Every Beat of My Heart Read online

  As if the dogs could actually understand what he was saying--and were as thrilled about it as he was--they ran up to Heather and Zach with tails wagging.

  She was laughing as she patted the dogs on the head, then reached for her clothes. "You tore my shirt again." She shook her head while she slipped back into her bra and panties. "Good thing I love you. All three of you," she said as the dogs started to roll into a spot of axle grease on the concrete floor. "Nice Ferrari, by the way."

  Unable to be apart from her for more than a few seconds, especially today when she'd just made him the happiest guy alive all over again, he had to pull her back into his arms as soon as they both had their clothes on. He had been planning to sell the sports car, but that was before Heather had given him the greatest news in the world in its backseat.

  "I'm going to keep it."

  "I was hoping you'd say that." She took his hand and drew him back toward the car. "Turns out it's true what they say about pregnant women's libidos."

  She always took him from zero to a hundred in a matter of seconds. But knowing he had nine months ahead of him with Heather wanting to jump him in--and out--of this backseat? And that at the end of that, they'd have a new baby to love?

  Once upon a time, he hadn't believed it was possible for him to ever be this lucky. But he was.

  All because of Heather.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I need you. Come quick.

  Ryan Sullivan was standing in the Hawks locker room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist post-shower when Vicki Bennett's text came. Once upon a time, seeing this text from her would have sent terror into his heart. But today he grinned like a fool instead.

  He'd just finished pitching practice, followed by a workout in the weight room--and had been called out by both his coach and his trainer for his inattention. The first World Series game was in only a handful of days, and Ryan's face was currently on the cover of Sports Illustrated, along with the headline: "Can the Greatest Pitcher in Major League Baseball History Do It Again?" He understood why his team wanted him one hundred percent focused on the game--but he wouldn't apologize for missing his fiancee, damn it. Vicki had been working in France for the past two weeks, and it irritated him beyond measure that instead of being there to welcome her home this morning after her overnight flight, he'd had to be at the stadium.

  He couldn't have been happier about her growing notoriety as a sculptor, and he would never begrudge her the time she wanted to spend in her studio creating beautiful art. Just as she would never want him to feel guilty for the hours he spent with his team for practices and games. But it was still frustrating as hell that between their two busy schedules, the only moments they could grab together lately were stolen ones.

  Ryan had fallen for Vicki after she moved to Palo Alto when they were fifteen years old and they'd instantly become friends. But before he could get up the nerve to tell her that his feelings went way past friendship, her father had been transferred to the East Coast. Ryan never forgot her, though, not even after she married another guy after graduating from college, and moved to Europe. He never stopped loving her either. So the day three years ago when she'd texted asking him to come quick and help her deal with a creepy "mentor" who was hitting on her in a bar, he'd dropped everything and raced there as fast as he could. They'd ended up having to fake not only a relationship, but an engagement as well. Thankfully, before long there was nothing fake at all about their relationship. Not only were they still best friends, but the passion between them burned hotter than anything Ryan had ever imagined possible.

  Thank God pretend engagements--and unrequited love where the two of them circled each other while secretly wishing for so much more--were old news now. This morning, he'd arranged to have three dozen flowers sent over to her studio to celebrate the three years they'd been together.

  Figuring she must be texting because she'd received the flowers, he put on his clothes in record time and was heading out when the new pitching coach, Stuart, walked in.

  "You're looking happier now. Let me guess--you're going home to see the wife?"

  Ryan's grin faltered. He and Vicki kept meaning to figure out a date for their wedding, but whenever they were able to find time to be together, opening up calendars and scanning through schedules was the last thing either of them wanted to do. He was this close to hauling her over his shoulder into City Hall and just getting the deed done.

  Everyone always thought things came so easily to Ryan. But right now he missed Vicki so much he couldn't see straight--let alone throw a ball worth a damn.

  It was true that he hadn't had to fight for much in his life, but he'd had to fight for her three years ago when she'd told him that she thought going from best friends to lovers was a mistake. Even now that they were deeply in love and committed to each other, he'd never stop fighting for her.

  "Good guess," he said, deciding not to correct his coach over the difference between fiancee and wife, even if it felt like a mile-wide chasm to Ryan right now. "I'm heading over to Vicki's studio now."

  "Hope you don't mind if I ask, but she doesn't happen to have any sisters, does she?"

  Ryan shook his head. "Sorry, man. Vicki's an only child."

  But she'd get a kick out of finding out that Stuart obviously had a crush on her. Of course, Ryan couldn't blame him--at least as long as the guy always kept a polite distance. Because Vicki was his.

  And it was long past time to make it official.

  *

  Vicki's studio was on the same oceanfront property as their main house. She'd barely moved her things into his home when Ryan had started building the art studio for her. When they were in high school, he'd loved hanging out with her in her garage while she'd worked at her pottery wheel--and he still loved it just as much. He could easily sit there with her for hours while her hands carved magic from clay.

