She laughs. "Don't be an idiot. I couldn't be more attracted to you if I tried. You can ruin my panties simply by saying hello, and that's not because of how many muscles you have. It's because you're an amazing, intelligent, sexy man with a fascinating mind and the best heart I've ever known. It has nothing to do with your body."
"Uh huh. Is that why you've been stroking my bicep like a pet?"
She looks at her hand as if it has a mind of its own. "Uh, yes. I just wanted to make your new bicep feel at home, because he's lovely and plump, and ... kind of hot." She leans over and gives it an incredibly sexy open-mouthed kiss. "Welcome, giant bicep. Maybe I wouldn't hate it if you stayed a while."
I narrow my eyes. "You're weird."
"Never said I wasn't." She snuggles into me and traces her fingers over my chest. "So, I get why you tried to bulk up, but why didn't you go as Kirk tonight? Are you too buff to be a Trekker now?"
"Of course not. It's just ..." And here's the part that's hard to explain. "I don't know. I guess I felt like for the first time in my life, I had the body to play a hero, so I wanted to see what it felt like."
"Josh ..." She looks up at me and strokes my cheek. "I hate to break it to you, but pulling on a neoprene body suit doesn't make you a hero. Jumping on a plane to help your best friend run one of the biggest shows of her career does. And helping Connor address his women issues does. And caring enough to urge Erika to follow her heart does. And don't even get me started on the sacrifices you made to help Zoe and Jack through their bullshit tonight. I thought you were going to choke on her lipgloss."
I cringe as I blush for the first time in years. "You saw all of that stuff?"
"Eh. Saw, stalked, eavesdropped. Even caught some of it on my phone. I was like a stealthy ninja, if ninjas had amazing legs and an ass that just won't quit." I slap her ass, and she squeals.
"And you don't mind that I kissed another woman?"
"If you hadn't looked more uncomfortable than a pastor at a porn convention, maybe. But as it was, seeing you do all that stuff tonight just made me love you more. You could have moped around like a self-centered asshole because you were forced to go stag, but you didn't. You chose to make a difference instead."
Okay, this blushing thing is getting worse. I don't like it. My face feels like it’s being barbecued. "I don't know that I chose to make a difference. That's just the way things went."
"No, it's not. You help people every day, and you're just so used to doing it, you don't even notice anymore." She grazes her fingers down to my belly button before coming back up to my chest. Then she repeats the pattern. "Want to know when I first realized I was falling for you?"
"Okay." The way she's stroking my happy trail is making it difficult for me to concentrate, but whatever.
"Do you remember when we were rehearsing Shrew, and the first episode of our horrible Angeliam reality show went to air?"
"Yeah. Back when I lusted after you from afar, because I thought you and Quinn were engaged."
"Well, that night Liam's fangirls came out in droves on social media to abuse me. I was mostly used to being called an ugly whore who should go kill herself, but still. It was particularly vicious while it was being aired. I was here by myself, feeling pretty down, when out of the blue, you called me. You told me to get off the internet and stop reading the ramblings of the intellectually deranged, and then you offered to bring me the ice cream flavor of my choice to cheer me up."
I stroke her arm and smile. "I remember. You turned down the ice cream, but we ended up talking on the phone for hours."
"We did. You were a hero to me that night. And it doesn't matter if you look like a hot geek or a total beefcake, you'll always be my hero. Have no doubt about that."
She pushes up and kisses me, and it's so full of gratitude and adoration, I kick myself for ever doubting her devotion to me. Every man should be as lucky as I am.
She pulls back and gazes into my eyes. "I love you, Joshua Eli Kane. Happy New Year."
I smile and stroke her cheek. "Every year is happy as long as I'm with you, Angela Constance Bell." I kiss her slowly and deeply, and it's so steamy that when we pull apart, my glasses have fogged up.
"Now," I say, as I place my glasses on the nightstand. "How about you go put your Uhura costume back on, and I'll dress up as Kirk so I can explore your final frontier."
She smiles and cringes at the same time. "You better not be talking about anal, young man."
I raise a brow. "It says a lot about you that your mind went straight there. Filthy woman."
"Oh, so you weren't thinking about butt stuff?"
"No, but since you keep bringing it up, maybe I should run out and buy some lube."
She giggles as I climb on top of her and push between her legs, and I'm so damn happy I feel high.
I may have spent most of tonight dressed as one, but superheroes be damned. This magnificent, beautiful, incredible woman loves me totally and unconditionally, and even without special powers, that's enough to make me feel like I could fly.
"Any new year's resolutions you want to share?" I ask as I kiss a spot behind her ear that makes her squirm.
"Yes. Spend less time away from you."