Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 148473 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148473 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
That’s not what she has a hard time faking.
What’s tough for Maeve is not being her true, authentic self. She means she wanted to touch me. So she wasn’t that good at not touching me.
I fight off the biggest, cockiest grin ever. My wife wants me. The Greers want authentic? I’ll give it to them.
“I have an idea,” I say.
“Count me in,” she replies without asking what it is.
We drive to the Marina, and along the way, she turns to me, her expression shifting. “Do you think it’s true? That I was her first choice all along?”
“Of course,” I say as we cruise toward the bay, glittering in the afternoon sun. “Why wouldn’t that be true?”
“She said they like to work with players’ partners. What if they waited until we were married to hire me?”
She sounds so vulnerable, and it tugs hard on my heart. “Maeve, they hired you, not me. It’s your name going on the mural, not mine.”
“Right, but what if they did it to make you happy?”
Oh hell. How can I ever reassure her? “Look, I’m not even in a contract year. They’re not sucking up to me. You got this job on your merits,” I say, trying, desperately trying.
She flashes a smile that quickly turns to a frown. “I don’t want to be handed things because I’m…Mrs. Callahan.”
“You’re not,” I say emphatically, wishing she could see what I see in her talent. “You got this on your own terms. She said you were her top choice. Hell, she opened up the field just because she was blown away by you and wanted to make sure she was being fair. And she came back to you.”
She shudders out a sigh, then nods like she’s trying to absorb that truth. “Thanks, Asher. I seriously appreciate that.”
“Get used to it, wife. There’s more where that came from,” I say. I’ll do whatever it takes for her to know I believe in her.
“And I think you deserve a badge for being a great temporary husband,” she says.
But to earn it, I need to do everything I can to make everyone believe in this marriage.
I park near the water and take her hand as we walk across Crissy Field. When we stop, I hold out my phone, the Golden Gate Bridge rising high behind us.
“Smile for social,” I say.
She does, bright and beautiful—a clear smile that burrows deep into my heart. But it’s not enough.
I don’t want a smile for the camera. I want to show the whole damn world that I can’t keep my hands off my wife. But I don’t want to presume she wants a kiss too, so I start to ask. “What about—?”
“A kiss for social?”
It’s the best finished thought ever.
“Yes.” I tug her against me, her back to my chest. I wrap an arm around her waist, and then, with my free hand, I cup her jaw and turn her toward me. I kiss her, long, slow, deep—the kind of kiss that’s a prelude to how I want to fuck her.
I mentally record her reaction—her sighs, her hungry murmurs, and most of all, the way she surrenders to the kiss. She tilts her chin, she parts her lips, and she invites me to kiss her thoroughly with everything I’ve got.
That’s who she is. Someone who gives fully, who loves deeply, who wants with her whole soul. I kiss her by the bridge and in front of the ocean so we can tell our story.
When we break the kiss, she sighs—a deep, satisfied sound. “You kiss me a lot.”
She’s not wrong. “Want me to stop?” I ask like it’d be no big deal. Only, it’d be a terrible deal.
“No,” she says, then smiles up at me. “Who knew my best friend was such a good kisser?”
I drop a kiss onto her nose. “I guess you know now.”
“I do know,” she says in a feathery whisper.
I drive Maeve to the arena so she doesn’t miss her appointment with Eleanor, telling her goodbye as she goes inside.
But I don’t take off yet. I do what the guys said I should do—make this official on social.
I post the bridge photo with a caption, keeping it cheeky.
Can’t spell kindness without kiss. And I can’t kiss without my brilliant wife, Maeve Hartley. What have you done to be kind today?
I tag the Sea Dogs and Maeve, hoping the Greers see it.
If anyone doubted I want my wife, they’d better not doubt it now. But for all Eleanor talked about loving our photos, she doesn’t even like this one.
Well, you can’t get lucky every time.
26
THE FOLD PROBLEM
Maeve
If the brunch with the Greers was an out-of-town tryout, this dinner three nights later with the Total Teamwork board is opening night for the Broadway show. Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Callahan.
And I plan to earn a standing ovation.