Page 50 of Irresistibly Wicked

“You read it. I need ice cream.” He picked up his spoon and dug into the ice cream.

She rolled her eyes. “It says to identify financial and personal property, but I don’t want to know how much money you have.”

“That’s good because I have no idea. Write down your inheritance.”

“That’s going to you.”

“I want it listed as yours. I trust you to pay me back.”

She wrote it down to appease him.

“What else do you have?” he asked.

“Not much. My car and the gold bracelet Cap gave me to commemorate my first year of sobriety.”

“Write that down. It sounds special.”

“It is. It’s really pretty, too. It has a triangular charm with a lotus flower on the front to symbolize new beginnings. But what makes it so special is that Cap had I believe in you engraved on the back. That may not seem like much, but I worked really hard to better myself, and no one ever told me they were proud of me like that before. I doubt it’s worth much. Maybe it shouldn’t go on the list.”

“I saw that bracelet in a picture of you and Brian in his room. A gift like that is priceless regardless of what it cost.” Zander glanced at her wrist. “Why aren’t you wearing it?”

“I don’t wear it to work, and with everything that’s happened, I forgot to put it back on.”

“You should wear it when we get married, so you have it in the pictures.”

She liked that he’d thought of that. “I left it at the cottage.”

“We’ll stop by and get it on the way home. You should have it with you, since there’s nobody staying at your place.”

“Good point. I need my jewelry box anyway to put this ring in until I figure out how to tell the guys at work what’s going on.”

“Just flash the ring and say you’re tying the knot. What’s next on the list? Personal property, right? I’ve got Kitty—”

“Kitty is not personal property.”

“She’s the most valuable thing I have,” he argued. “If something happens to me, as my wife, you’ll have to take care of her.” He pointed to the napkin. “Write that down.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.”

“I’ve got scars that prove anything is possible. Promise me you’ll take care of her, or I’ll need to rethink this marriage.”

“Of course I’ll take care of her.” She tapped the crayon on the napkin, an uncomfortable thought rolling through her mind. “What if something happens to me while Brian’s in rehab? I know this is a lot to ask, but will you make sure he gets through it okay? You don’t have to stick around afterward, but—”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation, shocking her.

“You’d really do that?”

“I said I would, didn’t I? The guy’s got nobody but you. If ever he needed help, it’d be then. I wouldn’t leave him hanging, either. That’s not how I roll. I’d make sure he got to meetings and whatever he needed.”

Part of her felt like all of this was too good to be true and she should expect a shoe to drop. She looked down at the tattoo on her hand. He’d come out of nowhere before, and he’d helped to change her life. She thought about Cap and how he’d done the same. Maybe there was something to fate. Zander had shown her who he was back then, and now. Brian was finally getting the help he needed. Help she could not have gotten him on her own, so she pushed the whispers of doubt away and counted herself lucky.

“I told you you’re not an asshole.” She ate a spoonful of ice cream.

“Don’t count your chickens.” He tapped the napkin again. “Write down Kitty.”

She rolled her eyes, and as she wrote it, she said, “What other personal property do you have? And please don’t say another living creature, or I’m going to have to report you to the authorities.”

“No more living creatures. Just my truck, my bike, my speedboat, and my house. One day I’ll get another sports car, but until then, that’s it.”