Earning a Ring (More Than a Game Series Book 4)

by Kristina Mathews

  But in this era of social media, twenty-four-seven sports coverage, and all-access celebrity gossip, those days were as long gone as a ten-cent hot dog.

  Rachel did her job, stopping to chat with fans around the ballpark. Many of them congratulated her on the engagement, and it seemed like they were genuinely happy for her.

  The game remained scoreless into the eighth inning. As it got closer to the end of the game, Rachel started to get nervous about seeing Bryce after the final out. She hoped to interview him, because that would mean he’d contributed to the win and she’d have something to talk to him about besides the idea of planning their wedding on camera.

  With a runner on third, Bryce stepped to the plate in the bottom of the inning. He fouled off five pitches before launching one into the left field bleachers. The Goliaths hung on to the two-run lead and sure enough, Rachel interviewed him after the game.

  “That was quite a shot.” Her heart leaped at his success. “You looked like the Bryce Baxter we all know and love.”

  His lips twitched in a naughty grin. She shouldn’t have said “love.” She was talking about the way the fans felt about him, not her, but the smoldering look in his eyes made her regret her choice of words.

  “I just went out there and tried to look for a pitch to hit. I wanted to put the ball in play.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sometimes I get lucky and I get all of it.”

  “We often forget how much luck plays a part in the game.” She tried to keep her comments upbeat, neutral. She couldn’t show her feelings for Bryce, despite what her producer said the fans wanted. “You don’t work any harder on the days you win than on the days you lose. You’re not any less prepared when you go hitless as when you have a three-hit night. And it’s not possible for you to care less about the games now than you did last season.”

  “You’re absolutely right. If anything, I’ve worked harder this season than any other.” He was telling the truth. “Maybe a little too hard. Maybe I need to take a step back, adjust my focus, and my game will get back on track. I do have to say I was much more relaxed tonight than I have been for some time. Thank you for that.”

  A blush heated her cheeks. Now all of Northern California would think she and Bryce had spent a night of passion that led to his home run. Which would mean the next time he struggled at the plate, they would assume she was holding out on him. Why, why, why did he have to throw their so-called relationship out into the public eye? And how was she going to deal with planning a wedding on camera? A wedding she wasn’t sure she’d be able to go through with.

  She finished the interview with a few canned phrases, sincere congratulations, and a smile for the camera.

  Once Carl turned off the live feed, Bryce leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Wait for me in the clubhouse.”

  She simply nodded. There was a time when she’d been granted access only for a limited time before and after games. But as a player’s fiancée, she would be allowed to stay as long as Bryce was there. The line between her professional life and her personal one had become very blurry and she didn’t like it.

  And her producer wanted her to make it even fuzzier.

  * * * *

  Bryce, fresh from the shower, found Rachel waiting for him in the family area of the clubhouse. Her cameraman had left with the other reporters and she was trying to make herself comfortable, but she looked as anxious as she’d been the night she threw up on his car.

  “Everything all right?” He placed a quick kiss on her cheek. He didn’t trust himself to kiss her on the lips, not with a few of his teammates still milling about.

  “You won the game. So that’s good.” She was holding something back.

  “What’s wrong?” He ran his hand down her arm and she shivered. But not in a good way.

  “The whole engagement is spinning out of control.” Her voice was a little unsteady. So unlike her.

  “What do you mean?” Why couldn’t she just tell him what was wrong? She’d never beaten around the bush with him before. Of course, they hadn’t done a lot of talking most of the time, other than right there. And oh yes, just like that.

  “So my producer has this crazy idea that the fans want to be a part of our wedding plans.” She said it as though she had a bad taste in her mouth. “He wants to do a regular segment, following us around as we pick out flowers, taste-test cakes, interview caterers.”

  She looked away, as if she was giving the worst kind of news.

  “That could be fun.” He watched her cringe, and knew she didn’t want to do the show. “But I get the feeling you’re not up for that.”

  “Come on, Bryce. It’s hard enough pretending like we’re a happy couple.” She brushed her hair off her forehead. “And in a couple of months, it’s going to be pretty obvious why we’re faking this engagement.”

  “Who said anything about faking it?” He stepped closer, almost to the point of touching. “I’ve never faked it. And I know you’ve never had to fake it.”

  “I can’t just smile at the camera and pretend that planning a wedding is the most important thing in my life.”

  “Do you not want to plan the wedding in front of the camera?” He knew she’d only said yes to save face. She was scared, that was clear. But he’d hoped she’d come around. “Or do you really not want to plan the wedding at all?”

  She looked stricken, as if she was battling herself over telling the truth or not hurting his feelings. Since most people didn’t believe he had feelings, he was almost flattered.

  “We have choices here, you know.” He tried to keep his voice calm. To not let on that he was hurt by her indecision. “We can tell your boss that our engagement is none of his or anyone else’s business.”

  “You should have thought of that before you popped the question live on camera.” She almost laughed. Almost. “I can’t play the privacy card now.”

  “We can go along with the idea. It could be fun.”

