Nico chuckles. “That’s because it is different, Babe.”

“It’s a women’s gym?”

“Sort of.” Pushing his body from the door frame, Nico walks to me. I stand and watch as he comes towards me, knowing he won’t leave any distance between us, he’ll invade my space. And he does. He stops directly in front of me, close enough so that the hairs on my arms raise and my body responds to his nearness. I’ll never tire of what this man does to me.

Nico wraps his hand around my neck, pulling me in for a quick kiss on the lips, releasing me only enough so I can see his face, but our bodies are still touching when he continues. “This is the new women’s self defense center. I worked it out with Janna over at the battered women’s shelter you volunteer at. I’m going to teach classes three nights a week, after the fight gym closes, get women to learn how to defend themselves.”

I don’t know what to say for a minute, it’s rare I’m actually rendered speechless. Nico doesn’t move. Instead he waits, giving me time to collect my thoughts. His thumb rubs soothingly up and down the back of my neck while I let it all sink in. “You did this for me?” The words come out as a whisper, a thought that escaped my mouth.

“I did it for us. I couldn’t be there for you and your mom when you needed help. I know it makes no sense, but I’ll never forgive myself for not being there for you then. But I can try to be there for the next woman who needs to defend herself.” Nico pauses, searching my eyes for something intently. “You changed my life, gave me peace. I promised you I’d spend the rest of my life trying to give back to you what you gave me. This is just the start.”

“I…I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you like it, Babe.”

“I like it, Babe.” I smile up at the towering tough guy looking down at me so sweetly.

“That’s good. Because you’re going to be my assistant.” He grins like a Cheshire cat.

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “I am?”

“Yep, I’m going to put my hands all over that body of yours in the front of the room and you’re going to kick my ass.”

I reach up, locking my hands behind his neck. Doing my best impression of serious, “I’m not sure I can do that.”

Nico looks concerned and for a second I feel badly for screwing with him.

“I’m sorry, Babe, if it’s too hard…”

“Oh, if it’s hard, I’m definitely not sure I can do it…” I grin.

A look of relief passes over his face, but it’s replaced quickly by something else…and that something else looks devilish. “Oh, it’s always hard for you, Babe.” He yanks me tighter against him, demonstrating his words are spoken with truth as I feel his thick erection push into me. “Let’s go christen our new office.”

“Our new office?”

“Yep, I was going to give you the full tour, but now that’s going to have to wait till later. Much later.”

And we do. We christen the new office…and the new supply room, and the floor…

***

Three more months later…

Elle

So much has changed in the past year. Nico is still the champion, but now we celebrate after a fight. We’ve started a new tradition of having a party the night after a win at Nico’s gym. Neither one of us looks back to the time where winning a fight only caused pain.

My mom even came to the party tonight. She wasn’t ready to see the fight, but we’re working our way up to it. Baby steps, no more running backwards. I watch as Nico’s crazy nephews spar in the ring wearing head gear three sizes too big for them. Preach, of course, in one corner with one eight year old, and Nico coaching in the other. And the ref? Well that’s Vinny, of course.

Tonight we’re going to tell our families that we’re getting married. I wish I had a romantic story to share, maybe that he proposed on a hot air balloon ride, or slipped a fortune requesting my hand in marriage into a fortune cookie. But I’ve agreed to marry Nico, the black and blue, hotter than hell heavyweight champion, not some pansy Price Charming. So instead, for the rest of my life I’ll blush when I think of how the man I’m crazy in love with proposed to me.

***

Nico

There’s not a dry damn eye in the house when I announce that Elle agreed to marry me last night. She made me swear not to share that I f**ked her into agreeing to marry me. But damn if she didn’t scream yes at least a half dozen times as her orgasm took us both over the edge last night.

It might not have been traditional, but it’s the way I want to remember the happiest moment of my life, so to hell with tradition…we’ll make our own. I had flowers and a bent down on one knee proposal all planned out for today before the party, but like a good fighter, I saw the moment, changed things up on the fly, and went for it. I couldn’t help myself. I walked into my bedroom and she was laying in bed and smiled up at me. With the sun setting, the red sky filtered in through the open window and cast a shadow around her. And there she was again. My angel. So I made love to her and told her how I felt. That I’d never been happier in my life, that she was my angel and I wanted to wake up to her every day for the rest of my life. Give her my name and make it official, although in my heart it was already a done deal.

The women surround her and ooh and aah at her ring and start asking her a million questions about the wedding, even though it just happened last night. She catches me staring and smiles at me. It’s her big goofy smile, the one that I know she can’t fake… and it’s all for me. Two years ago, I didn’t think I’d ever have peace in my life again. But today as I look around the room, I realize I have so much more. I may not ever accept I deserve what I have, but it’s mine all the same. I smile back at Elle as Preach approaches me, slapping his arm on my shoulder as he stands next to me taking everything I’m seeing in.

“You’re one lucky bastard.” The old man has a way with words.

“I sure am. And I’ll never forget it again.”

***

Eight more months later…

Elle

I’m still floating after the last few days. Our wedding was everything I could have dreamed of, and then some. I’ll never forget the look on Nico’s face when our eyes locked as I stood at the back of the aisle. There had to be at least two hundred people who turned to watch me take the slow walk down to the altar, but I didn’t see a single one of them. Everything else became a blur, except the smile on Nico’s face. The face that watched my every step was crystal clear to me, showing every emotion he was feeling. Emotions that mirrored mine. Emotions that I finally welcomed.

The sound of the waves hitting the beach as we walk fills my ears. Warm water wets my feet with every wave and I can’t wait for it to wash over me again when it recedes. Kauai is beautiful, a perfect place for a honeymoon. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the handsome face that smiles at me as we walk hand in hand down the beach in the late afternoon sun.

Then I catch a glimpse of my shadow, and what I see takes my breath away. I’m no longer running from something that doesn’t exist. I don’t have to. I don’t see my own ghost in a shadow when I look down, I see Nico. His shadow looms over us both. It’s big and it’s bold and it towers over mine protectively. Just like the man.