where I do all my best thinking,"Alexsaid.
Alex's father stared at me, his gaze hard. Maybe a little furious. "And whoareyou?"
"Riley Walsh." I held out my hand. "I'm going to marry yourdaughter."
Epilogue
Riley
Five monthslater
"Oh, yes,"I said as I adjusted the cap on her head. "Yes, this isperfect."
She threaded her ponytail through the opening at the back. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips, like she had a secret that she couldn't help but spill. "This is it? This does itforyou?"
"Are you kidding me?" I asked, waving at her jeans, Red Sox t-shirt and matching hat. The dark lines of new ink peeked out from her sleeve on the right side, and I swept my knuckles down the jagged edge of Cape Cod. "We're going to opening day at Fenway Park and you're decked out in Boston gear. And you're beautiful and amazingandyou let me do very rude things to you. This, right here—you—you're better than any fantasy." I ran a hand through my hair, considering this. "Let's be real. It's not like you don't enjoy the rudethings."
She dropped her hands to her waist, but instead of assuming that fuck-hot hands-on-the-hips pose, she loosened the buttons there. "Are you sure? There's nothing that could make this day better? Nothingatall?"
I cut my eyes to the side and scanned the apartment, in search of some clue to explain this line of questioning. It wasn't like Alex to hopscotch around the point, but nothing caught my attention. She still lived around the corner from the hospital, with Cal downstairs and the new trauma surgeon upstairs. I'd seen the guy—Stremmel—in the hall many times since his arrival last October, and I didn't like him. Ego the size of Australia. Always stomping around up there like adamnogre.
