Playing for Keeps

by Rhonda Laurel

  The photo had indeed been circulating around the Web to every gossip site imaginable. Social media feeds were trending the topic that Derek had gone back to his wicked ways and was cheating on his pregnant girlfriend, who happened to be Lamont Brayer’s ex. She didn’t bother to read or weigh in on any of the online fights. She’d been down that road before and knew it led nowhere. While Trina toiled away on the computer, she could only think of Derek. The look on his face when he’d left. He’d looked so hurt…but also determined. He’d looked her in the eyes when he’d denied everything…and her heart had wanted to believe him so badly. Where had he gone? He’d looked so hurt, she’d only wanted to rush into his arms, but she was hurting too.

  A half hour later, the Reeds had waged war online combating the story. It did her heart good that they believed in Derek enough to take on random strangers online. It had to be hard. She’d gotten a call from Morgan who firmly told her Derek would never risk his happiness to party with some sleazy skank in a knockoff designer dress. She also seemed a little indignant that anyone would doubt him. That did make her feel a little better.

  She escaped into the bedroom and took a hot shower, just to try and feel like a human again. By the time she finished, Trina came in and told her that there was a new story circulating. Someone had posted the entire video of the incident. She took a deep breath and watched as Derek made his way through the dining room with the chick hot on his trail like a stalker. If the waiter hadn’t stepped in his way, he never would’ve backed into her. He never would have had to catch her. Tori, Derek’s publicist, put a scathing post lambasting people for making insinuations and spreading unfounded rumors.

  Trina made sure she got into bed but she couldn’t sleep. It was all too much. She wanted to go back to yesterday when their lives were perfect. Well, almost perfect. She’d been holding him at arm’s length and she hadn’t even realized it.

  By the next morning, she’d tried to eat something, but she was still too upset. She was utterly exhausted and her stomach felt queasy. Derek wouldn’t answer his phone and she didn’t know what to do. Trina didn’t know what else to do either so she took Charisma to Grandma Reed’s house. Before they went in, Trina begged her to keep her singing last night a secret. Charisma promised, even though she still didn’t understand why Trina was hiding it. At least by keeping this promise, Charisma could do one thing right after ruining her own life.

  When she went inside, she took one look at Grandma and Sydney and starting crying again.

  “What’s going on?” Grandma Reed gave her a hug. “We were worried about you.”

  “Derek and I—” She sobbed.

  Sydney rubbed her back. “Please don’t tell me you fought over that dumb ass news story. We all know it’s not true.”

  “I don’t know what happened…” Charisma sat down and put her head in her hands. She tried to stop crying long enough to talk. “I knew it wasn’t true, but a part of me wanted to believe he’d been caught cheating on me. What’s wrong with me?”

  “Baby, it’s the hormones,” Grandma Reed replied. “A woman carries a child and she wants to nest. To take care of the life inside her and know she can count on her man. Last night something threatened what you had and you reacted.”

  Charisma shook her head. “It was like my brain was broken. My heart was broken and my thoughts were broken.” She gave a sad little laugh. “I packed like a lunatic.”

  “I unpacked her stuff when she finally fell asleep,” Trina said.

  “Thanks.” Charisma sniffed. “He told me we needed some space.”

  “I don’t he meant space space. He just needed some time to think,” Sydney said.

  “Yeah, think about what a bullet he dodged when the crazy woman said no to his proposal.” She rubbed her belly, feeling tears threaten again.

  “I refuse to believe that man has given up on you,” a voice said from the direction of the front door.

  Charisma was shocked to see her father standing there. “Dad. What are you doing here?”

  “A little birdie told me you were here. Want to take a walk with me? It’s such a lovely day.”

  Charisma didn’t know what to say. It had been ages since she’d seen her father, and even then he’d had few words to say. But why should that be any different than her entire life? He always stayed in the background while her mother did all the parenting.

  She reluctantly stood. “OK.”

  * * *

  It had been ages since she’d walked around the neighborhood. There had been some changes. People remodeled, some had moved, but the neighborhood had the same quaint charm. She remembered many days of running around and getting into trouble. But it had been an eternity since she’d been in the company of her father. He rarely attended the family functions but would make the effort for important occasions, like Grandma Reed’s birthday party. She wished she could blame it on his busy schedule, but the truth was, her father had been quiet and reserved all her life. He worked all the time, and she felt like she barely saw him.

  He never visited without her mom so it was a shock to the system to see him at the house. Still, she missed the tall, handsome man with the salt-and-pepper beard and a wonderful smile the rare times that she did see him. The older he got, the more he looked like her uncles minus the larger-than-life personalities. He always had a quiet strength about him. Perhaps that was why he seemed to disappear in her mother’s presence.

  “Have you talked to your brother lately?” her father asked.

  “Yes. He’s fine.”

  “Good. I’m glad he’s decided to be part of this family again.”

  “Dad, if you’re here on mom’s behalf, I have a lot on my plate right now. I’ll have to deal with her drama some other time.”

