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

by Kristina Mathews

  Bryce just had to avoid responding online.

  “She is strong, but she doesn’t need this crap.” Bryce scrolled through Rachel’s timeline. She at least had plenty of fans who’d congratulated her on their marriage. A few good-natured laments about how she’d taken the hot shortstop off the market.

  “No. But she’s a pro,” Marco reminded him. “She knows better than to get all worked up over things that don’t matter.”

  No, they fought over stupid stuff. Like her car. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t jump at the chance to upgrade. Especially since she’d need a bigger car in the next few months anyways. He couldn’t imagine her trying to get a car seat in the back of her two-door car.

  Maybe that was it. There were so many changes happening all at once. The pregnancy. Their marriage. Having to move into his apartment. She’d had a lot of decisions to make all at once. Having to pick out a car was probably just one more thing she didn’t need to deal with right now.

  He continued to scroll through her Twitter feed. He wondered how long it would be before she was getting congratulations on their impending arrival. He had a feeling her fans would be happy for her. For them.

  Most of them.

  Is @BryceBaxter better in bed than he’s been at the plate?

  None of their damn business.

  @RachelParker Why did you marry #BadBoyBaxter? He sucks.

  Also none of their damn business. And his suckiness would be temporary.

  @RachelParker, you’re too good for that loser.

  Same guy. Bryce’s stomach started to churn.

  @RachelParker You deserve a guy who would never even look at another woman.

  You’re beautiful @RachelParker.

  WTF. Now Bryce was getting really pissed at this guy. He clicked on the profile of SFGoliathsFan#1.

  Fan of Goliaths Baseball, Rachel Parker, and Geocaching. Owner/Operator Goliath Towing & Auto Body.

  A freaking tow-truck driver. He thought of Rachel’s car breaking down on the bridge late at night, as she made one last trip from her apartment. She’d have her cell phone with her and make the call for roadside assistance. Up pulls Goliath towing. It’s dark. The driver gets out, in his overalls and his grease-stained Goliaths cap. He recognizes Rachel. The woman of his dreams. And once he gets her into the cab of his tow-truck…

  Not going to happen. Not when he could do something about it. She needed a new car. And if she wasn’t willing to go to the dealership, he would have to bring the dealership to her.

  Bryce spent the rest of the flight researching cars and SUVs suitable for a growing family. He wanted something safe, reliable, and yeah, luxurious. He would make over a hundred million dollars over the life of his contract. There was no reason for his wife to drive a used Honda.

  After comparing the various options, he finally settled on a Range Rover, a luxury SUV that would keep her and the baby safe. Not too flashy, but the vehicle exuded a certain amount of class.

  He was able to conduct most of the transaction online. Once the money was transferred, they would even deliver the vehicle to their apartment. Rachel would only need to sign the sales agreement and the car would be hers.

  And Bryce would be able to sleep at night.

  * * * *

  After a restless night’s sleep, Rachel set out on the task of unpacking the rest of her dishes and taking over Bryce’s kitchen. She had to admit, he had a great view. And the kitchen was state of the art. Too bad she’d rarely cook dinner there during the season. Most of the home games were night games. They both had to be at the ballpark several hours before the seven PM start.

  Last night she’d brought home some takeout clam chowder and a large salad. She didn’t even bother taking them out of the containers, so there was no need to run the energy efficient dual-drawer dishwasher.

  It was a nice place, but without Bryce, she was lonely. Lonelier than she’d ever been in her own apartment. Maybe it was the fight over her stupid car. Maybe it was the fact that Bryce was on the road and she wouldn’t see him for a week, wouldn’t have him sleeping in the bed next to her.

  It was amazing how quickly she’d grown accustomed to his presence. Even before they’d made love, she felt closer to him. Just having him next to her made her feel safe. Made her feel like everything was going to be all right. She and Bryce would manage to live together, raise their child, and have successful careers.

  But then when he’d walked away from her at the ballpark, she’d started to doubt. If Bryce stayed in a slump, he’d withdraw from her. And if their personal relationship was strained, it wouldn’t be long before it would show up on camera.

  The camera didn’t lie. Not for long.

  Which is why she felt the sudden urge to pull up the video of Bryce’s proposal.

  She was just about to watch it a fourth time, to see if she’d really seen what she thought she saw—Bryce had really wanted to marry her. He wasn’t doing it out of obligation. Or for publicity. He truly believed that they should get married. He wanted it to work.

  Before she could push play, her phone rang. Work called even when the team was away. Her producer had talked her into doing a segment with the players’ wives. A feel-good series asking them how they met, what they were like at home, that kind of thing.

  “We have Hunter Collins-Santiago ready for her interview. Can you be at her house in an hour?” Steve asked.

  “Sure. Let’s do this.” She was glad to have something to focus on, other than the way things were between her and Bryce. He’d called last night to let her know he’d arrived safely, but they didn’t have a lot to say to each other. He was obviously still upset over the game. Or else he’d realized his usual on-the-road diversions were now a thing of the past.

