Lily gasped and covered her mouth. Her wide eyes darted between Daisy and him, pooling with tears as the words inside him filled the room with the sweet serenade. Relief washed over him at the sight of Lily’s quivering smile.
That’s a good sign. Go with the flow.
When the song was over, tears streamed down Lily’s cheeks. He set aside the guitar and stuffed his fingers in his shirt pocket, but his hand shook so much he couldn’t grasp his prize.
“Daisy,” he croaked, “help me out, kiddo.”
She sprang from her seat, dipped nimble fingers into his pocket, and plucked out a diamond solitaire she triumphantly offered to her mother.
“Uh, I think I’m supposed to do that, princess.”
Two pairs of wide eyes locked on him, and they all began laughing—thank fuck!—diffusing some of the tension in his body. Daisy handed him the ring with a broad smile and an encouraging pat, and he extended it to Lily. “Lily Everett, I promise to do my best to wear out the words ‘I love you.’ Will you promise to sing to me for the rest of our lives and do me the honor of—”
“Yes!” She launched herself into his arms, covering his face and neck with kisses.
“I like how you say yes,” he laughed.
His fingers still held the ring, and Daisy took it from him while he encircled her mother in his arms and kissed her so she had no doubt how much he loved her. My future wife.
They broke apart, and Daisy wormed between them with the ring. “I helped pick out the ring, Momma! Do you like it?”
“Let’s have her put it on first, princess.” Gage took it from Daisy and slid it onto Lily’s finger. “Well?” He held his breath.
Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “I love it. I love you!” And she was back in his arms, Daisy squished between them.
It was perfect.
And only grew more perfect when, an hour later, Daisy was in bed, and they stood in his room looking out the window at the clear, moonlit sky. When they traveled, he always booked extra space to give Lily her own room for appearance’s sake. Thank God that was coming to an end.
“How soon do you want to get married?” he asked as he began unbuttoning his cuffs.
“I don’t know. After you win the Cup?” She moved away and plopped down on the edge of his huge-ass bed.
“Hmm … three-and-a-half more months. Okay, but can we at least live under the same roof? I’m tired of waking up without you in my bed.” He took a few steps toward her.
She sent him a wicked wink. “You do get to wake up with me.”
He snorted. “Yeah, when we’re super sneaky or get that rare night together. Sometimes I think it’s just another one-night stand with you.”
“The first one worked out pretty well, I’d say.”
“You’ll get no argument from me on that.”
“I think living together can be arranged, Professor. But which house should we live in?”
He liked the sound of “we.” “I don’t care which house. I’ll live wherever you want, as long as you and Daisy are there.”
She tapped her finger against her temple. “Ooh, I can just picture the posts now. I’ll have to spend some time planning it out so I maximize the splash factor for you.”
“Oh hell no! We’re not making a PR event out of this.” He gave her what he thought was a goofy grin.
“Well, I’ll have to do something so all your crazed female fans know you’re taken and to back the hell off. By the way, whatever happened when Kathryn Tappen interviewed you during the playoffs?”
“Kathryn who?”
“Ooh, good answer, Professor! Seriously, did you get to talk to her personally?”
“Didn’t want to, especially when my ideal woman was in Denver. Have I told you I love when you go all cavewoman?” he laughed. “Seriously, Lil, there are only two female fans I care about. And speaking of them …” He sat beside her and took her hand in his. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought … what would you think of me adopting Daisy? And, maybe later this year, we could work on making a baby sister or brother for her? She’s gonna be an awesome big sister.”
Lily’s free hand covered her heart, fresh tears pooling in her eyes.
Flustered, he stroked her upper arms. Maybe he shouldn’t have sprung the idea on her so soon. “Ah, shit. All I seem to be doing is making you cry tonight.”
“No,” she choked out. “They’re the good tears. I promise.” She cupped his face and laid a gentle kiss on his lips. “I love the idea of you adopting her, and I love the idea of making a family with you.” Her eyes mined his with a look so tender his breath hitched. “I adore you, Gage Nelson. I shudder every time I think I almost let you get away.”
He pulled her hand from his face and kissed her soft palm. “I wasn’t going anywhere. I would have let you stew until you came to your senses, then come right back to you. Remember what I said about setting my sights on something?”
She nodded, her bouncy curls catching firelight. “I do.”
“Practicing our vows already?”
Soft giggles escaped her. “Speaking of vows, what would you think of my taking your name?”
“Lily Nelson? Hell yeah! Would you keep ‘Everett’ as Daisy’s last name?”
“I’ll leave it up to her, but I think ‘Daisy Everett Nelson’ sounds nice. And maybe she’ll call you something besides ‘Coach’ or ‘Gage’?”
“Yeah. ‘Dad’ sounds way better to me. And easier for her to say.” Warmth settled in his chest.
Lily stood and sauntered to the fireplace on the opposite side of the bedroom.
“You’re not going to
