Page 104 of Chips & Checks
“And you’re so dedicated to your job, so good at what you do.” I’m getting all choked up. I start plucking at the wad of tape in an attempt to pull it apart.Dammit, Noah.It feels like he used fresh tape. This is going to be such a mess.
Violet lowers the hand holding her little light. “What is it you think I do?”
“I know you’ll make me the happiest man on earth if you say… dammit, how am I supposed to open this?” I yank at the tape, but Noah used a freakingmileof it, and I can’t get it apart.
“Here.” Violet takes my hands in hers. “I’ll help you. Don’t get all worked up. You need to take it easy.”
Easy for her to say. My stupid eyes arenot keeping their shit together,and I’m definitely crying, even though that’s the last thing I want to be doing right now. Our future grandbabies are going to judge the hell out of their old Pappy when we tell this story at our Ruby Anniversary.
“Bowen.” Violet leans closer. Her fingers tighten over the ball formed by my fists and this fucking tape. “Talk to me.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” Dammit, at this rate, I’m going to need a tissue, and my hands are going to be too covered in sticky tape goo for me to use it properly.
“How was it supposed to be?” Her voice is so gentle. She’s so damn perfect. I was the luckiest guy in the world before this all went to hell. She pries the tape blob out of my grip and gets to work unpeeling it.
“We weresupposedto win, and then Marco was going to tell everyone I needed to say a few words.”
“Good news. You can say a few words right now.” She pauses her battle with the tape just long enough to hit me with one of her breathtaking smiles. “I need you to remember: cat, apple, and car.”
“I need you to remember: I, love, you.”
“You’re really cute.” A length of tape comes away. Violet freezes when she sees what’s inside. “What’s with the box?”
“I thought it was obvious by now.” I slide off the exam table so that I’m kneeling at her feet. But then I kind of just flop forward. Like a dead carp. “Shit. That was supposed to be smooth.”
I blink up at her from my awkward half-kneel, half-faceplant. “I’m trying to propose here.”
A breath. My head swims.
“We haven’t known each other long. I know that. But I had rules. Hard lines. No sleepovers. No feelings. No forever.”
I swallow. “And I broke every single one. The second I met you, I was done for. So.”
I fumble with the tape-wrapped box, my fingers not working right. “Will you marry me?”
“Oh my gosh.” She fans her face with one hand. Her cheeks are red, and her eyes are bright with tears. At least we match now. “You’re making me cry. How am I supposed to see if your pupils are dilated now?”
“It wouldn’t matter. Every time I look at you, my pupils dilate. So… is it a yes?”
“Bowen—”
“If I tell you that the words you wanted me to remember arecat, apple,andcar, will that help convince you?”
She laughs through her tears. A moment later, she tips forward into my arms and kisses me until I’m dizzy with desire. I can’t blame the head trauma. This is all her.
“It’s most definitely a yes,” she whispers against my lips. “I understand how you wanted tonight to go, but you’re here, and your brain seems to be working just fine, and that’s all I care about.”
I run my fingers through her hair and pull her in for another kiss. She’s sitting in my lap, and my body responds accordingly, even though I know that Renee had security cameras installed to avoid future incidents like the hell Chad put Violet through this year. I don’t care who sees.
Violet pulls back, her eyes glossy with lust and her lips invitingly plump. “Should I go out there and see how the game’s going?”
“Nah, period will be over in three… two… one…”
There’s a knock at the treatment room door—one of those obnoxiously polite, barely-there taps that screams “someone sent me.” Before either of us can respond, the door creaks open and Viktor peeks his head in.
“I swear to God, if you’re dying in here, I’m gonna—” He stops, eyes dropping to the ring still perched in my palm.
Behind him, Camden stumbles into view, helmet still on, visor up. “Holy shit,” he breathes, gaze bouncing from Violet’s damp cheeks to my state of half-dress. “Did she say yes?”
