“I’m not trying to be negative,” he said quickly. “I’m being honest.”
Lacey stared at him, at the seriousness in his face, at the way he didn’t look away. She loved that about him—as much as his easy laugh, his genuine, caring personality, and world-class shoulders. He was so steady, like a rock. And, boy, she needed a rock.
“I don’t want to do the long-distance thing,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ll lose you.”
Her pulse thundered and she fought the desire to laugh out loud. As if he could lose her.
Roman’s eyes held hers, unflinching. “I don’t want to come home after practice and stare at a wall and pretend I’m fine.”
Lacey’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. She wouldn’t be fine, either.
“I want to come home and have you there. I want to share life with you, ups and downs and…everything.” His expression softened. “I want to be with you.”
The harbor noise faded around her, replaced by the thrum of her heartbeat.
Be with her.What, exactly, did that mean? What did that look like? What did that do to her world, her job, her…heart?
“Oh.” It came out like a croak.
“You know I have a place in Jacksonville, but it’s not great. I think we could get something bigger. On the water, even. Jax Beach and Atlantic Beach are nice. Downtown, on the river, close to the stadium. There are suburbs, too, and…”
His voice trailed off as she stared at him, vaguely aware that her jaw might be wide open in shock.
“You want to…live together?”
“Yes.” The word came out so fast and with so little hesitation or doubt, she inched back.
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” He laughed and reached for her. “This isn’t our first date, Lace.”
“No, but it’s like our…I don’t know. Roman, we’ve only known each other a few months.”
“Fifty-six days,” he corrected, then laughed again. “I don’t know what it is about you that has me counting days like that. I guess because there haven’t been enough of them, and I wanted to be sure we knew each other long enough to…discuss this.”
Discuss moving in together? After fifty-six days?
“I’m not asking you to marry me tomorrow,” he said, like he had to clarify that. “I’m asking you to come with me. For camp. For the season. Come see what my life is like. Let’s experience being together over there. And how it goes for us to be a couple, and public.”
Public. Because Jacksonville wasn’t Destin. Jacksonville was where cameras appeared and fans swarmed and people would absolutely notice if Roman Matteo had a girlfriend living with him. Heck, he’d been stopped for autographshere—imagine what it would be like at the home of his team.
And she’d tried. She’d imagined life as an NFL girlfriend. Game days. Tailgates. Stadium lights. Roman coming off the field sweaty and grinning, searching for her in the crowd. Her learning his routines, his rituals, the way he took his game-day coffee, the way he liked silence after practice.
“I…” she started and then stopped because her voice did something weird.
Roman’s hand finally closed over hers, warm and steady. “You don’t have to answer this second.”
Lacey smiled. “Just sometime in the next seventeen days.”
“Well, yeah. But I can tell you that I’m sure,” he said simply. “I have no doubts about us.”
No doubts about us. The words made her heart soar so high it was almost dizzying.
“Neither do I,” she whispered, and it sounded like surrender.
Roman’s shoulders loosened, just slightly, like he’d been holding tension in the center of his body. Relief flickered across his face—subtle and quick, but real.
He squeezed her hand once. “So,” he said, and the hint of a grin returned, “do you think we could make living together work? I mean, with your job and your family and my travel and…everything?”
