Play Date (Play Makers Book 3) (41 page)

“Damn.”

She smiled through her tears. “So it’s true, I told Patrick Murphy we might break up. Not because
you
would blow it. Not because I would blow it. But because you were Bam Bannerman, and I was just a lovesick kindergarten teacher.”

His blue eyes misted over.

“I love being that schoolteacher,” she assured him. “That’s why I babbled so much at dinner. About my calling. And how I didn’t care about money. But it all sounded so naïve and silly. So I just kept throwing in more reasons. Reasons I thought he could relate to, like confidentiality. And harmony in the office. I was trying to sound businesslike, but it was thoughtless. And hurtful. I see that now.” She grabbed his face between her hands. “But I never said you were just some guy. Because you’re everything to me.
Everything.”

He cupped her chin in his enormous hand, his tone deepening with emotion. “I knew you didn’t want to crowd me. You were giving it your all. And I was holding back.”

“You had to be absolutely sure.”

“I’ve been sure forever. And I knew what you needed to hear. I just kept putting it off. So . . .” He exhaled sharply. “This fight’s on
me.
And I’m really sorry. It’ll never happen again. I promise.”

She exhaled too, not because of the apology, but because the promise meant so much. Sure, they would argue again, maybe often, but as long as he didn’t drive away . . .

“Thanks, Vince.”

His eyes twinkled. “It’s been fun though, hasn’t it? Falling in love? A little more every week? We need to keep that going.”

She nodded, breathless. “I never want it to end. Falling in love, I mean.”

“And building a life together. The new agent. The tree—so our kids can have fresh pomegranates like
you
had growing up. We’re on a roll, teach.”

“The pomegranates are for our children?”

“What a life, right?” He grinned. “Going to the beach whenever they want? Having a cool dad and a hot mom? What more can they ask?”

She stared up at him, unable to speak as she sandwiched his face between her palms. Just as she had done so many times before.

The face thing.

He had asked her what it meant. And she had always hedged her answer, saying it was because she loved his face. Which was true enough.

But it was so much more, wasn’t it? He had been such a shock to her that first night. And every time thereafter. So wild yet so gentle. So unexpected, and so much fun.

“Tell me,” he murmured, his blue eyes blazing.

She choked on a sob, then admitted, “I just never knew there were guys like you in the world. Never even dreamed it.”

“Yeah,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “I never knew about you either, teach.”

Chapter 17

Erica struggled not to laugh as her favorite friend in the world—Sean Decker—paced the living room of her Portland home like an expectant father. Or worse, like a dad whose teenage daughter had stayed out past curfew.

“You should sit down,” she insisted. “It’ll take him a while to get here.”

“Not the way
he
drives,” Sean drawled. “Are you sure he didn’t give you a hint? If he dumped Rachel, I’ll kill him. For real. So be prepared.”

Erica knew about the engagement ring, thanks to her husband, so she suspected Bannerman’s late-afternoon request for a gathering of the Triple Threat was for a different kind of announcement. “I bet they want to tell us they’re getting married,” she told him.

“No way. She promised it wasn’t serious.”

“Give it up, buddy,” Johnny said with a sympathetic grin. “It’s maritime salvage law, remember?”

“I
hate
that joke.” Sean scowled. “He said he wants to talk to you and me. Alone. If he was announcing their engagement, he’d want Erica there too.”

She walked over and patted his shoulder. “He probably wants you to be his best man. Johnny too. It’s a tradition, right?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “It’s a tradition for sure.”

At that moment, a door slammed open and Bannerman’s rowdy voice called from the entry hall, “We’re here!”

Johnny laughed. “Promise me we’ll never have teenagers. I don’t think I’d survive it.”

She laughed too as the new arrivals strolled into view. Bannerman so relaxed. So happy. So hilariously in love. From his deepened San Diego tan to his Jose Cuervo muscle shirt to his baggy cargo shorts and sandals, he looked like a day at the beach.

Rachel was even more eye-catching. As serene as ever, she wore white shorts and a sexy Lancers jersey, sky-high buckskin sandals, and a carefree smile. It didn’t seem to matter that it was fifty degrees and windy outside. These two were in their own little world where it was always sunny and hot.

Especially hot.