  She couldn’t worry about Bryce. Not when she had a job to do. Rachel dressed in her best jeans that still fit, a loose yet attractive blouse, and a jacket that made her look like she still had a waistline. She did her hair and makeup and was just about to grab the keys to her Honda when the intercom buzzed.

  “Mrs. Baxter, you have a delivery.” Sergio, the front-desk clerk spoke with just the slightest hint of a Spanish accent.

  “Go ahead and send it on up.” It wasn’t worth correcting the guy over her name. She figured he wouldn’t be the last person to call her Mrs. Baxter.

  “You’re going to have to come down and sign for it.” Sergio sounded almost apologetic. He’d kept her secret when she was visiting Bryce last season. He hadn’t even raised an eyebrow when Bryce introduced her as his wife. “It’s not something I can send upstairs.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She didn’t really have time to sign for mysterious packages, but since Bryce was out of town, it was up to her to deal with whatever it was. “I’ll be right down.”

  After touching up her lip gloss, she headed for the elevator. She wondered what she would have to deal with before she could get on her way to her interview.

  Chapter 10

  Parked in front of the building was a brand new Range Rover with one of those big red bows on the hood like they had in commercials.

  “Rachel Parker?” The delivery driver held a clipboard and a set of keys. “I’ll just need to see your driver’s license and have you sign a few forms.”

  She produced her ID and signed the delivery form.

  “What about the loan documents?” She remembered signing form after form when she’d bought her Honda.

  “There is no loan,” the driver explained. “The car is paid in full.”

  Right. Bryce had that kind of money. He could just buy a car online the way Rachel would order a new book from Amazon, without even thinking about it.

  When she looked into the interior of the car, she realized he must have thought about it quite a bit. Every detail was…well, perfect. Leather seats. Bluetooth connections. Seat warmers. Or maybe he’d just bought the most expensive, top of the line model.

  She still couldn’t believe he’d bought her a new car. From the road. An
d not just any car, but a luxury SUV. She wondered what he would have picked out for her if she wasn’t expecting. Stupid. They wouldn’t be married if she wasn’t pregnant. He would probably be waking up in some stranger’s hotel room. Instead he’d called her late last night, assuring her he was tucked into his own bed. She wanted to believe him. To believe that the car was a sign of his commitment to the marriage and not a consolation for his behavior.

  Or maybe he was just trying to control her. He’d said she needed a new car. She’d said she didn’t want to go out and buy a new car, so he did it for her.

  “Mrs. Baxter, you can’t park here.” Sergio sounded a little embarrassed to have to remind her. “You’ll need to move the car.”

  “Right.” She rubbed her forehead, tying to think about what she was going to do about parking. “I’ve got to get going anyway. I’ll try to find a spot for it when I get back.”

  Parking was at a premium in the city. They had two spots in the garage attached to their building, one for Bryce’s Corvette and one for her old Honda. Most of the residents had only one spot, but Bryce had been able to persuade the manager into leasing him a second space. She knew even he couldn’t convince them to let her have a third stall.

  “I guess I’ll have to figure out what to do with my Honda.” It would have been simpler to trade the car in. She didn’t want to deal with the hassle of selling it to a private party.

  “You could always donate it to charity,” Sergio suggested. “I know the Harrison Foundation accepts vehicle donations. They keep the money right here in the community. My grandson went to one of their camps and now he eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll have to look into it.” She’d first hooked up with Bryce after a Harrison Foundation fundraiser, so it would be a fitting place for her to donate her car. “In the meantime, I need to figure out where to park the darn thing.”

  “You could use space thirty-seven for the next seventy-two hours.” He gave her a wink. “I happen to know it will be available temporarily.”

  “Thank you. I really appreciate it.” She offered him a warm smile. “I’ll get out of your way in no time.”

  “Take your time. It’s not every day your husband surprises you with a brand new car.” He looked at her as if he thought it was the most romantic gesture in the world. “He loves you very much.”

  “Of course.” Isn’t that what everyone believed? That they were in love. No one got married because of an unplanned pregnancy anymore.

  “He’s happier when he’s with you.” Sergio spoke with a fatherly affection. “I’ve noticed over the last year that he’s a different man when he’s with you. A better man.”

  “Thank you.” She felt a sudden sting in her eyes, both at the suggestion that Bryce could ever love her and the fact that their marriage was not so much a sham as a misguided attempt at making the best of things. “I’d better get my new car off the street.”

  She had to get to her interview. Then she would look into the vehicle donation program with the Harrison Foundation. And she needed to call Bryce.

  She missed him. And she hoped that Sergio wasn’t just trying to make her feel better with what he said about Bryce being happier since she moved in. Of course she knew he seemed happy when they were together because he’d usually sought her out after the highs of the baseball season. He’d chosen to celebrate the good times in bed with her. How he’d gotten through the rough patches was his own business.

  Or at least it had been. From what she’d observed, he was the kind of player who wanted to be left alone after a tough loss. Most of the guys were like that. At least in public. What they did when they got home with their families was their own business. But she would have a chance to ask their wives, when they agreed to the interviews for the new segment. Her boss wanted to call it “Diamond Divas.” Not her favorite title since the word diva conjured up the image of a prima donna, and the wives she’d met so far had been pretty down to earth.

