Epilogue

Cindy

Things didn't just return to normal after I went back to work that week, they got even better. It's taken Tyler a little bit to get back on his feet and try to put everything behind him with his ex. With the help of the ones that care for him the most, he's doing great. His parents are adorable and we hit it off that night at dinner.

His mom is so mom-like. It brought warmth to my heart how much they welcomed me in and told me they'd never seen Tyler so happy as he has been since he met me.

They were both really upset about the Stacey situation, but I think his mom is still hopeful for more grandchildren in the future.

I'm looking forward to meeting his brothers and his little nephew the following week.

I'm so glad that my dad came around pretty quickly. It was heavily due to Angelique, and I'll be forever grateful for that and to have them both.

Things with my mom remain on shaky ground. We will probably never see eye to eye on anything, but I've accepted that. Maybe her moving back to Buffalo will make her happier. Only time will tell. Caitlin and I both agreed she never really settled in Washington, so maybe it is for the best.

Tonight we're meeting up with friends. The whole gang is meeting us for wood fired pizzas at The Italian Spot downtown. It's been a mission trying to organize it but we've finally got everyone on board; Andrea, Simon, and his boyfriend Jose, Susie, Emmerson and Taylor, Maddison and Ashto, Tyler's friend Luke and his girlfriend, Shannon,

plus Jay and his friend that's still in town, Jade.

Even Caitlin and Liam are coming along to meet everyone.

"Are you excited about tonight?" Tyler asks me when I'm doing my makeup in his ensuite, and he's shaving in the mirror next to me.

"Yeah, it's sure going to be a crowd. We haven't caught up with anyone in a few weeks."

Mads and Ashton are back for a few days and planning a trip to Hawaii, where we all think he's going to seriously drop the big one. They haven't been together very long, but they're crazy about each other.

"We had to come out of our bubble eventually," he says.

"It's a pity."

"You know I could just kidnap you and keep you here forever?"

"Kinda suits that stalkery trait you have when it comes to me, doesn't it?"

"Don't act like you don't want to reenact it." He grins.

He knows how much it turned me on that he had his eye on me long before he talked to me. The fact he watched me didn't creep me out at all. I guess that's because I know what a great guy he is. And I'm glad I ran into him that day and spilled my coffee all over him. Who knows where we'd be if he hadn't walked by at that moment.

"Oh, I plan to. And I'll be wearing sexy underwear when I get to the stadium. So you'll have to wait all day before you can rip them off me."

"Like hell I will," he says huskily, putting his razor down and turning toward me. He's only dressed in a towel, and still has shaving foam on his face.

"Don't you dare!" I squeal as he grabs me and presses his body toward me, trying to kiss me and put foam on my face. "Tyler Peterson!"

I manage to break away from him and run out of the bedroom, up the hall toward the den, but he's way too fast. "Stop right there, Cindy Carter!" He grabs me from behind and I spin to face him. He grabs my wrists and presses me into the wall, holding them above his head and nuzzling into my neck. "Finally caught you."

"You caught me long ago," I sigh, not caring I have shaving foam on my skin.

He pushes his hips into me. "Ty, no! We have to go."

"I'll be quick, I promise."

I laugh haughtily. "You say that every morning, but you never are."

He snickers and kisses my flesh gently. "And that's a bad thing, baby?"

"Nope. But I have a job to get to most mornings."

He squeezes my breasts, pushing them in his hands. "But you don't have a job to get to right now." One hand skates down to my hip and I smack it away.

"We have to get downtown in less than an hour."

He grins, pulling his towel away. We both stare down at his huge erection, which is now digging into my stomach. "You sure about that?"

I giggle as I quickly relent. My fingers can't help but skate down toward my favorite monster, "You'd better be quick, Mister."

"First time for everything," he muses.

It's been like this the entire time we've been together. We fit together so darned well, and we're having a lot of fun getting to know each other in and out of the bedroom. We love taking Henry on different walks around Seattle and Mercer Island.

We've come a long way in a short space of time, so to walk into The Italian Spot hand in hand, after he quickly ravaged me at home, feels like an absolute dream.

Our friends are all waiting for us and we can't wipe the smiles off our faces.

Mads lets out a hoot when she sees us and jumps out of her seat to come and hug us both. "Cindy, you look fabulous!"

"Here, here!" Andrea chines, who's just as crazy as Mads and I love it.

"We knew you had it in you." Simon beams as he breaks his connection from Jose for a second to give me a big hug, and then Tyler. "I've always wanted to do that," he chuckles. Even Tyler has to laugh at that.

"It's so great to see you two happy," I hear Ashton saying to Tyler.

"You deserve it man, Cindy is a great girl," Taylor adds.

It's so sweet to see and hear everyone so happy for us.

Finally Suse and Em break the crowd around us and we have a big squealy girl hug.

"You two!" Susie stands back to look at me. "You're positively glowing, Cind. I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you! True love does exist. Don't give up hope," I tell her.

"I can attest to that!" Em is beaming from ear to ear. "You look so good together."

"You really do," Cait says from behind me. I whirl around to see her smiling face with open arms. She gives me a big hug as Liam says hey to the guys. He looks pretty happy to be met with four of his idols from the Seattle Hawks, since Jay has just walked in with his friend who looks really shy, but I've been dying to meet her. From what Tyler has said, she and Jay are close.

I glance at Tyler, and we smile at each other. I reach up on my toes to peck him and everyone cheers. It's like we won the lottery, it's so sweet.

I know that he's the one.

He's the only one I'll ever want and I can't wait to be his wife someday and carry the children he's always wanted. We've already talked about kids. There's nothing more I'd love to give him than a beautiful baby of our own.

"I love you," I mouth.

He plants a kiss on my forehead and tips my chin up with his finger. "I love you, too."

