Page 145 of Some Like It Hot

“Come here.” I pull her into my arms and she sags against me. “Do you want to take a shower or a bath? Then we can watch a stupid comedy or a horror movie. Your pick.”

“Oh, definitely horror,” she murmurs against my chest.

“Works for me.” The whole ride home I was worried about tonight.

This afternoon, after I stood there in the courthouse and realized I wanted to be married to her for real, and that I’m in love with her, I shouldn’t have gone home with her. But I couldn’t resist the urge to be inside her one more time, to touch her soft flesh, and kiss her gorgeous lips.

I think she sensed I was being weird. She kept trying to make it about quick sex, and I kept trying to make it romantic. Finally, I got myself so fucking wound up I ended up pounding her into the headboard with such ferocity she probably still has a headache.

Yeah. I was weird.

Hell, I even took her panties.

But I’ve never loved a woman the way I do Elise, and I’m kind of going out of my fucking mind.

Every moment in bed with her, every moment on the ice hamming it up for the crowd, then answering reporters' questions, I wanted it to be real.

I told Aidan I’m in love with her.

He and Simon are in love with her, too.

So now I don’t know what happens.

But right now, Elise just needs time to decompress.

I do have to warn her though. “Aidan and Simon found out we got married. They were a little…caught off guard.”

“Oh! Shit. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

“Neither did I.” I massage her lower back. Her muscles are tense. “You never found your phone?”

“No. Maybe it’s in the garbage compactor. I’ve found it there before.” She pulls back. “They didn’t call the landline though. When did you hear from them?”

“Before the game I talked to Aidan. He said he spoke to Simon earlier and told him. I guess some of the other firefighters saw the social media posts.”

She bites her lower lip. “We should have told them.”

“Yep. But they’ll understand. It wasn’t meant to be a secret. Just…”

“Not a big deal,” she finishes, her voice flat.

My stomach drops. “Exactly.”

Frustration nearly overwhelms me.

This is nuts.

I don’t want to live without this woman.

In the woods, or otherwise.

I’m going to let her take a bath, we’ll watch a movie, get a good night’s sleep, then I need to shoot my shot. I’ve spent most of my life blocking shots on the ice and in my personal life.

Not anymore.

I’m going to tell her how I feel and see if it lands in the net.

But right now, she needs some space.

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