  How had she gotten to this point in her career? She would be doing fluff pieces on the Goliaths Wives Club. No, still not the right title. Certainly not what she’d had in mind when she entered journalism school.

  What had been her dream? Sometimes it was hard to remember the wide-eyed enthusiasm she’d had her freshman year. She’d wanted to be the voice of the Goliaths. When her girlfriends were singing along to karaoke, she would watch baseball games with the sound off, doing her best play-by-play analysis.

  She worked her way up, starting as an intern in the Goliaths’ minor league system. In her hometown of Fresno, she did a weekly show for her high school video broadcasting class. She developed her skills further in college. It hadn’t been until she started working with the masters, Kip Michaels and Kurt Dwyer, that she’d really come into her own as a journalist.

  Sure, she realized that former players were preferred in the booth. Guys who’d been there had a much better insight into the game. Plus, it was a good way to keep beloved players around for the fans. When their bodies gave out, they still had a place in baseball.

  Once she realized she wasn’t going to have a shot at the play-by-play, she’d started to think about going national. ESPN was still the big time, with other networks trying to compete. But as she’d learned when she almost broke the Johnny Scottsdale story, she didn’t really want to put the story above all else. For her the game came first. If a story didn’t affect the action on the field, maybe she didn’t need to report on it.

  Now that she was married to a player, she had mixed feelings about the need to dig into their personal lives. There was a fine line between being accessible and having your privacy invaded. Sure it could be fun for fans to know what restaurants the players enjoyed. Until they couldn’t go there anymore because of too many fans crowding the place trying to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars.

  Now she was given the task of making the fans feel like part of the families who played the game.

  Sliding behind the wheel of her new Range Rover, Rachel couldn’t help but feel like she was in some crazy kind of dream and she’d wake up, most likely in Bryce’s bed, and realize that none of this was real. It couldn’t be. Her carefully planned life hadn’t spun so far out of her control.

  * * * *

  Bryce had about an hour before he’d have to get on the team bus for the ballpark. He missed Rachel, but at least he had a good reason to call. She should have gotten the Range Rover by now. Hopefully she’d love it. He figured he’d waited long enough to call.

  “Hello? Hello?” Rachel sounded a little flustered. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yeah, babe, I hear you.”

  “Okay, good. I wasn’t sure if I’d connected it right. And I have no idea where the microphone is.”

  “You got the car?”

  “Yes, but I’m late and don’t have time to figure out all the bells and whistles.” She sighed. “I have to interview Hunter Santiago for the new segment and I still don’t have a better title than Diamond Divas.”

  “Diamond Divas?”

  “Yeah, I hate the name, but I think I’ll be stuck with it, since they want to air the first segment tomorrow.”

  “Tell me more about it.” He really was interested in her work, even if he was a little disappointed she wasn’t more excited about the car.

  “I’m going to be interviewing all the players’ wives.”

  “That sounds interesting.”

  “I guess. Look I really do need to go. I’m used to my Honda and this thing is a beast.”

  “So you don’t like the car?” He was more than disappointed.

  “No, that’s not…” The sound of a horn blaring could be heard in the background. “The car’s fine. I just don’t need it. You shouldn’t have.”

  “But I wanted to.”

  “And you always do what you want?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “You’re impossible, you know that.” She sounded a little pissed off. “I told you
I didn’t want to get a new car. I have nowhere to park it, and now instead of unpacking, I need to figure out what to do with my Honda.”

  “I was trying to make things easier on you.”

  “Well, nothing has been easy lately.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Why did you buy me a car when I told you I didn’t want one?”

  “You said you didn’t want to go buy one. Something about waving my checkbook around. I just figured I’d order it for you. One less thing for you to have to worry about.”

  “No. It’s not one less. It’s too much. It’s just all too much.” Another sigh was followed by a gagging sound. “Oh damn. New car smell.”

  The phone disconnected. Was she really upset about the car? Or was she struck with a fresh bout of morning sickness? What was he thinking getting involved with a pregnant woman? Right. It was his fault she was pregnant in the first place. He’d been thinking about that night, going over it in his mind. It must have been the third time. He hadn’t bothered with tearing open another condom. He’d just needed to be inside her, once hadn’t been enough. Twice hadn’t been enough. He couldn’t get his fill of her then or now.

  At least he’d finally figured it out. Now he just needed to figure her out. Any other woman would be ecstatic over the expensive gift. Any other woman would be more than happy to spend his money, shower herself in new clothes, and show off her newfound status as his wife. But not Rachel. Rachel was stressed about getting to an interview on time, having to figure out parking, and getting rid of her old car. Damn. He wished he wasn’t on the road right now. He needed to be there for her. Especially if she was sick. He just hoped she’d been able to pull the Range Rover over before she got rid of that new car smell and replaced it with something much more pungent.

  A text about fifteen minutes later assured him she was fine.

  Sorry. I didn’t mean to cut you off like that. Close call. The car is fine. Great actually. I never did thank you.

  No problem. Glad you’re A-OK. And you’re welcome.

  It’s still too much. Gotta go, Hunter’s waiting for me.