Bannerman strode right up to Erica. “Congratulate me, beautiful. And throw your whole body into it.”

She gave him a hug. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

“Yeah.” He grabbed Rachel by the arm, pulled her over and said, “Show her the rock.”

Rachel held up her left hand to display a perfect diamond. “You probably think we’re moving too fast, but we plan a long engagement, I promise.”

“Yeah, so we can keep falling in love,” Bannerman explained. “Everyone knows the wedding kills the romance, right? You guys are living proof of that.”

Erica ignored him and embraced Rachel. “We’re so thrilled about this. You can’t even imagine.”

Johnny stepped over and pumped Bannerman’s hand. “Congratulations, Bam. You’re a lucky guy.” Then he gave Rachel a respectful hug and told her, “Welcome to the family.” Then he insisted, “We have a gift for you too.”

“Really?”

He reached under the dining table and pulled out a bright red bucket. “Just in case.”

Rachel giggled. “You remembered! But I actually
love
Portland now.”

“Yeah, it was just Decker that made her want to puke,” Bannerman explained.

They all laughed, then Rachel gave Sean a wistful smile. “Aren’t you going to congratulate us? You’re the reason we got together in the first place.”

“Don’t remind me,” he told her, his green eyes twinkling. “You promised me it wasn’t serious. So did Bam.”

Bannerman chuckled. “I told you it wasn’t
your
kind of serious. There’s a difference. Because . . .” He paused, then delivered the punch line: “I’m not a girl.”

Sean chuckled, pulled Rachel into his arms and beamed down at her. “I can’t believe I let you get away.”

“Hey, teach,” Bannerman said, tugging on her arm. “Tell Deck our wedding vows.”

Rachel eyed Sean solemnly. “We promise to love, honor and bang each other till death us do part.”

“Oh, God,” he muttered. “You’re making my ears bleed.”

“Mine too,” Erica admitted.

“Yeah, she’s all Bammed up,” the halfback assured them. “Tell them your motto, teach.”

Rachel laughed. “He wants me to think less, bang more.”

“Geezus,” Johnny muttered. “We’re gonna need a bigger bucket.”

“Or maybe just some champagne?” Erica gave him an encouraging smile. “Can you do the honors?”

“Wait.” Bannerman cleared his throat. “I need to talk to the guys first. You girls can have a pillow fight or something, right?”

Erica studied him curiously. He almost seemed nervous, which was basically impossible. He had no boundaries for one thing. And asking these two guys to be his best men? That shouldn’t cause consternation.

Should it?

Johnny dealt with it quickly. “Great. We’ll have a chat in my office, then bust out the champagne.”

Bannerman pulled Rachel into a hot embrace, planting a scorching kiss on her mouth. Then he asked her playfully, “What’s my name?”

“Sheriff Bannerman,” she assured him in a dreamy voice.

“Fine, now my
eyes
are bleeding too,” Sean muttered. “Let’s just get this talk over with before they get any worse.”

Erica patted his arm in mock sympathy, then watched as the three men headed down the hallway.

“Should I be worried?” she asked Rachel with a half-teasing smile.

“I’ll fill you in,” she promised. “I’m pretty sure your husband will take care of any problems. Vince idolizes him, and I’m starting to see why.”

“And meanwhile, I want to hear every detail about this crazy courtship. And the proposal. When did he ask you?”

“Monday night. At the beach. We would have told you sooner, but it was a wild day. And I still had class this week. But I’m on spring break now, so if you have any free time, we can visit.”

“We’re flying to LA tomorrow, just for the day. For the Spurling family Easter egg hunt. You guys should come.”

“Bethie invited us,” Rachel assured her, adding with a playful smile, “She took the news pretty well.”

“Oh, thank God. We were sure
we’d
get stuck telling her.”

“We saw them last night. And she went a little nuts. Called us an a-Bam-anation. But by the time we left, she was wonderful about it.”

“Let’s go out on the deck. I want to hear about that too. But first . . .” She cast a worried glance toward Johnny’s office. “I want to hear about the other thing.”

• • •

Johnny led his two best friends into his office and motioned for them to sit in matching armchairs. Then he took his seat behind the desk, rocked back in his leather executive chair, and grinned like a fool.

