Page 82 of Bar Down

"My lease is up in two months. I thought instead of renewing, maybe I'd buy something. Something with space. Better security. A home office for late night hockey analysis. Maybe room for a dog."

"A dog, huh?"

"Charlie makes a pretty good case for himself."

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. "Marcus Adeyemi, are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Not yet," he said. "But I'm asking if you'd help me find a place I could see us in. Eventually."

"Eventually," she repeated, a smile tugging at her lips.

"I've been running the statistics. Teams with stable home environments show a 6% increase in—"

She kissed him to shut him up. He let her.

When she pulled back, she was full-on grinning. "You had me at real estate listings."

"Really? That was the romantic part for you?"

"Planning a future with spreadsheets and home viewings? That's peak romance in Marcus language."

He laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm serious though. Statistically speaking, you're my best match."

"How romantic," she teased, but her eyes were warm.

"It's more than numbers," he said, voice dropping lower. "It's knowing that no matter what happens—Reed, blackmail, suspensions, whatever comes next—you're the person I want beside me. The only person."

She pressed her forehead against his. "I'd say same, but that would undersell it."

"Try anyway."

Stephanie took a deep breath. "After Boston, I built walls. Made it all about the job. But you came along with your analytical mind and your stubbornness and your bizarre way of making numbers into magic."

"Now you sound like Dmitri."

"And you saw through all of it. You didn't just see the PR director. You saw me." She tucked herself closer against him. "I never thought I'd find safe and exciting in the same person. But here you are."

Marcus kissed her temple, the bridge of her nose, the corner of her mouth. "Here I am. Here we are."

She smiled against his lips. "No crisis. Just us."

"Us," he agreed, pulling her fully into his arms. "That's the only statistic that matters."

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