When she’d given it to me, I’d almost thought it was a joke. Not that Eloise would ever know that it was the same, but they were identical.
The ring Eloise had bought had spent some time in my drawer upstairs, buried beneath my socks. I just hadn’t been ready to wear a ring again. Especially when it had been so damn familiar.
I’d worn Samantha’s ring.
And it had meant fuck all.
Didn’t it mean more to Eloise that I was here? That she had me wrapped around her own ring finger?
Eloise Eden owned me.
I loved that woman.
I loved her in a way I hadn’t even known existed. A soul-deep, undying love.
Wasn’t it more important that I showed her how I felt? Every day. Every night. From the food I cooked, to the way I worshiped her body.
For fuck’s sake, I cuddled. I let her sleep on top of me every goddamn night, didn’t I?
It was just a ring.
With or without it, I was hers.
But she needed the ring, didn’t she? She needed that symbol. So today, I’d drop it at the jewelry store to get resized. It was a little too tight.
Leaving the porch, I went inside to swap out my sweats for shorts and a clean T-shirt. Then I drove across town to Foster’s gym.
“Hey.” Foster sat in the center of the ring, stretching his hamstrings.
“Hi.” I jerked up my chin, toeing off my shoes before joining him.
Stepping through the ropes always centered me. MMA fights were held in a cage but Foster had always preferred his daily training in a boxing ring, even when we’d lived in Vegas. I felt the same.
Something about the ring, the four corners, the smaller size, grounded me. It allowed me to shut out everything and everyone beyond these imaginary walls.
“How’s it going?” he asked as I took a seat across from him, beginning the regular stretch routine.
“Good. You?”
“It’s good. But I got an interesting call this morning. From that new kid making a name for himself in Vegas.” Foster didn’t need to clarify. We both knew it was the kid who’d tried to hire me. “He told me he approached you about a job. That you turned him down. I think he thought you were staying because of me. He must not know about Eloise.”
When I’d gone to Vegas for that interview, I’d let Foster believe that I’d talked to the kid before Eloise and I had gotten married. That my trip to Vegas was more a courtesy than a serious inquiry.
“I told him I’d train him. He just had to relocate.”
Foster grinned. “I’m glad you’re staying. If you and Eloise had decided to move to Vegas, the Edens might have set up a roadblock on the highway.”
I chuckled.
Maybe someday, if Eloise was all right with it, I’d tell him the whole story. I’d tell him about Vegas. About how Eloise and I had agreed to fake it.
Or maybe not.
Part of me liked that this secret was just ours.
“I need a job,” I told Foster. Not for the money. I could live comfortably off my inheritance for the rest of my life. But I needed something to keep myself occupied.
“You have a job.”
I gave him a flat look. “You’re retired.”
“So?” He shrugged, shoving up to his feet. Then he smacked his stomach. “Talia likes my abs. You can help me keep them.”
I hopped up, reaching out a hand. “How about we just train as friends?”
“Not friends.” He clasped my hand. “Brothers.”
“Brothers.” We were brothers, weren’t we? Foster and I had been brothers long before I’d married Eloise. But damn, I liked that it was official. “All right. Let’s get to work. Keep your woman happy.” And mine too. Eloise liked the definition at my hips.
We spent the next two hours in the ring, sparring and doing drills. Neither of us needed an event, a championship fight, to push ourselves. We trained because it was the outlet we’d both come to rely upon. And when sweat drenched my shirt, when my legs were warm and my muscles loose, Foster and I returned to the mats to stretch and cool down.
“So what kind of job do you want?” he asked.
“Hell if I know.” I wasn’t even sure what kind of opportunities there were in Quincy. “For now, Eloise needs some help at the hotel.”
The Fourth of July had been hectic this past week. The rodeo last weekend had been a unique experience, something I hadn’t thought I’d enjoy. But we’d ended up having a great time. Eloise’s excitement had been contagious. Even with her family there, I’d had fun—probably because I’d sat toward the end of our row with Foster on one side and Eloise on the other.
Even after the celebrations, Quincy was crawling with tourists. The hotel was swamped and that six-hour window between check-out and check-in was pure insanity.
Eloise had given me a crash course in housekeeping and running their industrial washers and dryers so I could contribute. It had been the right decision for her to fire Blaze, especially since she’d told me he caused more work than he actually accomplished. But she still had a part-time hole in her staff, which I had tried to help fill.
“It’s good of you to help her,” Foster said. “Talia said this was the busiest she’s ever seen Quincy or the hotel.”
“Happy to.” It was the truth. I’d never been a man who needed the spotlight. At the moment, I was content to do whatever it took for Eloise to shine.
Was that my calling? I’d never felt like I had some grand purpose in life. I was a man content to help someone else achieve their dreams. First Foster. Then Eloise.
That sounded like a good plan for now.
“Speaking of the hotel,” I said, shoving up to my feet. “I’d better head home and take a shower. Then get downtown to see what’s happening.”
“I think we’re heading that way later.” Foster stood too, following me out of the ring. “Talia wants to eat at Knuckles tonight. You guys want to join us?”
My first reaction was to say no. Cooking Eloise dinner before stealing her away to bed had become the highlight of my day. But maybe she’d like a date. “Yeah. Maybe. Let me talk to Eloise.”
Foster nodded and lifted a hand, waving as I headed outside.
I drove home, hurried through a shower and threw on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt. Then I snagged the ring from the drawer, shoving it in a pocket before I headed to the kitchen to pack a lunch for Eloise and me.
I was about to leave but something stopped me. I turned around in the space, taking in the counters. Had I forgotten something too?
“Huh.” Strange. There was an odd twist in my gut, almost like a sense of dread.
I let the still house sink in. I listened for anything amiss—running water or an uncommon electrical buzz. But the A-frame was quiet. Normal.
Eloise’s forgetfulness must have rubbed off. So I shook away the feeling and headed into town.