Kane (Arizona Vengeance 8)

She almost goes down once, but I’m able to catch her easily enough. Laughing in delight at being held in my strong arms, she says, “This is the best thing ever. Thank you.”

A tiny gasp escapes her as I pull her in closer, still gliding backward along the ice, then kiss her gently. Looking down, I say, “My pleasure.”

She insists on a few more laps, but I finally have to tell her I have another surprise. Her eyebrows lift in curiosity as I guide her over to the home bench where the Vengeance players sit. Opening the swinging gate, I help her step onto the slightly elevated platform that holds the bench, then smile when she once again gasps.

After helping her sit down, I watch as she stares at the setup I have on the long wooden seat.

A complete romantic dinner for two, including candlesticks I quickly light with the pack of matches that were thoughtfully left there. On the plates are perfectly cooked steaks from my favorite steakhouse, twice baked potatoes, and asparagus. Icy bottles of sparkling water sit uncapped before our plates, and the silverware is laid out perfectly on linen napkins.

“How did you do all this?” she asks in awe, angling on the bench to face her plate as I sit on the opposite side.

“While this was my brilliant idea, I couldn’t have pulled it off without help. Clarke and Pepper helped get the food and set it up.”

“It’s wonderful,” she murmurs with a soft smile. “You’re wonderful.”

We eat and talk about how our days went. We consider taking a short hiking trip tomorrow at Echo Canyon. I fill her in on how the team seems to be doing outside of gameplay, and she tells me about the progress she’s made on her book this week.

It’s all so fucking effortless, but, then again, it is always like that with us. This isn’t something new that formed since we became intimate. It’s just validation Mollie and I really connect on the non-physical plane just as robustly as we do on the physical side.

“I’m stuffed,” she mutters after swallowing her last bite of steak. I’d already cleaned my plate, so I take the opportunity to finish off the rest of her potato she’d left behind.

“Do we need to clean this up?” she asks when I finally wipe my mouth and toss the linen napkin on my plate.

“Nope,” I reply, nabbing her plate and setting it on top of mine. I twist at the waist, placing it on the bench behind me, then do the same to our empty water bottles until there is nothing left between us. “I dropped a fifty note to one of the janitors to stay late and clean this up.”

Mollie grins. “Very nice. So, should we do another few laps on the ice, or do we need to get out of here?”

I shake my head at that suggestion, scooting a bit closer so our knees are touching as we angle in toward each other. My heart is beating a hundred miles an hour, and I feel a cold sweat break out on my forehead. I’m not sure I’ve ever been this scared and excited at the same time.

“Mollie,” I say, taking her hands in mine. “These past four and a half weeks with you have been some of the best of my life.”

“Me too,” she replies, expression going soft and sentimental.

I rub my thumbs over the backs of her hands. “And I can’t imagine wanting to spend my life with anyone else but you. I also can’t imagine not spending my life with you.”

I’m watching her carefully, and I can tell she has a clue where I’m going when her eyes round a little.

Releasing one of her hands, I lean on one hip to reach into the opposite pocket, then I pull out the ring box I’d been carrying.

It’s from a jeweler in Los Angeles I visited last week on an off day we had between playing the Dragons and Demons. While the romantic in me would have loved to have something custom made, the impatient man who wants to move forward sooner rather than later had to settle on something that had already been crafted.

But I went to one of the best upon recommendation by Dominik, and I picked out an incredible five-carat round diamond with no adornments. Just a simple, delicate platinum band that doesn’t look strong enough to hold the massive rock.

Mollie sees the box and makes a sound in the back of her throat, her eyes getting even wider.

When I flip the box open, she doesn’t even look down, merely keeps her eyes locked on mine. I smile, give a nod to the box, and she reluctantly lets her gaze drop to it.

She audibly gasps this time as she sees the ring. “Oh my God.”