  “No. Your mother’s at a book club meeting.”

  “That’s a surprise. I would have thought she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to gloat over that gossip rag’s false report about Derek.”

  “She doesn’t know I’m here. I told her you needed some space. She took my advice for once.”

  “Oh.”

  “You look beautiful. Pregnancy agrees with you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I heard through the family grapevine that you wanted the sex of the baby to be a surprise.”

  “We thought it would be nice.”

  “It would have been nice to hear that you were pregnant from your own lips.”

  “Wow.” She stopped. “I’m actually shocked that you care at all.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You’ve been a ghost practically my whole life and you’ve decided now to be offended by something I didn’t do?”

  “I wasn’t around a lot because I had to work. I needed to put a roof over your head.”

  “That’s just an excuse.” She shook her head. “You worked to give her all those extravagant things she wanted. But when you realized she’d never stop wanting things, you used worked as an escape. I can’t remember any time in my life when you were there being a dad. For the longest time I felt I’d done something to make you not want to be with me. I did anything I could to get other people’s attention because I missed out on being your little girl.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “All my life I just wanted someone to say I was worth loving.”

  “You have that with Derek.” He put a gentle hand on her arm. “You have a man who loves you enough to stand up to your mother. You have all the wonderful things in your life because of you. Not your mother. Not me. But because you’re a strong woman who figured out what wasn’t working for her and turned it around. The changes you’ve made the past few years, I don’t know anyone who could have accomplished it. You mended relationships and set a new course for yourself. I admire that. I wish I’d had your courage, but I’m glad my children have it. You and Trevor pave your own way.”

  “I wish mom would see it that way. We were doing so well, then everything derailed again when I took a step forward with Derek.”

/>   “I’ve never seen her as upset as when she came back from the Slap Shot after talking to Derek. He touched a nerve, because she bawled her eyes out. I was upset too, of course, but that’s when I knew he was the right man for you. She needed to hear those stern words from a strong man who wouldn’t let her have her way.” He gave a long, tired sigh. “We may have dropped the ball raising you in some ways…but Derek hasn’t. He loves you. I know he’ll do a better job protecting your heart than your mom and I did. Don’t throw away a chance at happiness because of things in the past.”

  “It’s too late. I think I may have pushed him away for good.”

  “It’s never too late.” He gave her a hug.

  They stood that way for a few moments. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a hug like that from her dad. It felt good. She felt something inside of her release, like all the angst she’d been holding in since she was little girl had vanished. She hadn’t felt like she’d needed random attention in ages. It was Derek. He gave her everything she needed and more.

  “Do you mind if we get back to the house?” she asked. “I have a hockey player to track down.”

  * * *

  Charisma unlocked the front door to the Slap Shot and punched the alarm code into the keypad. She’d gone to their apartment, looking for him but he hadn’t been there. The next logical place was the Slap Shot. If he wasn’t here, she’d have to start making plans to travel to Texas because she would travel the world to track him down again. He was that important to her.

  She flipped on a few lights and illuminated the main dining room and bar areas. She’d been there so many times she almost didn’t need to turn them on, but today she felt like she was fumbling around in the dark both literally and figuratively, so she needed the light to pave her way. She moved closer to the bar and saw Derek’s favorite brand of scotch on the counter; he had to be here.

  She opened the office door to find him lying on the couch, watching the big screen on the wall.

  His five o’clock shadow was heading into seven o’clock territory, and he looked disheveled.

  “I’ve been worried sick about you,” she said softly feeling both thrilled to see him and tense, knowing how things lay between them. Because of her. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

  He stood, a worried frown on his face. “What are you doing out in the middle of the night? You should home resting.”

  “I’m not out by myself. Trina and Dana are outside in the car.”

  “Great. None of you should be out this time of night.”

  “You should be home too, not sleeping in your office.”

  “I didn’t want to go to a hotel. If someone blabbed that I checked in, it would just give steam to that stupid story.”

  “Smart move,” she said quietly.

  A tight smile crossed his lips. “I do make good decisions every now and again.”

  “Give yourself some credit. Every decision you make is a good one.”

  “Except asking you to marry me,” he said, looking into her eyes. She could see the love in them…and the pain. “That seems to be the foul up of the century.”

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t think so. The timing was wrong, that’s all. It…it ran up against my own fears. I didn’t know what it would mean for us at the time and I let my fears, let my past, let my doubts take over.”

  “Happily ever after is a very simple concept.”

  “Since when has anything ever been simple with me?”

  “Never.” But another one of his smiles flashed on his face before his expression changed back into a frown. “But I thought we agreed that we needed some space.”

  “No, you left, and like an idiot, I let you without finishing our discussion.” She came closer. “There’s something that needs to be said so we can move on from this.”

  “OK.” He knocked back his drink, slammed it on the corner of the desk, and sank down on the arm of the couch.

