Page 82 of Love Game

Avery sighed and pushed her hair back from her face. “Listen, I don’t believe a piece of paper is proof that two people love each other more than anyone else, but I have to admit it might be nice to see a shotgun wedding for the purpose of saving the guy’s reputation for once.”

“Do you love him?” Millie asked, her trademark rasp unnaturally gentle.

The answer shot out of Kate’s mouth like a bullet. “Yes.”

Smiling, Avery stood and smoothed her gauzy skirt. “I’ll go buy a bouquet of whatever the grocery store has.” She turned to Millie. “Judge Baxter still a season-ticket holder?”

“Will be till the day he dies,” Millie answered, reaching for the phone.

Bobbing a decisive nod, Avery gripped Kate by the arms and propelled her toward the door. “Go line up your groom. The clock is ticking on those forty-eight hours.”

Without another word, Kate yanked open her office door and sprinted down the hall. She dodged a couple of media types snapping pictures of the trophy cases, lifted a hand in acknowledgment as she zipped past Mack standing in the doorway to the bullpen, a smug smile creasing his face, and skidded around the corner that led to Danny’s closet of an office.

“Danny!” She caught the doorframe with her fingertips and let the laws of physics rein in her momentum. “I’ve got to ask…”

Kate trailed off as she scanned the tiny space. It was empty save for the sea of cardboard boxes cluttering the floor. The walls were covered in old team plaques and team photos. Decor that hadn’t been there the day before. The wall beside his desk was eaten up by a giant metal rack exactly like the one that hung in her office. But instead of shoes, Danny had ball caps—dozens of them. Each sporting a different team’s logo or mascot. Every one with the bill curved just so. Even the one with the rattlesnake appliqued to the front.

Closing her eyes, Kate curbed her impatience by conjuring the memory of the morning kiss Jim Davenport’s photo captured. The warmth of Danny’s mouth. The morning gravel in his voice. Those rough, ready hands curling the brim of his hat, getting it just how he liked it before pulling the visor down low over his brows.

Too late. They’d been caught. Game over.

“Hey.”

She turned and found the man of her daydreams slowing his steps as he approached, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jeans. “Hi.”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “You come by to help me pack?”

Kate shook her head, trying to dislodge the lingering memory of that early-morning kiss, wishing she could shake off her nerves. Inhaling through her nose, she focused on him. Only him. That craggy, handsome face was her backboard, his smile the square she could bank on if she needed to, but the light in his eyes was her goal. She stared deep into their electric-blue depths, knowing it was time to take her shot.

“No. I came to ask you to marry me.”

Chapter 19

Every time Danny had his legs knocked out from under him, he’d always crashed to the ground. But the moment the quasi-proposal popped out of Kate’s mouth, he started flying high. It proved he hadn’t been crazy to make that extra stop after dropping Gene off at the hotel. While his agent was deploying career damage control, Danny focused on kicking his own ass into line. Staring at the breathless, beautiful woman standing stock-still in his office, he knew he’d made the right decision. Even if it came twelve hours too late.

Only a fool would think a woman like Kate would just up and move without a guarantee. A contract. A promise that he was in it for the long haul. Even if they ended up in Idaho. He smiled, picturing her in hiking boots and a cowboy hat. Maybe a plaid shirt with the snap pockets on the chest. Knotted at the waist. Just above her shorts. Not athletic shorts, but the khaki short-shorts that hiking, outdoorsy women who lived in the Pacific Northwest wore, at least in his mind.

“Or not,” she said tartly, then tried to push past him.

“Hey! No, wait.” He caught her around the waist and pulled her close against him. “I haven’t given you my answer yet.”

“I take it back.”

He grinned, shifting to the left just enough to make their bodies align. “You can’t. It’s against the rules.”

“There are no rules,” she retorted.

She put up a token resistance. He’d give her credit for that. And hot damn, the way she wiggled felt good. So good. And right. Things had been…sticky between them the night before, and not in the usual way. She’d expected a proposal, and he’d flubbed it. Then he was stupid enough to think that by letting his actions speak for him in the language of sex, he’d somehow prove how much he loved her. It wasn’t until she’d slipped out of the bed to hide in the bathroom that he realized sometimes a guy just had to say the words.

“Yes.” The furrow he loved so much formed between her finely arched brows. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get another word out, he kissed the frown away. “Yes, I want to marry you.”

Kate blinked. “You do?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.” He brushed her hair back, letting the sleek strands slide through his fingers. “And for the record, I wanted to ask you last night.”

She cocked her head, her eyes gleaming gold with challenge. “And you chickened out?”

Danny laughed, more than happy to concede the point to her. “I chickened out.” He trailed his thumb over her cheekbone, then tipped her jaw up a fraction of an inch. “You’re so much braver than I am.”

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