“I’m glad. You deserve it.”
“The jersey, the game, hearing my name, it was amazing. But what made it perfect was seeing you against the glass like we were in high school again. Remembering every time I told myself not to get close to someone as good as you are. Thinking back to that day in college when I told you I was going to chase you. Feeling the warmth of your hand over mine seeping through the glass during the championship. Recalling every time I wanted to kiss you, hold you, tell you how much I love you. I have that now, and you, December, are what made this perfect, because you are all that matters to me now.”
My heart caught in my throat, but as I leaned up to kiss him, he sank down—skates and all—onto one knee. My pulse ceased, and then pounded through my veins, tears already stinging my eyes as he held up a ring. “Josh,” I whispered.
“You are my dream now, December Howard. You are everything to me. My heart beats for you, my soul is only whole when you’re near. You’re my home, my shelter, my wildest fantasy, and I cannot imagine a future where you’re not mine, because I’m yours in every sense of the word.”
He paused, and we both hung suspended in that moment, where it didn’t matter that we were at center ice, or that he was deploying in three short days. The entire world stopped, ceased rotating because our love demanded it, and we were the only ones who could command it to start again.
“I love you, December. And I know we said we wouldn’t do this because of the deployment, so I’m asking you to do it in spite of it. I’m asking you to not marry me right now. Not rush it, not jump because we’re scared of what this next year might bring. I’m asking you now because a love like ours transcends any war, any event, any measure of time. The way I feel about you right now, that’s never going to fade. It’s only going to grow stronger, and I can’t wait to feel how much I love you in ten, twenty, fifty years. So please do me the honor of becoming my wife, because you are the gravity in my world, and while I might be the pilot now, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure it’s your dreams that fly. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” my heart cried out, echoing through the arena. “Yes, Josh, yes.” The ring blurred in my vision as tears welled in my eyes, and he had it firmly on my left hand before I could blink them away.
“Thank you, God,” he said, his head thrown back in absolute relief. Then he surged to his feet, took my face between his hands, and brought his mouth to mine.
The kiss was perfect, a promise of love that would never wane between us. It was the realization of the dream we’d both fought for, from the moments I’d watched him in high school, through the stolen glances in college, the touches, the way we sent each other up in flames at the first rush of desire.
Then he changed pace, consuming my mouth with the plunge of his tongue, each stroke setting a fire between us. His pads dug into my breasts as he pulled me closer. I relaxed as he lifted me gently, trusting his balance on skates. My fingers dusted over the sweat-soaked strands of his hair, and I didn’t mind. Hell, I wouldn’t have had it any other way, not when we were right where it all started.
“We’d better get out of here before we melt the ice,” I whispered against his lips.
Josh laughed, twirling me so quickly my head spun. No matter what the next year brought, we had this perfect moment to fall back on.
I was going to spend the rest of my life loving Josh Walker, because despite every obstacle that had been thrown in our path, we were making it. I was going to be his wife.
“Turn left here,” I mumbled, looking down at the map on my cell phone, more than a little distracted by the way the diamond on my hand reflected the sunlight from the window. Engaged! “That should get us to—” I looked up when Josh turned right. “Uhh, babe? Left.”
“The hotel is right.”
“Indeed it is, but there’s a really cute café I thought you might like for dinner.”
“I have other plans,” he said, his entire focus on the road as he passed the car in front of us.
“Which include?” I asked as he slid between two cars to turn right into our hotel parking lot.
“Room service.” He put the Jeep into park and reached for my seat belt in one smooth motion as he unclicked his own. Josh was kissing me before the belt had time to zip back into the door. His mouth demanded my immediate surrender, and I more than gladly gave it as he pulled me toward him.
My fingers bunched the soft material of his shirt as sparks of desire flared, igniting the fire that had been banked while leaving the rink. His grip on my waist tightened as he deepened the kiss, and I leaned across the console, thankful that it kept me from straddling him in the front seat.
I slid my hands under his beanie to feel the gentle scrape of his newly cut hair against my palms as our mouths melded. He groaned when I rubbed my tongue along his, and the sound cued my already fired-up sex drive that it was go-for-launch. His hand slipped under my shirt, stroking the skin along my rib cage until he palmed one of my breasts with a gentle squeeze.
Then I was the one groaning.
His breath caught, and he ripped his mouth from mine. “Upstairs. Now.”
I scrambled out of the Jeep, and he met me in front, grasping my hand. He intertwined our fingers, and even the small motions of his thumb against my palm sent pulses of want from my fingers to my stomach.
Josh’s face was tight as we walked through the lobby to the elevator. He jabbed the call button and then stared straight ahead at the doors. The only sign I had that he still knew I was here was the constant movement of that thumb against my skin, caressing me with small circles.
With a ding, the elevator doors opened, and we backed up to let the occupants out. Then we walked in, and the doors shut behind us after Josh pushed the button to our floor. He turned, pressing me into the corner of the elevator, the look in his eyes hot enough to take my breath in a rush. His mouth met mine, open and needy, and I forgot that there were probably security cameras, and guards watching them, or hell, that there was even a world outside this elevator.
I had Josh against me from breast to thigh, setting fire to each of my nerve endings as his hands moved to my rear and lifted me into him—what more could exist? Holy. Shit. He was hard against me. One of my legs lifted around his waist, and he pressed his hips against mine, rocking subtly against the inseam of my jeans.
The doors dinged behind us. Josh dropped my leg and broke our kiss. I sucked air into my lungs and stepped to the side as a couple of middle-aged women entered, then moved in front of Josh to shield him from their cursory gazes. Their arched eyebrows and quickly shared glance said they clearly knew what we’d been doing.
“We’re engaged,” Josh said in an all-too-happy voice.
I slowly looked at him, my mouth dropped slightly. We got caught making out in an elevator, and his response was to tell them our marital status?