Quarterback Baby Daddy (A Secret Baby Sports Romance)

by Claire Adams

  I loved watching Margie play with Anna and her family, because her eyes lit up every time she spoke. She already loved them. She needed more women in her life. I knew they could teach her things that I would never be able to. She needed female role models.

  I loved seeing how much they spoiled her. It was also something she needed, something I had always wanted to be able to do for her. Tammy’s family wasn’t really in the picture since her passing, so, unfortunately, Margie didn’t spend any time with them.

  I watched as Anna interacted with my daughter, and I couldn’t get over how perfect it felt. That was when I realized I had fallen in love with her. I started to feel this way before that night, but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure until I watched the way she was with Margie.

  As I was immersed in the scene in front of me, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Tom looking down at me.

  “Come with me for a minute,” he said, and I followed him into Anna’s office.

  We sat down in the two chairs that were on opposite sides of the desk. It felt a little awkward, like I was interviewing for a job. I didn’t know what to expect. My palms were already a little sweaty.

  “Beautiful little girl you have there,” Tom said.

  “Thank you. She’s my pride and joy,” I said.

  “Then you know how I feel about my girls.”

  “That I do, Tom.” It was hard for me to not refer to him as “Sir.” The military taught me to address everyone as “ma’am” or “sir,” and I had found it difficult to let that go.

  “How serious are you about my daughter?” Tom asked bluntly.

  I looked him in the eye, wanting to make sure my answer was clear. Just moments before, I realized how in love with Anna I really was. Now, I wanted to make sure Tom knew it too.

  “I’m very serious about Anna,” I said.

  “You know, Justin,” Tom began. I braced myself for a lecture. “When I first met Anna’s mother, I had that same look in my eye. The way you look at my daughter proves to me how serious you are about her. Now, I don’t want you to think I’m letting you off easy. This doesn’t mean I won’t kill you if you mess up and hurt her.” Tom laughed.

  I had to admit it was intimidating talking with him about Anna, but I felt better when I realized there wasn’t going to be a lecture.

  “Do you like football, Justin?”

  I was surprised that he changed the subject so quickly. Still, I didn’t complain.

  “Yes I do, sir. I mean, Tom.”

  “What’s your favorite team, son?”

  “The New England Patriots, of course.” Though it wouldn’t matter when it came down to it, I hoped he was going to say the same thing. It would make things easier if we had the same favorite football team. I also thought it might help keep me on his good side.

  “I can already tell you’re a great fit for my daughter. We are also a Patriots family,” Tom said. “I can get box seats through my company if you’d ever like to go to a game.”

  “That would be amazing. I would love that!”

  “You could bring Margie. It would be a family event,” he said.

  “Thank you. That would be so much fun. I know she’d have a blast at a game.”

  I felt a sense of relief. We had some things in common after all. I knew that helped Tom feel more comfortable with me.

  We talked about our favorite highlights from the past season, the things we noticed that were strong points and weak points within the team, and how proud we were that they won the Super Bowl.

  I knew this whole thing was supposed to be pretend, that Anna and I weren’t really dating, but I wanted it to be real. I wanted to be with Anna, and having her father approve of me was a great feeling.

  We talked for a few more minutes and then went back into the living room. I looked around, noticing Margie and Anna weren’t anywhere in sight.

  “They’re in the kitchen getting dessert ready,” Ally said, answering my unasked question.

  “Thanks,” I said. I walked into the kitchen and asked, “Do you guys need any help?”

  “No, Daddy. We got it,” Margie said and did a thumbs-up at me. Anna laughed.

  “Will you take the plates to the table, please?” Anna asked.

  “I guess he can do that,” Margie agreed. Anna and I both laughed this time. Sometimes, Margie could be so adult-like, and it was the funniest thing.

  “I’ll do it. Let me know if there is anything else you need help with.”

  “I will,” she said.

  I loved that she wasn’t afraid to put me to work. Asking for my help made me feel more welcome in her home and in her life.

  I grabbed the stack of plates she had placed on the counter and the pile of forks next to them and brought them over to the table. I put a plate and fork at each seat instead of just leaving them in the middle.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” she said. She and Margie were holding different desserts. Margie was carrying a tub of vanilla ice cream, and Anna was holding a pie. It looked homemade.

  “That looks amazing. Did you make that?”

  Anna nodded. “It’s my great-grandma Ethel’s famous apple cherry pie.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had or even heard of an ‘apple-cherry pie,’” I said.

  “That’s the point,” she said with a wink. She placed the pie down in the center of the table and took the ice cream tub from Margie. She placed it beside the pie and said, “Thank you, Margie. Will you go get everyone and tell them dessert is ready?”

  “Yes!” Margie said and ran off to the living room.

  “No, running!” I yelled after her. I heard her feet slow down a bit, and I grinned.

  “It’s fine,” Anna said.

  I leaned into her and gave her a kiss.

  “What was that for?” she asked with the most beautiful smile on her face.

  “Just because,” I said, though there was more I wanted to say. I longed to tell her how I really felt, but I was too scared. I didn’t know how she felt about me, and I didn’t want to ruin anything by telling her too soon.

