Overtime

by Toni Aleo

  “Thank you. And you?”

  “I got engaged three weeks ago,” he said with a grin and she scoffed.

  “Well, I guess both of us weren’t really in it, huh?”

  He shrugged. “I guess not, but I am sorry for how it all ended. That was rude of me, what I said. I was just mad.”

  “It’s cool. I forgave you a long time ago,” she said, reaching out to cup his elbow. “I’m just glad you are happy.”

  “Me too, for you too,” he said and she grinned up at him.

  “Okay, well, it was great seeing you. I won’t wish you luck tomorrow at the game ’cause I want you to lose,” she said with a wink, sidestepping out of his way. “But I gotta go do these pictures.”

  He laughed as he waved to her. “It was great seeing you. Good luck.”

  She smiled as thanks before heading toward where she was supposed to meet them. That was actually okay. She had thought it would be awkward, but she was glad that she could see Liam and have it be cool. Rushing toward the spot, she saw Harper first, her hair purple this time and shaved up the side as she took various pictures. What surprised her was that Elli was there, a camera around her neck, both of them taking pictures of Jordie as he stood like a model. While he was wearing the brown tweed jacket, he was not wearing anything else she had bought for him. Instead of the nice shirt with a tie and brown slacks, he was wearing a blue button-up shirt with no tie and the first few buttons open. His black slacks complemented his brown dress shoes, but still. It wasn’t what she had picked out. Even if he did look downright sinful, he still drove her insane.

  When he tucked a hand into his pocket, looking at the camera, the fingers of his other hand resting lightly on the rim of his sunglasses, she couldn’t help it, she snorted with laughter.

  She caught his attention and he grinned as he came toward her. Elli and Harper turned and smiled too as he took her in his arms, dipping her back and kissing her hard against the lips. Cupping her ass, his lips moved along hers as he righted them. The smell of coconuts intoxicated her and made her dizzy as he pulled away, grinning down at her.

  “Man, I love your hair like this,” he said, drinking her in as he cupped her face. “You look gorgeous.”

  She grinned back as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. “Well, thank you, and so do you. Yet, this isn’t the outfit I picked out,” she reminded him and he smiled sheepishly.

  “This is true, but my ass looks better in these pants,” he countered and she glared. He was right, but still.

  “Jordie, we are supermatchy now except you have a blue shirt and I have beige.”

  “Doesn’t that mean we are super in love?” he asked and she rolled her eyes.

  “No, it means we are trying too hard.”

  His brows rose before he shook his head. “No, it means we are in love,” he said, nuzzling his nose against hers. “Why are you late?”

  She smiled sheepishly. “Well, first, traffic. Second, guess who I ran into?”

  “Doucheface?”

  She rolled her eyes. “If you mean Liam, yes.”

  “Yes, doucheface. Mountain of dicks…I could go on,” he supplied as she glared.

  “No need, he got engaged.”

  Jordie laughed. “What a loser,” he said, shaking his head. “Couldn’t get you to marry him, so he settles for the first thing he sees?”

  “They could be in love.”

  “And I could love wearing tutus and dancing around like an idiot.”

  She paused. “You do like doing that. I have pictures from last week with Shelli and Posey. Your hair was in pigtails, and you had flowers in your beard.”

  He glared. “I told you, we don’t speak of that.”

  “Oh, my bad,” she laughed and he glared some more.

  “Now, hush and let’s do this.”

  Still laughing, she took his hand, lacing her fingers with his as he dragged her toward where Elli and Harper were clicking away. “Oh, you brought your guitar?” she asked when she saw it leaning against the tree.

  “Yeah, I wanted to do some shots playing and stuff since it has been such a huge part of my recovery. I brought hockey sticks too, but then Elli was saying we should go to the rink and do some pictures too,” he suggested and she smiled.

  “Mr. Prop Man,” she teased, kissing his nose. “But that is a great idea. With our skates on, it would be adorable. Where were you when we were deciding this?” she asked Elli with a grin.

