Dirty Fighter: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (26 page)

“
A
re you sure
?” I whispered to Diana.

She nodded her head, “I checked three times Amber. The numbers don’t lie.”
I sat back. I couldn’t believe the news that she had just told me. We were sitting in the shop a year after the Grand Nevada. Once Desmond and I had come home, she had been so excited to meet him that she had left work right away.

It was great that she had been so excited; however, leaving your job at a hospital was frowned upon and she was fired. It hadn’t mattered though, business was booming at the shop and I was quickly able to give her a job working the books.

“Wow, I can’t believe it.” I said again, “Its finally done. The shop is paid off.”
She smiled at me, “That’s right, anything after this is just gravy.”

“I don’t know what to do with myself now actually.” I told her earnestly.

“I know what I would do, a long vacation, say, about a year?” she said with a playful wink.

I rolled my eyes, I knew what my sister was talking about but I didn’t know if I was ready for the rest of the world to know. I would have to start talking soon. I heard the men in the shop laughing and recognized a voice above all the rest.

Desmond was there to pick me up for a romantic weekend and I was definitely ready for it. We had both been working so hard at the shop that we needed a little vacation. Maybe Diana was right, maybe I should take a long trip with him.

I kissed my sister on the cheek and dashed from the office to meet Desmond. Things with us were just the same as always. He was still in love with me and I was still in love with him. Everything about our relationship was perfect and I was worried that things were going to change. We had never talked about having more than just what we had now.

“Ready?” he said with a smile.

I nodded my head and followed him out to climb into Theresa—she was the best car in the world and we took her everywhere we went. As we drove through the streets and into the country, I knew that I would have the start talking to him soon. I started with the good news about the shop.

“Really?” he said, as excited as I had been.

“Yep.” I replied.

“So what now? Keep working?” he asked, ready to do anything I wanted.

“I don’t know; I was thinking about taking a real vacation.” I said to him.

“Wow, you taking a vacation? I don’t believe it!” he said playfully.

I laughed, “It was just an idea. Do you have any family you would want to see?”

I knew the answer, but I thought it would be a great way to lead into everything. He looked at me with a strange smile but played along.

“No, not really. You know that I was an only child and my parents died. I mean,” he continued, “I’m sure that I have family somewhere, but I have never known them and I don’t really want to start now. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” I lied. “Have you ever thought about having a family?”

He smiled, “Well, sure I have thought about it. I mean, who wouldn’t want another dozen kids like you running around the shop right? We could put them to work all day and never have to lift a finger again. I mean, I am not pushing you or anything. I think that we should get married or talk about the future before anything like that. Right?”

My heart sank, “Oh. Right.”

“Hey? What’s wrong? Why do you ask?” he asked.

“Well ... um ... I just found out that I’m pregnant.” I said to him softly.

The car skidded and pulled off to the side of the road with a roaring stop. I jerked forward, my hands resting on the dash. I looked at him in shock. I hadn’t expected that sort of reaction but I guess it was my own fault.

You probably shouldn’t tell someone they are going to be a father while they are driving a race car down the road. Looking back, it seemed like a really bad idea.

“Are you kidding?” he asked me.

“No, of course not.” I said to him.

I had hoped that he would be excited but it was starting to look like he was going to be angrier than anything. It broke my heart to think that he wasn’t excited about being a father.

Maybe it wasn’t about being a father. Maybe it was just being the father of my child. I couldn’t believe that though, he loved me and I loved him. A child wouldn’t change that; it would only make our world even better.

“Amber, this is wonderful news!” he said to me in a hushed tone.

“Really?” I said, my heart starting to skip.

“Of course! It makes everything just perfect!” He all but yelled at me.

I was a little confused, I already thought that everything we had was perfect. He was even the one who surprised me with a weekend getaway to celebrate our one-year anniversary.

Everything was going better than planned. He worked at the shop with me, learning as he went and helping as much as he could. It was easy to teach him though. He was such a fast learner that he made working together easy.

Everyone at the shop had loved him as soon as they met him and it was easy to understand why. He was a different person off the track. He was friendly and loving with everyone he met. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of my dad. Even my sister had noticed how much he was like him but on a larger scale. My father had helped all the people that he could, even on his shoestring budget. Desmond didn’t have that problem but it was a secret he kept well.

The only person who knew about his wealth beside me was my sister and she was more than happy to let him help her out. Still, he had wanted to help me and I refused. My father had worked so hard to build the shop and now I was thrilled that I had stuck to my guns about it.

Knowing that I had paid off his shop without any financial help was an amazing feeling. As I looked at him, my eyes filled with joy. He had made me the happiest woman alive and I couldn’t believe I had ever doubted his love for me.

“Amber, the reason why I wanted us to go away this weekend was so that I could ask you something,” he said to me.

I held my breath, I thought I knew where he was going with this but I couldn’t believe it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. When he opened it, I saw a glimmering green emerald. It was absolutely perfect in every way. My heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to beat right out of my chest.

“Amber, will you marry me?” he asked me softly.

I couldn’t find the words to speak. I wanted to scream, yes! I wanted to shout it from the top of the world but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. I couldn’t catch my breath.

Instead, I just nodded my head, tears flowing down my cheeks freely as he slipped the ring from the box and slid it onto my hand. I knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for.

For once in my life, I couldn’t wait to share my personal life with the whole world. I wanted to call my sister and tell her the great news. More than anything though, I just wanted to tell Desmond how much I loved him and how happy he made me. Catching my breath, I looked into his eyes and smiled.

“Desmond, you have made me so happy. We are going to have a wonderful life. I am going to be your wife and our baby will have a loving home. You have given me everything I have ever wanted. I love you so much.” I said to him.

For the first time, I saw tears glistening in his eyes and I wanted to kiss them away. I knew they were tears of joy. It was a joy that I shared with him. Knowing that our world was going to change forever wasn’t frightening anymore. I would have Desmond by my side the entire time and nothing could break us apart. Our future was going to be with each other.

“So, what were you saying about taking a longer vacation?” he asked me.

“Well, I was thinking that, with everything going on, maybe I could leave the shop alone for a while. I think that Diana knows what she is doing. With it paid off, we can leave without having to worry about the bills.

She has really taken a shine to the place too. I have never seen her do so well. Even when she was a nurse, she didn’t thrive as well as she did running the office end of things.” I said to him.

He pulled back out onto the road and smiled, “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I know that you love the shop, and I do too. But, I would really like to spend some time together before everything changes for us, for the better though.”

“I think it will do us a lot of good,” I replied.

“So, did you have anywhere in mind?” he asked me.

I smiled at him, “I hear Nevada is nice this time of year.”

We both laughed as Theresa carried us down the road. It didn’t matter where we were going now, all that mattered was that we were going to be together forever. Desmond, me, the baby and Theresa. The perfect family.