  “Thank you,” she said and kissed me back lightly.

  We sat down just as everyone came over to the table.

  “Is this great-grandma Ethel’s pie?” Ally asked.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t want any other one,” Anna said.

  She cut a slice of pie for each of us, and Millie put a scoop of ice cream on each one. I went in to take a bite, not knowing what to expect since I had never tried a pie like this, and I was blown away by the flavors.

  The crust was a perfect flaky pie crust, and the filling was tangy and sweet. The mixture of the two fruit fillings was surprisingly good. I decided it was my new favorite.

  “Wow. This is great, Anna,” I said.

  “Thank great-grandma Ethel,” she said with a laugh.

  “My grandmother had been making pies one day in her kitchen. She made an apple pie and a cherry pie and had one more pie crust. She only had half the amount of each filling and on a whim decided just to mix them so she wouldn’t have to waste any ingredients. And thus, her famous apple-cherry pie was born,” Millie explained.

  “I’m glad she almost ran out of ingredients,” Margie said. Half of her pie was on her face and we all started laughing. “Will you teach me how to bake?” Margie asked Anna after taking another bite of her pie.

  “Of course, sweetheart. Maybe your daddy can drop you off here sometime, and we can have a girl’s day. We can bake and watch movies.”

  “Yeah!” she said.

  The conversation moved on to all the crazy things that great-grandma Ethel did in her later years. I found it so interesting how close their family was. Mine wasn’t very close. I had my mom and dad, but other than that, I didn’t really talk to my family much.

  After we finished our desserts, Anna’s parents and Ally decided it was time to leave.

  “It was so nice to finally meet you, Justin,” Millie said to me. “It’s too
bad Anna hid you from us for so long.”

  I looked at Anna. “Yeah, I guess she wanted to see how serious we were first. It was nice to meet you, Millie.”

  She gave me a hug.

  “Nice to meet you, Justin,” Tom said to me.

  “Likewise,” I said and grabbed his hand for a handshake.

  “See ya around, Justin,” Ally said.

  “Bye, Ally,” I said.

  Anna hugged her sister and her parents and then turned to me when they were gone.

  “Thanks for doing this,” Anna said.

  “You’re welcome. They seem really nice,” I said.

  Anna smiled at me. “Do you guys want to watch a movie?”

  “Yeah! I don’t want to go home yet!” Margie yelled.

  Anna and I laughed.

  “What movie would you guys like to watch?” I shrugged, and she got down with Margie. “Do you want to pick out the movie?”

  Margie nodded her head with excitement and Anna led her over to her stack of DVDs.

  “I don’t have many family movies, but I have Netflix.”

  “What’s ‘Beethoven’?” she pronounced it just as it was spelled: “beet-hoven.”

  Anna laughed. “That’s Beethoven. It’s about the family dog.”

  Margie’s eyes lit up. “Can we watch it?”

  Anna said yes and put it in her DVD player. We all settled onto her couch with Margie between us and started watching the movie.

  Margie was silent the whole time. She fell asleep halfway through, resting her head on Anna. It was so sweet, and I knew I wouldn’t mind doing this every single night for the rest of my life.

  Anna gently rubbed Margie’s head.

  “Thank you for doing this,” I whispered to Anna, I was trying not to wake Margie.

  “You are more than welcome. I really do enjoy both of you guys being around.”

  I smiled at her. “I enjoy it too. And I can tell she just adores you.”

  “I adore her. She’s the sweetest little girl I’ve ever met.”

  The movie ended, and Anna helped me carry Margie out to the car. I gently put her in, and she didn’t even wake up. I closed the car door and turned to Anna.

  “Thanks again for doing this,” she said.

  “It was my pleasure, Anna,” I leaned in and gave her a kiss. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” she said.

  I got into the car and watched her in my rearview mirror until she made it back inside. I was falling madly in love with this woman. It excited and terrified me at the same time.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Anna

  The next day, I went to my studio to clean the place up. Dinner with my family, Justin, and Margie had been amazing, and Margie was a huge hit with both my parents. Even Ally adored her. I saw my dad pull Justin off to the side, but I didn’t know what they talked about it. I forgot to ask before they left, but I was very curious what was said between the two.

  I refilled my lotion bottles and heard the front door open. I didn’t have an appointment for another two hours, so I figured it must have been a walk-in. While I didn’t get them a lot, they did happen occasionally. I only allowed enough time for two 15-minute walk-in sessions per day. Any more time than that, and I wouldn’t be able to get much of my other things done.

  An appointment could be booked for anywhere from twenty to sixty minutes. I found most people picked either twenty or the full sixty. There were hardly any in-between. I had only ever done one twenty-five minute massage before.

  I walked back out of the room and was surprised to see that Justin was sitting in a waiting chair.

  “Hey. I wasn’t expecting to see you today,” I said, but I realized I should elaborate more. I didn’t want him to think I was upset that he just dropped by. “I mean, I don’t mind that you’re here, of course. It’s a nice surprise.” I said it with a bright smile.

  I felt incredibly nervous without knowing why. He met my family, and they absolutely loved both him and Margie. Dinner was a total success and yet, seeing Justin sitting in my waiting room filled me with a fresh wave of nerves.

