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I couldn’t help but laugh. She patted my arm. “I’m just telling the truth. The world’s noticing you, Griffin.”
    She turned around in my arms, placing hers around my neck. “Pretty soon you’ll be too big for little ole’ me.”
    Leaning my forehead against hers, I placed my hands on her hips. “Never. I go where you go and if big isn’t in our plans we don’t go there. That’s really all there is to it.”
    That made her smile. She placed her hands on my cheeks. Kissing her lightly, I lingered a bit before pulling back. “Anyway,” I told her. “I think you underestimate my position in this town. In fact, Mickey pulled me into his office today during my lunch to discuss my image. He brought it up when I went to get the paperwork you asked me to have him look into for the wedding. I set it on the island by the way when you need it.”
    Tilting her head, she frowned. “Your image? What’s wrong with it?”
    I shrugged. “He seems to think I need to work on it. He hired this publicist named Rich to help, and get this, the guy just scored one of my teammates an eight-figure advertising deal with a fragrance company. This dude is on the level. They both want to work on my exposure and gain the public’s interest in me by getting me in front of audiences through similar media opportunities.”
    She thought about that. Reaching over, she stirred a pot of pasta sauce bubbling over the stove with a wooden spoon for a moment. After adding some spices, she pulled the spoon out of it. She gave the sauce on it a quick blow and then cupped her hand under it for me to taste. “Not to sound overly simplistic but can’t the playing speak for itself?”
    With just a simple action, I was reminded of my love for this woman. She, for one, had to seriously be the most adorable thing in the world to feed me this way by blowing on food for me to taste, and two, was completely in sync with me when it came to my career and I loved her for that. I bent to her level. “That’s what I said,” I agreed before taking a taste, and of course it was amazing as she made it.
    “It’s great,” I told her kissing her on the cheek before lounging against the counter. I folded my arms over my chest. “I was hard-pressed to convince them though. They agree I’m doing great on the court, but they think I need more to get me on the level they feel I could be at overall.”
    She set the spoon on the counter, and then lounged back with me, her hands behind her. “What do you think?”
    “If I’m gonna be honest, I haven’t put that much effort into that side of the business. Call me naïve but I thought I could get away without it or at least very little. I figured my playing would get me to where I needed to be. Doing more will take even more man hours than I already put into this thing.”
    What I really meant was it would take more time away from her. I didn’t want that so I couldn’t say it. Turns out I didn’t need to.
    “So that means you’ll be away more,” she paused looking up at me. “Right?”
    Sighing, I felt her words more than I heard them. I brought my arms around her waist. “Baby…”
    She pulled back before I could get closer though she didn’t look mad. “Right? You need to do more, which means you need to be gone more? You can tell me.”
    I didn’t want to but I did. “Right.”
    Reaching up, she placed her hands on my cheeks and that smile of hers got my gut flip flopping in the craziest way. Always did. “Then that’s it. You go big I’m going too. That’s it.”
    God, this girl of mine. “I guess we go big together then?”
    She nodded. “Damn, straight.”
    After she jabbed a finger at me, right in my chest like a badass, I knew that was the end of that discussion. My girl made a decision and it was to be respected. We took dinner into the living room, making the rest of the condo smell just as good as the kitchen. We sat on the couch, drinking wine (though I had a beer) while we ate her