The Olympic team members filled the ice, and as the DJ played The Black Eyed Peas, we tossed autographed Frisbees and T-shirts into the screaming audience. Between throwing goodies, we took turns carrying an American flag around the rink and soaking in the energy of the fans. After being on the outside looking in at all the Olympic hoopla in the past, I flew across the ice and waved the flag high and proud, so honored to finally be in the exclusive club.
When we had to say our goodbyes, everyone retreated to the lounge to wait for the okay to return to the ice, but I stayed at the edge of the tunnel, watching the crowd disappear. The last bodies emptied the seats, and I quickly hopped back onto the ice. As I did a few twizzles, I heard another set of blades whooshing behind me. I looked over my shoulder and smiled at the sight of Josh.
“No surprise we’re the most eager to get out here,” I said.
He stopped in front of me and took both my hands. “No one else is coming.”
I tilted my head in confusion, and I became more surprised when music began to play on the sound system. I recognized the haunting cello notes right away.
“Your Hands Are Cold” from Pride and Prejudice. One of our most special songs.
My heart began to race.
Could it be… ?
“What…” I squeaked. “Why is this song…”
“Because it was playing the first time I kissed you, and it was our first program as a team. And we’re here on the ice because that’s where I first saw you. A moment that changed my life.” He wet his lips, and I held my breath, waiting for him to continue. “And I hope today will be another first for us. The first day of our future together.”
I had to breathe, and it came out as a small cry. Josh bent on one knee, and our hands trembled together. He gazed up at me, his clear blue eyes so bright and alive, and I bit my lip to stop from screaming “Yes!” before he even asked the question.
“Court, you have inspired me and challenged me and made me a stronger, better man.” His voice broke, and my own throat tightened. “You are my first and my forever love.”
He fumbled inside his pocket, and the tears brimming in my eyes escaped onto my cheeks. Opening the black velvet box, he revealed a dazzling diamond ring. I let out a louder cry and immediately started nodding. I couldn’t help myself.
Josh gave me a brilliant smile. “Courtney Elizabeth Carlton, will you marry me?”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
He shot to his feet and wrapped me in his arms, lifting me from the ice. I’d had so many memorable moments on the ice in my career, but none more incredible than this one. Nothing could top this. Ever.
Applause and catcalls echoed in the empty building, and I turned to see all the skaters watching from the kiss and cry. Liza stood at the front, doing a happy dance.
“And I thought this week couldn’t get any better,” I said.
“Ready to make it official?” Josh took the ring from the box.
“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life.”
He kissed the back of my hand and slipped the diamond onto my finger. The round cut and the plain platinum band were classic and timeless. The perfect symbol of our love for each other.
I looked into his eyes and whispered through my tears, “I love you so much, Joshua Joseph Tucker.”
We melted into a kiss, and more cheers rang out. Two familiar little voices carried above the noise, and I saw the twins, Em, Sergei, and our families walking down to the boards.
I gaped at Josh. “Everyone knew?”
“I needed Em’s help setting it all up, and I talked to your parents after I bought the ring.”
“When I saw you with Em before we skated, I thought you were nervous about the program.”
“I was excited about skating but nervous as hell about this.” He smiled shyly.
“You had to know I would say yes.”
“I had a good feeling.” He grinned. “But I just wanted everything to be perfect.”
“It was. It is.” I framed his face with my hands. “It always will be with you.”
We kissed again but were interrupted by Quinn chanting, “Coco and Josh! Coco and Josh!”
We laughed and skated over to the group, where we were bombarded with hugs. I steered clear of Josh’s parents, wanting to avoid any awkward attempts, or more likely, non-attempts at affection.
“No long engagement,” Mrs. Cassar said. “I’m not getting any younger.”
I hooked my arm around Josh’s waist. “I’m more than okay with that rule.”
“You could get married in Sochi,” Mrs. Tucker said. “The media would fall in love with that story.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “I didn’t mean that soon.”
“We’re not making our wedding a spectacle,” Josh said.
“But think of the financial opportunity it would be.”
“Mom.” Josh just shook his head.
“Let’s see the ring,” Stephanie said.
I extended my hand, and Quinn gasped. “It’s so pretty!”
“Very nice job, Joshua,” Mrs. Cassar said.
Mrs. Tucker leaned in for a closer look. “How cute.”
Josh’s body grew tense, and my face warmed, but I wasn’t embarrassed over the size of the diamond. I was embarrassed for Josh, who had to claim this woman as his mother.
“It’s gorgeous,” Em said in a harsher, louder voice than usually came from her.
The photographer called to us for the photo shoot backstage, so we had to cut our celebration short. We’d have more time to party at the Olympic team reception in a couple of hours. Or in Mrs. Tucker’s case, more time to be a nuisance.
Between now and then, she’ll probably draw up a pre-nup agreement.
Josh laced his fingers through mine as we skated to the door. “Are you sure you’re okay with being tied to my mom for life?”
“As long as she stays on her side of the country most of the time, I can totally handle her.” I shifted to face Josh. “But I wouldn’t care if you came with a family of vampires. Nothing and no one would make me question marrying you.”
