Marek (Cold Fury Hockey 11)

My jaw drops, closes, and then drops again. I manage to stutter, "B-b-but you can't give up hockey. It's your life."

"No, it's my job. You and Lilly are my life."

Tears spring to my eyes and I push past Marek to get some space. I wheel around on him. "You're crazy."

"Crazy for you," he says with a smile. "I'm not joking about this, Gracie. Either you can stay here with me or I'll come to you."

"Fucking nuts," I mutter in disbelief. That he would give up what was once the most important thing in his life.

"Make the choice, Gracie." His smile turns somewhat cocky, but then again, he knows he has me trapped. I can't say I mind it at all.

"Here," I whisper to him. "Let's stay here."

I expect Marek to almost sag with relief and gratitude, but he just studies me critically. "Are you sure? Because I want you to make the choice that's best for you."

My heart swells so fully it's almost painful.

"I'm sure," I say softly, taking two steps to walk into him. I press my head to his chest and he wraps his arms tightly around me. "I love you and I'm sure."

Finally, Marek shows the enormity of his relief as I feel his entire body sag against me. He hugs me tighter, his cheek coming to press down on top of my head. "Thank you. For giving me a second chance."

"No, thank you for giving me a second chance," I murmur.

I feel his head moving...nodding in acceptance.

Then he's pulling back and his mouth is on mine. A sweet kiss completing the gratitude we're both feeling. Sealing the words of love he gave me. Reminding me that we have a future together now.

"I never thought I'd see this day. It was never in my wildest dreams, and I'm not quite sure what I did to deserve it," I tell him when his lips leave mine.

"You deserve everything, Gracie," Marek tells me as his hand comes to stroke my jaw. "I'm going to give it to you too. Going to give you and Lilly the world."

Finally, I accept what he's telling me. I decide to let go of the guilt I'm carrying, and I choose to believe in the power of our love overcoming all obstacles.

"I'm going to give you the world right back," I promise him.

"You already have," he replies softly, and then kisses me again.

Epilogue

Gracen

I grasp Lilly's hand tightly as I weave my way through various family members and significant others who congregate in the family suite after the game. It sits on the same level and just a few yards away from the locker room. It's always stocked with snacks and drinks, and it's a place for the Cold Fury family to hang out together before or after a game.

Or at least that's what Marek had told me when he handed me the lanyards with special passes that Lilly and I now wore that gained us entrance into this secret club.

"There's Josie," Lilly squeals, and points her finger. I see her through the crowd and she smiles at us.

We make our way over to her, and she bends down to give Lilly a hug. When she pulls back, she takes Lilly's chin in between her thumb and forefinger and studies the pink scar on her lip. The stitches came out a few days ago and the wound is still visible. Lilly thinks it's cool that she has a scar just like her daddy does, except Marek's is near his eyebrow.

"Looking good, Lilly Bug," Josie exclaims as she stands up. "Six months and you won't be able to see it."

Lilly's face drops. "But I want the scar."

I can't help but laugh as I put my hand on her head. "Trust me, baby. When you get older, you won't."

Before Lilly can argue, I feel strong arms on my shoulders. I crane my neck and see Marek hulking behind me. His hair is sweaty and plastered to his head, and I can feel his body heat from the strenuous game he just played.

"Hey," he says softly with a squeeze to my shoulders. "Just wanted to make sure you found your way down here to the family room."

I grin at him. "As you can see, we did."

"You played great, Daddy," Lilly says, practically hopping in place.

Oh wow, that look in Marek's eyes when she calls him Daddy in that worshipful tone. There's nothing more beautiful.

Despite being sweaty, Marek scoops Lilly up in his arms, and she couldn't care less, as evidenced by the fact she wraps her arms around his neck. He kisses her cheek and shifts her to a hip, looking down at Josie and me. "Don't you two be making any plans after the game. I have something I need to do with Gracie."

I cock an eyebrow at him even as my belly flutters. I know exactly what I'd like him to do with me after the game.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," he whispers as he bends toward me. He reads me far too well, and it makes me blush.

"Daddy's going to propose to you," Lilly blurts out, and I feel an electric zap of shock that paralyzes me in place.

Marek groans and turns his head to look at his daughter in disbelief. He chastises her with a smile. "That was a secret, kiddo."

She giggles, because she knows what she did was just cute as all get out and her daddy clearly isn't miffed about it.

Marek turns and hands Lilly to me. I'm still frozen as he forces her on me. Grinning, he says, "Be right back. Don't move."

"Wow," Josie murmurs in a dreamy voice as we watch Marek practically jog out of the room on his skates, making it look both lumbering and graceful at the same time.

I hitch Lilly on my hip and ask her in a disbelieving voice, "Daddy's going to propose to me?"

She nods exuberantly. "I helped him pick out the ring the other day, and he has something robactic planned."

"Romantic?" I say with a smile.

Lilly nods with bright eyes. "Robactic."

Josie laughs and asks Lilly, "Did he say what he had planned?"

"It's a secret," she maintains primly, and that makes me burst out laughing. Lilly was going to pick and choose which parts of the secret she'd divulge.