He had imagined this moment so often. Of course, he had pictured Sean making the big announcement. This was almost better, and infinitely more entertaining.

Bam in love. He hadn’t seen
that
coming.

He eyed the halfback proudly. “Nice job.”

“Yeah, Bam,” Sean said warmly. “All kidding aside, this is great. Mind-blowing but great.”

“Thanks.” Bannerman shifted in his chair. “So you guys know how I feel about you, right? The Triple Threat was the best thing that ever happened to me. Until her.”

“Say no more,” Johnny said, leaning forward and fixing him with a reassuring look. “We’re here for you. Just name the date.”

“Huh?”

“You want us to stand up for you, right? At the wedding? Try and stop us. Right, Deck?”

“Yeah,” the kicker agreed. “It’ll be an honor, buddy.”

The halfback winced. “Okay, so now I’m gonna sound like a dick. Because I just assumed you’d do
that.
This is something different. Kind of dicey, actually. But I’ll walk you through it.” He cleared his throat. “My contract sucks, right? And I know Murf can get me a better one. But I need to stop dicking around. If I’m gonna have a wife and kids, I need to provide for them. Rack up some bucks in case I get injured.”

Johnny stared, completely blindsided but instantly supportive. “Murf can make that happen.”

“To a point,” Bannerman agreed. “But let’s face it. The Lancers don’t have a lot of cap room to work with. I never cared before. But now I do. And I know for a fact I can get a bigger payday from another team. It’ll kill me. And Rachel’s against it. But there’s no way around it. If not this year, then next year for sure.” His eyes clouded. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up. It’s been the most amazing time of my life, playing with you guys. But I’ve got to think of the future now.”

Johnny leaned back, emotional but also impressed. Bam Bannerman planning for the future? What miracle had the kindergarten teacher worked on this guy?

He wanted to savor the moment but could see the halfback felt bad, so he told him briskly, “You should definitely provide for your family. But the good news is, you can do that with the Lancers. I’ve told you a million times, Murf’s a genius. Now I’ll tell you why. He’ll restructure my contract to free up what you need—”

“No,” Bannerman interrupted firmly. “I’m not taking money off your plate. So just forget about it.”

“It’s not a question of that,” Johnny assured him. “Restructuring can benefit me too. Tax-wise alone. And let’s face it, my bonuses are based on having
you
on the team. I get the credit, but it happens because of me
and
you. And Deck. It’s not just a publicity slogan. We’re a threat when we’re together.” He kept his gaze focused on the halfback, partly to reassure him, but also because he was a little surprised Sean wasn’t jumping on the bandwagon. He didn’t want to second-guess the guy, but as the highest-paid kicker in the NFL
, he
had room in his contract too, didn’t he?

Not that it mattered. If Sean wasn’t comfortable with this, no problem. There was plenty of money to go around any way they sliced it.

“I won’t take money off your plate,” Bannerman repeated stubbornly. “You’re the best, John. We all know that.
You’re
the threat. It actually fries me when people say the Surgeon wins on his own, but you need me and Deck. So that’s the silver lining, right? I go to another team, you still kick ass.”

Before Johnny could interrupt, the halfback continued smoothly. “We’ll still be friends. Brothers, right? But it works for me in a lot of ways. If I can end up in Southern Cal—ideally San Diego, but your dad’s new team in LA works too. Then then Rachel can stay at her same school. We’ve already got a house there, so really, it’s in the bag.”

Sean spoke for the first time since the controversy began. “You’re talking about Rachel’s place? That tiny little shack? You can’t live there.”

Bannerman seemed surprised. “It’s actually pretty great. I need to add another stall to the garage. And maybe get a hot tub. Otherwise, we’re set. And she effing loves that place, so we’ll live there wherever I play. This just makes it more convenient.”

Johnny exhaled sharply. “Okay, that’s enough. You’re not going anywhere. You want to live in San Diego? Fine. You can stay with me and Erica during football season. No problem. But you’re not leaving the Lancers. It’s not necessary. And I won’t allow it. I still call the plays, don’t I?” he added with a confident grin. “And I say you’ll be drowning in money before the year is out. So case closed.”

He leaned back in his chair again, feeling great, especially because the glow on Bannerman’s face told him all he needed to know. The guy had been sick over the idea of leaving the Triple Threat.