My limbs started to shake. I wanted to collapse and crawl into a hole somewhere. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be real. What kind of fool was I not to see how much I meant to him? What kind of woman would I be to take him back? He was trouble with a capital B-E-C-K. But the fact of the matter was, I loved him. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life. My life without him in it would mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.
“I’m sorry,” I cried.
He inhaled a gush of air. “No, don’t apologize. You’re perfect. You’re my angel. Marry me, Isla? Come home. Come back to me, please?”
Epilogue – Beck
Iheld her hand. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”
“Oh, shut-up! You try pushing a baby out of your…” Another contraction saved me from a barrage of much-deserved insults and swear words. Isla had been in active labor for three hours. Our baby girl was taking her sweet time to make her official entrance into the world.
“Deep breaths. Take deep breaths,” the nurse said.
“I swear to God, if you don’t stop saying that, I’m going to…” Isla started again before the next contraction hit.
The doctor took control. “Okay, Isla, here we go. Now, calm down. Bear down with one long push.”
Isla screamed at the top of her lungs as she pushed.
I closed my eyes. I didn’t need to see any of that down there. I was fine right up here by her head, in the line of fire for her flailing fists, while my future mother-in-law kept an eye on all that stuff no man should ever see.
“Here she comes,” the nurse said.
My palms began to sweat. This was really happening. I was about to be a dad. Me; the badass football player with more attitude than brains? I couldn’t look. The pain in the hand Isla was squeezing was too intense. Who knew she had that kind of strength!
The best sound in the world filled the room. My baby girl had a set of lungs that would rival her beautiful, but extremely loud grandmother.
“Welcome to the world, Miss Alexander!” The doctor lifted her up in the air.
“Congratulations, Daddy,” Isla said, beaming from ear to ear.
I’d never admit it to a living soul, but I bawled like a baby when I met my little girl. “Welcome to the world, Savannah Michelle Alexander. Welcome to the world!” I was the happiest man in the world.
The nurses cleaned Savannah up, then presented her to Isla in the tiniest little package. “Meet your mom and dad.”
The rest of the day was a blur. Between the balloons, hugs, paperwork and trying to figure out how to hold Savannah without breaking her, the day was full. Isla had never looked more beautiful. All the pain and drama we’d been through had come to an end. My body had healed and I was getting set to play again this coming season. Life was perfect. Well, almost perfect. We still had a wedding to plan. No matter how hard I tried, Isla refused to get married when she was pregnant. She didn’t like the way she looked in a wedding dress and didn’t want to wear a maternity gown for her wedding. For me, none of that mattered. I wanted her.
When night fell and all the visitors had gone home, it was the three of us in the hospital suite. We were going to be fine.
“Can you believe it?” Isla asked, staring down at our gorgeous baby girl. “We’re parents. We’re responsible for another person’s life.”
I caressed her cheek. “It’s a beautiful thing. You’re both so beautiful.”
“Just think, a few months ago, you were sitting in a club, trying to play stud-muffin and I was trying to figure out how to be a public relations manager for a team full of huge egos,” she mused.
“Yeah and now, I’m still a stud-muffin, but only at home with my one and only. All those people that tried to ruin my life are long gone. The court cases went away and life goes on,” I said, staring at my baby girl’s precious face.
“You know, before I became a part of the football world, I never gave much thought to how things worked. I never knew that strings were pulled and alliances were formed and broken behind the scenes. Now I get it. I saw how dirty the game could be and how shady people were,” she said.
I nodded, feeling bad for her and the loss of innocence. “If you’re talking about Jared and how his case mysteriously went away, yeah, that’s how it works. We’re ballers. If we fail, the team fails. There’s too much money at stake. They can’t have a stain. So, we roll with it and keep doing our thing.”
“How much longer?” Isla asked, referring to how much longer I’d play.
“One more season, then, we’re done. Who knows, maybe we’ll buy a place near your mom. I think that would be good for Savannah, don’t you? She’d like that. Maybe, I could become a high school football coach or something.” I had all kinds of ideas about what I’d like to do once I gave up football.
“I’m all for change, but don’t stop being sexy, okay?” Isla teased.
“Yeah, as if that would ever happen,” I teased back.
Savannah stirred in her mother’s arms.
“Hey, baby girl, how about we let Daddy hold you for a bit?” Isla handed her to me.
I looked down at her, knowing my life would never be the same again. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Not for all the money in the world. This was the life I was meant to have. I knew it, the moment I invited my beautiful Isla into my bed.
Razor's Edge – Bad Boys of Football Book Two
Available For Pre-order Now: http://amzn.to/1O6ULLd
Hillary:
I lost it all -- the man I loved, the life I built with him, and what I thought was my future. Returning home was supposed to help me mend, but life had a funny way of turning everything upside down. Just when I thought I couldn't take anymore, life gave me a push in the wrong direction. But, sometimes what seems so wrong can feel so good.
Razor:
Women wanted me. Crowds adored me. Life was good. Then, life took a nasty turn and knocked me right off my feet. Lucky for me, a sexy teacher with curves for days arrived just in time. Now, all I had to do was convince her to help me keep the life I earned and keep the child I loved. The question was, would the sins of my past destroy my chance for redemption on and off the field?
Find out what happens when a smoking hot, bad boy football phenom and the girl he taunted relentlessly as a child meet again. Will the chemistry between them unite them or destroy what's left of their broken hearts?
This is the second installment of the Bad Boys of Football series. Each book can be read as a standalone title. Each takes place in the same world featuring a new, sexy couple.
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