Page 36 of Heat Advisory

“Cora,” I said, steady but honest. “This has to look real in every way, and there is no way I was giving you a crap ring. If I were doing this for real, this is exactly what I would’ve bought you.”

Because I had. Standing in that jewelry store earlier today, I hadn’t been pretending. I’d pictured her hand and what would look good. Admittedly, I’d also thought about her lying under me, wearing only that ring.

I was already rushing this from the engagement side of the relationship. I didn’t want to rush her on anything else. So as much as I would love to see and touch and devour that great body of hers, I would let her set the pace for that part of this relationship.

I think even when I was younger, I knew Cora and I would end up together. My sister annoyed the hell out of me, but I wanted to hang out with her if it got me closer to Cora. After I moved away, I always asked Morgan how Cora was doing. Morgan likely thought I was just asking about her friend—and I was—but I didn’t ask about any of her other friends.

In my mind, getting her a ring was inevitable. I was just ahead of schedule.

“I know, but Jay, there’s no way this was cheap, and…”

I cut her off, gently sliding the ring onto her finger before she could talk herself out of it.

“People at work and at the Firefighter’s Ball will notice,” I said. “And if we happen to be out again for a date and someone from my work sees us, it has to be believable.”

My voice dropped a little lower, but with power behind it to emphasize what I was about to tell her. “I like the idea of you wearing it. Of other guys seeing it and knowing you’re not available.”

Her eyebrows lifted, challenging me to explain that.

“We might not be engaged for real, but I wanna see where this goes,” I told her. “I’m not done with whatever this is between us.”

I pulled her closer, her hand still in mine, my other settling at the small of her back. My mouth hovered mere millimeters from hers.

“So, I guess you’re going to want your fancy baseball ring back?” she asked lightly, because apparently we both needed the humor to break this up a bit.

I had given her my AAA minor league championship ring when I proposed the first time because it was all I had on me at the time.

I smiled at her. “As much as I love seeing my stuff on you. It doesn’t really send the same message.” I nodded toward the diamond. “That one does.”

I exhaled, the weight of everything finally catching up to me.

“Look, Cora. I fucked up,” I admitted quietly. “My plan was to come home after my first year in the minors after I’d made something of myself. I wanted to prove that I had something to offer you. I was hoping to ask you to transfer schools to be closer to me.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed. “Then I got hurt. There were trade rumors. Then my bigger injury. I got benched and I didn’t even know if I would ever play again.”

My voice dropped. “So, I kept waiting. Waiting until I was worth something again and had something to offer you. Something important enough to make you move, which was why I didn’t come home right away.”

She didn’t interrupt me. She didn’t rush to fill the silence. She just stayed there next to me, listening.

The way she looked at me then—like I wasn’t a failure, like I was something worth choosing—hit me harder than the injuries ever had.

“I want this, Cora. I want this second chance so bad. If you want to, we’ll tell people we’re having a long engagement, that way there’s no pressure,” I told her, hoping that would ease her concerns a bit, and make her want it too.

“And give you time to back out,” she muttered quietly, almost as if she hadn’t wanted me to hear.

I put my hands on both sides of her head and pulled her gently to me as I stared into her eyes. “Cora, I’m not going to back out.”

I leaned in to close the gap and kissed her. I was going for a slow burn as I wove my hands into her hair and stretched that kiss out as long as I could.

This woman was addictive. She was a drug that had already started to burrow deep into my veins. One that smelled good, tasted even better, and I wanted nonstop.

13

“My family group texts are the reason aliens haven’t made contact yet. They’ve seen them and decided Earth isn’t worth it.”

—It’s science

Cora