Slamdunked By Love (One on One #2) (17 page)

Epilogue

Next June

B
rady and Caitlin stepped out of the elevator and headed to his front door.

She stopped in front of him, practically bouncing in excitement. “Hey, Brady, guess what?”

He grinned. “What?”

“You’re an NBA champion.”

“I am, aren’t I?” He hadn’t stopped smiling since the last seconds ticked away in Game 6 against the Chicago Bulls, and the reality had sunk in. For the first time ever, he could call himself a champion. And it felt about a million times better than he’d ever imagined. The only thing—person—to ever make him feel better stood in front of him.

Adrenaline still coursed through his veins. He felt like he could go play another three games in a row and never run out of energy. It was two a.m., and he didn’t give a damn. After the trophy presentation, the team had convened at a club not far from the arena and partied with fans. The best night of his life.

“You sure you didn’t want to stay at the club?” she asked, concern filling her eyes.

His teammates were still there and would be until the sun came up. He regretted nothing. “Positive. I couldn’t wait to be alone with you. Come here, baby.”

She surprised him by jumping into his arms. He caught her with a small
oomph
and a louder laugh. She pressed that tight, curvy body into him, her breasts pushing against his chest. The smell of peaches intoxicated him, as always. She pressed kisses all over his face. “I’m so, so happy for you. No one deserves it more. I love you, Brady.”

“I love you, too, but I’d love you more if you did one thing for me.”

She leaned back. “What?”

“Kiss my mouth, not my nose and cheeks.”

She pretended to ponder his request for a second. “Okay, I guess I can do that.”

Her kiss always took him out of his mind, punched him in the gut. This time was no different. He groaned when she ended the kiss.

“Hey, I just had a thought,” she said. “Can I get a ring, too? Championship rings are so gaudy and completely ridiculous. I must have one. As a long-suffering fan and an unofficial assistant coach, I think I deserve one.”

He set her on her feet. “You do, do you?”

She nodded, her excitement and desire and love for him shining brightly in the brown eyes he’d never get tired of staring into. “I do. So can I have one?”

He unlocked the door. “I’m sure that can be arranged, but…”

“But what?”

He gestured for her to precede him into the condo. Caitlin stepped inside and gasped. Red rose petals covered the floor of his condo. Several candles were lit around the room, casting the room with an aromatic, romantic glow.

“Brady, what’s going on?” A tremor had entered her voice.

“I can get you a championship ring, but I’m hoping you’ll want to wear another ring instead.” He dropped to his knee and pulled out the box he’d been carrying with him all day from his jacket pocket. He flipped it open to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. “I knew when I woke up this morning that I would be a champion by the end of the night and that I’d be asking the most beautiful, most caring woman I’ve ever known to spend the rest of her life with me.” He’d never been surer of anything in his life. “Caitlin Monroe, I love you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and making me the luckiest man on earth?”

She gasped and covered her face with shaking hands. “Thank God you didn’t propose to me at the arena.”

He laughed. He’d thought about declaring his love in front of nineteen thousand of their closest friends, but he’d known she’d hate it. “No, this was too special a moment, only meant for both of us.”

“You know me so well.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “I do, which is why I know you’re torturing me by not answering my question.”

She tapped her chin. “You might be on to something. And also because you already know the answer. Yes, yes, of course I’ll marry you!”

His hands shaking, Brady slipped the ring on her finger and rose. He entwined their fingers and drew her to him. “Thank you for making me believe in what I was so sure didn’t exist. I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving you right for taking a chance on me.”

She pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth that warmed every spot in his body. “This is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

“Pirate jokes and sugar cookies, I hope.”

She hugged him tight. “You can count on it.”

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Acknowledgments

Thank you to every reader who gave a brand-new author a chance. It gives me a thrill every time one of you reaches out to tell me you enjoyed my book. I love writing and sharing my stories with the world. I couldn’t do it without you.

I didn’t tell most people that I wrote until my first book was published because, to me, there was nothing to tell. To all my family and friends, I love y’all! Thank you so much for all the support after I outed myself. LOL. And please don’t take it personally that I didn’t tell you.

Thank you Gwen Hayes, my first editor. I love this book, and it wouldn’t have happened without you pushing me to come up with the best book I could.

Thank you to my current editor, Tracy Montoya. You took me on sight unread, and it’s been a fabulous partnership so far. Your thoughtful edits made this book so much better. Thank you for your patience. Here’s to many more books together!

To my writing friends Roni Loren, Dawn Alexander, Genny Wilson, Piper Huguley, Tracey Livesay, the Firebirds, and so many more, thank you, thank you! You keep me entertained. You give me someone to whine to. You understand.

About the Author

Jamie Wesley
has been reading romance novels since she was about 12, when her mother left a romance novel, which a friend had given her, on the nightstand. Jamie read it instead, and the rest is history.

She started her first manuscript, a contemporary romance, after she graduated from Northwestern University in 2002 and couldn’t find a job. Life got in the way as it often does, i.e. she found a job, and she didn’t finish the story. However, she never forgot about it and finally got serious about completing it in 2009. And then she finished a few more stories. In 2012, her manuscript, TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD, was named a finalist in RWA’s Golden Heart competition and was published by Entangled Publishing in 2014.

Jamie holds a master’s degree in sport management (yes, that’s a real thing :-) ) from the University of Texas at Austin, so it probably comes as no surprise that she loves sports and spends an inordinate amount of time rooting for her hometown Dallas’s pro sports teams and her alma maters.

If you’d like to find out about new releases and get exclusive excerpts, sign up for Jamie’s mailing list
here
. Jamie can also be found at
www.jamiewesley.com
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Twitter:
@Jamie_Wesley

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Catch up on Jamie Wesley’s
One-On-One
series…

Tell Me Something Good

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