Page 82 of Made for You
I beamed at him, happiness barraging me so viscerally, it had to escape through a laugh. I loved how unafraid he was to admit he didn’t understand. It struck me as such a rare quality in a man who had so much confidence, and yet didn’t that explain it? He had confidence in himself and what he knew, so admitting he didn’t know something wasn’t a matter of fear or embarrassment. It was simple fact, and he wasn’t daunted by it.
One more thing to love about him.
“Let’s just say it gives us the reason for two different things to exist in one space.” I looked at him meaningfully. “And even though we’re actually a lot alike in some ways, I like the image that reflects.”
His eyes hooded, and he got that particular look that made my blood heat.
“I love it when you talk about stuff I don’t understand. It’s so freaking hot.”
I burst out laughing. “You’re a very odd man, you know that?”
He feigned confusion. “Why, because I find my future wife to be attractive? I’d say I’m a very lucky man.”
This man.“Well, if you’re lucky, then so am I. The odds might’ve been against us, but I think we’ve got a chance.”
His large, warm hand slid along my arm and up to cradle my jaw. “We’ve got more than a chance, Nik. We’ve got each other.”
EPILOGUE
Bruce
Six months later
Six months after the day Nikki told me she loved me, I got the first clue. She’d tucked the symbols—letters?—into an envelope with nothing on it. Nothing remarkable. White security, sealed with the pull-tab sticky stuff along the edge, no words, no trace of explanation.
But she knew I didn’t need it. I’d memorized Euler’s formula, and I knew its parts even if I still had only a vague sense of how someone would use the thing. What it meant to me was I’d just gotten the green light to propose to Nikki Hastings. I’d gotten, at least in part, the sign that she wanted to go to the next step.
I blew out a breath, anticipation making my lungs tight.
“Okay there, Jaws?” Adam strode in with a stack of papers and eyed me. “Your incision bothering you?”
“No, no, Doc. I’m good. Just… I think I got the go-ahead from Nik.” Just saying it out loud made me feel a little ill from the way the adrenaline cranked through me. My body’s response to the plain envelope and simple black letters cut out of printer paper was far more than I’d expected, and yet, I couldn’t blame it. This was it.Thiswas it.
Adam’s game chuckle had me grinning even harder.
“Glad to hear it. I think we’re all ready for you two to tie the knot.”
I raised a brow. “Yeah? Am I that bad?”
“Beast told me he was going to quit if he had to walk in on you guys sneaking around and whispering sweet nothings in the break room when she drops by again.” His face showed incredible amusement, as I would expect.
“Beast said the phrasesweet nothings? It really must be dire, then.”
We laughed together and I couldn’t stop smiling. “Guess there’s only one thing to be done.”
He nodded and patted the doorframe on his way out. “Guess so.”
* * *
The next bit of the formula came an agonizing three days later. Ki walked up and handed me another envelope.
“This is for you. Also, I approve, obviously. Let me know how I can help.” Then she stalked away but kept glancing back like I wouldn’t notice.
Even though I knew what I’d find, my heart thudded in my ears and my pulse shot through the roof. I fumbled with the seal and removed the letters. Not the rest of it, though—there’d be one last envelope if I had to guess, unless she intended to torture me by doing one letter at a time.
I doubted it. Because she’d seemed anxious to know I’d received her envelope the other day, and when I’d played it cool, she’d been the one flustered. I loved that she was as excited about this as I was. I also loved that she’d made it a bit of a puzzle—no surprise there.
“You know, you could just go ahead and ask her.” Rosie hollered this from her old driveway where she and her boyfriend Amir had just exited her car.
