The Quarterback Sneak by Liz Matis Page B

are we going to do?” she sniffed
against his chest. They weren’t married. Liam would kick her out
and be done with her and her screwed-up family.
    “Nothing.”
    “Nothing?” she screeched out.
    “It’s just a piece of paper.” He held her
chin and tilted it up so their gazes met. “In my heart we’re
married.”
    Did that mean he wanted to be married? Did
it mean he loved her? Hope burned in her heart.
    “I meant every word I said to you that day,
Hayden. And I mean them more each day. I hope you do too.”
    “I do. I love you Liam.” She stood on her
tippy-toes and kissed him with all the love in her heart. She
pulled away first. “But what about your reputation as a Christian,
your vow of celibacy until you married? We’re living in sin.”
    He stroked her cheek. “God knows what was in
my heart that day.” He pressed her hand to his chest. “He knows
what’s in it now. But I can see that you don’t.”
    Liam guided her to the couch and sat her
down. What’s happening? When he got down on one knee, her
heart fluttered wildly, trying to escape the confines of her chest
to hand itself over to him. My husband is about to
propose!
    “As I was about to say before we got
interrupted—” He pulled a ring case from his pocket and opened
it.
    She didn’t look, not even a peek, because
the light in his eyes already held the sparkle of a whole diamond
mine.
    “I love you, Hayden. Marry me. For real.
Forever.”
    “Yes, yes!” Unable to contain her happiness,
she jumped up, nearly knocking the ring out of his hand.
    Her hands shook as she slipped off her grand-mère’s ring and put it on her right hand. Liam
replaced it with a princess-cut diamond sparkler. “It’s beautiful,”
she said, her breath catching in her throat.
    The number of carats didn’t match the ring
bequeathed to her, but that didn’t matter. The man who stood before
her, looking into her eyes was beyond any price. “When did you buy
this?”
    “A couple of days ago. Figured our
three-month wedding anniversary was a good time to propose to
you.”
    “What are we going to do about the press?
They’ll be brutal once Ender’s story breaks.”
    “We’ll leak it to the press that your father
didn’t want us to marry, that he pretended to relent by hosting the
ceremony, fooling us into thinking it was the real deal. Our tale
of star-crossed lovers will keep the tabloids busy right through
the playoffs.”
    “And here I thought you didn’t have a sneaky
bone in your body.”
    “Well, the Quarterback Sneak is my
specialty.”
    “No, it’s not.” She laughed. “I happen to
know it’s going deep.”
    Liam raised a brow. “Practice makes
perfect.”
    “Then let’s hit the field,” she said,
leading him to their bed.

Epilogue

    H ayden gazed at the azure
blue of the ocean stretched out before her. The breeze billowed her
silk robe around her legs. Peace filled her soul, love filled her
heart, and her body was sated to the point of numbness.
    “Admit it. You’re going crazy,” Liam said
from the king-size bed.
    “That was a sigh of contentment.”
    “Liar.”
    She turned to face him. “Okay, so it’s
strange not having a camera in my face 24-7.”
    “You may not be able to tweet from the
island, but…” Liam picked up his phone from the nightstand and
wiggled it in the air. “I could film you doing naughty things to
me.”
    Her eyes widened. “A sex tape? With
everything I’ve done, I have never gone there .”
    “You could make millions,” he teased.
    “We have millions.” But how could she resist
such a tempting offer? “We could release it when we’re like ninety.
Shock the hell out of our great-grandchildren.”
    “I have a feeling they won’t be so
shocked.”
    “Probably not.” Hayden giggled then turned
serious. Untying the knot of her robe, she let the silky fabric
skim over her to pool at her feet. Goosies pricked across her skin
as she anticipated Liam’s rough hands gliding over her