Playing for Keeps

by Rhonda Laurel

  Derek looked up into her eyes and saw a glimpse of the old Charisma. The fearless woman who’d taken a chance on love and moved in with him. They’d had so many plans for their life together and there was so much more to come. He wanted to go to his office and get the ring out of the safe and go down on bended knee again, but he knew it would be counterproductive. They’d been getting along lately and that’s all that mattered.

  “Let’s get you that world famous pizza.” Derek rose and took her hand and headed for the door. He snagged his car keys and wallet from the bowl on the foyer table.

  He was looking forward to some good food with his favorite woman in the world. Right now, everything seemed to be going their way. A beautiful, healthy baby. An offer from Seth and Tyler for expanding his restaurant after he retired from hockey. His favorite woman was finally getting the attention she deserved for her interior design work. Well…almost everything was going their way. She still hadn’t agreed to wear his ring. And her mom still hated his guts.

  But he was determined not to let those two things ruin what he promised would be as near-perfect an evening as he could make.

  * * *

  Charisma scanned her notepad and continued to rummage through the fabric samples and pulled a few out for cutting. The subtle color scheme she was putting together would be great for the waiting room in a sports doctor’s office. The doctor for the Pirates had attended their housewarming and was so impressed that he asked her to do some work for his private practice. At first she’d thought he was just being polite, but she’d received a call last week for a consultation. She wanted to brainstorm with Jared about her latest assignment when he returned from his meeting.

  Business continued to be on the upswing. In fact, it was becoming too busy for her to keep up. When Jared insisted she get an assistant, at first she balked. She was a one-woman show and she liked it that way. Jared took her aside and told her he loved her as a cousin first and an employee second. Fatigue and stress were not good for a mother-to-be. So their receptionist Itza would be giving her a hand if she needed one. She reluctantly caved on that one.

  On the other hand, Derek was delighted to hear she’d be getting some help. He constantly worried that she was overdoing it, but then again, he worried about everything. He made sure she ate well and got plenty of rest. He cooked and cleaned and ran her errands. He’d done everything imaginable to make her comfortable. Everything was perfect. In fact, she was grateful that they’d tabled their disagreements and she was indeed enjoying this special time.

  But something still had her feeling out of sorts. Derek hadn’t asked her to marry him again. Crazy as it sounded, now that it was no longer a bone of contention, she missed him asking. She wanted to see the ring, which Grandma Reed claimed could be a second power source for the Earth in case the sun suddenly extinguished. Couldn’t Derek see that she still wanted him to ask her to marry him…but only at the right time? When it was clear he was following his heart and not asking out of any kind of obligation. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to ask him and risk upsetting the peace between them or rocking the boat.

  Grandma said she wasn’t surprised Charisma had said no when Derek popped the question the moment she told him she was pregnant. But Grandma Reed also encouraged her to investigate why she said it—why it had become a point of division between them. It was a no brainer. It was obvious Debra’s constant tutelage, like a little devil on her shoulder, had been instrumental at beating down the self-confidence she’d built up over the years. Grandma listened and sipped on her tea as she railed against her mother for being overbearing all her life. By the time she’d finished, she’d needed a nap from the rant. She expected her grandma to counter with some wise, scolding words, but all she said was that Debra couldn’t be the easy answer for all Charisma’s problems forever. When she asked what that meant, Grandma added that motherhood would soon help give clarity to her situation.

  She could admit it: that had been a little unsettling. It was almost as if her grandma was implying she should grow up a little, let go of her resentment of her mother, and take responsibility for herself.

  Still, she couldn’t help worrying about Derek and why he no longer asked her to marry him. It was beginning to bother her so much she’d almost whacked him with one of the decorative pillows on the bed as he slept. What right did he have not to be upset that she wouldn’t marry him? The tension had left him, and he was cheerful all the time. It was driving her crazy. She needed to talk to someone who wouldn’t think she was nuts. She called Morgan.

  “Hey, Morgan.”

