Page 138 of Vegas Heat

I grunt out a chuckle. “Something like that. Is that really how you see yourself? How you seeme?”

“I mean…you were with Stacy a long time and admitted you never thought about the future with her the way you thought about it with me.” We’re both quiet as we let that simmerbetween us, and then she says, “Can I ask you a question about her?”

I nod, my chin bumping the top of her head with the movement.

She shifts so her head is on my shoulder and her eyes meet mine. “Why’d you stay with her as long as you did?”

I twist my lips in contemplation. It’s a good question, and I think after all this time I’ve finally arrived at the right answer. “You know how sometimes it’s easier to just leave things the way they are?”

She nods.

“It was that. When you’re with someone for as long as we were together, your lives are so entwined that you forget where you stop and the other person starts. She made sure of that, anyway, while I was gone for eight months, as your father likes to remind you.” My words are laden with regret, but the feeling has nothing to do with Stacy and everything to do with Troy’s words over dinner.

They’ve been weighing me down ever since.

“You seemed kind of down when he mentioned it.” She runs a fingertip along my jawline.

“I was. Iam. It’s a constant reminder that I’m not good enough for you, and he will never think I’m good enough for you. He’ll never thinkanyoneis good enough for you, least of all a thirty-three-year-old third baseman.” My eyes cloud over as I gaze up at the ceiling, and I tighten my arm around her.

She leans up, her face in my line of sight.

“Good enough?” she murmurs softly. She presses a soft kiss to my mouth. “Good enoughimplies that you’re just adequate, but nothing could be further than the truth. You aren’t goodenough.” She shakes her head. “Saying that is a total insult to what an incredible man you actually are. You’re a catch, and Idon’t deserve you, yet you’re somehow perfect for me. Somehow we landed in each other’s arms, and I’m not letting you go.”

My chest warms at her words. “I hope I can live up to the expectations you have of me,” I say. “Things are going to change once the season starts.”

She presses her lips together. “I know they will. And I also know we have several months before we need to worry about it. So from now until then, we build. We strengthen. Just like those workouts you’re doing in the weight room to prep for the season, we nurture our relationship. We’ll be prepared, and we’ll cherish what moments we do get to spend together, and when you’re gone, we’ll do whatever it takes.”

One of the things I love so much about her is her ability to quell my fears, and somehow she just did it without even realizing it.

When Troy was talking at dinner, I felt his words settle over me like a dark cloud. But she comes in with her sunshine and manages to obliterate the clouds so all I see is bright, blue sky again with her at the center of it.

It’s incredible, really, how she does that, and it’s another signal to me that she was put on this planet to find me.

“Thank you,” I murmur, and I pull her face down to mine for a kiss. This is one of the slow, languid ones that I could live in for days, but I know I need to get up and pack a bag so I’m ready to go for my eight AM flight. I pull back and run the back of my knuckles against her cheek, staring at her as emotion flows through me. “Thank you for being everything I need.”

She offers a soft smile, and then she falls beside me.

“I need to go pack a bag.”

“Can I watch?” she asks.

I chuckle. “Whatever floats your boat, my love.” We both get up and head over to my room. She sits on my bed while I grab everything I need for up to three days away on a business trip,and then I climb into bed beside her, set an alarm to make sure we’re up before Troy might come bang on my door to wake me, and I wrap her in my arms.

My eyes fly open what feels like a few hours later as I hear banging on my door.

“Cooper?” Bang, bang, bang.

Is that Troy?

“Cooper!” Bang, bang, bang.

ThatisTroy, and his gorgeous daughter is asleep in my bed beside me.

“Fuck,” I hiss as I glance at my phone.

I set my alarm for PM instead of AM. Rookie fucking mistake, Noah.

God dammit.

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