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I drop a kiss on her lips and open the driver’s side door for her. I allow her to pull out of her spot before I hop into my car.
I head to work in a great mood, but I’m distracted during practice, because my head is elsewhere. Thankfully, Josh is on the ball, and he picks up my slack. Parker has truly blossomed over the past two seasons. He’s one of the top players in the league, with an impressive scoring record. The team renewed my contract for five years and I’ve been given a substantial raise. I feel like I’ve found my calling, and there’s real satisfaction in knowing that I’m part of the reason why our team has been steadily improving since they brought me on board.
“Tonight’s the night?” Josh asks as we leave the arena and head for our cars.
“Tonight’s the night.”
“You need any help setting things up?” He spins his keys around on his finger.
“Nope. But if all goes well, I’m going to need your help a lot over the coming months.”
“I’m ready for it.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Kitty’s sister will probably be heavily involved, too, won’t she?”
I give him the side-eye. “There’s a very good chance of that, yeah.”
He managed to get her number after he helped move her into her apartment, but I warned him not to get involved with her if she was just going to end up as a notch on his bedpost. I’m guessing he took the advice and backed off, because as far as I know, he never did call.
I’m grateful that my day ends early. It means I can pick up all the things I need for tonight, including a premade dinner from Kitty’s favorite restaurant. That way all I have to do is heat it up and not make a mess of the kitchen. I arrive home at four in the afternoon. I preheat the oven and jump in the shower, then put on fresh dress pants and a button-down.
The moment Kitty walks in the door, she makes a beeline for the bathroom, telling me she needs to have a quick shower.
I call after her to take her time. I feed Prince Francis and Wilfred, because they’ll follow me around and Prince Francis will yell at me until I give him food, which is distracting, and I don’t need to be tripping over them when I’m rushing around.
I quickly set the table, light a couple of candles, and put dinner in the oven to warm. By this time, Prince Francis and Wilfred have finished scarfing down their dinners, so I dress them up in their new outfits. I pull the bottle of champagne from the fridge and set it on the table. I don’t want to pop the cork preemptively. Just in case.
“Okay! I’m all set! I don’t think I asked where we’re going tonight. Oh!” Kitty comes to an abrupt halt when she sees the setup. “What’s all this?” She bites her lip, gaze flitting from me to the table to Wilfred and Prince Francis. Wilfred is being his usual well-behaved self, sitting beside me, tail wagging happily. Prince Francis has one leg extended and is licking his toes.
“I thought we could have a romantic night in.” I clasp my hands in front of me, then behind my back, suddenly nervous.
Kitty crosses the room and comes to a stop in front of me. She smooths her hands over my chest and links them behind my neck. “I love it. What’s the occasion?”
I lift a shoulder and let it fall. “Not really an occasion, per se. I mean, I’d like it to become an occasion. But it isn’t one yet.”
Her brows pull together in a slight furrow. Probably because what I’ve just said is confusing.
“I love you,” I blurt.
“I love you, too.”
“And I want to love you for the rest of my life.”
She smiles up at me. “That’s good, because I want to do the same thing.”
“Good. Okay. That’s great. This sort of seems like the perfect segue.”
I get another confused look. “Perfect segue for what?”
I unlink her hands from around my neck and jam my hand into my pocket. At the same time, I drop to one knee in front of her. Unfortunately, Prince Francis’s tail swishes in my direction as I kneel, and his tail ends up under my knee.
He yowls loudly, hisses, and swats at me, managing to get the back of my hand. The one holding the small velvet box. Which I drop on the floor. It pops open and Wilfred lunges for it, probably thinking it’s a toy.
“No, Wilfred!” I do the only thing I can, which is shoulder him out of the way and cover the box with my body. Wilfred clearly thinks this is a game, because he jumps on top of me and starts trying to nose his way under me, his dog breath and his tongue all over my face.
