Page 115 of See You at the Finish Line

I hang my head for a moment and sigh before coming around the counter. I twirl her stool and place myself between her legs.

“Let me make something very clear. After we met, I lived two years of my life without you. I got my dream job, I live in a city I love, and bought a house I love. It means nothing to me if I don’t have you. So yes, I’ll choose you over the job if that’s what I need to do.”

“I could always find another job,” she says seriously.

“But this isyourdream job, and you just got it.”

“That’s a good thing, that means I haven’t settled in and can easily make a change.”

“Do you want to change jobs?”

“No, but I also won’t pick a job over you.”

Her words soothe that shred of doubt still inside me. She’s here. She’s here with me and she’s staying. “Okay, it’s settled. We’ll fight for each other and our jobs.”

“Do you think they’ll be okay with that?”

I shrug. “No idea.” I bend to kiss her, tasting the sweet orange sauce I made for dinner tonight.

“Maxim isn’t going to like it,” she says as I pull away. I don’t go far.

“You’re going to tell your boss?” It’s my turn to look incredulously at her.

“Adam, we couldn’t last one day without getting caught. I’d rather not have Maxim or someone else walk in when you’ve got your pants down.”

“Is having my pants down at work going to become a habit, because that is completely unprofessional.” She laughs at my attempt to be serious. It is unprofessional. But I have no self-control when it comes to this woman, so it will probably happen again.

“You know what’s unprofessional?” she says, dragging her hands up the inside of my shirt.

“What’s that?”

“You never got to evaluate my massage skills. It’s only fair that I show you how good I am.”

I swallow. I have been dreaming of that.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have a full day of work and then come home just to do it all over again.”

The way she’s looking at me, I could die happy. She scoffs.

“You’re not getting a massage every day,” she says. “It’ll be like when you come home from coaching and have to take our kids to practise. It’s different from work.”

She freezes. I freeze. She definitely didn’t mean to say that out loud, and it shocks me. Her cheeks flush and an answering smile pulls across my face.

“Our kids?”

“I ... That’s not what I meant ... Not our kids but like your kids, you know if someday somewhere down the line you want kids and whoever you’re with wants to put them in sports and if he or she even wants to play hock—” I silence her with a kiss, tasting her mouth, opening her legs wider so I can press into her.

When I pull away, I give her a stern look. “Oh, our kids are definitely playing hockey.” I feel her relax against me. “We will be returning to this conversation, but I need to backtrack. There was talk of a massage?”

She laughs and pushes me back so she can stand before kneeling to talk to Q.

“Behave.” She points a finger in Q’s face.

“Yeah, Mommy has to show Daddy how good she is at her job,” I say under my breath.

Paige widens her eyes at me.

“Too far?”

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