Adrenaline fueled Kade as he left the Song home. He couldn’t believe what he had just learned. According to her mother, Felicity had a heart condition.

Her mother had been so gracious and quiet and unassuming. He could tell she was a bit overwhelmed when he showed up with Felicity in his arms. She’d directed him to the room nervously, fluttering around them. He’d asked for her cell number so he could check of Felicity later, and she freely gave it to him.

"This dang heart condition. This girl just doesn’t know her limits." She’d said as she wrote it on a piece of paper. “She shouldn’t be out doing this stuff, but she won’t listen to me.” Her mother had shrugged. “She needs to get that other surgery.”

Now, it was all starting to come together. As his driver swerved through the streets of Dallas, back to the freeway, Kade put so many things together. Felicity didn’t date because of her heart condition.

He wanted to throw something at this moment.

One would think he’d be exhausted after a day like today, but he felt more keyed up than he had after they’d won the championship game. A championship ring was good news.

This … he clenched his hand into a fist and slammed it into the back of the seat in front of him.

His driver glanced back, but didn’t say a word.

Crap, why hadn’t she told him? Guilt surged inside him. This was why she had forced him to sign that stupid contract?

Regret pulled through him. And she’d jumped out of a plane and danced like that. That couldn’t be good for her. He cursed and slammed the seat again.

No. No. No.

He was unable to stop thinking about what he knew about her. Her father was an alcoholic. Her mother was a nurse who had almost lost the house. They had a lot of bills. She had lots of bills, and that's why the house had been delinquent. Understanding and compassion rose inside of him, and he felt moisture pooling in his eyes. Her mother had paid her medical bills.

What in the crap? This wasn’t his problem.

This woman.

He thought of kissing her. Idiot. What had he been thinking? He hadn’t thought. If he could have slugged himself, he would have. He cursed again. Why hadn’t he taken Felicity seriously? He thought of insisting they do the faster dance on the boat. She should have told him she couldn’t.

Of course, after meeting and knowing her for even such a short length of time, he knew she wouldn’t. She was stubborn. Determined. Prideful.

Yes, that pride. Maybe that’s what spoke to him the most. The fierce pride in her eyes. Dang it. He thought of how hard she’d worked on this date. To fulfill the agreement. Of how she’d purposely tried to plan things he’d hated.

A million questions went through his mind. What surgery did she need? Why wouldn’t she get it? Was it the money? Well, that wouldn’t be a problem anymore. He had plenty of money.

Unexpectedly, this night had gone from one of the best to making him feel equal parts angst, anger, and terror, like he was on the precipice of going to war. He settled down a bit and sat back in the seat, practicing controlled breathing. It calmed him.

Once again, he saw her playing a concerto in that white dress. Thoughts of her with the kids at McDonalds made him feel soft and gooey inside. He hated it. He felt like an idiot for giving her the “you can change your life” speech on the dinner cruise. She had been doing everything she could to help her mother, and how do you change a heart condition?

He swore and thought of his mother lying in her bed, the cancer eating her from the inside out.

By the time he got home, he’d simmered down but not enough. Peeling off his clothes, he went right to the back of the house and his pool. Tonight, he needed some serious laps.

Jumping in, he pushed out a couple of freestyle laps before moving on to the butterfly. He loved to swim. His father had always joked he could have been the next Michael Phelps if he hadn’t loved football so much.

After getting out of the pool, he rushed to his room and into the shower. The only thing he could think about was he didn’t know a lot about Felicity Song, and what he did wasn’t nearly enough.

Oh no, they weren’t done. If she thought some silly contract would keep him away, she obviously didn’t know him as well as she thought.