He eased into a wide smile and bent his head, touching his lips to my neck. His teeth nipped at my skin, and I laughed and swatted his chest.
We were engaged and going to the Olympics.
What is this life?!
Chapter Ten
I PAINTED MY LIPS WITH A shimmering coat of gloss and stood back to examine myself in the bathroom mirror. After the nonstop day I’d had — from the donor breakfast to the press conference to an autograph signing and then the exhibition — I should look exhausted, but my eyes were wide and shining. I was more than ready for the team reception. Not only was I being honored for the biggest achievement of my life, but I was going to walk into the room as Josh’s fiancée.
Cue the internal squealing.
I’d been doing a lot of that the past hour.
I put my hand over my heart, and the ring sparkled against my red dress. I couldn’t stop looking at it. It was like I was afraid it might disappear.
It’s not going anywhere. You’re going to be wearing this the rest of your life.
That thought warmed me through and through. My reflection smiled as brightly as the diamond shined, and I opened the door to see the man who’d made me so deliriously happy.
Josh stood at the window, looking out at the lights of Boston. He’d continued his all-black look from earlier with a dark suit, shirt, and tie, and he looked beyond incredible. His eyes made a slow sweep over me, and the warmth inside me bloomed into searing heat.
“You are a goddess.” He took a few steps toward me. “I can’t believe I get to marry you.”
I walked over to him and smoothed my hands down his lapels. “And you are the sweetest and the sexiest man alive.”
He curled his hand around the back of my neck and gave me a passionate kiss, and I clung to his jacket. I’d have to redo my lip gloss, but I’d happily apply it a hundred times over for more kisses
like that.
He linked our hands, and he ran his thumb over the band of my ring. “I love seeing this on your finger.”
“How long have you had it?”
“Since right before Christmas. It was so hard waiting to give it to you, but I really wanted to do it here.”
“What would’ve happened if we hadn’t made the team? As confident as you were, I know you must’ve had a backup plan.”
He smiled. “I didn’t let myself think too much about the backup plan, but it would’ve been a trip to the beach house in Malibu.”
We’d gone to his family’s beach house a few times since our first visit after the 2010 Olympics. On that trip, Josh had asked me to skate with him shortly after we’d arrived, and we’d had an unforgettable night afterward.
“A place where we had a very important first together,” I said and leaned into him until our lips just barely touched.
“Best day of my life until today,” he said.
We did more delicious damage to my lip gloss, and then we just stood quietly, our heads bent together. These were the first silent moments we’d had with each other since Josh had proposed. I knew it was silly to think that one little question could change things, but I felt a different energy between us. As strong as our love had always been, something even more powerful hummed between us.
“You know, I was getting kinda worried that you weren’t thinking about marriage anymore since you’d stopped talking about it,” I said. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“I didn’t want to give away any hints of what I was planning.” He hugged my waist. “So, you were really worried?”
“Yes! And you kept faking me out with all those gifts. You can’t be all mysterious and tell a girl she has to stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve unless you have a ring to surprise her with.”
“You didn’t like the Daruma?”
“I love the little guy, but he can’t compare to this.” I grinned and held up my left hand.
He pointed to the nightstand. “You’re hurting his feelings. Good thing he’s already helped us reach our goal.”
I laughed, but as memories of New Year’s Eve filtered through my mind, I remembered something that made me stop. My skin prickled with anxiousness, and I stared at Josh.
“We haven’t reached our goal yet.”
Josh’s forehead wrinkled. “Aren’t we on our way to the Olympic team dinner?”
“When we colored in the first eye, we said our goal was to skate together at the Olympics.”
“And we earned the right to do that yesterday.”
“But we haven’t actually skated there yet, and we went ahead and painted the second eye. We were supposed to wait until we achieved our goal.” My voice lifted higher as my breathing accelerated.
“It’s just semantics, Babe.”
I shook my head. “Good luck charms aren’t something to mess with. What if we jacked up our karma?”
Josh placed his hands on both sides of my face and tilted my chin to look at him. “Nowhere in the Daruma story does it say everything must be taken literally. There’s no bad karma coming our way. I promise.”
I eyed the doll and took a few deep breaths. Why was I getting so worked up about this? I couldn’t let paranoia and superstition drive me batty. Just because life was amazingly wonderful right now didn’t mean something bad was due to happen.
“I think I’m just going to be scared until we’re actually standing on the ice in Sochi. I’ve waited so long for this that I can’t help worrying.”
His thumbs softly stroked my face. “I totally understand. Just remember that doll has no power over anything.”
“Now who’s hurting his feelings?”
He laughed and held me to his chest, and I snuck one more look at our blue-and-green-eyed friend. Later when Josh fell asleep, I was going to apologize to the Daruma.
Just in case.
****
“THIS PLACE IS A skating groupie’s dream right now,” Stephanie said as she craned her neck to scan the hotel bar.
I laughed and sipped my diet soda. Everyone from the reception had descended upon the bar after the party ended, and it had already been packed with former Olympians, legendary coaches, and anyone and everyone important in the sport. Josh, Stephanie, and I had been lucky to snag a small table in the middle of the action.
