I shot him a wink and he grinned after me as I walked away and joined Beck and the others on the floor. They whooped at the sight of me and pulled me into the circle.
Tonight was Beck’s night and my place was by her side. There’d be plenty of time with Mac later.
Really, all the time in the world.
Epilogue
Mac
One Year Later
* * *
“We have to talk about it.”
“Why? What’s the point? You won’t be able to change my mind.”
“You can not be serious.” Alice glared at me, her hands on her hips. She was standing over me as I lounged on the couch in our living room, one leg resting along the back of it.
I fought a grin and raised an eyebrow, playing along. “I’m always serious, babe. Come on. I’ve changed quite a bit—”
“For the better,” she mumbled.
“But,” I continued patiently, “nobody changes that much.”
She threw her hands up, gestured around the living room. It was the same fifth floor apartment I’d lived in for years, but it showed all the signs of a new, feminine, addition to the household. Cut flowers and thick knit blankets and little odds and ends belonging to my love. I’d always loved my apartment, but now it felt much like the home I’d never truly had but always wanted.
“What are you talking about? We live together! We love each other! You can’t still be completely against marriage.”
I shrugged and rested my head back against the leather. “Sorry, Alice. Guess old habits die hard.” The grin played around the corners of my mouth. “You knew I was a stubborn bastard well before you invaded my life.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Took you back, you mean.” But any lingering annoyance from my customary bullheadedness was gone. She headed into the bathroom to change.
“I don’t remember it quite like that,” I called after her.
“Whatever!” she said back, muffled by fabric.
I grinned. How was it that I still even enjoyed our little bickerings? I nestled deeper into the couch. Damn, it was comfortable. I could stay here forever. Or at least the rest of the evening. Too bad we had plans.
“Beck and Sam are still going strong,” Alice reminded me, still in the bathroom.
I groaned. “Are we still on this?”
“Yes!”
I waved a hand through the air, physically batting away her argument. “Well that’s Beck and Sam. The universe wanted them together.”
Her head stuck out of the bathroom. “And what, in your expert opinion, does the universe say about us, Mac Walsh?”
I met her eye seriously. “It desperately wants a ring on your finger, but I’m not the type to let any celestial body boss me around.”
She rolled her eyes at my teasing smile. “One day I’m going to kill you,” she said. She left the bathroom and headed down the hall to our bedroom.
“Nah, you’d miss me too much,” I called after her.
When I didn’t hear a response, I hopped lightly off the couch and followed her in. Alice stood haloed in the sunlight streaming in from the window, beautiful in blue and examining herself in the mirror. She stopped when she saw me in the reflection. A flash of love sparked in her brown eyes and a smile curled her lips, but only briefly before she pulled a pout, still pretending we were fighting.
“You were supposed to say, ‘I’d miss you terribly, Mac, my one true love’,” I reminded her. I crossed the room until I stood behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her against me. Her hair pressed against my cheek and the scent brought me back to a hundred quiet conversations underneath the sheets, to shopping trips and nights out, and to sex, for hours, intimate and intense and passionate and loving, over and over across every part of the apartment.
She turned her head up to look me in the eye. “I thought we didn’t lie to each other.”
I frowned. “Was that a hard and fast rule?”
She rocked against me. “Yes, idiot.”
“Hmmm, I probably should have been paying more attention.”
She shook her head and I laughed, turning her so that I could kiss her, long and deep. Even a year later, it still felt like the first time. I pulled back and lost myself again in her brown eyes. She smiled up at me, gazing into mine.
“So marriage?” she asked, breaking the moment.
“Hell no!” I said, stepping back. “I’m a wild stallion, baby. You can’t tie this down.”
She scoffed and pushed me toward the door. “Go get ready, idiot. Sam will be pissed if we’re late for his dinner party.”
“And we wouldn’t want that,” I muttered. But I listened to her, giving her one last look around the door frame before she waved me away.
“Go!” she said. “I won’t be late again.”
I grinned to myself and went into my closet, getting out my suit. Tonight we’d eat with the Knights at Sam and Beck’s apartment. A lot had changed since that week in Mexico. Sam had set a precedent, and once I, of all people, followed him down the road to real relationships, many of the others did likewise. There were still a couple resisting, but I had a suspicion they’d come around in the end. We were turning to a new chapter in our lives. Together.
And I knew better than most not to fight fate. I glanced over my shoulder, making sure Alice wasn’t behind me. When I saw the coast was clear, I reached into my sock drawer and pulled out the small box. None of the Knights would be beating me to the next engagement.
That spot was ours.
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