Minnie listens to Sutton for a second, and gives me a short nod as she smiles and hangs up. “She’s on her way.”

How is it that I’ve been with Sutton for almost eight months now and yet I still get filled with nervous excitement every time I get ready to see her? Why does she never get old to me, and how can someone own me so completely?

I really don’t want to know the answers to those questions, because in the grand scheme of things, who really gives a f**k? What matters is that Sutton is mine and I’m getting ready to makes sure that’s a permanent deal.

The door to the back office area opens with a squeak and a groan, and then Sutton steps through. She’s wearing a lightweight blue linen dress that is sleeveless and silver sandals. Her hair is up in a ponytail and she is absolutely stunning. I mean, I saw her in this when she left for work today, but seeing her again…wow! Just wow!

“What are you doing here?” she asks with a welcoming smile. She steps up to me, tilting her face up for the kiss that she knows is coming. I grasp the back of her head lightly and touch my lips to her forehead. No tongue in front of Miss Minnie.

“It’s such a beautiful day outside…thought we’d grab some lunch. Interested?”

“Absolutely,” she says, grinning brilliantly, and we are out the door.

I take her hand in mine and we stroll down South Saunders Street along with all the other downtown workers out to grab something to eat. My nerves are starting to fire up and I hope my hand isn’t sweating.

When we reach Café Lina, the hostess is expecting me, but as planned, she shows not a hint of recognition. Sutton is happily chirping away about talking to Cosmo this morning, and while I’m definitely interested in how he’s doing, my mind is a bit more occupied in making sure everything goes off without a hitch.

We’re shown a table on the outside sidewalk and I make it past the first hurdle, terrified that Sutton will insist on sitting inside. If she had done that…ultimately not a big deal, but it would have made this not as perfect as it could be. I hold out the chair that will have Sutton’s back to the street and, once she’s settled, I take the other chair.

Lunch goes smoothly. I’m able to relax a tiny bit and get my head back in the game where Cosmo is concerned. He’s doing well following this latest stint in rehab and he and Sutton talk frequently. He’s even come over to our house for dinner a few times.

Note how I said “our house.” That’s because I dumped my crappy apartment and moved in with Sutton, at her invitation, about three months ago, just as the hockey season was winding down. We made it through the first round of the playoffs, but when our star goalie, Max Fournier, went out with a groin injury, we just couldn’t hang in the second round and got soundly defeated in just five games.

I was bummed about it for quite a while, but moving in with Sutton made it better. I’ve been busy this off-season bumping up my training. Garrett and I work out together every morning, and on a few sunny Carolina afternoons you’ll find us at one of the local golf courses hacking up the grass. We both suck but are convinced that we’ll get better the more we play.

My nights, though, are the best of all. Sutton comes home from work and I’ll often have dinner ready—yes, I’ve been learning to cook…well, grill, mostly. We’ll eat on her back deck and she’ll tell me about her day at work. I’ll regale her with the dirty jokes that Garrett told me, which usually has her nose wrinkled in distaste. Sometimes we’ll just sit outside and talk for hours. Sometimes we’ll play a game or even watch TV. Nine and a half times out of ten, though, we’ll end the evening with me pounding away inside of her beautiful body and then falling asleep in each other’s arms.

Fuck, but I love this girl so much.

“Was your dad able to call you today?” Sutton asks and brings my head back into focus and away from the sex-filled images that were just clustered in my brain.

“Yeah,” I say as I motion for our waitress to come over to the table. “But let’s get some dessert first, then I’ll tell you all about it.”

“No, thanks,” she says just before wiping her mouth and then putting her napkin on her plate.

“No, thanks?” I say with an eyebrow cocked at her. “This is Café Lina. They make your favorite dessert—chocolate ten-layer cake.”

“I know but you’re always plying me with chocolate. I’m going to look like a hippo if you don’t stop.”

An image comes to my mind of Sutton pregnant, her tummy round and her walk bordering on a waddle. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and I hope she wants more than one kid. But no time to think of that now. I have to get Sutton back on track with my plans today.

“Baby,” I say as I lean in close to her ear, my voice dropping low so the waitress can’t hear me. “One slice of your favorite dessert in the world isn’t going to kill you. Besides, I’ll help you work it off tonight. You can be on top.”

Sutton’s eyes go wide, her nostrils flare a little and her mouth opens on a soft gasp. I don’t give her control often so this is indeed a special day.

“Okay,” she says with rough desire, and f**k, I want to haul her out of here right now and take her home.

Turning to the waitress, I hold up two fingers. “Two slices of your chocolate cake.”

The cake is brought out quickly and the waitress shoots me a sly wink as she sets Sutton’s down in front of her. Then I tell her all about my conversation with my dad this morning. He’s back in rehab, but this is a good thing. He’s entering his third month and he’s committed to completing the program. He understands that by leaving early the last time, he left a lot of helpful coping skills and tactics behind that he had not had a chance to learn. Sutton and I are planning to fly up in a couple of weeks to see him.