Earning A Ring. Kristina Mathews

we don’t have a lot of time left on our honeymoon, so—”

      “Married? I see.” Her mother sounded like a woman who had just learned her daughter had run away and joined the circus. “I suppose informing your own mother of your intention to get married just sort of slipped your mind.”

      “Look, Mom, I’m sorry I didn’t call you, I didn’t have time. It all happened so fast. We had an off day and decided to take advantage of it while we could.”

      “You just up and decided to marry this guy on a whim?”

      “It wasn’t a whim. It was…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “We decided it would be better to make the wedding small. Stay out of the spotlight.”

      “I don’t understand. I’ve never even met this man.” Mom sounded more hurt than offended, now. “Never even heard you mention him. I talked to your sister. She said the only thing you ever said about him was that he drives you crazy.”

      “He does drive me crazy.” Rachel sighed. She turned to see if Bryce was listening, but he’d left the room. “But he also makes me laugh. And I don’t expect you to understand, but I do hope you’ll support me. Support us.”

      “It would be easier to support you if I wasn’t so blindsided. I didn’t even know you were seeing someone.” Rachel supposed it would be a shock. “I mean, you were with Carter for three years. You brought him to Megan’s wedding. We were all expecting you two to be next.”

      “Well, Carter wasn’t the man for me.” She was glad Bryce wasn’t in the room. She didn’t want him to overhear her defending her choice to dump a man who had charmed her family so convincingly. “He cheated on me, for one. And he didn’t take my career seriously.”

      “He cheated on you?” Mom sounded genuinely shocked. “I’m so sorry.”

      “He wanted me to quit my job.” That still stung even more than his infidelity. “Thought I’d be content to simply be Mrs. Bigshot Attorney.”

      She flopped down on the bed just as Bryce came out of the bathroom. He saw that she was still on the phone and started to back away. She smiled at him, motioning for him to stay.

      “Look, Mom. I’m sorry you didn’t get to come to the wedding. But I’ve got to go. We need to head back to San Francisco. We both have to work tomorrow.”

      She glanced over at Bryce, and a warm feeling bloomed in her chest. Part of the reason they were here in Reno was so she could keep her job. Hopefully. But the fact that Bryce recognized how important her career was made him a hero in her heart.

      * * * *

      She didn’t trust him. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it still hurt. She wanted him to wear a condom. Because she knew he’d slept with other women. Not as many as he could have, but more than he should have. The question he had to ask himself was why? To prove he was hot stuff? He was Bryce Freaking Baxter. World Series Champion. MVP. The highest paid player on the Goliaths. He made even more than Marco Santiago. But Marco was set for life. He’d married the Goliaths’ former owner. She’d basically traded her interest in the team for Marco. Not to mention a large sum of money.

      Bryce had done everything he could not to let anyone get close to him. He knew his time at the top was only temporary. He wasn’t going to be the man forever. He didn’t want to set someone up for disappointment.

      It had worked for him just fine until he met Rachel. He’d thought she was just using him for a story. Not a big deal. He’d been used for most of his life. From the minute his talent had become a little more than average, his dad, coaches, and yes, girls had all jumped on the Bryce Baxter bandwagon. He didn’t mind. Too much.

      But when he’d gone back to Rachel to plead Johnny Scottsdale’s case, to ask her to keep the story to herself, she’d agreed. And he’d been totally screwed.