  Elli smiled as she shrugged, her camera in her hand as she looked at them sweetly. “No one asked me till yesterday, but I’m excited to be here. I miss taking pictures.”

  Elli had run a photography business for a very long time before becoming the owner of the Assassins and selling her business to Harper, her best friend. She still did some work, but mostly on her kids. She was very talented and Kacey was excited she was there, but she didn’t understand why Harper was too. They didn’t need two photographers.

  “Cool, I was telling Lacey on the phone, maybe we should have waited though, since we’ll probably take pregnancy pictures when I’m big,” she said, more to Jordie than Elli and Harper.

  “But this will be good for just you two, plus you don’t even look pregnant, so no one will know,” Harper said, pushing her hair out of her face. The wind was blowing, a chill in the air, but Kacey was still stuck on the idea of not looking pregnant. She thought she was huge.

  “I don’t?” she asked, looking down at her little protruding stomach. “I thought I was.”

  “Oh, to me you just look a little pudgy.”

  “Pudgy?” Kacey asked and then she looked up at Jordie, who was shaking his head.

  “Thank you, now she’s going to think she’s pudgy,” he said and Harper smiled.

  “Listen, I’d take pudgy over fat and pregnant any time of the day,” Harper said and Elli nodded.

  “I was huge, all the damn time,” Elli complained, shaking her head. “You look adorable, so let’s do this. I want to go to the rink and finish off there.”

  Kacey really didn’t feel like taking pictures since she looked “pudgy.” But soon, Jordie was pulling her along, grinning at her as Elli and Harper directed them, catching them in sweet little moments. It was so natural for them, and they didn’t need too much direction. Their love was just so inescapable and rolled off them in waves. Add in the fact that the scenery was gorgeous: the rolling hills of Tennessee, the picturesque view of the lake, and the beautiful colors of the orange and red leaves on the trees, and she knew the pictures were gonna be amazing. Especially the ones with her hunk of sexy, man-meat boyfriend in them. When he picked her up, like a prince carrying a princess, she beamed up at him as he looked at the camera, ever the model. She giggled as he put her on her feet, dipping her back and kissing her deeply.

  Man, she loved him.

  “Gosh, y’all are adorable!” Elli cheered as she hopped on her toes.

  Harper nodded as she looked through her viewfinder on her camera. “Y’all are. I’m getting some great shots.”

  “Great,” Jordie said, his arms around Kacey’s waist, his head resting on her shoulder.

  Elli snapped a picture and grinned. “Why don’t we do some with the guitar, Jordie?”

  He nodded as he let her go to get it and Kacey grinned. “Are these only of you and her, or can I join in?” she asked, speaking of his guitar.

  He shot her a look as he put the strap over his head and ran his fingers along the strings. “Hush, you,” he said and then he started playing, like really playing.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Shh,” he said again and she smiled, confused. She loved watching him play, but weren’t they supposed to be taking pictures? She understood authenticity, but really? It was getting cold out there. But then he started singing, his eyes locked on hers, and she froze.

  What was he up to?

  As he sang, “God Gave Me You” by Blake Shelton, her heart started to speed up in her chest. It was a beautiful so
ng, and the way he sang it made her feel like it was written for her. And she loved it, she did. But why was he doing this in front of an audience? She couldn’t cry in front of them!

  Looking back at Elli and Harper, she found that they were taking pictures, big grins on their faces as Jordie came toe-to-toe with her, the music vibrating her soul while he sang with all the gusto of Blake Shelton himself. When a single tear rolled down her face—because, really, how could she not cry when he was playing, obviously for her—he smiled, playing the last note with a little flair, like he always did. She loved that, but when he pushed the guitar back behind him and reached in his pocket, her heart jumped up into her throat.

  “Jordie?”

