Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1)(99)

Georgie choked on a sob and spun for the door, only to be brought up short by Stephen. He stood at the edge of the crowd. Based on his relieved—and regretful—expression, he’d heard Travis’s declaration of love on live television. “I’ve been wrong a lot lately,” her brother said, jerking his chin in the direction of the door. “Come on. I’ll drive you.”

Travis sat at the front of the bus, bent at the waist, head in his hands. Behind him, the Port Jeff baseball team repeated Bombers chants, high off their VIP status at the game. They tried to make him join in, but he was frozen in time. For all the time he’d spent planning his proposal to Georgie, like an idiot he hadn’t taken into account how long he’d be required to wait for an answer.

Had Bethany followed through on her end of the bargain and gotten Georgie to watch his debut in the booth? If so, why hadn’t Georgie called him? Granted, it would be more poignant to accept his proposal in person. Then again, maybe she hadn’t wanted to reject him on the air. Basically his fate hung in the balance as the bus he’d rented trundled down the Northern State Parkway. And when it slowed to a stop, blocked by bumper-to-bumper traffic, Travis couldn’t take it anymore. He extricated his cell phone from his pocket, preparing to dial Georgie’s number.

Her name and a picture of her in his Hurricanes jersey popped up on the screen.

Wait. She was calling him?

“Georgie?” Travis answered, standing up at his seat, the low tin roof keeping him stooped over. “Say something, baby girl. Please. I miss your voice.”

“I miss yours, too,” she whispered, sending relief cascading through his middle. “I thought I could make it to the stadium in time, but there’s all this traffic—”

His laugh didn’t hold a trace of humor. “I’m on my way to Port Jeff. Can you turn around?” He fell back into the seat, covering his eyes with a hand. “I need you to be there when I get off this bus. If I have to go another hour without seeing you, I’m going to die.” He braced himself. “Did you watch the game? Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes. Travis, I—”

A horn honked on the parkway, drowning out what she said. But the beep came from two places. The road . . . and the other end of the line. “Georgie. Where are you?”

“On the Northern State Parkway. Near the Brush Hollow Road exit.”

An incredulous sound fell from his mouth. He turned in the seat and scanned the westbound lanes on the other side of the divider. Neither side of the expressway was moving, not an unusual occurrence this close to Manhattan. It took Travis a few frantic seconds of searching, but he finally caught sight of a vehicle he never thought he’d be happy to see.

Stephen’s fucking minivan.

“Don’t move, baby girl. I’m coming to you.” He hung up and pocketed the phone, despite Georgie’s exclamation on the other end. Yeah, fine. It was pretty insane to get out of the bus in the middle of the expressway. And probably illegal. Ask Travis if he cared. When he said he’d die without seeing Georgie, his heart had backed him up. It ached like a son of a bitch as he hopped the divider and ran for the minivan, need and determination building with every step.

She didn’t see Travis coming until he was a few steps away, her eyes flying wide on the other side of the passenger window. Her door flew open, her feet hit the pavement, and she threw herself into his arms, sending him stumbling back a step onto the shoulder.

“You’re insane,” she breathed into his neck. “You’re insane and I love you.”

The ground moved under his feet. “Present tense, right? Love not loved.”

“Loved and love. Both.” She looked him in the eye. “I’ve loved and love you in every single way.”

Thanking the man upstairs with a whispered prayer, Travis eased back just enough to take her face in his hands. “I said those things to my father because he poisons everything he touches. He can poison anything he wants, except you. I couldn’t stand your name in his mouth. I couldn’t let him focus on you for a second, so I said something awful I didn’t mean. I’m so fucking sorry.”

“I know. I understand.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to lift her off the ground. “I’m sorry you had to face him alone.”

“I’m strongest when you’re around, but I’m going to get better at using that strength, even when you’re not standing beside me.” He laid the first of many kisses on her lips, almost drowning in the perfection of her taste. “If I ever start to lose strength again, I’ll just think of how it felt to lose the girl who loved me, even when I couldn’t love myself.

“And if you say yes to marrying me . . .” He had to stop for a breath. “If you say yes, Georgie, we’re going to live the next five, six decades out together. We’re going to fight and make up a thousand times. And we’re going to have babies. I want to have babies with you, more than anything, because you make me believe I can. Be a father. Be a good husband to you.” He dropped his face into the base of her neck and was reassured by the chaotic rhythm of her pulse. “Say yes,” he whispered. “Please, baby girl. Be my wife.”

Moisture filled her eyes. “Yes, Travis Ford. There isn’t a single other person on this planet I could imagine those things with. I’ll marry you,” she breathed. “At least long enough for you to finish my fireplace—”