  “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and we can’t go on like this. I don’t want our baby coming into a world of our own personal chaos.” She closed her eyes and lifted her chin. When she looked at him again, she could see the warmth in his eyes and it lifted her heart. “Even if that chaos mostly has to do with me.”

  “I agree,” he said, his voice soft. “What do you want to do?”

  “I’ve never felt as loved and protected as I am when I’m with you. You love me without expectation of something in return and you give me courage and comfort. You help me be a better person, Derek. You’ve been by my side every step of the way and let me lead us in this relationship, even when I didn’t know where I was going.” Holding his gaze was almost as difficult as keeping in her tears, but she found her courage, found her strength, and managed both. “Marry me, Derek Popovich.”

  He stared at her, stunned. “I thought… Didn’t you say no?”

  She nodded, “How could I not want to marry you? It broke my heart the first time I said no.”

  “Then why did you say no?”

  “I needed to know you wanted me and the baby in your life because you loved us. Not because you felt you had to be with us. Not because you felt obligated or trapped.”

  He caressed her cheek. “Loving you has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve done in my life. Our love is so strong a life was created from it.”

  She looked up into his eyes. “What do you say? Will you marry me? I’d get down on one knee, but frankly I don’t know if I could get back up again.”

  “I’ll marry you only if you agree to one thing.”

  “What?” She bit her lip.

  Derek retrieved the engagement ring from his front pocket.

  “Since the day we met, there was a strange stirring in my soul. I love you because you’re kind, fierce, and resourceful. Nothing gets in your way. I want you to know that this ring means forever to me. It means hopes, dreams, trust, respect, and a lot midnight snacking. Because let’s face it, nobody does midnight snacking like we do. It also means how happy I am to be having the baby with you and how much I look forward to the future with you. We’re a team. There’s nothing we can’t do together, and I never want to spend another day without you.” He got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she said through her tears as she threw her arms around his neck and planted kisses on his face.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Derek stood in the doorway of the bedroom in his boxers watching Charisma sleep. He’d been wired ever since they came home and made love. How could he sleep? She’d finally said yes. He was so happy, he’d probably never sleep again.

  Since he couldn’t sleep, he had to talk to someone, to share the wonderful news. He knew it was pretty early, but he had to talk to his brother Alex.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex said as he came on the line. “Nothing good ever happens at three in the morning.”

  “Charisma said yes.”

  “Oh, thank goodness. I thought something happened with the baby. Don’t scare me like that.”

  “Sorry, sorry. Everyone’s good here. In fact, we’re perfect. I proposed, she accepted. I’m so wired, I couldn’t sleep. I had to call someone and share.”

  “Congrats, bro. I’m happy for you. When’s the wedding?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “We have to iron all that out, I suspect, in the morning.”

  “Did you tell mom and dad?”

  “I tried getting them on that satellite phone, but there was no answer.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine.” Alex yawned. “Although I don’t know why they’d want to go on an archaeological dig.”

  “You have met Victor and Sofia Popovich, right? Adventurers extraordinaire.”

  “Yeah. They sent Noah and Chloe bones. Just wait until they start sending your little one care packages.”

  “I can’t wait. I’ll be calling Sienna and Theo later today. Hopefully Theo will remain in one piece for the wedding with all his motocross craziness.”r />
  “Just let me know the when and the where. I’ll be there with bells on.”

  “Listen, I was hoping you’d be my best man.”

  “I’d be honored,” Alex said cheerfully. “But I’m afraid with being so far away, I may not be the best qualified.”

  “No worries. We’ll figure something out. All I care about is you and the kids being there on the big day.”

  “Awesome.” Alex yawned again.

  “I’ll let you go back to sleep. We’ll be calling tomorrow at a more respectable time.”

  “Looking forward to it. Give Charisma a kiss for me.”

  “Will do. Spoil my niece and nephew rotten for me.” He laughed and ended the call. Now for his next call. He dialed up Seth. Seth answered the phone sounding like he was winded.

  “Hey, man. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “Nope. Just getting in an early jog.”

  Of course his good friend was up. The football pre-season was a week away, and he was back in strategy mode.

  “You do know that Riley should be doing all the heavy lifting these days, right?”

  “Yeah, but I like to keep my head clear,” Seth panted. “He’s coming over so we can map out a new workout routine.”

  “I thought you had trainers at the stadium?”

  “He’s in love. We need to figure out how he can still work his ass off while spending more time with Parker.”

  “Love is the best distraction there is.”

  “I know that’s right.” Seth laughed. “Are you calling with good news? Morgan heard from the family grapevine that something was brewing.”

  “Charisma and I are tying the knot.”

  “Woo hoo!” Seth cheered. “Morgan is going to be over the moon when I tell her. I told you Charisma just needed some time.”

  “You did give me some sage advice. I admit I got a little anxious.”

  “Well what’s important is that you two are getting hitched and making a family.”

  “Can you believe it?” He sighed. “Me, the consummate bachelor a few years ago, about to be a married man and a father?”