  He just grinned as he dropped to one knee, holding the little Tiffany’s blue box in his hand as he looked up at her. “As the song said, Kacey, God gave me you to make me better, to help me love life, and to be a better person not only for Him, but for you. I do all these things because of you, because of all the love and support you give me. I have wanted to marry you since the moment I saw you, but I was too scared to think that I could have the happily ever after everyone talked about. I thought it wasn’t in my cards, I thought that it was unattainable, but you proved me wrong. You give me that happily ever after every day. And there isn’t a day that passes that I don’t fall even more in love with you,” he said, his voice breaking with the last word. Her lip started to wobble as her vision blurred from the tears in her eyes. They hadn’t even spoken of marriage or anything—she’d just assumed they’d do it sooner or later. But apparently sooner was here because Jordie slowly opened the box, his eyes on hers as he whispered, “You are my best friend, my lover, my heart and soul. I couldn’t live the life I wanted without you, and it would be my honor if you’d marry me.” He sucked in a deep breath as the tears rushed down her face, probably ruining her makeup, but she didn’t care. Her eyes were set on this gorgeous man who was slowly opening the box, his eyes still on hers and his heart in his eyes. She didn’t even see the ring, all she saw was him as he asked, “So Kacey Marie King, will you do me a favor and help me write my happily ever after by being my wife?”

  Her lip started to wobble, and out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention. When she glanced over, she saw that Lacey, Karson, Mena, her mom, and dad were standing there. Of course, her mom and Lacey were crying as they waited for her answer. Looking back down at Jordie, her heart was in her throat and she was rendered speechless. She had pictured the moment when Jordie would propose, and she had honestly thought he would throw the ring at her and tell her, “Let’s do this.” It was his style, but that was old Jordie. New Jordie wanted her to know how much she meant to him. He made sure her family was there, that there were photographers to document the moment they’d tell their little one about when it was older, but most of all, he spoke from his heart.

  His big, beautiful heart.

  “Yes, Jordie. God, yes,” she said finally, and he exhaled the breath he was holding before she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him hard as the tears rolled down her face. Hugging her tightly, he stood up and kissed her over and over again, her heart flying as he leaned his head against hers.

  “I’m gonna make you the happiest woman ever. I’m gonna take your breath away daily and make you smile. But I’ll probably fuck up every once in the while—”

  “And I’ll still love you,” she whispered, her lips moving against his. “I’ll always love you.”

  He sucked in a breath, letting it out again before kissing her nose. Leaning back, he took the ring out of the box and slid it down her ring finger. It was a little loose, but she couldn’t get over how big and sparkly it was. It was perfect. He was perfect.

  Cupping his face, she beamed up at him as she bounced on her toes. “Thank you.”

  He scoffed. “Please, I should be thanking you,” he said roughly, his voice breaking with emotion. “I wouldn’t be where I am right now if it weren’t for your support. This ring, this love I give you, will never be enough. You deserve the world.”

  Leaning her head to his, she looked deep into his eyes as she moved her nose along his. “And you give it to me, Jordie. Every day.”

  Smirking at her, he held her gaze and said, “And to think it’s only the beginning.”

  “I don’t ever want it to end,” she whispered and his grip on her tightened.

  “It never will,” he promised, and as everyone surrounded them, congratulating them and hugging them, she couldn’t stop staring at him.

  Her evermore.

  It was a girl.

  A sweet, perfect little girl that from the 4-D ultrasound appeared as if she may look like Jordie. One thing was sure, she had some hockey shoulders. The tech said it looked like she had hair, which he knew would be dark like theirs. Jordie had hoped that it was a boy, but knowing that it was a girl, something inside him just felt right. As he watched the different angles of his child, he silently promised to love her more than life itself. To be there, to protect her, and to support her, no matter what.

  Just like he did Kacey.

  Ever since he proposed, things had been absolutely perfect. They had already fallen into an easy routine, but now, it just felt better, more complete. She was so happy, floating around as baby books and wedding magazines found new places in their home. The pictures from the shoot they had were already blown up and on the wall. His favorite being the one of him on one knee asking for her hand, her hands covering her mouth as the tears rushed down her beautiful face with her family behind them, all smiling, all so happy for them.

