by J. S. Scott
She knew they’d just called her name, and she stepped out onto the slick surface, taking a warm-up lap before taking her posed position facing Micah.
All she had to do was wait for his signal to start.
I love you. He mouthed the words right before giving her the okay to start.
It seemed so strange for her world to be completely silent when she knew, between the arena and viewers on the TV, she had millions of people watching her. There was a full audience, yet she couldn’t hear a single one of them yelling or clapping from the stands.
Peace flowed over her soul as she got caught up in the joy of skating, her movements flowing as she set up for her first jump combination.
She landed the two jumps in succession flawlessly, effortlessly, growing more confident as she made move after move without a problem.
Checking Micah’s signals, she knew that she was flowing with the music, even as she picked up the tempo, doing a few choreographed sassy little moves as the speed of her routine grew faster.
Throughout the performance, she skated with happiness, a joy like she’d never experienced, trying to use her body to convey her emotions.
I have a man who loves me exactly as I am.
That realization freed her, elevated her until she felt like she was flying as she leapt into the air for her final jump, landing it lightly and perfectly.
She was panting and out of breath as she finished the routine with her usual flamboyant stance, holding the position for a moment before she covered her face with her hands and cried.
I did it. I finished without a flaw.
She made a small circle, her hands still over her face. Then, she made herself move her hands and started waving to a crowd who were all on their feet, even though everything was silent.
The air in the stadium vibrated with enthusiasm and excitement. She couldn’t hear it, but she could feel it.
Tessa startled as a body slammed against her, and she turned quickly only to realize it was Micah. He was on his skates, an enormous bouquet of roses in his arms.
“These are for you,” he told her, laying all but one carefully on the ice. “This one is from me.”
She reached out to take it with a tearful smile on her face, not noticing there was something attached as she accepted the gift from him. Then, when she had it in her hand, she saw it. Simultaneously, Micah dropped onto the ice on one knee, looking up at her.
He started to sign, putting emphasis on every movement he made.
I. Love. You. You bared yourself completely to me, and now I’m doing the same thing. Please put me out of my misery and marry me. Be with me forever. I promise I’ll stay beside you whatever our future holds.
She looked from him to the rose in her hand, realizing that there was a beautiful diamond ring on the stem of the flower.
She looked at him with her heart in her eyes, knowing he was risking everything by coming out here in front of millions of people and placing his heart in her hands. He was willing to make himself as vulnerable to her as she had to him. He was just doing it in a different way.
“Oh, my God.” Tessa put a hand over her face and started to cry again, her heart racing with excitement and her nerves so raw that she couldn’t help but cry.
“Don’t cry, Tessa.” Micah rose up as he signed.
She dropped her hands and gaped at him. “You really want to marry me?”
He grinned. “I really, really do.” He nodded to the crowd. “I think they just realized that you’re deaf. They’re so loud that I can’t hear a thing.”
“Welcome to my world,” she answered with an enormous expression of joy on her face.
Micah reached out and slid the ring down the stem and held it out to her. “Well, I’m making a total ass out of myself right now. Are you going to marry me or not?”
Her hand trembled as she stuck it out. “How can I say no? There are millions of people watching,” she teased.
“Don’t say yes because you think you have to. Say yes only if you want this as much as I do,” Micah answered with a grim expression.
“Then, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.” She told him happily, “I want to be with you forever. I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
“I don’t want to imagine life without you, Tessa,” Micah answered as he slid the gorgeous diamond on her finger.
She admired it for a moment, the beautiful platinum band with an enormous diamond in the center and a circle of smaller stones around the centerpiece.
Tessa took the rose and flung herself at her new fiancé, a man so strong and powerful, yet so vulnerable at the same time. “I love you,” she told him before she hugged him tightly.
He tipped her chin up, his eyes a stormy sea of emotions as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “Your devoted audience is chanting for a kiss.”
“Then don’t disappoint them,” she murmured, staring back at him lovingly.
He swooped down and kissed her, right there in front of millions of people, but he didn’t seem to care. He kissed her until she was breathless again, her heart ready to burst from her chest.
When he finally released her, he advised, “Wave to your crowd, sweetheart. They’re going crazy. They all adore you, especially now that they know that even with challenges to overcome, you skated like an angel. You were amazing.”
She faced the audience in each direction, waving enthusiastically with an ecstatic expression that she couldn’t hide even if she wanted to.
Young skaters were coming to collect the flowers that had been thrown onto the ice by fervent observers as Micah took her hand and led her slowly to the exit.
He held the door open and allowed her to get out of the rink first. She nearly bumped into the next performer. “I’m so sorry,” she muttered, looking up as she apologized.
She cringed as she saw Rick standing behind one of her former female competitors, Shannon, a woman she’d never liked because of her cruelty to all of the other women in her profession. The female skater had medaled in the same Olympics that Tessa had; she’d gotten the bronze.
“Theresa,” the dark-haired female acknowledged. “You could watch where you’re going.”
“Now, darling. Don’t get upset. She is dealing with a handicap,” Rick said rudely.
Micah moved in front of her. “Shut the fuck up or I’ll lay you out on the floor in so much pain, you’ll wish you were dead.”