  “Hey, momma. How’s the baby?”

  “Fine. Craving everything in sight. Are you busy?”

  “No, just finished typing the agenda for the next Blake Foundation meeting. What’s up?”

  “Nothing.” She surfed the utility drawer for scissors to cut the fabric. “I thought I’d see what was going on with the family in Texas.”

  “The usual stuff. Chaos and mayhem and too many PTA meetings.”

  “How do you keep up with everything that goes on?”

  “It gets easier. You’ll get into a good groove of your own.”

  “Are you still considering Dana for the store manager position at Reed Bradley?” she asked, killing time as she worked up the nerve to talk about what was really on her mind.

  “Yes. Shayla was kind enough to give us a month’s notice. Dana’s good with the customers. And I like knowing a family member would be there.”

  “She’s plenty excited. It was all she could talk about when we had lunch the other day.”

  “I saw that post on her social media page.”

  “I cringe every time I think of how many times I over-shared to the world.” Charisma rolled her eyes.

  Morgan giggled. “The family was relieved when you stopped your crusade to be a reality star.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “We’ve all done crazy things.”

  “Like screening your son’s Valentine’s Day cards?”

  “I file that under motherly concern and a test run of all the crap I’ll have to deal with in the future when he starts dating,” Morgan replied.

  “So my mother hovering over me all my life was out of motherly concern?”

  Morgan paused for a moment. “I think Aunt Debra was overzealous about her aspirations for you and Trevor.”

  “I don’t want to do that to my child,” she blurted out, then immediately wished she could take it back. It made her sound so vulnerable, so afraid.

  “You won’t,” Morgan said firmly.

  “How do you know? It could be unintentional, but I could turn into my mother. You have a lot of Aunt Elizabeth’s qualities.”

  “You may have some Debra in you, but you also have a healthy dose of Grace Marie in your veins too. I’m a firm believer in the Reed genes prevailing under difficult situations.”

  Morgan was right. Charisma’s grandmother had been a heavy influence in her life, especially recently. For all Debra’s pushing and prodding, Grandma Reed had served as a counterbalance for all that insanity.

  “I just wish I didn’t have to think about her in this way. We should be so much closer. I thought we were building on a new foundation a few years ago. But she did a one eighty after I moved in with Derek.”

  “You ever think that maybe Aunt Debra doesn’t like Derek so much because he doesn’t take her crap? Lamont was like clay in her hands, when he would listen to her, but she doesn’t have those same kinds of puppet mastering abilities with Derek. He doesn’t tolerate her interference. He stood up to her when she went looking for him at the Slap Shot.”

  “I guess Seth told you about that?” She bit her lip.

  “Yeah.” Morgan sighed. “That was a conversation that was bound to happen eventually. Derek wants for his family to be free of any drama and past hurts. He wants to make you and that little child the both of you created very happy. He’s a man who’s going to stop anything that might threaten t
hat happiness. Right now, that just might be Debra.”

  “If he loves me so much,” she said, her voice choking. She had to start again. “If he wants us to be so happy, how come he stopped proposing?”

  “Maybe because you asked him to.”

  “Now he listens to me? Just when I want him not to listen to me? Doesn’t he understand anything?”

  There was a knock on the door before Morgan could reply. Itza came into the room.

  “I’m so sorry to bother you, Charisma.” Itza looked around. “You shouldn’t be doing that. I can cut whatever samples you need.”

  “Morgan, hold on one sec.” Charisma turned to Itza. “I just need two samples, three tops. What’s going on?”

  “You have a package delivery.”

  “Who is it from?”

  The receptionist gulped. “There’s a card, but I didn’t want to peek.”

  “Ooh. What did Derek send you now?” Morgan said loudly into the phone. “I told you he cares.”

  “Morgan, I’ll call you back.” She felt a grin spread across her face in anticipation. “Maybe my man’s setting up the perfect proposal night again.”

  “If I stay on the line, I can say ‘I told you so’ without making another call. It’s more efficient.”

