When two minutes passes, I use the elevator to the third floor and the receptionist stands to her feet, batting her eyes at me. “Miss Herald is expecting you. She’s in the conference room down the hall. The last door on the right.”
I barely mutter thinks before I walk past her and I stop outside the door and take a deep breath before walking in and locking it behind me.
I take her in from head to toe and I can tell she’s barely holding it together. The sadness on her face guts me and I want nothing more than to hold her right now. I walk toward her with my hand out, wanting to touch her, but she stops me. “No. That’s far enough.”
Frustrated, I tell her with a clenched jaw, “I’m not going to let you destroy what we have.”
With shock, she throws her hands up at me. “Me? Me? You’re the one getting lap dances from some skinny, skanky blonde. I’d say you’re the one that ruined us.”
I cross my arms over my chest to stop from reaching for her. “Think about it, Jackie. I’m not that guy – “
She cuts me off. “I didn’t THINK you were. But I know what I saw.”
“I’m not. Just hear me out. Everyone is talking about us being baseball’s cutest couple. Carter’s mad. He’s the one that pushed that woman into me. I fell backwards, but I was pushing her off of me when you walked in. I would never do that to you. Why would I when all I want is you?” The longer I talk, the more I can see her face softening. I take little steps and each one brings me closer to her. “Look, I know we haven’t talked about it, and I didn’t want to push you too fast, but I love you, honey. There’s not anything I would do to jeopardize what we have.”
She sniffles and I stare at her without blinking. I want her to know how sincere I am. She wipes the tears from her cheeks. “Is that why you punched Carter?”
I nod my head. “How’d you know about that?”
She snorts. “It’s all over the news.”
I just shrug my shoulders. Coach may have made a joke about it last night, but I’ll probably have to sit out a game in punishment. I don’t care. Carter had it coming and that’s what I tell her.
She reaches for me, grabbing my hand. “Carter’s an ass.”
I nod my head and pull her into me. I cup her face in my hands and look into her eyes. “I would never hurt you, Jackie. You have to trust me on that.”
Her face scrunches and I know she’s remembering that woman on my lap. “Seeing you… like that, God it was probably the worst feeling I’ve ever felt. I couldn’t handle it if you cheat on me. I want you to tell me if you don’t want me anymore.”
I brush the hair from her face. “I know. If the roles were reversed and I saw you like that with some man, I would kill him. I wouldn’t be able to take it. I’m asking a lot because I know how it looked, but I will spend the rest of our lives doing right by you.”
She sniffs again but nods her head.
“Can I kiss you now?”
She nods her head, and I latch on to her lips. I devour her completely with that one kiss, wanting her to know exactly how much she means to me. When we finally pull apart, I’m hard and lusting. “I can’t wait until tonight.”
She tilts her head to the side questioningly. “What’s tonight?”
I smile real big at her. “Make-up sex.”
We both laugh, but it’s a long while before I can finally let her out of my arms.
Epilogue
Jackie
One Month Later
I try to peek over Reagan’s shoulder. There’s something on his phone that has his interest piqued. “What are you looking at?”
He brings the phone down and holds it in my face. “This. Baseball’s cutest couple got married last night in a private ceremony.”
“Aww,” I cry as I jerk the phone from his hand. “It’s my first wedding pictures and it’s on some tabloid site.”
He circles his arms around me. “Yeah, but look how beautiful you are. I can’t blame whoever for taking those photos.”
I lean up on my tiptoes and pull him down to meet me. “Oh, you’re smooth,” I tell him before I kiss him.
After the last month, Reagan and I have gotten closer and closer. I travel to the games I can, but if I can’t, he’s always calling me and talking to me every day and night. He asked me to marry him exactly one week after the whole Carter fiasco and I could have held off for a long engagement, but I knew then just like I know now, I love Reagan and want to be his wife.