Page 45 of The New York Nighthawks, Vol. 2
SKYE
With the candlelight and flowers, the dinner Dempsey had planned was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me.
I thought for sure it was because he was going to tell me that he’d developed feelings and wanted our marriage to be real.
But instead, he’d gone to all of this trouble because he was excited about the endorsement deal.
“Shit, baby. I thought you’d be happy to hear that Best Sports decided to go with me,” he muttered, rounding the table to drop down in front of me.
Taking my hands in his, he stared up at me, his eyes filled with concern.
“I don’t know how I managed to fuck this up so badly, but I’m sorry.
Please tell me what’s wrong so that I can fix it.
I’d do anything for you to never cry again. ”
His words only made more tears stream down my cheeks as I sobbed harder. He swore again before getting to his feet and scooping me into his arms. Striding into the living room, he dropped onto the corner of the couch and cuddled me against his chest while I cried it out.
When I finally took a shuddering breath and sniffled away the last of the tears, he asked, “Did I fuck things up so badly that you want to leave me?”
My head jerked up at the hint of insecurity in his tone. “What? No.”
“Okay, good. Thank fuck.” He heaved a deep sigh. “Then I can fix whatever is wrong.”
I shook my head, nerves unsettling my stomach. “I wish it were that simple.”
Pressing a finger against the bottom of my chin, he tilted my head up so he could stare into my eyes as he vowed, “I will do whatever it takes to make you happy.”
“Even stay married to me after you’ve clinched the deal that was the only reason we’re together in the first place?” I whispered.
The concern in his blue gaze was replaced by a burgeoning hope at my question. “Is that what all those tears were about, baby? You thought I arranged this fancy dinner so I could let you down easy now that I’ve gotten what I wanted?”
The lump in my throat was too big for me to speak, so I just nodded.
“Nothing could be further from the truth, Skye.” Shifting me onto the cushion next to him, he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box before getting on his knees in front of me.
When he flipped open the lid, I peered down at the diamond encrusted infinity band nestled inside.
“Opening the community centers has been my dream for so long, but they’ll mean nothing to me without you in my life.
I want you at my side every step of the way.
The two of us building a family while we achieve more together than we ever could on our own, as an unbeatable team. For-fucking-ever.”
His declaration was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.
This time, the tears that streamed down my cheeks were from pure joy.
There was only one small thing missing. “I think you forgot the three magical words that I’ve been waiting to hear.
I promise I’ll say them back to you, but I’m feeling super emotional right now and really need them to come from you first.”
I shouldn’t have been scared because he didn’t hesitate for even a second. Sliding the infinity ring onto my finger, he declared, “I love you, Skye Tate.”
“I love you, too,” I admitted softly, feeling overwhelmed with happiness as my emotions got the better of me.
“C’mon, baby. You have to stop crying. It’s killing me,” he pleaded, gliding one of his hands up the outside of my thigh to grip my hip as he reached up with the other to wipe away my tears.
I flashed him a watery smile. “I can’t help it. This moment is so perfect. It’s definitely the proposal we should tell our children about.”
“No way,” he disagreed with a shake of his head. “I love our origin story.”
“Of course, you do. You’re not the one who embarrassed themselves,” I sighed.
“That’s what you think, but only because you don’t know about the advice I got from one of my teammates before you poured scorching hot coffee all over me to get my attention…”
I poked him in the chest and mumbled, “That’s not at all what happened, and you know it.”
He pasted an innocent expression on his face. “I thought we agreed I could tell this however I wanted.”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “That’s definitely not true because it doesn’t sound at all like something I would say.”
“What is one-hundred-percent accurate is that one of the rookies heard about the reason Best Sports was balking at inking the deal with me and made the harebrained suggestion that I should marry the first woman off the street who agreed.”
“Is that where you got the idea for a marriage of convenience? And then I literally bumped into you on the sidewalk.” My shoulders slumped as I muttered, “I always wondered what made you ask me like that.”
“Nuh-uh, baby. My proposal was spur of the moment and entirely because of my reaction to you.” He chuckled and shook his head.
“Even without the spilled coffee, you made one hell of a first impression. I’d already decided I couldn’t marry just anyone because I didn’t want to ruin my chances with the woman who was meant to be mine…
and then there you were. Our marriage has never been about convenience, but my proposal sure was because it gave me the perfect excuse to tie you to me forever right away.
And then I did everything I could to make sure you didn’t want to break that connection. ”
As I thought about the likely outcome of what he—more like we since I’d been a willing participant each and every time—had done to ensure we were connected forever, I twisted my hand back and forth as I stared down at the infinity band.
Knowing what my husband felt for me, I loved what the ring represented.
“My present for you isn’t nearly as expensive as this ring, but if what I suspect is true, I think you’ll appreciate it just as much for what it represents. ”
“You didn’t have to get me anything, but I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is,” he reassured me.
“Oh, you’d better.” I giggled as I pressed his palm against my stomach. “Because I’m almost positive that you already got your wish for the family you said that you want to build with me.”
His gaze was locked on our hands, and his deep voice was whisper soft as he asked, “You’re pregnant?”
I nodded. “I think so. I haven’t had a period since we met, and we’ve had a lot of unprotected sex.”
“Fuck yeah, we have.”
He kissed me breathless before jumping to his feet. “Where are you going?”
“I want to know for sure, so I figured I’d run to the store to grab a test. Or two. Maybe even three.”
I laughed softly and rolled my eyes. “I had a feeling one test wouldn’t be enough for you, but I hope two will be because that’s all I bought when I stopped at the store on my way home from class today.
That’s what I meant about my present not costing as much as my ring.
The same wouldn’t be true if I was talking about the pregnancy or baby. ”
“Good point.” He tugged me to my feet and patted my belly before asking, “Where are the tests?”
“They’re in my purse, but I think they’re supposed to work best first thing in the morning.”
“I don’t want to wait. If these are duds because I made you take them at the wrong time, I’ll go out and buy some more,” he promised, excitement shining from his deep blue eyes.
It turned out that I hadn’t needed to be worried…two pink lines popped up on both testing sticks. Probably because he hadn’t just gotten me pregnant with one baby. It was twins.