  Justin smiled, and I nearly fainted. He had the best smile I’d ever seen on a man. I loved every smile he sent my way. I knew I needed to get a hold of my emotions before he saw through my façade.

  “I just wanted to talk to you. If you aren’t busy,” he said and glanced around as if he hadn’t yet checked to see if someone was there.

  “My next client isn’t for a couple of hours. I can talk. Are you okay?” I moved and sat next to him in another waiting chair. I felt weird standing there when he was asking if we could talk. I hoped that he wasn’t going to tell me he couldn’t pretend to be my boyfriend anymore. My heart rate had picked up, and I could hear it pounding in my ears.

  “I’m still stressed about my next fight,” he admitted.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding and hoped he didn’t notice. I placed a hand on his arm. I was big on showing affection to people who really needed it. “You’re going to do great. You are going to win. You need to put the last fight behind you because you did win it. It doesn’t matter how close you came to losing, you won, Justin. That is all that matters.”

  “I know, but it still really bothers me how close I came to not winning. My next fight is coming up, Anna,” he said, and then he looked into my eyes. “I really need you there.”

  He put emphasis a strong emphasis on the word “really.” My heart ached for him, and I wanted nothing more than to comfort him.

  “I know,” I started to say, but he cut me off. It didn’t bother me because I could sense the amount of fear he felt.

  “No, you don’t. I’m serious; I need you there. You don’t understand… If you aren’t there, I’ll lose for sure.”

  “I don’t think that’s true.”

  “But it is. Please. I can’t do this without you, and I cannot afford to lose.”

  It was weird that I’d been thinking he was coming to say he didn’t want to pretend anymore when it was almost the complete opposite. He was begging me go to his fight.

  “Of course, I will be there,” I said. “Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will stop me from coming.”

  “Thank you. You really are amazing, you know that?” he said. And then he grabbed my face and started kissing me. I think it might have been a thank you kiss at first, but it quickly turned into a passion-filled, lustful kiss.

  “I want you,” he groaned against my lips.

  “Is this your favorite place to have sex?” I said with a laugh, but I stood up all the same. I held out my hand, which he quickly grabbed, and moved to lock the front door. I led him back into the massage room. As soon as the door was closed, our mouths were back on each other once again.

  Justin gently picked me up and carried me the few steps to the massage table. He set me down on it and stood between my legs. I could feel his erection pressing into me through our clothes. We kissed for a few more minutes. His lips were so soft; I couldn’t get enough of them.

  We pulled apart, and he helped me remove my shirt, and I did the same for him.

  The friction between us was hotter than ever. Our sexual chemistry was undeniable, but I felt so much more than just desire this time.

  He went back to kissing me; this time he left little kisses in a trail down my neck to my breasts, where he stopped at the edge of my bra.

  He pulled my pants off so I was sitting on the table in just my bra and panties. It was a vulnerable position to be in, but I didn’t mind. Justin never made me feel uncomfortable.

  “You are so gorgeous. You know that?” he said. He stood there and stared at me for a few seconds.

  “Thank you,” I said. I felt a little shy, but it was easing away the more turned on I became.

  I reached behind me and unhooked my bra. I let it slide down my arms and onto the floor. I was only in my panties. The feeling of vulnerability was quickly turning into a daring confidence.

  “I wish I could
look at you like this all the time,” he said and started kissing my neck. He moved down to my breasts and this time didn’t stop. He sucked on my nipples as I had my arms wrapped around his neck. It felt so good, and I was getting more and more excited. He moved from my left nipple to my right, teasing me mercilessly.

  Then he stopped and removed his pants. He pulled a condom out of the side pocket before he tossed them to the floor beside him. He then removed his boxers and my panties and told me to lay back. I did as he asked and spread my legs automatically.

  I watched him roll the condom onto his hard shaft. It was an erotic sight, and I was more than ready to feel him. He moved between my legs, and I felt him press his cock against my clit, where he gently moved it up and down. The feeling made me squirm. I wanted him inside of me. I didn’t know how much longer I could wait.

  He slowly entered me, filling me up with the feel of him. The sensations he was already creating felt amazing.

  We both moaned in pleasure when he began to move in and out of me. He did it slowly, gently. Every single motion was pure ecstasy, and I found that I almost enjoyed this more than rough sex.

  “Mmm, Anna,” he moaned into my ear.

  He leaned down so our chests touched, and I had my legs wrapped around him. The skin-to-skin contact, mixed with the slow motion of him moving in and out of me was almost too much for me to take.

  “Oh, Justin,” I moaned. “Don’t stop.”

  He picked up the pace a little bit, but I don’t think he wanted to ruin the moment, so he kept going at a moderate speed. He was so deep inside of me, and the feelings of pleasure were so overwhelming.

  “You like that?” he asked and started moving a little harder. His thrusts were still slow, but they were suddenly harder, more insistent.

  I liked it so much that I couldn’t speak. I could hardly move. I nodded my head and focused on the feeling of his body on mine and his dick sliding smoothly in and out.

  It was too much.