Since Maggie went to such trouble to do this for me, though, I should probably do a few of those workouts here so she doesn’t feel like her gift was a waste. It wasn’t, of course. Having a home gym is incredible, but I hope the trainers don’t think I’m slacking.
When she gets home, her somber eyes tell me she’s not excited to hang out, which sucks. “Do I have time to change?” she asks.
“You look great in what you’re wearing, but yeah, there’s time if you want to freshen up.” As she passes me, I grab her hand. “Hey. Thank you again. I’m serious about that gift being one of the nicest, most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me.”
That gets me a small smile. “That treadmill isn’t brand-new, but it’s barely been used, so I thought you might get some mileage out of it.” She looks down. Shrugs. “I just wanted to thank you for the groceries and thoughtful things you’ve done for me since you moved in.”
She looks so shy and uncertain. I pull her into a hug and kiss her cheek. “Thanks, Mags. You’re awesome.”
When she comes back down the stairs an hour later, she looks so fucking sexy, my tongue almost rolls out of my body. “Damn. Hot mama.” She’s wearing some little wraparound dress that hugs her curves, which have gotten curvier since the wedding.
Adorably, she blushes. “I figure I should take advantage of dressing up before I don’t fit in my clothes anymore. I’m already pushing the limits of decency in this outfit.” She tugs the fabric at her gorgeous cleavage.
“Don’t feel the need to cover up on my account,” I tease.
She rolls her eyes but laughs.
Thankfully, we don’t run into Amelia on our way out.
“Do you still love Italian?” I start my truck and roll down the window. My old Chevy doesn’t have air conditioning, but it’s a mild evening.
“I do, yeah.”
We drive through town, which is quiet since it’s June. I keep glancing at Maggie, enjoying how she looks in my truck. I’d love nothing more than to scoot her across the bench seat and into my lap.
Lorenzo’s is small but quaint. Low lighting and candles and those little twinkle lights set the mood for a romantic dinner.
After we order our meals, she frowns. “I feel like everything lately is all about me. How I’m feeling and whether I’m hungry or nauseous. I don’t want this—us, whatever we are—to be one-sided. So let me ask, how is your knee? Is rehab going well? How are you feeling about training camp?”
“My knee is feeling great.”
“Is that the answer you give your coaches, or is that the truth?”
I chuckle. I like the no-holds-barred version of Maggie. “It feels tight sometimes. I’m not a hundred percent yet, but I’ve been working my ass off to be in the best shape I can be given the circumstances. In truth, I’m apprehensive about camp because if I move wrong, I can undo everything, and my season, along with any hope I have of making the pros, will be over. I probably won’t get a full medical release until the fall, but I want to do my best in the meanwhile and show my coaches they should have faith in me. It’s definitely stressful. Shit can all go sideways in a flash.”
“It can’t help that you’re getting a new coach. Ben really liked Nicholson.”
“Nix was a good guy, for sure. Better than that ass we had before him. Fingers crossed we get someone awesome.”
She crosses her fingers and gives me a sweet smile.
“How’s work going? Have they given you any fun projects?” I ask as I dig into my meatball sub.
“I’m still serving coffee I can’t drink and filing, so no.” She shrugs and takes a small bite of her chicken piccata. “It’s fine. As long as they pay me, I don’t care what they have me do. I can still build my portfolio with side gigs.”
“Do you get a lot of freelance projects?” My sister’s wedding invitations were beautiful, so I know Maggie does great work.
“I’m starting to, yeah. Mostly through word of mouth.”
This woman works so hard. She takes classes, renovates her house, has that Airbnb rental, and freelances. “It’s cool that you’re able to do so much freelance design.”
“I don’t know that I’d call it design. I’m not an art student. I just happen to like fonts and know how to use a few cool programs. I wish I could draw or do calligraphy, though, instead of having to rely on a computer.”
I swear, the more I get to know Maggie, the more interesting she gets. “You should add that to your ‘someday’ to-do list. Because it seems to me that if you’re able to learn how to re-grout tubs from watching YouTube videos, you can probably learn these other skills you’re interested in.”
The brilliant smile she sends me does something strange to my chest. “Yeah. Someday.”
I don’t mention all the things I want to do with her.