  Charisma laughed and told her to hang on the line then. She put the scissors down and followed Itza out of the room. Her heart was beating fast. What had he gotten her now? He gave her little trinkets every day and fussed over her, but it had been a while since he’d sent something to the office. So this must be important. A crowd had formed as the employees dropped what they were doing to come see the show.

  She picked up the card, opened it, and then immediately put it back down, her stomach turning queasy. She knew that lazy chicken scratch anywhere. It was from Lamont.

  “Itza. I don’t want this. Take it away.” She backed away from it.

  “You haven’t even opened it yet.”

  “This is from Lamont.”

  “Did you say Lamont?” Morgan’s voice flooded out of the phone speaker.

  “Morgan, I have to call you back.”

  “No, stay on the line. Is he there?”

  “I don’t think so.” She looked around. Now her heart was beating hard, but not because she anticipated getting something great from the man she loved. “I’ll be fine.”

  Charisma stared at the expertly wrapped gift. By the insignia, she could tell it was from an exclusive designer she loved. She looked at the front entrance. Her heart beating out of her chest at the idea that Lamont was somewhere lurking about, waiting to see her reaction to his gift. She’d heard he’d moved to Kansas City; things had continued to take a bad turn for him after all that bad publicity a couple of years ago.

  Everyone jumped when the front door flew open. It was her cousin Robert. He was normally dressed impeccably in a suit and tie, but today he looked like he was selling DVDs out of his trunk in a flea market parking lot.

  “Hey, Little Bit, Morgan called and told me you received a suspicious package from that asshole Lamont.” Robert spied the present. “Do I need to get the bomb squad in here?”

  “I didn’t open it. Itza was going to get rid of it for me.” She picked it up and handed him the gift. “Any particular reason you’re channeling Denzel’s character in Training Day.”

  “Oh.” He looked down at his clothes. “I’m helping with a sting on this taskforce. And I do get that Denzel reference a lot.”

  “We’re such a modest family.” She rolled her eyes. “I thought you were strictly desk duty these days. Does Alicia know about this?”

  He cleared his throat. “We don’t have to share this information with her.”

  “She has a right to know if you’re going to be out risking your life.”

  He gave her the no-nonsense cop-face. “We’re talking about you right now. And this suspicious package from that Lamont bastard.”

  “Thank you for dropping everything to rush over here. I’m fine. The baby’s fine. I’m sure this will make for a great story at the family dinner on Sunday.”

  “I can still put out an APB—”

  “Robert.” She put her hand on her hip.

  The door flew open again. This time it was Jared. She really owed Morgan big for this.

  “Is Lamont here?” He threw his satchel into a nearby chair. “Robert, you need any help getting that trash out of my office?”

  “He wasn’t here,” Charisma told him. “The package was delivered.” She hoped he wasn’t in the area. Her cousins looked like they were ready to kill.

  The door flew open once more. It was Derek. She owed Morgan big time for hitting the family panic button. “Where is Brayer?”

  “Not here.” She squeezed his hand and rubbed her belly. She knew that would distract him. “It was a package delivery, not a visit from Satan himself.”

  “He has to be in the city. I’m going to—”

  “Settle down. This all feels like déjà vu, and I know how it ends. He doesn’t have that kind of power over us anymore. We have to set a better example as parents.”

  “But we can still go out and look for him, right?” Jared asked and pointed back and forth between him and Robert.

  “No.” She looked at all of the men in her life. They were certifiable lunatics, but she knew it was all out of love. “It’s nice to know the cavalry will show up at a moment’s notice.” She tried to smile.

  “Anything for you, Little Bit.” Robert kissed her on the forehead and put the package down on the reception desk. “I’ll get back to work.”

  “Well if there isn’t going to be any man-on-Lamont violence, I’m sure I have some calls to return.” Jared picked up his satchel.

  “Can we meet in about twenty minutes on the sports medicine project?” she asked quickly while she had his attention.

