“Be stupid?”
“No, run from me, get a hotel room, and go to a club by yourself where you end up fighting your bodyguard in a deserted hallway.” I pause. “That was not on my bingo card for January.”
“Mine either.” She smiles. “Neither was falling in love with you.” I squint at her and she grins. “It was on my one for December.”
I lean in and press my lips to hers as gently as I can. I want to devour her, but I need her whole and healthy before I can do that.
Still, my uncle was right. Kinsley had lasted a hell of a long time in that fight.
She held on.
She survived.
She’s okay.
Tears stream down my face, mixing with hers, the enormity of tonight—of everything—boiling over.
“I love you,” she whispers, the words giving me life as I climb in bed with her, her body warm and soft and here.
And mine.
And they’ll have to pry me out of this bed if they think I’m leaving her for even a second. She ducks under my arm to rest her head on my chest as we wait for her to be discharged, both of us ignoring whatever show is playing on the television in the corner.
My phone buzzes next to me and I pick it up, grinning as I read the message.
UNCLE TOMMY: Proud of you kid
ROYCE: I got my girl
UNCLE TOMMY: Heard she gave him a cracked rib
UNCLE TOMMY: Can’t wait to meet her
ROYCE: Heard you’re raising hell
UNCLE TOMMY: You know I like to shake things up
ROYCE: Thank you—for everything
UNCLE TOMMY: Always, kid. Now how many favors do I owe?
ROYCE: A few. But we’re going to need to talk about my schedule so I can travel with her during the season
UNCLE TOMMY: Good thing you already work remote then, isn’t it?
I turnthe screen so Kinsley can see, her eyes lighting up when she gets to the end. “Really?”
“Where you go, I go, Kins.”
“I can be really moody during the season,” she admits and I shrug.
“I bet there’s a lesson for that.”
EPILOGUE
KINSLEY
A FEW WEEKS LATER
