Page 63 of Until Ace

“Mandy,” he calls, gently shaking me to get my attention.

Once I focus back on his beautiful face, I say, “Spend the rest of your life with?”

“No one, baby. That’s the right answer. No one has that right.” His lips quirk a little. “And yes, spend the rest of my life.”

I smile and say, “I think I have a right to say something to that.”

He chuckles, shaking his head, “No, baby, you don’t. You will once I come and ask you a certain question. But for now, you don't have a right to say anything, because that is how I feel. And that’s only for me to feel.” He leans down and kisses me quickly before continuing. “Just so you’ll stop freaking out—which you think you’re doing silently, but your whole body screams it—I love the fact that you think of my house as your home. Because that’s just what it is. Your home.”

My phone sounds with a message alert. I ignore it and focus once again on Ace. “Okay then, I won’t freak out about the fact that I think of this place as my home. But just so you know, about all the other stuff you said and how you feel—” I rise up on my toes, now the one delivering a quick kiss before dropping back to my feet. “—I feel exactly the same. Like I found a man I could spend the rest of my life with, and no one has the right to say anything about it.”

Before I can move from his arms and go to my phone, his hands are in my hair, and Ace is kissing me.

I love all his kisses. And Ace has a plethora of different ones.

This one is no less spectacular. It’s wet, it’s long, and it’s delicious.

But, most of all, it’s a promise.

And it’s a representation of how we both feel.

“I need to know everything!” Mia exclaims the moment my foot passes the threshold of the dealership.

“Good morning, Mia,” I say, pulling my sunglasses down and giving her a look.

She waves her hand in front of my face before grabbing my arm that’s holding the sunglasses and dragging me toward the break room. She stops, turns, and points a finger in my face. “Do not even think about giving me the ice-queen treatment. I want all the details, and I want them now. I could barely wait for you to come in to find out.”

And with that, she turns and resumes hauling me toward the break room.

I giggle and through it say, “I didn’t go through with our plan last night.”

Mia looks back at me, her face falling. Her hand at the door, she asks, “So no sex for you until you couldn’t walk?”

“As you can see, I can walk.” I lean toward her, a smile on my face, and whisper, “But just barely.”

Unfortunately, neither of us heard the door opening. It’s only after someone clears their throat that we both look sideways and are met with an amused Ken and a spitting-daggers-through-her-eyeballs Steph.

“Good morning, Ken,” we chirp simultaneously.

“Ladies,” he murmurs, his lip twitching, and scoots around us. Steph walks slowly after him.

“Ugh, I can’t stand that woman,” Mia grouches under her breath.

My startled eyes shoot to her. “What?”

“Steph.” She shrugs before going in and making a beeline for the coffeemaker. Pulling two mugs her way, she takes the pot off the warmer and starts pouring. “She’s always in a mood. And remember that client of mine? Annie? She and her husband came for over a month, with Annie hoping to get her new car but unfortunately never did. With them, they had their three kids?” she prompts.

She hands me the full mug, and taking it, I nod. “I remember.”

“Well, Steph couldn’t stand the look of them. She said that to me herself. Thought Annie was ‘pathetic,’ looking so tired from having kids hanging off her.”

I gasp, unable to comprehend what she’s saying. I know Steph can’t stand the sight of me, but I thought that was partly my own fault, what with hiding who I am from everyone behind the layer of ice.

“Yeah.” Mia’s lip curls in disgust. “She thinks being a stay-at-home mom is pathetic. Her word.” She looks away and mutters to herself, “She has no idea how much of a real job, a rewarding one but hard work nonetheless, it is. Trust me, once that job is taken away, you would give anything to have it back. Not to mention, when you’re left alone without anyone to lean on, it’s really hard to trust somebody else… or have faith in anything anymore, really.”

I look at Mia hard and remember that her sister went through a rough time. She’s now married to Winston. I haven’t met either of them, and while it was all happening, Mia and I weren't close like we are now. But still, even with the dealership closed after that tornado wreckage, the gossip mill was in full swing, and such was its power that word of Cece and Winston even reached me.

“Your sister?” I ask softly. When she nods, I ask, “Is she okay now?”