  It was a striking moment, but seeing his baby was something he would never forget. If he was this in love with her now, Lord help the world when she got here.

  Daddy’s little girl.

  Kacey beamed up at him and he grinned down at her, but then he realized what this meant.

  “Damn it!”

  Kacey looked over at Jordie in shock, her brow furrowing as she glared. “What the hell! She’s healthy. That’s what we wanted. You should be happy,” she complained as the ultrasound tech eyed him cautiously.

  Realizing what it sounded like, he held his hands up. “No, wait, okay, sorry! I didn’t mean it like that. I’m so happy, Kacey, I promise. But I owe your dad a hundred bucks now,” he complained and still she glared.

  “Really? You bet my father on the sex of our child?”

  He shrugged. “What? I thought it was a boy.”

  “I told you it was a girl!” she said and he smiled.

  “And I couldn’t be happier,” he said softly, kissing her temple. “My two girls that hold my heart.”

  She rolled her eyes as a grin pulled at her lips, both their gazes going back to the screen where their daughter moved around in Kacey’s growing belly. He’d never thought he could love her more. But watching each day as her body changed, her belly getting bigger, and knowing that she was carrying his child, the admiration, the love, was overwhelming. She was blowing his mind daily, and when he’d felt the baby move a few days before, he’d had to hold in his tears as Kacey grinned at him.

  If this was just the start of his happily ever after, he was convinced he would die of bliss.

  Pure, unadulterated bliss.

  “Kaleigh?”

  “With a K?” Jordie asked as they walked, their hands threaded together, into their favorite Mexican restaurant. He had noticed that she was craving guacamole like mad. Thankfully, he loved the stuff and didn’t mind. He did mind though when she wanted to mix the cheese sauce, salsa, and guacamole together and stuff it down her throat. That was crossing the line, but she didn’t care and it made her happy. So he went with it—after making sure he had his own bowl of his favorite dips for his chips.

  “Of course,” she said happily as they went to the table. “Or maybe Kassandra, Kassidy, Kristen? Kate? Krissy?”

  He rolled his eyes as he lowered himself into the booth and glanced over at her. “You’re killing me. Why don’t we do a differen
t name?”

  “Like what?” she asked, getting a huge pile of salsa on her chip before devouring it.

  Leaning back in the booth, he thought for a moment. “I don’t know? I’ve always liked the name Delilah,” he suggested and her nose wrinkled.

  “Delilah?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I really like that song, ‘Hey There Delilah,’” he started to sing, but she rolled her eyes.

  “And we are moving on,” she said impatiently. “How about Kara?”

  “Kacey, no, I don’t want a K name!” he laughed and she glared.

  “But it’s tradition in my family.”

  “Um, no, Mena Jane is not a K name.”

  She glared. “Fine, give me something then?”

  He thought for a moment, “Billie Jean?”

  “No.”

  “Roxanne?”

  “I’m going to hit you.”

  “Diana?”

  “We are not Michael Jackson, for one. And for two, if you can’t come up with something other than song names, then I’m picking the name!” she scolded him and he smiled.

  “Fine, give me a second,” he said before the waitress came to get their order. Once he gave her his order, he went to a baby name site and looked through it. “Okay, how about Charlotte?”

  “No way, that’s old ladyish,” she said, still stuffing her face, this time with guacamole.

  “Okay, how about Alana?”

  “No.”

  “Aurora?”

  “How about Belle?” she countered and he glared.

  “Brat.”

  “Dork.”

  He smiled as he scrolled through the names. “Oh, I like Ella,” he said hopefully, and when she didn’t shoot him down, he smiled. “Ella Mae Thomas.”

  “Mae?”

  “After your mom,” he suggested and she smiled.

  “Maybe,” she answered, typing something in her phone. “I’ve got it on the possible list. Give me some more.”

  Dropping his phone to the table, he smiled. “This is fun.”