And they may just be the sweetest words I've ever heard.

* * *

Tyler

Two weeks later

I sit at the coffee shop at eight. I know I'm early, but I wanted to get here in time to watch the show from the carpark. She knows I'm coming, that I'll be watching. And I know what she's wearing under that work uniform.

We have it all planned out and I'm anticipating her arrival as I sip on my coffee, watching the world go by. It's been a relief to have some rest for the last few weeks. My back has been feeling a shit ton better now I've had a chance to rest my body properly. Plus, I've caught up on sleep, and I've been loving on my girl every single day. That's gotta count for something.

We've stayed at each other's places every night since she came out to Mercer Island, and we've been going out there every weekend since. The relief we both feel that we can date properly, and not worry about any more unflattering newspaper articles, has been a sweet victory.

It feels like things are moving along in the right direction and I know without a shadow of a doubt that Cindy is the girl for me.

I'm thinking about her and I in my tub last night. We laid there reminiscing about that night in Miami when we fooled around in the jacuzzi, then we made love in that massive king-sized bed. We fit so freaking well and I can't get enough of her curves. I smile to myself as I savor the thoughts. I can even taste her on my lips…

"Tyler…"

I'm snapped out of my reverie as I look behind me to where I thought I heard…

Stacey.

I swallow hard and clutch the table with my hand as I see her. She knocks the wind out of my sails, standing there with the baby strapped to her chest.

"Stace—" I'm sure my mouth is hanging open.

"Hi," she says nervously. "I saw you just now, I thought I should?—"

I press my lips together as I try to take in what's happening. It was probably always a given that we'd bump into each other some day. I ended up blocking her number, so I never had to hear from her, but here we are faced with each other again.

"Should what, exactly?"

"I'm sorry for how things went down. I should have told you about the other guy."

"Yes, you should have." I grit my teeth. It feels like everything is being undone from the last few weeks, where I've had to try to get life back on track again. How quickly it all comes rushing back.

"I never meant to hurt you, Ty."

"Well, you did." I glance at the baby again, sleeping against her chest. "I take it you decided to keep her?"

She kisses the top of the baby's head. She seems so much more… at peace. I think that's what it is.

"I went into labor a few days after I saw you. The second I held her, I knew I couldn't let her go."

I'm glad for that part at least.

"I wish it could have been different," she says. "I wanted her to be yours."

I feel a lump in my throat. I don't think I'll ever truly know if she's lying or not about who she thought was the father, or if she was just trying to sucker me in.

I really just hope she's learned her lesson from playing with people's lives.

"You look content," I tell her. "That's a good thing."

"You're a good man, Tyler. Don't let anyone tell you different."

I feel goosebumps run over my body because she actually seems genuine. "And you're going to make a great mom," I say from nowhere. Maybe I'm being too nice, but the fight I felt before isn't in me anymore.

We both need to move on. "Don't let anyone tell you different, okay?"

"Okay." She smiles. "Goodbye, Tyler."

"Goodbye, Stacey. Look after her."

"I will." She starts to walk away.

"Hey, Stace?"

She turns to look at me.

"I'm curious. What did you name her?"

She looks down at the tiny little bundle and kisses her again. "Hope," she says simply.

I smile at hearing that. "It's beautiful. She's beautiful."

I don't know if I'll ever see her again, but I guess at least we cleared the air. She and the baby are well and that's the best I can hope for.

In a strange way, I feel at peace as I watch her leave.

I glance back over the road and scramble to my feet as I see Cindy's car.

Fuck. I hope I didn't miss her.

I'm halfway crossing the road when I see her open the trunk and grab a bag out, placing it on the ground. Then she bends over to pick something up she dropped. Thank fuck she's not wearing a skirt. But she knows I'm watching her, even if she's not facing me right that second.

She's bending over on purpose. She may as well be shaking her tush towards me.

I'm there within a minute, just as she's straightened out and striding across the lot.

We planned to meet here at the cafe as soon as she puts her stuff down at work. She was going to walk over and accuse me of watching her from across the street like we didn't know each other. Now that's all gone off course, I'm wondering if there's a private place we can go…

She jumps as she sees me looking wild with lust. And that's how I'm feeling.

I want her so fucking much.

"Ty! You're going off script." She giggles.

I pull her by the wrist, away from the staff entrance around the corner. Pushing her back into the building as she squeals. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"You, babe. You've gotten into me. Right here in my heart." I point to my chest. "I want you so freaking much. Do you know it?"

"I do if that monster is anything to go by."

We both look down because my hard on is pressing into her again, one of its favorite pastimes. Yes, it's lust with her, but it's so much more than that, too. It feels right with us, and we're always enjoying every moment.

I will obviously tell her about the Stacey thing and that I didn't flip my lid, and that we actually had a civil conversation. But that can wait until we get to our coffee break. Right now, I want my girl.

I laugh and shake my head. "Can't take him anywhere."

"I want you too, Ty. Monster and all,"

I glance at my watch as her eyes bug wide, indicating we still have time before she starts work. "Ty!"

"We have time." I nuzzle into her. "I know all the quiet areas of the stadium during off-season. And I also know what you have on under those clothes."

"It's just for you, baby."

I reach down to kiss her. "You're perfect."

"You are."

I shake my head and laugh. "There's no way I'm perfect, but I think I got better when you came along."

"Ty, that's so sweet."

We kiss soft and slow and I know this is the woman that I'll do anything for.

The future mother of my kids. I can't wait to see her pregnant one day with our baby.

I know I will get that dream in the future. But for now… we're going to enjoy all the practice we can get.

"Not as sweet as you, baby. Now, let's go and have that ‘coffee break'."

She laughs as I tug her hand. And I do as promised, taking her to a quiet part of the stadium where we can lock a door and I can make her mine once more.

The End