“If you do not want me to woo you, if you wish me to never mention this again, then I will do so. I will not tell anyone of what we shared. I will work hard as an orc on the team and treat you with respect as the others do.” My voice was gravel-rough as I spoke. “If this is what you want, just tell me so.”
“No!” She pulled her hand away and fiddled with her purse. “I mean…I’m not sure if I want you to woo me. I just…” Herbrown eyes were filled with uncertainty and pain as she glanced up at me. “You could break my heart. You already have broken my heart. I can’t be hurt again, especially by you. I just can’t.”
It was as if my own heart had been broken. I longed to take her hands again. I longed to get up and gather her into my arms, to hold her tight against me. I longed to protect her and keep her safe where no one would ever hurt her. But the greatest danger to her wasn’t someone else. It was me.
Once more I needed to risk failure, but unlike my choice to be the team goalie, this would be the most important choice of my life.
“I want you to be mine, Willa Filipkowski. Forever. I want to spend my life with you, and I am willing to work as long as I need to convince you that I am sincere.”
She drew in a ragged breath, but said nothing. My hands twitched on the table, urgently wanting to touch her.
“I want you to be my bride. I will have no other. Only you. I want you for my bride. I want you to be my princess, and eventually my queen.”
She looked up, her eyes wet with tears, her mouth trembling on the edge of either a smile or sorrow. “But I’m not princess material.”
“You are to me. In my eyes, you are the only princess. I do not care what anyone else thinks. Their opinion is not important. You and I…together. That is all that matters to me.”
She smiled and choked on a sob all at the same time. Unable to stop myself I jumped up from the booth, pulled her from her seat, and wrapped my arms around her.
“Yes,” she whispered, her breath warm on the thin fabric of my T-shirt. “Yes, Eng. I will be your princess.”
38
ENG
Idid not invite Willa back to my furs after lunch. I hadn’t lied when I’d said I was far too tired to provide her with the attention I wanted, and I didn’t think it was the ideal way to start what I planned to be the beginning of our life together. It was important for me to get this right. I wanted to make sure Willa knew that I was serious about us, that I wanted this to be forever. And I was willing to take whatever steps I needed, take whatevertimeI needed to win her over.
Which also meant I needed to win her family over. And her friends.
After an afternoon nap and a hot shower, I texted my beloved shrew.
Eng: I would like to join you and your family for Sunday dinner, but I don’t know human protocol for this. Is it too soon to meet them? Should I invite them to dinner with the two of us? I cannot cook, but I could make reservations at a restaurant.
Willa: You can totally invite my family out to dinner on your dime, but not Sunday. Sunday family dinner is sacred and it’s always at Mom and Dad’s house. I’ll let them know to expect you, and we can arrive together.
I’ll admit I was sweating at the thought of having to impress Willa’s huge family. I’d faced hostile emissaries, fae lords, angry troll merchants, but this would be the most terrifying meeting of my life.
Eng: Is it customary to bring a food offering? Flowers? Starbucks gift cards? A tooth in a box?
Willa: Do NOT bring body parts, whether in a box or not. Food is welcome. How about a pie or cake or something like that?
Eng: I will bring pie.
Eng: Are you available for dinner tonight? I have some shopping to do this afternoon, but I wanted to bring you a pizza.
Willa: That sounds great! We can pizza and chill.
Three hours later I was at the shrew’s door with a large pizza in hand. I had expected her to answer the door naked, like the women in the magazine, but Willa must not have read those particular stories. It was just as well since I would not be able to resist if she were naked and I was trying to take things slow.
We curled up on the sofa, ate pizza, and watched a movie on her television about a male in a musical group who falls in love with a female with brightly colored hair and must defeat her seven former lovers in order to win her heart.
“Do I need to kill your former lovers as part of our courtship?” I asked as we finished off the last of the pizza. “That is a custom in some orc tribes, and I am willing to do it if it is your custom as well.”
Willa laughed. “That would land you in jail. I’m not sure even diplomatic immunity would save you from incarceration if you go on a killing spree of my ex-boyfriends.” She scooted closer against me and put her head on my shoulder. “Stay the night? We’re both going to the same place in the morning. I can drive you over to your apartment to grab your workout clothes, and drive you to the arena.”
I’d envisioned us doing this, arriving together with coffee and our arms around each other, letting the whole world know that she was mine and I was hers.
“I want to stay with you tonight and every night, but I don’t want us to move too fast,” I told her.
