Playing Dirty (A Bad Boy Sports Romance)

by Avery Wilde

  “What did I do?” Sarah asked, affronted.

  “You caught the bouquet.”

  “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

  “Yeah, but you’re not supposed to throw it back again!”

  “I don’t want to get married next!” protested Sarah. “I was worried that the bouquet might be legally binding.”

  “Well, it’s in all the photos now,” I said. “Should make it a wedding to remember.”

  She shook her head. “You married a prince at Westminster Abbey, and it’s me throwing the bouquet back that will make it memorable?”

  “Yep.”

  I grinned and looked around the room at all the many people I didn’t know—royal families tended to accrue relatives. There, by the window, stood my new husband, with his mother and brother. The Queen took both her boys’ hands, holding them tightly and looking from one to the other. It was, I thought, the happiest I’d ever seen the monarch look. She’d got her wish; her boys had grown up into men that she could be proud of.

  “And you’re definitely coming to the US this time?” Sarah asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “That’s our honeymoon. Although we can only stay for a few weeks—or else I won’t be allowed to fly back here, given that I’ll be six months pregnant by the time it’s over.”

  “Well, that’s plenty of time for us to do stuff,” she replied. “There’s a couple of new bars I want to take you to.”

  I arched an eyebrow at her, and she grinned. “What? It could be fun! A pregnant princess in a bar. You met your prince in a bar, after all. And of course you’ll only drink water,” she said.

  “I suppose we can try to figure something out…”

  Life as the wife of the heir to the British throne did present difficulties when it came to socializing, but I was confident I’d find ways around them. Traditions changed, rules bent, the world moved on. And of course it came with tremendous compensations—for one thing, I could hardly be better placed to study art. I was going to start by writing a book on the hidden masterpieces of the royal family, and Andrew had done nothing but encourage the idea of me writing about my passion. With permission from the family, I was also going to set about restoring some of the paintings which had become grimy and faded over the years, and I couldn’t wait to get started on that.

  But first things first. I had a honeymoon to get to before anything else.

  As if reading my mind, Andrew came up to us. “Sorry to break this up, but it’s time to go.”

  I hugged Sarah. “See you stateside.”

  “Damn right. Andy?” Sarah had no problem with addressing royalty however she felt like it. “Could you point me in the direction of the most eligible bachelor?”

  Andrew smiled and pointed to a handsome man in a dress uniform, and Sarah slugged back her champagne before heading into attack.

  Downstairs, Andrew and I left the palace, walking to our car amidst a cacophony of cheering from beyond the gates.

  “I think they like you,” said Andrew.

  “I think they like us,” I replied, as they got into the car. “By the way, I have some news.”

  He feigned a shocked expression. “Don’t tell me you’re pregnant.”

  I grinned. “You really do have the worst sense of humor. Anyway, do you want to hear the news?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well…it’s a boy.”

  “You found out the sex of the baby?”

  I nodded. “Uh-huh. Yesterday. We’re having a perfectly healthy baby boy.”

  Andrew’s face looked like it was about to split in two from the smile that was plastered across his face right now. “Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any better….you find a way to surprise me.”

  “I’ll always find ways to surprise you,” I said with a wink. “Anyway, seeing as we know the sex now, we can start considering names if you want. I was thinking it might be an idea to name him after your father—James.”

  Andrew’s smile somehow grew even wider. “James,” he repeated, hand gently resting on my belly. “I think that’s perfect.”

  It really was. With Andrew, everything was perfect.

  What more could I ever ask for?

  Epilogue

  Keira

  Three years later

  “I can’t believe you actually bought me a vacuum cleaner for our anniversary…”

  I grinned over at Andrew, while James bounced up and down on my lap. “Well, I did promise you a long time ago that I’d teach you how to use one,” I replied.

  He chuckled. “True. I’ll have to use it soon. I think James shredded a piece of paper in his room. I was just in there, and it looks like it snowed all over the carpet.”

  I looked down at our son, who currently had the most angelic expression known to man on his face. “James…is that true?” I asked.

