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H awk wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her eyes were even wider now, staring at him in complete shock, her mouth hanging open a little .

“I inadvertently dragged you into the shitstorm of my life but now that I have you, I’ll do anything to keep you. I can’t imagine going back to Ottawa without you at my side and I refuse to let you go back to Toronto without me. I’m asking you to take a huge risk and marry me. Today . We have to get to the courthouse before they close. There’s no waiting period but we have to get the license now because they’re not open on the weekend .”

She was gaping at him now. “Just like that ?”

“I called Jamie this morning and told him everything. I told him I’d do whatever he wanted me to do in order to have his blessing. If he wanted me to out Culkin, I would, even knowing it will probably end my career. If he wanted me to publicly profess my sincerest apologies for losing my temper and saying something homophobic, to save my career so I’d have the money to take care of you, I’d do that too. I left it totally up to him .”

“What did he say?” she whispered, searching his face .

“He said it was up to you . He said he believed me and we never had to talk about it again as long as I promised to love you and protect you from the backlash .”

“I don’t care about backlash,” she whispered, a tear leaking out. “I only want you to be okay .”

“Don’t cry.” He gently kissed her again. “I’m going to be fine, just tell me what you want me to do .”

She didn’t even hesitate. “I want the world to know the kind of man you are—I don’t want that jerk to get away with what he said. I don’t care about money. You can be a mechanic and I’ll be a secretary; we’ll be okay. Wasn’t it you who told me we needed teachers and secretaries and mechanics—or something like that ?”

“Is that a yes ?”

She could only nod. “How could I possibly say no to you ?”

“You marked me, baby—what else can either of us do ?”

She pressed her lips to his, letting them linger for just a second before slowly sliding off his lap, her eyes never leaving his. “You look awesome, but I can’t get married in shorts and a tank top .”

He laughed and got to his feet. “We have to be out the door in three minutes if we’re going to make it before the office closes. There’s a limo waiting to take us …”

“Garrett, I know you already said it, but this is crazy !”

“Do you love me ?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” she muttered. “But yes, I do .”

“Go change, baby. We can talk on the way there. You have the whole drive to change your mind .”

E xactly fifty-five minutes later they walked out of the courthouse as husband and wife. Garrett hung on to her hand tightly, grateful that the chauffeur and limousine were waiting right in front, because she seemed more nervous now than before they’d done it. They slid into the back seat and Garrett pulled her close to him, his lips pressed against her temple .

“Are you okay ?”

“Just a little shell-shocked,” she admitted .

“Me too, but I’m going to make you happy, Maddie. I’ll call my lawyer and have him contact the Players’ Association so I can make an official statement about what really happened on the ice that night .”

“What’s going to happen between you and your teammates?” she asked softly. “How awful is it going to be ?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” He looked away. “It can’t get too ugly because Coach will put a stop to it, but you can bet we won’t be invited to many barbeques .”

She shrugged. “That’s okay. We have each other and we’ll have my family, which is pretty awesome .”

He smiled. “I’m looking forward to that part, but it’s going to be a long season .”

She bit her lip. “Would you rather not do this? I hate the idea of Cucumber getting away with it, but if it’s going to be that hard on you, then I want what’s best for you .”

“Nah. I’m not afraid of being an outcast. There will still be guys—like your brother-in-law and a few other guys around the league who’ll respect me for it. I’m more concerned about what our plan will be when the season, and my paychecks, are over .”

She frowned. “I can get a job in Ottawa .”

“I don’t think I can work in Canada if I’m cut from the team,” he said gently. “I’m American .”

“But we’re married now… that should take care of it, no ?”

“It’s really too early to think about that. The good news is, we have options. I’m making over four million this year, so if we’re careful, we could put a good amount away since I don’t have any debt .”

“But I do,” she whispered. “About three thousand on a credit card and my car isn’t paid for .”

He chuckled. “Baby, I can pay off your credit card with what’s in my checking account right now. That’s nothing. Don’t even think about it. And we’ll keep making monthly payments on your car until we figure out what’s next .”

“Okay.”

“Depending on what happens with the team, we have a while before we have to make decisions. There’s still the off-chance that the team will keep me and get rid of Culkin… After what happened to Jamie, since he was on the team at the time of the attack, they really don’t want anything to do with homophobia. I might get signed again anyway .”

“And if not ?”

“Then I might get picked up elsewhere. I could probably play in Sweden or Russia but — ”

“Russia?!” She made a face. “Can that be a last resort ?”

He laughed. “Definitely, but if I don’t get any bites, I can also tell my agent I’m willing to sign a one-year contract with anyone that’ll give me a chance for the league minimum. There’s a better than 50% chance someone will jump on that. Before this incident, I was worth nearly ten times that .”

“What’s the league minimum?” she asked .

“A respectable 575,000 .”

Her mouth fell open. “ Garrett !”

“What?”

“That’s a lot of money. I make forty. Thousand. Four-Zero. Like less than a tenth of that. That kind of money would be fantastic .”

He squeezed her hand. “But if none of those pan out, I can sell my place in L.A. for a lot more than I thought. At least 750,000. That would buy us a nice house almost anywhere else and leave enough for me to open a repair shop of my own. If business is slow, you might have to work for a year to keep us afloat but — ”

She shook her head and pressed her lips to his. “Didn’t we just get married ?”

“Yeah.”

“Could we not talk about work or money or any of that crap yet ?”

“What do you want to talk about?” he asked, pulling her onto his lap .

“I was thinking about that romantic nonsense that goes on at night… You said it didn’t fly in the light of day, but I’m about to prove you wrong .”

“We’re in a limo…” he protested, though the erection growing against her backside didn’t seem at all concerned about their current location .

She reached over and pressed the intercom button. “ Driver ?”

“Yes, ma’am ?”

“Can you please drive until we let you know to stop ?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled .

“And can you close the divider please ?”

“Yes, ma’am !”