Fight to the Finish (First to Fight #3)(74)

His body went from lax to stiff. She hated the change.

“Uh-huh. Usually it’s at least six months, maybe more. The courts don’t take it lightly, as well they shouldn’t. But if he’s agreeable, and you’ve got a good lawyer, it shouldn’t be a huge problem.”

“Good. But I’m saying that things will have to change for me and Zach. I’m looking for cheaper places to rent, and I might have to pick up another couple of private clients for personal yoga in their homes. Zach’s almost to an age he can stay by himself for a few hours if I have an evening client, so that will help, but—whoa!” She barely managed to clamp down on a shriek as Graham rolled her on top of him straddling his chest.

“There’s a cheap place out in Hubert. My place. And if you want to take on extra clients, that’s fine, but it’s not necessary. Zach could stay by himself, but why, when he can stay with me at home?”

This is what she’d wanted him to bring up again. Finally. “Well, you hadn’t mentioned that part. Besides, I’m not sure if it’s smart for me to go directly from receiving child support to having a live-in boyfriend. Or would I be the live-in girlfriend? Never mind. The point is, maybe I should try to do it myself for just a little bit first.”

“You could,” he agreed, and her heart dropped like the Tower of Terror ride. A little fall, then a catch. Then another little fall, and another catch. “Or you could accept that we’re going to be together forever, and just suck it up and move in with me. You have nothing to prove. And even if you did—which you don’t—you’ve proven it for ten years. Jesus, Kara, you were eighteen, pregnant and alone. You figured it out. You’ve done it. You would have done it even without child support . . . or what measly child support he’s let trickle in over the years. Give yourself some damn credit for past achievements, would you?”

Just like that, her heart rose again. “I see your point.”

“Then hear this next point. I want to marry you. I was going to ask you again when we got back home. You weren’t escaping me that easily. I figured on planning out something soft and romantic and flowery. The kind of proposal you deserve.”

“I don’t think anyone deserves a certain kind of proposal.”

“You deserve the best. The absolute best. And I was going to talk to Zach again, man to man. Give him the heads-up. Maybe take him with me ring shopping if I could sneak it past you.”

“Oh.” Her heart made the trek up now, into her throat. “Oh.”

“I’m not asking a ten-year-old permission, that’s weird to me. But Zach and I are cool, and I figured having a good talk about it, one-on-one, would be the respectful way to handle it. The kid deserves respect.”

“Why are you so perfect?” she whispered, watching his dark brown eyes soften. He rose up, shifting her back to sit on his thighs, and kissed her. He was so gentle, so tender with it.

“Perfect for you, like you are for me. Not a perfect man, just a perfect match. I was going to wait. I still will, if you want me to, though at this point it feels almost like a technicality than a necessity. Do you want me to?”

She shook her head no. “Now, please.”

“Buck naked, in a cheap hotel room right after having wild sex. Yup, this is one for the grandkids.”

She pinched at the small space of skin between his pectoral muscle and his armpit. That caused him to yelp and palm her ass cheeks with both hands, squeezing in warning.

“If you want to do it again, I won’t stop you. But I don’t want to go back to North Carolina without the promise, Graham.”

“In that case . . . Kara LeAnn Smith, will you marry me?” He pressed his finger to her lips before she could answer. “Will you let me be a father to Zach? Will you make a few siblings for him with me? Will you trust me with your and Zach’s lives?”

“Well,” she said after a minute, blinking because he’d become blurry in her vision. “After that, I’m not sure what woman in her right mind would say no.”

“That’s a yes?”

“You idiot.” She kissed him, pulling him tight against her. “Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”

“I love you. I love you both.”

“We love you right back.”


*

THE knock on Graham’s door at exactly twenty-one hundred hours made him smile. He got up and expected to see one of the coaches standing there, doing a head count. Instead, he found Reagan. “Hey there, pretty lady. Does your guy know you’re knocking on my door instead of his?”

She smirked. “Bed check was relegated to me tonight. Coaches’ meeting. You all set? What?”

He tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean, what?”

“You’re smiling. Like, loony smiling. What . . . did something happen?”

He could tell her, but he had a feeling Kara would want to share the news with her girlfriends. So he simply shrugged and said, “I got a win, I got to see my girl . . . no reason not to be smiling.”

“Hmm.” Her tone said I’m not buying it but she simply waved and walked down to the next room to knock. “Bed check!”

He pulled back in his room, prepared to close the door, but the door across from him opened and Greg poked his head out. “Bed check Nazi gone?”