Earning A Ring. Kristina Mathews

think we’ve already determined I can be very serious.” He drew her hand to his lips and kissed her. “I want to marry you. I want to be there for you and the baby. I don’t need to make it a media circus or fancy party. I just want you.”

      * * * *

      Two hours later, they were heading east on Interstate 80. Rachel had fallen asleep before they even got to Fairfield. A good thing, really. A few days ago, Bryce had been feeling sorry for himself. He wasn’t hitting. His defense was crap. They were criticizing him on the radio and TV. Yeah, he’d had problems.

      Like being a selfish son-of-a-bitch who couldn’t see past his giant ego.

      Rachel getting pregnant was just the wakeup call he’d needed.

      He hoped. No, he truly believed that his plan was a good one. His very public proposal and their quickie wedding would draw fans to Rachel’s side. And it wouldn’t hurt if it drew some of the pressure off him and the team. The season was young. No need to panic. Yet after winning it all last year, expectations were higher than ever. They needed a distraction. Perspective. Not every bad hop or missed ball was an indication that last year had been a fluke. A once-in-a-lifetime chance at something great.

      If Rachel had been a onetime thing, that would have been a tragedy. His slow start? Well, that was baseball. If he put up half the numbers he’d had last year, he’d still be in elite company. He was a major league baseball player. The best in the world. And his contract was guaranteed for six years. He’d have to do something incredibly stupid to be let go. So unless he developed a gambling problem or committed a felony, he had a job. The pressure was mostly in his own head, and the sooner he got over himself, the sooner he’d start hitting again.

      He glanced over at Rachel, snoring softly in the passenger seat of his Corvette. God, she was beautiful. The car was a joke. She was the true prize.

      She’d agreed to marry him, but her heart wasn’t in it. She was only going along with the marriage to save her job. And maybe she believed that a baby should be brought into the world by parents who were married to each other.

      He had no idea of her upbringing. Was she raised by strict, traditional parents? A single mom? Did she have siblings? Pets growing up? What was her favorite flavor of ice cream? He had no idea if she even ate ice cream. Maybe she was on one of those no-dairy, gluten-free diets. What if she was a vegetarian? No way was he going to give up eating meat. He was an athlete. He needed the protein, and he’d get it the way God intended, from a big, fat, juicy steak.

      The fact that he knew very little about the woman he was about to make his wife should have concerned him. Yet it felt right.

      Somehow he’d have to convince Rachel that they could do this. Oh he knew the odds were against them. But the odds against the Goliaths winning the World Series had been sixteen to one at the beginning of last September.

      Chapter 3

      Somewhere around midnight, the minister at the Biggest Little Wedding Chapel pronounced Bryce and Rachel husband and wife. She made a mental note to check the exact time, in case their marriage did last a full year, she should know if her anniversary would be April 30th or May 1st.

      “You may kiss your bride.” The minister nodded to Bryce who turned to Rachel with a look she hadn’t seen on his face in some time. Pure, absolute confidence. He reached his hand behind her neck, pulling her close to him, and lowered his mouth to hers, brushing her lips lightly before diving in for a deeper kiss. If a marriage could work based on nothing more than chemistry and sexual attraction, they had nothing to worry about.

      Rachel forgot where she was, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. She loved and hated his long hair. He’d earned the nickname Midas late last season when everything about him was golden. Golden touch, golden hair. And now he had a gold band on his left ring finger.

      Their sole witness, Johnny Scottsdale, cleared his throat and finally, Bryce let her go.

      “Congratulations.” Johnny shook her hand and offered a sincere smile. “I always had a feeling about you two.”

      “Thank you.” Rachel had a feeling, too, but it wasn’t the kind of optimism expected of a bride on her wedding night.

      “Why don’t you two stop by our place in the morning?” Johnny gave Bryce a sly look. “Alice and I would love to help you celebrate. We can have a reception brunch.”

      Rachel was a little surprised by the invitation, considering she was the one who’d figured out Alice’s teenage son could have been Johnny’s and not her late husband’s child. But he and Bryce had formed a close friendship, and since Johnny’s retirement after the World Series, Bryce had been missing his friend. The fact that Johnny had left his wife and baby girl at home to attend their midnight wedding was a testament to the bond between the two men.

      “We’ll definitely stop by.” Bryce put his arm around her waist and grinned like a real groom. As if this were a real wedding. “Not too early, of course.”

      He slid his hand down her hip, making her quiver in anticipation of their wedding night. If she could keep her eyes open long enough to strip out of her wedding dress. She’d chosen a simple little sheath in a pale green that was as close to white as she could find on such short notice.

      Bryce on the other hand, looked like something out of GQ. He wore a silvery-blue dress shirt, black pants, and a tie with blues and greens that almost matched her dress. His hair was slicked back off his face, falling in neat waves down to his shoulders. His two-day stubble glistened like gold against his tanned skin.

      She’d never been a fan of long hair on men. But on Bryce it worked. He was six feet two inches of solid muscle. Broad shoulders, square jaw, chiseled abs. The hair toned down his raw masculinity, added to his boyish charm. And it was fun to play with in the right circumstances.

      She couldn’t wait to run her fingers through his hair. She hated to admit it, but he was a fantastic lover. He made love with the same kind of enthusiasm he played the game with. And while they were in bed together, he made her feel like the only woman in the world.

      She wondered how long she’d be the only woman in his bed. She glanced down at her still flat tummy. Would he still want her when she looked like she was trying to smuggle a beach ball into the ballpark? She’d better enjoy him while she could.

      They said goodbye to Johnny, and Bryce helped her into the front seat of his Corvette. She tried to picture him driving a minivan, and giggled.

      “What’s so funny?” he asked.

      “Just thinking of trying to fit a baby seat in this car.”

      “I guess I should trade it in for something more family friendly.” He didn’t sound amused.

      “Don’t you dare.” She leaned back against the seat. “You worked hard for this car. You earned it.”

      “It’s not very practical.”

      “No. But it is something for you to be proud of. Don’t get rid of the car.”

      “I guess we could get some sort of SUV to drive the kid around in.”

      “We don’t need to worry about that just yet.” Because that would just make the situation seem all too real. They weren’t heading to a hotel to get it on after another one of Bryce’s milestones. The night they celebrated his contract extension had been one of their crazier nights together. Crazy and intense. And that was before she realized she had conceived.

      “I guess we should start thinking about finding a bigger place. Look into school districts, should we go public or private?”

      “Whoa, slow down.” Rachel wasn’t ready to think about maternity clothes, let alone school uniforms. “Can we just get to the hotel and enjoy our wedding night? We don’t have to plan for college just yet.”

      “It’s