  “Don’t you have something more important to focus on? Like baseball?”

  “Look, I’m not going to leave it all up to you. I want to help.”

  “Yeah. Lot of good that’s done me so far.” She covered her mouth an instant too late to keep from letting her true feelings show. “I’m sorry. I know you really are trying to make the best of things.”

  “What do you want?”

  She closed her eyes, as if she had something in mind, but it was hard for her to ask for it. Again, a side of her he hadn’t encountered in the bedroom.

  “I know what I don’t want.” She spoke softly, almost as though she was afraid to tell him. “I don’t want to have viewers wonder why all the wedding dresses I try on have an Empire waist. I don’t want to spend a fortune on champagne I can’t even sip. And I don’t want to be as big as a house on my wedding day.”

  He looked at her, took in the real despair on her face. But at least she hadn’t said she didn’t want to marry him at all.

  “We could always elope.” He reached for her hand. “We could leave tonight. Reno’s just a few hours away.”

  “You can’t be serious.” She stood there, her hand trembling in his.

  “I think we’ve already determined I can be very serious.” He drew her hand to his lips and kissed her. “I want to marry you. I want to be there for you and the baby. I don’t need to make it a media circus or fancy party. I just want you.”

  * * * *

  Two hours later, they were heading east on Interstate 80. Rachel had fallen asleep before they even got to Fairfield. A good thing, really. A few days ago, Bryce had been feeling sorry for himself. He wasn’t hitting. His defense was crap. They were criticizing him on the radio and TV. Yeah, he’d had problems.

  Like being a selfish son-of-a-bitch who couldn’t see past his giant ego.

  Rachel getting pregnant was just the wakeup call he’d needed.

  He hoped. No, he truly believed that his plan was a good one. His very public proposal and their quickie wedding would draw fans to Ra
chel’s side. And it wouldn’t hurt if it drew some of the pressure off him and the team. The season was young. No need to panic. Yet after winning it all last year, expectations were higher than ever. They needed a distraction. Perspective. Not every bad hop or missed ball was an indication that last year had been a fluke. A once-in-a-lifetime chance at something great.

  If Rachel had been a onetime thing, that would have been a tragedy. His slow start? Well, that was baseball. If he put up half the numbers he’d had last year, he’d still be in elite company. He was a major league baseball player. The best in the world. And his contract was guaranteed for six years. He’d have to do something incredibly stupid to be let go. So unless he developed a gambling problem or committed a felony, he had a job. The pressure was mostly in his own head, and the sooner he got over himself, the sooner he’d start hitting again.

  He glanced over at Rachel, snoring softly in the passenger seat of his Corvette. God, she was beautiful. The car was a joke. She was the true prize.

  She’d agreed to marry him, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was only going along with the marriage to save her job. And maybe she believed that a baby should be brought into the world by parents who were married to each other.

  He had no idea of her upbringing. Was she raised by strict, traditional parents? A single mom? Did she have siblings? Pets growing up? What was her favorite flavor of ice cream? He had no idea if she even ate ice cream. Maybe she was on one of those no-dairy, gluten-free diets. What if she was a vegetarian? No way was he going to give up eating meat. He was an athlete. He needed the protein, and he’d get it the way God intended, from a big, fat, juicy steak.

  The fact that he knew very little about the woman he was about to make his wife should have concerned him. Yet it felt right.

  Somehow he’d have to convince Rachel that they could do this. Oh he knew the odds were against them. But the odds against the Goliaths winning the World Series had been sixteen to one at the beginning of last September.

  Chapter 3

  Somewhere around midnight, the minister at the Biggest Little Wedding Chapel pronounced Bryce and Rachel husband and wife. She made a mental note to check the exact time, in case their marriage did last a full year, she should know if her anniversary would be April 30th or May 1st.

  “You may kiss your bride.” The minister nodded to Bryce who turned to Rachel with a look she hadn’t seen on his face in some time. Pure, absolute confidence. He reached his hand behind her neck, pulling her close to him, and lowered his mouth to hers, brushing her lips lightly before diving in for a deeper kiss. If a marriage could work based on nothing more than chemistry and sexual attraction, they had nothing to worry about.

  Rachel forgot where she was, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. She loved and hated his long hair. He’d earned the nickname Midas late last season when everything about him was golden. Golden touch, golden hair. And now he had a gold band on his left ring finger.

  Their sole witness, Johnny Scottsdale, cleared his throat and finally, Bryce let her go.

  “Congratulations.” Johnny shook her hand and offered a sincere smile. “I always had a feeling about you two.”

  “Thank you.” Rachel had a feeling, too, but it wasn’t the kind of optimism expected of a bride on her wedding night.

  “Why don’t you two stop by our place in the morning?” Johnny gave Bryce a sly look. “Alice and I would love to help you celebrate. We can have a reception brunch.”

  Rachel was a little surprised by the invitation, considering she was the one who’d figured out Alice’s teenage son could have been Johnny’s and not her late husband’s child. But he and Bryce had formed a close friendship, and since Johnny’s retirement after the World Series, Bryce had been missing his friend. The fact that Johnny had left his wife and baby girl at home to attend their midnight wedding was a testament to the bond between the two men.

