I eased away, looking at my girl’s sparkling eyes. “You’re happy about this? Pearce and me getting married?”
“It’s amazing. I’ll be able to go to all of Pearce’s games now.” She grinned.
“Uhm…” I winced. “Remember your job at the moment is school. That means no missing it.”
“Urgh.” She sighed dramatically, exactly the way I expected her to.
“You need all that schooling to make a kick-ass agent, right?” Pearce supplied diplomatically. My heart warmed. He totally had this parenting gig sorted. “Nobody will pay a dumbass the big bucks.”
I opened and closed my mouth like a fish before snorting and shaking my head. Not what I would have said, but maybe Pearce spoke Lottie’s language better than I did, since she nodded solemnly and finally responded, “True.”
* * *
The forceof nature in Pearce was strong. Like crazily so. I liked a little too much how caught up he got in getting us matching engagement rings. There was little doubt he used his name to get us an appointment with a designer in the city who had a range of men’s rings in stock.
I’d suggested we just wait for our bands, but I wasn’t joking about Pearce being a force of nature. Who knew him insisting on getting a ring on my finger could be so hot? It was also ridiculously sweet. Lottie didn’t help calm him down either. Nope. Between the two of them, I was railroaded into jumping in the car and being their chauffeur.
Admittedly, as I looked down at the ring, nothing but happiness floated inside me. A quick glance at Lottie, and my heart filled further. She hadn’t stopped playing with her necklace since Pearce had gifted it to her. It was a simple gold chain, but a diamond, the same cut as the ones in our matching ring, hung from it.
It had been the sweetest of gestures, and if it were possible, I would have loved Pearce even more for the tender moment between him and my girl. We’d flown into Minneapolis late this morning to attend Pearce’s end-of-season meal.
Each club tended to run these events differently. In the past I’d attended anything from black tie to red carpet, to family-focused fun, and more low-key events. Pearce reassured me the Eagles were hosting the dinner for immediate families, and that all the players with partners and kids would be attending too.
That didn’t stop me from being nervous.
We were stepping out officially to his friends, and inevitably, the public too.
Thankfully, we’d already spoken to our parents before we left my place this morning. To say they were surprised was grossly underplaying it. I swore Pearce’s mom nearly burst our eardrums. But at least she was excited.
My parents were a little more reserved in their enthusiasm, but once Lottie took over the call, effectively bigging up the news with the excitement only a ten-year-old could manage, by the end of the call, my parents warmed up, asking for us to all make sure we got together at some point over the summer.
But I needed to call Moira before the news broke all over social media. Pearce was ranked in the top ten in the country. The game from two nights ago was still a popular talking point too. There wasn’t a chance this would stay under the radar.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving it till now to make the call.” Amusement filled Pearce’s voice.
We had ten minutes before we had to leave for this evening’s event. It was officially a wussy move, but this way, I wouldn’t have to get into anything with my ex-wife. I could drop the news and run. That I spoke to her yesterday to tell her about Lottie and maybe, unashamedly, made Lottie promise not to tell her mom about my news didn’t strengthen my case for bravery.
“I told you she’s terrifying.” Pearce straightened his tie. “You need me to step in and do it for you?”
My hesitation as I legit considered it made him laugh too loudly.
“Just make the damn call. What’s she gonna say or do?”
The truth was, there wasn’t much she could say about anything. While Pearce would be Lottie’s stepdad, Moira wouldn’t truly be concerned about that. I prided myself on being the best dad possible. While I wanted to ignore the blip of Wayne and what a mistake he was, I deliberately didn’t spend much time at all with my daughter and Wayne together. Even if I hadn’t admitted it aloud, I’d known he wasn’t stepdad material, and I hadn’t wanted to expose Lottie to him unnecessarily.
That didn’t stop me from feeling like an idiot for not breaking it off with him sooner, but shit happened. And it was one decision I had to live with and was happy to bury deep in the back of my mind alongside all of my stupid decisions.
“I know. I just don’t like talking to her at the best of times.”
Pearce chuckled and stepped behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “I know Moira can be super self-centered and… difficult.” I huffed out a humorless breath. That was one word for it. “But you two both try hard to remain civil for Lottie, and honestly, it’s impressive as hell.” He dotted a kiss on the back of my neck above my collar. “Just get it over and done with.”
I sighed. “I will.”
When he stepped away, I eyed him appreciatively. “You look hot.”
“Yeah? You’d do me?” He bounced his brows up and down.
“Every chance I can get. We could do that now if you want.”