  More than once, they'd made love Ghost-style in the airy, light-filled space, but he was still stunned to see the way she'd transformed it since he'd left this morning. Her sculptures were nowhere to be seen. All of her equipment was gone too, most likely in the storage room just off to the side of her main workspace. But he couldn't focus on what was missing, not when the most important person in his world was standing in the middle of the empty room, wearing a deep-red dress with zippers that crisscrossed her body.

  She was beyond beautiful in the dress that meant so much to both of them. She'd been wearing it the night they'd finally given in to the heat, the connection, between them. She'd worn the dress again a few times since then--usually when she wanted to drive him absolutely crazy--but something told him it held an even more special meaning for them today.

  "You're here." Her eyes lit with happiness as she looked at him standing on the threshold of her studio, and her voice was breathless with unrepressed desire.

  He wasn't aware of walking across the room. Only that he needed her to be in his arms and to feel her mouth beneath his. Every time he kissed her, it felt like the first time all over again, just as exciting, just as thrilling. Vicki was everything he'd ever wanted in a woman--brilliant, talented, and with curves that perfectly filled his large hands. He'd dreamed about being with her for more than half his life, and he would never take holding her in his arms--and knowing her heart was his--for granted.

  "I've missed you."

  "Not half as bad as I've been missing you." She slid her arms tighter around his back to pull him closer. "Thank you for the flowers."

  He grinned down at her. "Every time you wear this dress my mind is blown all over again."

  "I know what all these zippers do to you."

  "Remind me to thank Anne for the pleasure of unwrapping you--again." Vicki had met her designer friend when they were both competing for an art fellowship, and though Anne was extremely busy with her successful fashion career, they made sure to get together at least once a month.

  "Remember how much she blushed the last time you thanked her?" Vicki smiled as she
said it, but too quickly, the smile trembled on her lips, then fell away completely.

  "Talk to me."

  She shook her head slightly. "I asked you here to seduce you."

  "Talk to me first...and then you can seduce the hell out of me."

  A small smile came back then, thankfully. He easily lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the window seat that looked out over the Golden Gate Bridge and the blue waters of the San Francisco Bay. Back when they were teenagers, he used to bring Chinese takeout to her parents' garage to share with her while she worked on her latest sculpture. During the past three years, they often sat right here in her studio and ate together out of the little white boxes, even though they had a fancy dining room in the main house.

  Just like always, Vicki was the perfect fit in his arms, and on his lap. She was his perfect fit everywhere--not just when they were skin to skin, but with his family, with his dreams, and with his plans for the future.

  "You look tired." He hated to see the smudges of exhaustion beneath her eyes. "You weren't getting enough sleep while you were in Paris, were you?"

  "You know I sleep well only when we're together. I can't wait to sleep in your arms tonight."

  He barely held back a curse, hating that he hadn't been able to travel to Europe with her because of the inflexible demands of the baseball season.

  "This past year has been such a whirlwind," she said in a soft voice. Her fingers trailed over the buttons on his shirt, and though he wished she were looking him in the eye as she spoke, he understood that she needed a little time to center her thoughts first. "It's been thrilling to really start making my mark with my art, of course. It's just what I've always wanted. At least it should be." She finally lifted her eyes to his, and they were such a clear green that he swore he could see all the way into her soul as she said, "But I want more."

  "The world is yours, sweetheart. Anything you want, all you have to do is reach for it. And I'll be there beside you to help you any way I can." He brushed back a lock of her hair from her face, but it was really just an excuse to touch her soft skin. "What do you want?"

  She slid her hands up from his chest so that she was cradling his face. "You." She pressed her lips to his in a kiss so soft it was barely more than a breath. And yet it resonated through him as deeply as anything ever had. "More time with you. So much more."

  "I want that too." He'd been mulling things over for a while now. Three years ago, he'd offered to retire from the Hawks so that he could be with her whenever and wherever she needed him, but Vicki had insisted she didn't need him to do that. He wasn't sure if her feelings had changed, but now he was the one who needed it. "I've been thinking a lot about our situation and all the hours we're spending apart."

  "That's why I moved my sculptures and equipment out of the studio today. Because I want you to know--I need you to know--that you're more important than anything else. I finished my latest commission, and I'm not going to take on any other big projects for a while. I've gotten to live out my dream of being an artist these past few years, but now I want to really focus on my dream of being yours."

  He had so much to say to her, but first he needed to take her mouth with his. Needed to kiss her with every ounce of passion, and love, so that she'd know how much her offer meant to him.

  By the time he made himself draw back, her eyes were dark with need, her skin flushed, her breath coming fast. "I love you," he told her, his voice thick with emotion.

  "I love you too."

  He was amazed by her generosity, by the fact that even though she clearly thought he was taking her up on her offer, she didn't seem at all upset at the thought of putting him first. But though it meant the world to him, it was his turn now to step up to the plate and hit a game-winning ball for her.

  "But I can't let you do that for me."

  Confusion whipped across her face. "Wait...when you just kissed me, I thought that was your way of saying you agreed with my plan."