  “We’ll definitely stop by.” Bryce put his arm around her waist and grinned like a real groom. As if this were a real wedding. “Not too early, of course.”

  He slid his hand down her hip, making her quiver in anticipation of their wedding night. If she could keep her eyes open long enough to strip out of her wedding dress. She’d chosen a simple little sheath in a pale green that was as close to white as she could find on such short notice.

  Bryce on the other hand, looked like something out of GQ. He wore a silvery-blue dress shirt, black pants, and a tie with blues and greens that almost matched her dress. His hair was slicked back off his face, falling in neat waves down to his shoulders. His two-day stubble glistened like gold against his tanned skin.

  She’d never been a fan of long hair on men. But on Bryce it worked. He was six feet two inches of solid muscle. Broad shoulders, square jaw, chiseled abs. The hair toned down his raw masculinity, added to his boyish charm. And it was fun to play with in the right circumstances.

  She couldn’t wait to run her fingers through his hair. She hated to admit it, but he was a fantastic lover. He made love with the same kind of enthusiasm he played the game with. And while they were in bed together, he made her feel like the only woman in the world.

  She wondered how long she’d be the only woman in his bed. She glanced down at her still flat tummy. Would he still want her when she looked like she was trying to smuggle a beach ball into the ballpark? She’d better enjoy him while she could.

  They said goodbye to Johnny, and Bryce helped her into the front seat of his Corvette. She tried to picture him driving a minivan, and giggled.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “Just thinking of trying to fit a baby seat in this car.”

  “I guess I should trade it in for something more family friendly.” He didn’t sound amused.

  “Don’t you dare.” She leaned back against the seat. “You worked hard for this car. You earned it.”

  “It’s not very practical.”

  “No. But it is something for you to be proud of. Don’t get rid of the car.”

  “I guess we could get some sort of SUV to drive the kid around in.”

  “We don’t need to worry about that just yet.” Because that would just make the situation seem all too real. They weren’t heading to a hotel to get it on after another one of Bryce’s milestones. The night they celebrated his contract extension had been one of their crazier nights together. Crazy and intense. And that was before she realized she had conceived.

  “I guess we should start thinking about finding a bigger place. Look into school districts, should we go public or private?”

  “Whoa, slow down.” Rachel wasn’t ready to think about maternity clothes, let alone school uniforms. “Can we just get to the hotel and enjoy our wedding night? We don’t have to plan for college just yet.”

  “It’s never too early to start thinking about those things. You know I’m not going to be making this kind of money forever.”

  “Bryce. Stop. Please. I can’t think about all of this right now.” Although if she’d been smart, she would have thought about at least some of it before she’d said I do.

  “Okay. Sorry. You’re right. We should be celebrating.” He turned toward her, flashing his most seductive grin. “Tonight is going to be very special.”

  He stuck the key into the ignition, started the engine, and then drove them to the hotel.

  “Do you mind if I take a quick shower?” Bryce asked once they settled into their room. “You could join me?”

  “You go ahead. I’ll just slip into something more comfortable.” Rachel felt shy all of a sudden. They’d torn each other’s clothes off enough times over the last year or so, she shouldn’t need to take a minute to wonder if he was going to find her desirable.

  But everything had changed. She couldn’t keep telling herself that this would be the last time. That it was just sex and it didn’t matter if things didn’t work out.

  Because now it mattered.

  * * * *

  Bryce took a longer show
er than he’d planned. He was nervous. It wasn’t like it was the first time he’d had sex. Not even the first time with Rachel. Yet, the pressure was on. And it was a hell of a lot more pressure than just living up to his contract. He was going to have a kid. And he wanted to prove to Rachel that he could step up to the plate.

  He toweled off, combed his hair, and swished some mouthwash for good measure. He wanted tonight to be special. Different from all their other hookups. This was their wedding night, so it had to be spectacular. He splashed a little bit of cologne on, and contemplated shaving, but he knew what he could do with a few days’ worth of stubble.

  He ran his fingers through his hair one more time and walked into the bedroom ready to make this a night neither of them would ever forget.

  Too bad Rachel was sound asleep.

  She had slipped into a slinky little nightgown. Arranged the pillows behind her so she was propped up and ready for him. But the late hour had caught up with her. And maybe the whole growing a human being thing. He supposed that took up a lot of energy.

  He was torn between wanting to wake her up, remind her how good they could be together, and watching her sleep. God, she was beautiful. Even with her mouth open and soft snores escaping her perfect lips. She’d worn her auburn hair up for the wedding, but had taken it down and the red and gold and copper-colored strands framed her sweet face. Her left arm was flung overhead and her right hand rested protectively on her lower abdomen. Her chest heaved with each breath.

  His own chest felt like it was shrinking, his ribcage growing smaller by the minute. He couldn’t breathe. Rachel was his. Officially. He had the ring on his finger and the piece of paper to prove it.

  Now he just had to make sure he didn’t screw it up.