“A very long time.” She curled into his chest. She didn’t know exactly how she’d pull it off, but she intended to be a superstar wife. “I can’t believe we’re married.” She sighed.

“I thought we weren’t going to mention it.”

“Only tonight.” She flipped to her back. “Now that I’ve landed a man, I’m thinking about letting myself go. No more dresses, makeup, haircuts...”

“You barely get haircuts now,” he pointed out, drawing her close once again.

“Dresses are a lot of bother.”

“Fine with me, but you’re going to miss sneaking looks at yourself in the mirror whenever you get dressed up.”

Her smile turned into a frown. “You have to get a prenup. Or a postnup. Honestly, Coop! For someone who’s supposed to be a crackerjack businessman, you’ve been completely irresponsible.”

He yawned and curled his hand over her thigh. “You and Heath work it out.”

“Is that the way this marriage is going to go? The three of us. You, me, and your agent?”

“That’s how it rolls when you marry an overprivileged ex-jock.”

She laughed and held up her hand, admiring in the soft bedroom light the ring he’d given her. A spiral of tiny diamonds wrapped a narrow gold band. “You could have afforded a lot bigger.”

“True.” He kissed the slope of her breast. “But you’d have killed me.”

He knew her so well. Not only her jewelry preference, but also her flaws and insecurities, along with every one of her hang-ups. But he loved her all the same.

“I have a ring for you, too,” she said, “but you won’t get it for a couple of weeks.”

He twisted the platinum band she’d bought him by wiping out a big chunk of her savings. “I already have a ring.”

“Not that kind of ring.”

His head came up off the pillow. “Tell me you didn’t—”

“I had to. It was on my conscience. Mrs.Calebow and I had a long conversation after the ceremony, and she and I worked out a trade. A replacement Super Bowl ring in exchange for some computer security work I’ll be doing for the Stars this winter.”

“Pipe, I don’t give a damn about that ring.”

“You’d better give a damn!” she exclaimed. “Because now I’ll have to give up all my Bears T-shirts for real.”

He laughed. “It’s a good thing you’re tough.”

Not so tough. But tough enough. Because once you married a champion, you had to be ready to play at the top of your game.

Epilogue