“Shoot,” he said, hovering beside me.

“Well first, the world wants to know. What does it take to get such a notorious billionaire playboy to finally settle down?”

Laughing, he slid his hand over my knee. I tightened up, reacting to his touch the same way now as I had over a year ago. “I'm not a playboy anymore, and not exactly a billionaire. Everything I have is because of this wonderful woman here.”

Helplessly, I smiled up at him.

Fluffing her hair, Toni chuckled. “So it was something about Nix that made you fall in love. How did you two meet?”

Okay. I'd said not much made me nervous, but this line of questions did. Leaning forward, I said, “Hey, that story is pretty boring, how about we move on.”

Abell clapped his hands together with a smirk. “How did we meet? Well, I beat someone up for her.”

The air in the room got heavier. “What?” one of the cameramen asked. Toni glared at the speaker.

“Yeah,” Abell chuckled. “He was attacking Nix and another woman. I jumped in and, well... here we are.”

“You were literally her hero!” Toni gasped dramatically. “How romantic! And then what happened? Give us all the details!”

He smirked sharply. “Oh, you want all the details? Alright.”

Covering my face, I took a deep breath. Here it comes. He's going to tell the world what we did that night. Our hookup. Kill me now.

He said softly, “What happened next was that I realized how strong she was.”

Freezing, I cracked my fingers and stared at Abell in disbelief.

His lips slid up at an angle, but his eyes were warm—kind. He said, “She faced down this huge guy, all to save a stranger. After that, I knew she was special.”

The reporter had been stunned into silence.

Abell looked at her, teeth shining. “That's how you win over a billionaire playboy piece of eye candy,” he said.

Toni couldn't look away. She'd been thrown off, as had everyone. Even me.

Lowering my hands, I mumbled, “Abell, she never called you 'eye candy.'”

“No? I'm sure I heard someone say it,” he mused.

The room laughed, and I joined in. It was impossible to resist. In the middle of that chorus of noise, Abell shared a wink with me.

Reaching between us, he squeezed my hand. I felt the edge of something hard.

His wedding ring.

****

“There you are!” Gram said, looking exasperated. “She started crying and wouldn't stop!” In his arms, he juggled a little bundle of mint-green blankets, a shock of red hair poking from the top.

Grinning, I wrapped my arms around my daughter, hugging her close. “You can make a company run like an oiled wheel, but you can't comfort a baby?”

“She didn't want to listen to all the different ideas I had for streamlining her nap time.” He made a face, and we both laughed.

Pressing my cheek to the top of her head, I breathed in her sweet smell. “Shh,” I hushed. “Everything is fine, my little Riley-Bean.”

Riley's fragile whimpers stopped. Her eyes, as blue as her father's, sparkled up at me. She had a face I could have worshiped for an eternity.

Gram gave me an impressed look, amazed at how I'd quieted her. “How did the interview go?” he asked.

Bouncing Riley gently, I rolled my eyes. “As expected. Abell couldn't stop himself from popping in.”

“I bet they loved that.”

“Of course they did.” So did I. “Did you see where he went?”

“I think he went to make some last minute arrangements for while you're gone. Speaking of which, are seriously going to have your phone turned off the entire time? I know it's supposed to be the honeymoon you guys never went, but I mean, come on.”

Pushing my lips out in an exaggerated pout, I said to my baby, “Someone thinks he can't handle things while I'm gone. Yes he does, yes he does.”

“Don't turn her against me already!”

I kissed Riley's forehead. “Gram, you'll be fine. I wouldn't have made you vice president of Blue Tulip if I thought you weren't the man for the job.”

“Maybe,” he said, acting cagey. “Or you did it because of your promise.”

Straightening my mouth into a serious line, I stared at him pointedly. “I promised you a better life, yes. But I also wanted you at my side. You've always been there for me, Gram. This wasn't a pity offer, you're my right hand because I believe in you.”

He looked uncomfortable. Then, he ruffled his hair. “Dammit, Nicky. Way to make me blush.”

Mockingly, I put a hand by Riley's ear. “Don't swear in front of the baby. Anyway, I need to get going. That plane won't wait for us.”

“Before you go, I wanted to ask something.” He walked me towards the elevator. “Did Dad or Gabby ever... you know, try to contact you? After everything?”

Slowing, I hugged Riley closer. “Not once. You?”

“Yeah.”

I stopped short, arching my eyebrows. “Gram...”

Puffing air through his lips, he shrugged. “Dad called me to ask for money, about a week before Halloway Inc shut down.”

The side of my neck hurt from how tense I'd gotten. “Did you give him some?”

“I did. I sent him two grand, and then never heard another peep.” The corners of his eyes crinkled, his lips a sad smile. “He could have said he was sorry, and I would have forgiven him, you know? He had that chance, right there. Instead he took the money and ran. I'm guessing I won't be seeing a Christmas card.”

Gently, I ran my palm over my brother's shoulder. “You have a bigger heart than me.”

He chuckled, then pulled out his phone. “You better hurry, Hawaii is waiting.”

Gripping him firmly, I sighed. “Don't run my company into the ground while I'm gone.”

“I thought you believed in me!”

Winking, I darted into the elevator as the doors closed. “See you in two weeks!”

****

“Abell?” I called out, setting Riley in her crib.

Crossing the hall, I peeked into our room. The bed was covered in folded clothing and an open suitcase. Abell hunched over the piles, setting them in the luggage. He looked up at the sound of my footsteps. “Hey there,” he said with a smile.

“Are you still packing?” I wandered towards him, shaking my head. “Isn't our plane leaving in two hours?”

“Actually,” he said, clicking the suitcase shut. “It was delayed another hour.”

“What?” Checking my phone, I saw the missed call from the airline.

Setting the suitcase on the edge of the bed, he said, “No rushing needed. I was actually going to hop in the shower, since we have a good eleven hour flight to Hawaii.”

Tapping my chin, I leaned into the hallway—listening. “Riley is down. How about I join you?”

Abell grinned wide as a canyon, pulling his shirt over his head. “I think I'd love that.”

Shedding my clothes, I left a path into our bathroom. He followed behind like I'd dropped a breadcrumb trail for him.

Twisting the shower knobs, I turned away as steam began to flood the room. Abell had stripped down to match me, and he was just inches away.

Gliding his hands around the small of my back, he pulled me in, nuzzling my collar bone. “Fuck, how did I get such a beautiful wife?”

Shivering, I bent close to whisper the secret answer. “By being a better person than you thought you were.” I pulled his earlobe between my teeth.  “Also, you fuck like a horse on speed. That helps,” I giggled.

Laughing, he lifted me up, setting me in the hot stream of the shower. “Naughty mouth! We need to clean you up, get in here.”

I tasted water when I grinned.

Together, we hung our heads in the tumbling droplets. They coated us both, soaking me through and leaving his tattoos shining. Reaching over, I grabbed the bottle of shampoo.

“Here,” he whispered, taking the bottle away. “Let me.”

Pouring the liquid into his palm, he rubbed it onto my head. Suds foamed along my scalp, his fingertips massaging.

Static rumbled through my cells, my brain firing on overdrive. The sensation of having him rolling his hands over my skull left me swaying.