Page 43 of Penalties and Proposals

She treats me to a wicked grin. “I’m not challenging enough?”

“Oh, you’re plenty, that’s for sure,” I say, threading my arms tight around her waist. “When I arrived here six weeks ago, I was on the fence about everything. I wasn’t sure where I was going, why I was doing it. I’ve only known the ice and being out there, playing. However, it wasn’t feeling the same and it hasn’t been, and that was confusing me. Then I saw you. Again. And I had another chance to set things right.”

“Stop.” She wags a finger at me. “You can’t say you’re making these changes for me.”

“It’s not just for you, it’s also for me. You’re one facet. I see a future and it’s with you, Willa. I saw how the Arnolds beamed with pride when they looked at Charlie, and I realized that night I wanted to have the works.”

“A family?”

“With you,” I confirm.

Her brow furrows slightly, eyes squinting, but the corners of her lips are still turned upward. “Are we getting ahead of ourselves?”

“I’m just making you aware that at some point in the future,” I say, picking up her left hand and bringing the back of it to my lips, “I’m going to make sure that it’s more than my name on a jersey that you wear. I want you tohavemy name, to have me, and wear a ring that tells the world you’re mine.”

Willa’s face turns the softest shade of pink I think I’ve ever seen. “How am I so lucky to have this happen?”

“I still need to offer you a grand gesture,” I murmur, kissing the tip of her nose. “And this one, you can’t say no to.”

“It’s enough that I get you,” she says, rubbing her nose against mine, the heat of her breath hitting my cheeks.

“Well, I want to make sure you’re not worried about your mother,” I say, pulling back a few inches so I can look her in the eyes. “I want to help, Willa. Whatever it takes. If I need to give your mom’s business the money so she’s not stressed, I’m in the position to do it.”

“No, Noah.” Willa steps back and shakes her head. “I cannot ask you to do that. That’s bigger than a simple gesture.”

“Exactly,” I say, clapping my hands together. “It’s like in the movies, or the books, it’s the grand gesture. Let me do this.”

She eyes me warily, placing a hand on her hip. Surprisingly, I’m holding my breath, but I know that this is a big ask for someone as prideful as she is. When she begins to slowly nod her head, I grab her arms and pull her back tight against my chest.

“Yes?”

She laughs, burying her face in my shoulder as I pick her up and hold her close, her legs wrapping around my waist. “Yes. Yes!”

Laughing, I spin us around in a circle until we’re both dizzy, kissing her and letting her feet slide to the floor. As we stepaway, my eyes are pulled into hers like never before. We’re saying so much right now without saying anything at all.

She’s mine and I’m hers. And we’re going to make this work.

Holding my hand out, I invite her to put hers in mine. Tilting my head toward the green room door, I wink. “Are you ready to go in there, make this official?”

“There are a lot of people in that room,” she says. “I think a member of the press snuck in, too.”

I bounce my still-empty hand in front of her. “Together?”

She stares at my hand, then looks back at me. “Together.”

“This time, I’m not letting go.”

She stares at me for what feels like a lifetime before I feel the soft warmth of her hand sliding into mine.

“You promise?” she says, standing on her tiptoes, kissing my lips softly.

“Promise.” Keeping her hand tight in mine, I kiss her back. “I’m yours, Willa. Only yours. It took me a long time to find you again. You’re not escaping me this time.”

Grinning at her, I can see my tomorrow. My future. All the things I’ve been missing are right here, wrapped up in this. Us.

And I am never letting go of this woman again.

Ever.

---