Tessa moved to Micah’s side. “Don’t.” She grabbed his hand. “He’s not worth it.”
“Aiming your aspirations a little low, aren’t you, Sinclair?” Rick asked drily.
Micah lunged and grasped Rick by the collar of his polo shirt. “Honestly, I think she’s way too good for me, but for some reason she wants to marry me anyway,” Micah said with what appeared to be a growl. “Get the fuck out of my event.”
“I have a ticket. I came to see my new girlfriend skate,” Rick protested.
Shannon ignored the two men when her name was called and stepped out onto the ice. Then, as she approached the middle of the rink, she got tripped up and fell on her ass before she’d even started her routine.
Tessa bit her lip to keep from smiling.
Is it so bad of me to be happy that an old member of my team took a fall?
Her ex-teammate got to her feet with a volatile look on her face, and Tessa decided she didn’t care if she was being bad or not. She smiled.
Micah pulled his arm back and smashed Rick hard in the face, watching as the man hit the floor. “There. Now both you and your girlfriend have fallen on your asses,” Micah said with a smirk. “Karma can really be a bitch sometimes,” he added nonchalantly. “Enjoy the show. I’ve seen everything I care about.”
Tessa followed Micah back to the preparation room they’d been in before the performance. He tugged her inside and closed the door behind him.
She found herself immediately boxed in, Micah pinning her to the door. “How in the hell did you ever put up with that jackass?”
&
nbsp; Honestly, now Tessa didn’t know exactly why she’d stayed with Rick for so long. “Maybe because he was all I ever knew,” she said breathlessly, looking into the eyes of the man who would belong to her forever. “I didn’t know what love was back then.”
“So you think you do now?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes. It’s a man who sees me as beautiful no matter what. It’s a man who challenges me and doesn’t treat me like I’m different or like I have limitations. It’s a man who is willing to make himself vulnerable to me, even though it’s not a comfortable position at all for a powerful man to be in.” Tessa sighed. “For me, that’s you, my love.”
His expression still fierce, he leaned his forehead against hers and rested there for a moment before he lifted his head again.
“You are beautiful. But you are different—different from any woman I’ve ever known. You were amazing tonight, Tessa. Not amazing considering you’re deaf. You were just amazing.”
Her heart thumped as he gazed down at her with a look of love in his eyes, an expression that she hoped would never go away. She said, “I wonder why it is that you showed up just when I needed you so much, just when I was ready.”
He grinned. “Because Beatrice’s stone cleared our pathway?” he asked.
“Maybe. I can almost believe that we were thrown together now for a reason. Maybe I wasn’t ready before. But I am now.”
She circled her arms around his neck and urged him down to her.
“How ready?” he asked almost hesitantly.
“Very ready,” she concluded, her expression sensual.
He grasped her ass and pulled her body against him. “Show me,” he insisted.
He was challenging her, and she knew she was in trouble. “Okay,” she agreed, knowing she’d always rise to his challenges—simply because she wanted to.
And so, right there in the tiny room, she did everything she could to rock his world. She let go of any inhibitions she had, her adrenaline still pumping through her body from her performance and Micah’s proposal.
A little while later, completely sated, Micah declared defeat and told her he was completely persuaded that she really was ready to open her heart completely, and he was damn grateful for that.
EPILOGUE
A Few Weeks Later
Tessa looked slowly around the enormous, ridiculously ornate table, realizing that everyone she really cared about was here. Micah had wanted a Vegas wedding, but then backed down because he thought she deserved the wedding of her dreams.
Little did he realize, he was her dream. She hadn’t cared about the wedding just as long as they had family and friends attending. So once she’d convinced Micah that it didn’t matter to her where they got married, there was no stopping him.
They’d wed in one of the prettiest chapels in Las Vegas, and the wedding dinner she was currently attending had everybody present that she really needed. Liam was here, seated right across from Micah. Dante, Grady, Jared, Jason, and Evan were all sitting next to their wives, and Julian was sitting next to Kristin, the two of them appearing to be in an argument, a common occurrence for those two these days.
Tessa sighed, and Micah squeezed her hand under the table. She turned and looked at him, still astonished that she was now married to this wonderful man who had changed her life in so many ways.
“Having second thoughts?” he joked.
She shook her head. “Not for even an instant. I was just thinking that just about everything that matters to me is here.”
Micah’s expression turned more serious. “Me too.”
“I’m so sorry Xander couldn’t be here,” she told him softly. Micah’s brother was, thankfully, still in the rehab center.
“I’m not. I’m damn grateful he’s still in rehab. Hopefully he’ll stay there. It’s the best wedding gift he could give me.” He hesitated before asking, “Are you nervous about going back to New York?”
Tessa was returning to New York with Micah to start her implant procedure. They’d stay there for a while as she went through the process and Micah tried to rearrange the hierarchy in his company to function better with him living out of state. If he’d wanted to, she would have stayed with him in New York in a heartbeat. But Micah being Micah, he’d told her that location didn’t matter to him, and he liked Amesport. The builders on his property had made great progress, and he wanted to make Amesport his home, even though it would mean some frequent trips to New York for business.