“Thank God your parents have an early flight and didn’t follow us here,” I said.
“I’m surprised my mom isn’t here anyway. She was working the room at the reception,” Josh said. “I’m glad she wasn’t all over us for once, but I don’t even want to know what she was up to.”
Stephanie took a long drink of her red wine. “She’s on a mission about the team event. She was probably trying get the scoop on what the fed’s plan is.”
“Fabulous,” I muttered. “Last thing we need is our misguided cheerleader politicking for us.”
“Let’s talk about something more pleasant, like your wedding.” Stephanie emptied her glass and signaled to the waitress for another. She’d been throwing back wine all night, and I’d learned that tipsy Stephanie was actually a lot of fun.
“Marriage isn’t for me,” she continued. “I’d rather keep my men on rotation.”
Josh just shook his head, and I snickered behind my napkin. Stephanie went on, “But you two are one of those disgustingly perfect couples meant to be married.”
“I’m disgusted by our perfection on a daily basis,” Josh said, managing to hold a straight face.
I laughed and rubbed my arms as freezing air seeped through the lobby into the open bar. Josh took off his suit jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
“See?” Stephanie waved her hands at us. “So sweet it’s revolting.”
“I think you should definitely do the toast at our wedding. This is some great material,” I said, still laughing.
“When is this big event happening? I need to put it on my busy calendar,” she said.
“We’ve been engaged all of four hours.”
“Come on, I know you’ve been thinking about it longer than that. Admit it. You have your whole dream wedding planned.”
“I… I don’t…” I sputtered as Josh just grinned at me. “I mean, maybe I’ve had a few thoughts…”
“I knew it.” Stephanie slapped the table. “So, spill it.”
“I don’t know… I guess I’ve always pictured something on the beach.”
“Very Cape Cod.” She nodded but suddenly stopped. “Ohh, I could make you an amazing beachy dress. Something soft and gauzy and romantic.”
My eyebrows popped up. “You’re offering to make my wedding dress?”
“Well, I have to make sure my brother has a fashionable bride on his arm.”
Josh turned to me. “I like your idea a lot.”
“Really?” I hadn’t envisioned every detail of my future wedding like many girls did, but the setting had been the one constant in my daydreams of Josh and me saying our vows.
“As soon as you said beach, I could imagine it. I can see you in that dress, the ocean breeze in your hair…” He tucked a long curl behind my ear.
“You’re killing me,” Stephanie said.
I reluctantly tore my eyes from Josh’s warm gaze and smiled at Stephanie. “You started it, bringing up the wedding.”
“I can’t believe you’re getting married, Josh. To me, you’ll always be the boy who played Barbie with me.”
Josh covered his face with one hand, and I leaned forward onto the table. “I must hear more about this.”
“Josh used to—“
“I’ll explain,” Josh jumped in. “Let me make it clear that I was always Ken, but her Barbie and my Ken were brother and sister. Never a couple,” he said emphatically. “And I did manly things like fix the Corvette.”
“I had like ten of each doll, so I used another Ken for my boyfriend,” Stephanie said. “There was Malibu Ken and Doctor Ken and—“
“I bet you had the
dream house, didn’t you?” I said.
“Of course.”
I sighed. “I always wanted the dream house.”
“Want me to get you one for a wedding present?” Josh asked.
I giggled. “Only if you promise to play with me.”
He gave me a sly smile, and Stephanie groaned. “If you’re going from sweet to kinky now, I really need more wine.”
“Tell me more about young Josh,” I said. “I want all the embarrassing stories he’s never told me.”
“Hmm… fetus Josh stories…” She tapped her fingers together. “Oh! He was terrified of clowns, and once we were at a birthday party for a kid from the rink, and there was a car full of clowns. It was like a damn circus. Josh took off running down the street and had to be chased down.”
“Clowns are evil,” he said. “Haven’t you seen the movie It?”
“They are pretty creepy,” I said. “I would’ve paid to see your mom chase you down the street, though.”
Stephanie let out a loud peal of laughter. “As if she was there. Our nanny Teresa took us to the party.”
“I learned a bunch of Spanish curse words that day.” Josh chuckled.
Stephanie drank from her fresh glass the waitress had just delivered, and she clapped her hands. “I have another story. Josh had an imaginary friend named Bob. He used to go everywhere with us — the rink, piano lessons, the beach. Mom would get so annoyed when she’d hear Josh talking to him.”
His cheeks tinted pink, and I touched his leg. “Lots of kids have imaginary friends.”
“How come I don’t remember Dad ever giving you a hard time about it?” Stephanie asked.
“He didn’t know. Unless Mom told him.”
“You never talked to Bob in front of Dad?” Stephanie asked.
“That was kinda the point of Bob.” Josh looked down at his soda. “He was there when Dad wasn’t.”
Silence fell over the table, and the laughter and chatter around us seemed to fade far into the background. Josh picked at his napkin, tearing off jagged pieces.
Taking the Ice (Ice Series Book 3) Page 9
