Earning A Ring. Kristina Mathews

You don’t.” She knew in her heart that he couldn’t. “But don’t worry. I’ll think of something. You just concentrate on your game. I’ll figure out how to fix this.”

      “So that’s it?” His smile faded.

      She nodded, unable to say anything more. After taking a deep breath, she opened the door. Bryce followed her into the clubhouse. Someone handed her a glass of champagne and offered another to Bryce.

      “Congratulations to the happy couple.” Marco Santiago lifted his own glass.

      “Congratulations!”

      “Cheers!”

      Rachel knew everyone was watching her, expecting her to take a sip. Her hands shook both from having everyone watching her, and from wondering if one sip would hurt the baby. But if she didn’t take a drink, it would only raise further questions about their sudden, if fake engagement.

      She brought the glass to her lips, the lights of the clubhouse reflecting off the ridiculously large diamond on her finger.

      * * * *

      Bryce could tell Rachel was stressed about drinking the champagne. She couldn’t because of the baby, but not participating in a celebratory toast would raise questions neither of them was ready to answer right now.

      He leaned over, and whispered into her ear. “Pretend I’m saying something so funny you can’t help but spit champagne all over the place.”

      Like a trooper, she sputtered her drink and spilled what was left in her glass.

      “We appreciate your support,” Bryce told his teammates. “But we’d really like to celebrate in private.”

      He placed his hand on her lower back and escorted her out of the clubhouse.

      “Thank you for that.” She sounded genuinely grateful for his rescue.

      “Hey, we’re in this together.” Despite the fact that she was getting cold feet. But in a way he couldn’t blame her. This wasn’t exactly the scenario little girls dreamed of. He certainly hoped his daughter didn’t pretend to meet some guy at a bar, get knocked up, married, and divorced within a year like her mother had done. “Come to my place tonight.”

      She shook him off.

      “Look, you said yes on camera, so publicly, we are engaged. We’re going to act like we’re going through with the wedding.”

      “I really don’t think—”

      “You said yes. So here’s the deal.” He raked his hands through his hair. “We give it to the All-Star break. If I’m still in this slump, no one will blame you for dumping me.”

      “Oh, sure. That will make me look great. I dump you because you don’t make the All-Star team? That’s really professional. Especially since I’ll be showing by then.” Her lower lip quivered. He couldn’t handle it if she cried.

      He did the only thing he could think of, covered her trembling lips with his own.

      She hesitated at first, then opened up for the kiss. God, he’d missed the taste of her. Pulling her close, he savored her sweetness. He was just about to deepen the kiss when she pushed him away.

      “I’m not going to sleep with you.” She tried to smooth her jacket, but he could tell she was flustered. Her body and her mind were in opposition. He had a bad feeling her mind was going to win this time.

      “Fine. I’ll take the couch.” He knew he had to be patient with her. Just like he needed to be more patient at the plate.

      “I’m not going to marry you either.” She was lying. Maybe just to herself.

      “Look, we don’t have to rush into anything.” Maybe if he played it cool, she’d come around. “It’s not like we have to be married before the baby comes. Being engaged will probably satisfy most people. I’m sure you’ll get a few crazies who will brand you as immoral.”

      She snorted.

      “I’m constantly being told I’m going to Hell.” He shrugged. “But the ride has sure been fun.”

      “You’re impossible.” She shook her head, but at least she was smiling.

      “Impossible to resist, I know.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and led her to his car.

      “Not entirely.” Rachel held her back stiff, but at least she didn’t pull away. “I’ll go along with the fake engagement for now. But as soon as I figure out how to keep my job, keep the fans from feeling betrayed, and come up with a good reason to break off our engagement, I’ll give you back the ring.”

      Part of him wanted to tell her to give it back now, but that wouldn’t help either of them. They were both in the public eye, and he was well aware of the double standard that he could get away with a lot more than she could. She would need a very good reason to dump his ass even though she was pregnant with his child. His game couldn’t get that bad, that she’d be justified. He’d need to do something really stupid. Like get caught with another woman. Or steroids. But he was done with the first, and wouldn’t ever go with the second.

      He’d just have to come up with a way to convince her to marry him.

      * * * *

      Bryce had been good as his word. He took the couch while Rachel spent a restless night sleeping in his bed, alone, except for his scent fueling vivid and erotic dreams. She still wanted him, but she had to be stronger than ever to resist. The sexy dreams were only mildly frustrating in that she couldn’t act on them. Even more disturbing was the dream that they were getting married at home plate, with the stands full of thousands of women. Instead of rice or birdseed, the newlywed couple was pelted with panties after their nuptial kiss.

      And she was no closer to figuring out how to get out of this engagement without making herself or Bryce look bad. But she couldn’t have said no on camera, in front of everyone. That was her problem. She just couldn’t say no to the man.

      After breakfast, he took her to get her car at the ballpark. She drove home, changed, and headed back into San Francisco for the day game. Before she could get to the field, her producer pulled her aside.

      “I hear congratulations are in order.” Steve seemed sincere.

      “Thank you.” She felt a warm blush heat her cheeks. “Sorry about not staying away from Baxter. But don’t worry, I won’t let our relationship affect my work.”

      “See, that’s the thing,” Steve said. “The fans loved it. They love Bryce Baxter, and they really want to root for him. With his poor performance lately, they haven’t had much to cheer about. Haven’t had much to watch. But the ratings were through the roof on the post-game last night. The replays of the proposal got more hits than any regular season show.”

      “Well, it was unexpected.” She felt like there were a thousand seagulls diving for garlic fries in her stomach right now.

      “I’m telling you, they loved it. They want more.”

      “I don’t think any of the other players are going to propose.” Did she just say that?

      “No. They want more of you and Bryce.” He grinned. “In fact, I was thinking of doing a regular segment. Follow the two of you as you make your wedding plans. You know, testing cakes, interviewing caterers.”

      “We haven’t even set a date. It would have to be some time in November.” But the baby was due in mid-December. The last thing she wanted was to have Carl filming her while she tried on wedding dresses that would accommodate an enormous belly. Did they even make maternity wedding dresses?

      “When you do, we’d love to go along for the ride,” he said. “I mean, the viewers would love to come along for the ride. I knew there was some kind of magic between you two.”

      “Yeah.