  "You're the most beautiful woman in the world and you're on my lap. Not kissing you is impossible." He stroked the pad of his thumb over her lush lower lip and was rewarded by a shiver. "But you've already given up enough for me. Starting with a major museum fellowship in Italy three years ago, followed by so many other opportunities that you've said no to. Too many. It's my turn now, sweetheart. This World Series is going to be my last. I want to be with you, whether we're in San Francisco or traveling the world. And as a bonus, it will give me more time to take my foundation for bringing sports and arts back into schools to the next level. But most of all, I want to marry you and finally start the rest of our life together."

  She stared at him as if she couldn't quite believe what he'd just said. "You're still in your pitching prime. The team will never let you go."

  "My contract is up. Three years ago, when I said I would trade every single win to have spent the years we were apart with you, I meant it, and I still do. They could offer me all the money in the world to keep playing, but that won't change my mind. Or change my choice. You. I choose you, Vicki. Today. Tomorrow. Forever. I don't want to keep waiting. I want to start a family with you."

  "We're already a family," she said. "We always have been."

  "I know we are. But I want more--and I know you do too. Kids. Lots of them. Maybe even a dog that we know we'll actually be here to play with."

  As a pitcher, Ryan was known for speed, but even though he'd asked Vicki to marry him only weeks after they'd come together again as adults, they hadn't rushed into a wedding. Not when he'd known that she still had healing to do because of the scars her first marriage had left on her heart. But he couldn't wait anymore--and he hoped she felt the same way.

  He slid his hands into her hair and tangled them there as he told her, "Conflicting schedules have kept us apart for too many years. I won't let it happen again. I don't want to wait any longer. I want to get married right after the World Series is over."

  Her eyes grew even bigger than when he'd told her he was going to leave the Hawks. "And here I thought I was going to surprise you today. You want to plan a wedding in two weeks?"

  He grinned. "Actually, I was thinking about asking my mom and sisters to plan it."

  "You were not." She raised an eyebrow when he didn't stop grinning. "Okay, so you clearly were, but you won't. Two weeks is going to be tough, especially with you needing to focus on the World Series, but I'll pull it off."

  "Is that a yes?" he asked, desperate for that to be her answer.

  She gripped his shirt in her fist and tugged him in for a kiss. God, she tasted so sweet and felt like heaven as she moved her curves closer on his lap. "Of course it's a yes. I can't wait to marry you. I've wanted to be yours since I was fifteen years old and I tackled you to the grass before that car could run you down."

  She was already beginning to undo the buttons on his shirt when he made his move, flipping them over so that she was lying, beautiful, beneath him on the cushions of the window seat. "You've been mine since that moment we met. Even when we were apart. Even when we were with other people--"

  She put a finger to his lips. "None of the others mattered."

  He kissed her finger before gently moving it so that he could say, "They did. Because we learned something from all of them. Learned what we didn't want--and what we did."

  "You," she said again as she slipped another button on his shirt free, making his heart pound hard and fast beneath her incredibly talented hands. "I want you."

  He took her mouth, loving all the delicious flavors of her taste, her kisses. "You're mine. And I'm yours."

  The smile she gave him was full of so much sensuality it made his head spin. He wanted her--needed her so badly--that he wasn't exactly sure how their clothes came off. Maybe she did it, maybe he did. All he knew was that they were soon skin to skin, mouth to mouth, hand to hand, with nothing between them but their beating hearts.

  Holding her hands on either side of her head, he levered his hips between her thig
hs and looked into her beautiful eyes. "I love you."

  Her fingers tightened over his as she wrapped her legs around his hips. "I love you too."

  They came together in one perfect thrust, both of them losing their breath as her hips rose to meet his.

  "This." He could barely speak. Could barely think or even breathe. Could only marvel that she was his. "This is how we're going to spend our honeymoon." He moved inside her and drank in the beautiful sounds of her panting at the sweet sensation of their bodies coming together. "It's going to be weeks of constantly taking each other higher." He thrust into her gorgeously slick heat again, and her eyes fluttered shut for a few moments as pleasure took her over. "Going deeper. And then deeper still." He lowered his mouth to the fluttering pulse at her neck. "And loving each other better with every single second."

  "Yes." She moaned the word even as she arched so that her breasts were pressed hard against him. "I can't wait to be alone and naked with you for weeks and weeks."

  Just the vision of being this way with the woman he loved, heart and soul, for weeks on end made it nearly impossible to hold on much longer. "Let me watch you, Vicki. I need to feel you let go for me." He bent to lick over the taut peaks of both breasts, one after the other. "There's nothing more beautiful. Nothing I crave more than feeling you come apart in my arms."

  She'd been squirming beneath his tongue on her breasts, but as he lifted his head to look into her eyes, he knew she was doing exactly as he'd asked. Letting him watch as she dropped every wall, forgot every fear, for him.

  For love.

  Angling their hips so that he was touching her core, pure pleasure and the sweetest possible joy infused her expression. "Come with me, Ryan."

  "Always."

  Sliding his hands from hers, he wrapped them around her body and held her as closely as she was now holding him. Closer than he'd ever believed it was possible to be with another person.