My eyes cut to Josie, and we share the moment as my heart thrums over the knowledge that Marek wants me to be his wife. I mean...I suspected. We've talked about our life together and the permanency of it, but I wasn't sure what that meant in terms of marriage.

Josie nods toward the door, and I see Marek ambling back in. He's got a gray velvet box in his hands. My gut instinct is to hand Lilly to Josie, but for some reason I tighten my hold on her. If Marek's going to propose, our daughter should be a part of it.

He walks up to me and I have to crane my neck to look up, since his skates add more height to his already impossibly tall body.

Smiling down at me, he says sheepishly, "I'd get down on one knee but I'm afraid I might not be able to get back up."

"That's quite all right," I assure him in a giddy voice.

"I had this planned out a little more--"

"Robactically?" I insert.

"Yes," he agrees, understanding my Lilly-speak and shooting her a faux glare. Lilly just giggles in response. When he looks back to me, his expression sobers. There's no more kidding in his eyes. "Gracen...you and Lilly are my life. While our paths diverged briefly, there's no denying that what I feel for you is stronger than it ever was. I know you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, and if you feel the same, please say yes."

Marek opens the velvet box and I gasp at the beautiful pear-shaped diamond set in yellow gold.

"Do you like it?" he asks quietly, and my eyes drag up to meet his. "And do you like me enough to say yes?"

It dawns on me that something is different than it was just a few moments ago. The room is absolutely silent, and I look around to find everyone watching me. People I don't know but will get to know in the upcoming weeks and months of the season.

I look back to Marek and smile. "Yes. I like you enough to accept."

* * *

--

"Sorry Lilly ruined your robactic proposal," I say from the passenger seat. My eyes are on the diamond that I haven't been able to stop looking at. Yes, it's beautiful, and I'm sure horrendously expensive, but that's not why I stare at it

.

I stare at it because it represents how far we've truly come. How much better my life has become.

Turning my head, I check on Lilly in her child seat behind me. She's immersed in an educational game on her iPad. I'm still boggled how well she works that thing.

"It wasn't ruined," Marek says, and I turn to look at him with a smile. He takes his eyes off the road just for a second to look at me. They go back to the road, and then to the rearview mirror where he briefly checks on Lilly. That soft smile on his face turns me to mush. He looks back to the road, and his words are for me. "I think it turned out perfect, the way she let the cat out of the bag and forced an impromptu proposal."

"It was kind of perfect," I say dreamily, eyes going back to the diamond.

"But she didn't tell all my secrets," Marek says, and at first it doesn't penetrate.

Then my head snaps up and I look at him. "More secrets?"

He responds with a shit-eating grin on his face and nods out the passenger-side window.

I realize we've come to a stop. I had no clue we'd done so, so immersed in my joy over being engaged. I also don't know where we are, but when I turn to look, I see a brick ranch home set on a beautifully wooded lot. There's a FOR SALE sign out front with another sign above it that says SOLD in big red letters.

I turn back to look at Marek in confusion, but he's already getting out of the driver's seat. I unlatch my seat belt and scramble out after him. By the time I shut my door, he's leaning in the back to unbuckle Lilly from her seat. He pulls her out and sets her down on the sidewalk that runs in front of the property.

"What's this?" I ask as I nod to the house. For the life of me I can't imagine why we're here. Marek owns a beautiful house already, and no offense, it's way bigger than this.

Marek just sidles up to me casually, throwing an arm over my shoulder. I look up at him in confusion, but he nods again toward the house. I turn slowly that way, and my mouth drops open in surprise as my parents come walking out the front door to stand on the porch.

"What's going on?" I whisper, but I already know. In my gut, I know what he did.

"Your parents are brand-new residents of Raleigh, North Carolina," Marek says, and I can't even take offense at the smug pride in his voice. He deserves to have it.

Lilly sees my parents and screams, "Mimi, G-Pa!" and takes off running toward them. It's been two months since she last saw them in person.

"You bought my parents a house?" I ask in amazement.

His eyes darken slightly. "Well, they wouldn't let me buy a house for them. But I wanted to get them down here fast and not wait for their house to sell up there. So we came to an arrangement. I bought this house, and once their property sells, they'll buy it from me. For now they're my renters."

"Wow," is all I can say as I blink up at him.

"I see where you get your stubbornness from," he mutters, and I can tell he's put out that they wouldn't let him just give them the house.

Laughing, I turn into Marek and wrap my arm around his waist. I press hard into him, burying my face in his chest as my heart is near to bursting with love for this man.

"I don't even know what to do with you," I murmur into his sweater.

"Blow job will work nicely later," he quips, and I can't help but laugh. Oh, he'll be getting lots of those.

Marek's hand comes to the back of my head. He winds his fingers in my hair and pulls me gently away from his chest so I have to look up at him.

"I love you," I say quickly before he can say it.

He grins back at me. "I love you too."

"You're incredible," I tell him.

He shrugs and then turns me toward my parents, who are happily taking turns hugging Lilly. His arm goes back around my shoulder and we start walking across the lawn.

"You know," he says softly. "I wish I knew who sent me that email that you were marrying Owen. I'd really like to thank that person, because it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me in my life."

I stop suddenly, my face flushing red. Marek's arm falls from my shoulder and his head tilts in curiosity.