She looked up into his eyes, her heart tripping as she noticed his worried expression. A man in a tuxedo shouldn’t look so serious. Especially not a man like Micah. Neither one of them had changed clothing, and she was still wearing the glorious wedding dress she’d purchased when they were in New York.
Lifting her palm to his cheek, she explained, “I’m not afraid, Micah. It’s not a dangerous procedure, and I know you won’t stop loving me if I’m not perfect or the implants aren’t successful for some reason.”
“You’re already fucking perfect,” he told her, a stubborn expression on his face. “I don’t give a shit if you don’t hear my voice.”
Stroking a finger down his cheek, she said, “I already know your voice. I hear it in my head every day, sometimes when you aren’t even in the same room with me. For me, you already have a voice. It’s kind, bold, sometimes arrogant, but always sexy.”
“Good.” He nodded. “But what happens if I sound like a dick when you get your hearing back again?” He lifted a brow as he stared at her.
Tessa snorted. “Your voice doesn’t come from here.” She touched his mouth. “It comes from here.” She touched his heart. “And here.” She touched his temple. “And maybe a little bit from here.” She took her hand from his under the table and trailed her fingers up his thigh and to his cock. Then she squeezed the already-erect member with her fingers, smiling sweetly at him at the same time.
“You’ll pay later, woman,” Micah warned her.
“Oh, I hope so,” she replied, slowly taking her hand away from his groin and joining their fingers together again.
“I think it’s time to find our honeymoon suite.”
Tessa chuckled. “We haven’t even eaten yet.”
Payback!
He shot her a hungry look that had nothing to do with food and everything to do with making her his dinner as he said, “I’ll eat what I want in the suite.”
He tore his eyes away to look across the table, and he squeezed her hand as Randi stood and tapped her spoon on her champagne glass, asking for silence.
Tessa found it amusing that for her, everything was already dead quiet.
She watched as Randi straightened her dress, then looked directly at Tessa as she spoke and signed her words. “Evan and Julian don’t want to speak, so I’m doing the newlywed toast. Tessa and I have known each other since we were kids. Because she was so dedicated to figure skating, she didn’t have a normal childhood or adolescence. I’ve watched her triumphs and then her heartache, something she took with more courage than I think I would have if I were her. She’s resilient, talented, and she deserves every bit of happiness she has right now with Micah. I was always happy to have her back, and always grateful to have her stand behind me when I needed her. So here’s to one of the kindest, most faithful friends I’ve ever known. Here’s to Tessa and Micah. We all wish you as much happiness as we’ve found.” Randi reached down for Evan’s hand, then picked up and raised her glass as everyone else did the same.
Julian stood. “To Micah and Tessa. I love you both, bro, or there’s no way I’d have flown here before I had to fly away to another damn movie shoot.” He lifted his glass and drained it as everyone else sipped from their glasses.
Kristin grabbed the edge of Julian’s tuxedo jacket and jerked him back into his seat.
Tessa stood and walked around the table to Randi, giving her a huge hug for her sweet words before returning to her seat.
“What’s wrong with Julian? He doesn’t look happy,” she
asked Micah as she sat back down. “And why are he and Kristin having words again? Why does he dislike her so much?”
Tessa wasn’t close enough to see what they were saying, but she could tell from the irritated expressions on Julian’s and Kristin’s faces that whatever they were saying wasn’t pleasant.
“I have no idea,” Micah answered. “But I don’t think he exactly dislikes her. Just the opposite, I suspect.”
Tessa’s eyes left Micah’s face and she looked at Julian and Kristin again. Granted, Beatrice had given them the stones, but surely that wasn’t going to happen if they disliked each other so much . . .
Micah put a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll figure it out. Besides, Julian’s on my shit list right now. He told me that he was the one who informed the Fund where to find you. It seems that he recognized you the first time he saw you. In his defense, he didn’t know that you didn’t skate anymore, and he thought he was doing a good thing for both you and the Sinclair Fund. But I’d still like to kick his ass for outing your location.”
“He recognized me?” That surprised Tessa. “I’m not angry at him. I’m glad. I owe him. That invitation led to a lot of good things for me,” she told Micah with a sultry smile.
He nodded toward the plates being placed in front of them. “Our dinner is here. Eat well. I might not let you out of our suite for a while.”
All it took was that single comment for Tessa to be unable to clear her mind of sensual images all through dinner, and then again during the wedding cake.
She laughed as Homer stuck his head out from under the table, reminding her that he was there as she ate her cake. Her furry friend had a sweet tooth, and she snuck him a bite of the cake, sticking her hand under the table as the canine quickly devoured the sweet treat and licked her fingers.
Watching as Homer moved from her side and situated himself between her and Micah, she saw her new husband do exactly the same thing she’d done, except he’d slipped her dog nearly an entire piece of the sugary treat.
No matter how much Micah tried to play the tough guy, his heart would never be hard. He was a guy who had as many facets as the beautiful diamond on her finger, every one of them special, every one part of him. Combined, they made up the man that Micah was now, and she loved every one of those sides of the man she’d married.