  “Of course.”

  She took Derek by the hand and led him to her office. Once there, she made him sit in the chair and took a seat on Derek’s lap.

  “Thank you for not flying off the handle.”

  Derek kissed her. “I always listen to you.”

  Really? She thought back to her discussion with Morgan before the brouhaha started. He’d stopped asking for her to commit to him. Suddenly she didn’t feel like cuddling with him anymore. Of course, he’d only been listening to her. Again. Doing what she asked. She didn’t have the right to be upset with him…but she was. She didn’t know if it was the hormones or if she was rattled by Lamont, but she was upset.

  “I love cuddling with you, but I have some work to do.” She lifted up off him. “And I don’t even want to know what you dropped to come flying over here.”

  “I was having lunch at the Slap with Jonas and Mike. It was all I could do to convince them not to come with me.” He scratched at his beard.

  “By all means, please go back. Finish helping them mend those burned bridges. I’ll see you at home tonight.”

  Derek stood and put his hands on his hips. “Do you think your mother contacted Lamont?”

  She froze, her eyes widening. The thought hadn’t even occurred to her. “I hope not. I don’t think I can forgive that.”

  “Then we’ll think positive about it.” He kissed her hard and then walked out of her office.

  She gathered her things to take into Jared’s office. She prayed her mother didn’t have anything to do with Lamont’s reappearance in her life. That might just destroy their relationship once and for all.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Derek moved out of the way, just narrowly escaping being splashed by Mike’s drink. So much for hunkering down at the hotel bar to get away from the team’s celebrating. Getting together in New York to film the team documentary about the championship game had ignited a second round of celebrations. He’d been in the city for two days and he hoped they’d be wrapped up tomorrow. He really wanted to get back home to Charisma and the baby.

  He’d managed to evade the celebrations yesterday, but today Clar
k caught a glance of him as he passed through the lobby and the next thing Derek knew there were Pirates players everywhere. Every instinct in him screamed that he should go back to his room after the group interview for the documentary but no, he had to have a drink with the guys. Now they were on their third round of drinks, and he was no closer to getting away. He’d stayed because he knew some of them were still sore about him missing their epic parties after the big win, but the truth was, all he wanted to do was call Charisma and sack out.

  But unfortunately that wasn’t an option because he had to stay and make sure Jonas and Mike didn’t murder each other. They’d come to an uneasy truce, but that only applied when they were both sober. Sometimes Mike still looked at Jonas like he wanted to throttle him again but was suppressing the urge. The rest of the guys were getting pretty rowdy too. If things weren’t volatile enough already, he saw a few guys from the New York Knights entering the bar. Someone had put the word out that they were in town. The evening was bound to get messier from here on. Yeah, he’d stay because he was an idiot who watched over them in the name of peace.

  He wondered if Charisma was taking his advice and getting some rest. She’d pooh-poohed his concerns about her being alone while he was away, but finally she caved and asked Trina to come over. He felt better knowing someone was there with her and the baby, just in case something happened. He’d been worried about her. She’d been a little moody lately, but whenever he asked her what was wrong, she’d blame the hormones. But he had the feeling it was something else. He had no idea what it could be, unless it was about the recent trouble with her mother…or Lamont shoving his way back into her life. That must be it. Because Derek had kept his promise and hadn’t proposed again, even though it drove him crazy not to ask her to marry him. It just wasn’t fair. They should be planning their wedding, but instead he was walking on eggshells.

  As if someone sounded a siren’s call, women who looked like they were trying to dress like supermodels started flocking into the bar. He’d been around a long time and he refused to believe that women came to a bar all decked out in cocktail dresses for happy hour. He’d seen this play several times in the past. They were on the hunt, and some of the guys didn’t mind being the prey. Booze and hot women were always a recipe for a disaster. The woman in the gold dress kept looking in his direction and smiling, but he ignored her. Another one winked and blew him a kiss. What he couldn’t understand was why his teammates continued to fall for it.