  His eyes widened as he looked up at me, and he shook his head and stuck a finger in his mouth. Andrew laughed. “He’s just like his father. Absolute scoundrel.”

  I smiled, gently rubbing our toddler’s back. He was two and a half now, and it was incredible to see him growing so much every day. Andrew had been with me in the hospital when I’d given birth to him, and he’d been a hands-on father ever since James took his first breath. We had a nanny to help out whenever we had to attend to royal duties, but we still tried to spend as much time as we possibly could with our son, and we were both looking forward to adding to our family very soon.

  Speaking of which, I had another anniversary surprise for Andrew…but that could wait a while. We had a busy day ahead of us.

  “So Michael and Sarah’s flight will be arriving at three,” Andrew said, glancing down at his watch.

  “Yep. I can’t wait to see them!”

  Of all the people in the entire world that Sarah could’ve chosen to finally settle down with, she’d picked Andrew’s brother. She’d come to visit us in London not long after I’d given birth to James, and Michael had been home from one of his new charity endeavors at the time. They were total opposites in every single way, yet they’d somehow hit it off, and they were still going strong. They seemed to balance each other out, and it was good to see how much Michael had relaxed in the last few years. It was also great to see Sarah finding a new love for the first time in years; someone she could really be with. She’d been helping him with a charity he’d set up in central Africa, and they were due back this afternoon after spending six months there.

  As for Andrew and me, we’d been keeping busy as well, which probably went without saying, given the fact that we had a toddler. When I had time in between raising him and dealing with my new royal obligations, I gave guest lectures on art history at several universities around the country, and I’d also finished my book on hidden royal masterpieces and had it published about a year ago. While it was never going to sell as much as an E.L. James book, it had done quite well, and I’d had several letters from people telling me that my book had inspired them to learn more about art, which I was really proud of.

  Andrew had been doing his best to serve Britain as a Counsellor of State, seeing as he’d squandered so many years in his early twenties acting like a buffoon and partying all the time, and his popularity had shot up even more. I knew he’d make a great King one day, and he’d approach the job with a sense of modernity that had been sorely lacking in previous monarchs. On top of that, the general public loved the new dedicated family man image he had going on, and his mother loved it even more. She was still the Queen, and therefore often busy, but she still made as much time as she could to play with her grandson.

  And soon, she’d have to make even more time…

  “Andrew,” I said, putting James down for a second so I could stand up. “Remember when you proposed to me? And you’d been planning on waiting longer for some big perfect moment….and instead you ended up proposing in my bedroom that morning?”

  He smiled. “Hard to forget. Why?”

  I took a deep breath. “W
ell, I have something to tell you. I was going to wait till later, till after our anniversary dinner tonight, because I thought that’d make a good moment. But I have to tell you now, because I just can’t hold this secret in any longer.”

  He sighed. “I knew it. James’ real father is Brad Pitt. No wonder he’s such a handsome boy.”

  I grinned and rolled my eyes. One thing that had never changed over the years was Andrew’s shockingly bad sense of humor. “All jokes aside, I really do have some big news to share.”

  His eyes twinkled, and I had a feeling that he knew exactly what was coming. “What is it?” he asked, grabbing my hand.

  “We’re having another baby. I don’t know if it’s a girl or boy yet; it’s too early to tell. But—”

  I was cut off by Andrew pulling me into a hug and holding me tight against his hard chest. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a boy or girl,” he murmured against my ear. He sounded a little choked up with emotion. “As long as he or she is healthy and happy, just like James.”

  With that, he pulled back and sank down to his knees before kissing my stomach, and I smiled and watched, gently rubbing his hair as I contemplated our future together.

  I’d read a lot of fairytales as a child, and I’d always loved losing myself in the imaginary worlds. However, I’d always known that they were just stories; fantasies that never actually happened and probably never would.

  But now it had happened.

  Through our love, Andrew and I had made our dreams and fantasies come true, and we’d made our very own happily-ever-after happen.

  This was our fairytale.

  THE END