"I want to wake up with you, Kara."
She leaned her head against his good shoulder as he put his arm around her. "That sounds wonderful. I never thought I'd meet someone I could really count on to be there for me. But you blew that thought out of the water."
"And I never thought I'd want to commit to anyone, but I can't imagine not seeing you every day of my life."
"What if our life becomes ordinary after the adrenaline wears off?"
"Ordinary sounds amazing to me. And I want to get to know your family for real. I don't want to be your fake boyfriend. I want to go to your uncle's poker games, let your mother feed me too much food, and ask when we're going to get married."
"She will ask—a lot."
He laughed. "I can handle your mother."
"We'll see. I'd like to meet your dad, too, Max."
"We have time for everything now."
"Time," she murmured. "What a beautiful thing." She lifted her head from his shoulder and gave him a kiss that drove all thoughts of dinner and Jacuzzi tubs out of her head. "Maybe we'll eat later," she said.
"Much later," he agreed as he pulled her into his arms.
Epilogue
Three weeks later…
The softball game had been Hayden's idea. "Family bonding," he'd called it, though Kara suspected it was really an excuse for her brother to determine whether her new boyfriend had the goods to compete on his men's softball team starting next month.
Softball had always been a tradition in their family. Every spring they gathered for a game in the park to kick off baseball season. Kara was a pretty good player, but rarely had time to play on a team, so her skills were rusty. Not that she cared much about this game at all; she was more interested in seeing how Max fit in with her large, extended family. Until now, she'd been introducing him to people in smaller groups. But this was everyone and their friends. And Max seemed to be loving it.
He waved to her from second base, where he'd landed after hitting a double. He looked more relaxed than she'd ever seen him. Three weeks of sleeping through the night without nightmares of Qadir and waking up next to someone who loved him despite knowing all his secrets, had taken a lot of weight off him.
She felt lighter herself, no longer feeling the need to prove anything to anyone. She realized now how the incident at the NYPD, the breakup with her boyfriend, and the blacklisting by former friends had taken a serious toll on her. She'd buried herself in work, so she didn't have to think about friendship or love. She'd thought proving she was an excellent agent would make everyone realize they were wrong about her, but now she knew she hadn't really been trying to prove that to others, but to herself. She didn't have to do that anymore. She knew who she was, and she was good with herself.
"Strike three!" Uncle Danny called from behind home plate, grinning as Hayden walked back to the bench after striking out spectacularly. "Medical school didn't teach you how to hit a curveball!"
"That wasn't a curveball!" Hayden protested. "That was barely a strike!"
"I'm the umpire. My rules."
"Max is fitting in well," her mother said, settling down beside her on the blanket Kara had spread on the grass when she'd decided to sit out so that the two teams would have even numbers. "Look at him, he's having the time of his life," her mom added as Max ran home on her cousin Laurel's long fly ball.
"He likes our big, chaotic family."
"We like him. So, when are you going to make this official?"
"Mom!"
"What? I'm just saying, you're not getting any younger, Kara. And he clearly adores you."
"We've known each other for a month."
"That doesn't matter. I've never seen you look so happy. I want that to continue."
"It will," she said. "Stop pushing. I've got this."
"I'm glad," her mother said. "Do you want something to eat or drink?"
"No, I'll wait for Max."
