Page 89 of Ruled By Fate

“What do you think?” he asked proudly, fists on his hips.

She gripped the doorknob, hoping it would serve as some emotional support anchor and keep her from laughing. Or swooning. While she’d slept, her guardian angel had decked himself out in full quarterback gear from the 1950s. Pads, tight white fabric, and strategically placed stripes dominated the outfit. A helmet and mouth guard dangled from his hand.

“I asked your phone what the American football teams wore in the greatest game ever played, and it showed me photos of this.” He turned this way and that, admiring his reflection in the magically fixed mirror. “I think this will help immensely in the sports rehearsal today. With so much protection, these players must never get injured.”

She bit her lip so hard she almost tasted blood. “You asked about American football outfits?”

“Of course. Mike mentioned I looked like one of the people who call it that.”

“From the greatest game ever played?”

He looked down at his clothes. “Do you think that was overly ambitious?”

“And it showed you a Colts uniform from 1958?”

He stared back with a frown. “I sense there’s something I’m missing.”

She had a heated internal debate about whether to tell him that he’d suited up for the wrong kind of game. Whether to tell him that her father had often spoken about “The Greatest Game Ever Played” when she was a girl, and she’d developed a terribly poignant prepubescent crush on quarterback Johnny Unitas while watching SportsCenter clips with her dad.

In the end, she decided to do the honorable thing. “Cam, we call it soccer here. This…” She trailed off as her eyes ran up and down the length of his frame. “This is for a different sport.”

“Oh.” His disappointment was visible. “Might this not work all the same?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said with a grin, walking into the room. A wild thought raced through her brain, like a lick of fire through a dry forest. In half a heartbeat, everything was aflame. She stepped even closer, maintaining eye contact. “Though I have to tell you, this is really working for me. On many, many levels.”

She hooked her fingers into the elastic on top of his pants.

New Brie. New rules.

Those heavenly edicts are his problem, not mine.

He stiffened as she drew them together. “Oh yeah?”

She nodded mutely, watching with immense satisfaction as his cheeks darkened and he tried casually to avert his gaze. Things had just reached a breaking point when she suddenly released him with a cheerful grin, pushing him towards the door. “I need to take a shower. Meet you downstairs?”

He nodded swiftly as he hurried out of the room. There was a tension in the way he was moving that betrayed any level of casual retreat, and no matter how hard he tried to stop himself, his eyes kept drifting back to her face.

“Of course. Have a good—” He let out a quiet gasp, having walked full tilt into the door frame. “Have a good shower.”

She nodded lightly, already pulling off her shirt. “Remember to take off those clothes, Cam. Wrong uniform.” Her eyes twinkled as she swung the door shut. “The team would never permit that.”

? ? ?

Breakfast was an excruciating affair. Not so much for Brie but for the angel sitting by her side.

He listened in silence as she prattled on cheerfully about anything that happened to strike her fancy. A list of top vacation spots, the list of skills she was meant to be perfecting at the hospital, the price of milk. It didn’t stop when the waitress dropped off their food. It didn’t even slow down.

There was a chance it might have gone on forever if he hadn’t suddenly interrupted. “Do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you?” he asked quietly, freezing her in her tracks. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is sleeping beside you, night after night?”

Their eyes met, until it was finally she who was forced to look away.

“To me, you are a miracle. You are the first person who’s ever been able to see me. To touch me. Do you have any idea, Brianna? Any idea how much I wish to touch you in return?”

Her cheeks flamed, and her gaze dropped to the table.

“I understand how it must seem,” he continued softly. “And I understand the urge to push against those boundaries. Trust me, I do. But I don’t think you understand the full consequence of where such a thing might lead. I don’t think you understand the forces that stand against it. The same forces that could separate the two of us in an instant. They could make me ache for you forever…” He inhaled painfully and finished, “And make you completely forget about me.”

She froze perfectly still, having never considered such a thing.

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