Chapter Epilogue
Winter
Six months later
“A re you sure you want to do this?” Gio stood in front of me with his arms folded and one brow quirked into a high arch. “Like really, really sure?”
I glared at him. “Is that what you call having faith in me?” I’d spent the past six months learning to ride a motorcycle, all because I wanted to surprise my man when this day finally rolled around. “You think I can’t do it.”
Gio shrugged. “I know that you can but I’m not sure that you should.” He sighed and stood beside me, studying the motorcycle in front of us. “You know he’s not gonna sit bitch, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Doesn’t matter. He can ride us home if he wants, the point is that I’m going to show up there on the bike to show him how proud I am of him.” It had been a long six months of recovery and therapy, and some days he felt it more than others. But each week he made progress and got stronger. “I’m doing this Gio.”
“Okay fine. I’ll be your bike buddy. Let’s do this.”
“Thank you, Gio.” I hugged him tight, took a step back and watched the bike again. I was nervous but I was also ready.
So fucking ready.
The first few minutes were a little shaky but with each quarter mile I grew more comfortable on the front of the bike as the wind whipped against my skin. The day was sunny and warm, and the ride was enjoyable but when I pulled into the parking lot of the physical therapy complex, I was met with the most welcome sight.
Hollywood.
He looked around the parking lot in search of the little sedan I drove here most days to pick him up. I watched as he pulled out his phone and called me. “Hey babe, where are you?”
“Look to your right. I’m wearing the black leather pants you love so much.” I held my breath as I watched his head swivel, his gaze narrowed against the sun until they stopped on me. Even from this distance I clocked his smile growing.
He ambled across that parking lot in that slow sexy gait of his that was now officially back to normal. “You really shouldn’t lean on other people’s bikes.”
I folded my arms and flashed a flirty smile. “Good thing I’m leaning on my bike then, isn’t it?” His green eyes widened so comically I bit back a laugh.
“Your bike?”
I nodded.
“How long have I been in there?” He ran one hand through this thick hair and blew out a breath.
“Only about six months.” I stepped away from the bike and wrapped my arms around him. “How was therapy, babe?”
“Great. I’m done unless I have additional pain or stiffness.”
“Excellent!” I hugged him tight and kissed him softly. “I got my license, and I wanted to surprise you to celebrate the last day of PT.”
“This is certainly a surprise.”
“A good one, I hope? You’ve worked so hard the past few months, even when it was hard and I’m proud of you babe.”
Hollywood hooked one arm around me and pulled me close. “You were just the motivation I needed to keep going.” His smile was salacious and all I wanted was to eat him up right there in the middle of the parking lot. “So you can really ride this thing?”
“Yep. Wanna see or are you ready to get back on the saddle?” I wiggled my brows, tempting him.
“Let’s see what you can do, sweetheart.”
I handed him the spare helmet, went through my checks to start the bike and then I started the engine.
“That was hot as hell,” he murmured in my ear and pressed his chest to my back.
I smiled and turned out of the parking lot, opening up the bike on the road and stretching her legs just over the speed limit. The ride was shorter than I wanted but I was also eager to get my man alone. By the three month mark we got creative in getting each other off thanks to a complication in his lower back.
“That was some damn good machine handling, babe.”
“Thanks. Are you feeling okay?”
“Don’t enjoy sitting bitch on a bike but yeah, I feel good. I do like having my body pressed against you while you control the bike. Hot as fuck, Winter.”
I shivered at the look in his eyes and tugged on his wrist to pull him inside the house. “So it’s okay for me to sit bitch but not you?”
“Honey, I’ll sit anywhere you want as long as you promise to sit on this cock whenever I ask.”
“Deal.” I licked my lips and kicked the door shut behind us. “That sounds like a good way to start celebrating completing your physical therapy.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh yeah. But first, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
I swallowed around the big ass lump that suddenly formed in my throat. “Okay. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. It’s gonna be perfect, I hope.” He disappeared down the hall to his office and returned less than a minute later. “Okay. Have a seat.”
I dropped down on the sofa and exhaled.
“I wasn’t expecting you, Winter. Not at all.” He sat down beside me and rested one big hand on my thigh. “I thought you were too young and too good for a man like me, but god how I wanted you. So fucking bad.”
“I wanted you too, for a long, long time. And now you’re mine.”
“Exactly. Love wasn’t something I was looking for in my life. It wasn’t something I even wanted anymore and honestly, I didn’t think I was capable of love anymore. Until you.”
“You have such a big heart, Hollywood. It’s buried underneath layers of sarcasm and badassery, but you are capable of so much love.”
“I know that now and I’m giving it all to you.” He pulled out a ring box and pulled back the lid to show off a gorgeous diamond ring that sparkled like the sun.
“Hollywood,” I gasped and covered my hands with my mouth.
“I love you Winter, so much it aches. When I think about the future, I’m not sure what’s going to happen but all I know is that I see you right beside me. Laughing and fucking, going to battle together until we’re too old to fight.”
I laughed. “That sounds amazing.”
“I’m glad you think so because Winter Hart, I love you with everything that I have and everything that I am, and the only thing I can think of to make this life perfect is for you to be my wife and my partner in crime.” He held my face in his hand. “Will you marry me?”
“Hell yeah,” I answered eagerly. “I want to marry you so bad. And so soon. The sooner the better, in fact.”
“I love you, babe.”
“I love you more. And forever.”
He slid the ring on my finger with a smile. “That’s a big promise to make, Winter.”
“Yeah well, I guess you’ll just have to stick around and let me prove it to you.” A few decades ought to do it. A life together, a few babies and years of loving each other should do it. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” my gruff biker replied with an open heart.
“Now it’s really time to celebrate.” I climbed on top of him and showed him just how excited I was to become his wife.
THE END