Page 51 of The Marriage Playbook

“The speech is exactly what I do want to be late for,” Liam grumbled.

For just a moment, she had a flash of the old Liam, the one who did what he wanted at all times with no regard for the consequences. But she didn’t have to argue or even try to persuade him. He came around on his own. “You’re right. Let’s go. Put in an appearance. And then we can come home early, right?”

“I’ll take it,” she grinned. “You drive a hard bargain, Liam Sims.”

But as she thought of the night ahead of them once they returned home and how enjoyable she knew it was going to be, she had to concede that his was not a very hard bargain at all.

The clubhouse over Stingers Stadium had been decorated in team colors. The players were dressed in suits and ties and all of them, to a man, had beautiful partners on their arms. But as she walked in with Liam, it was clear to Cara who had brought a spouse and who had simply found a date for the evening.

The wives were dressed a bit more comfortably, clearly used to these affairs. They had distanced themselves from the men and gathered in groups of three and four. They were old friends, she thought. They’d been coming to these parties for years. And the few that were newer had been adopted. This was Cara’s first real team event, so she didn’t fit in with those groups. But she didn’t belong with the others either, the girls who had been picked up and been brought along as dates for one evening. These girls wore expensive dresses and elaborate hairstyles and looked around with wide eyes, as though they couldn’t quite believe where they had found themselves.

Liam linked his arm through hers and pulled her over to a couple standing near the bar. “Cara, this is my good buddy Mark Lawrence,” he said, indicating the man. “And this is his wife, Sandy.”

“It’s good to meet you, Cara,” Sandy said with a warm smile. “We’ve all heard quite a lot about you, as I’m sure you can imagine.”

Cara blushed. “It’s nice to be here,” she said. “I’ve heard good things too. I wish we could have met sooner.”

“We understand, though,” Mark said. “Between one thing and another.”

It had been a hectic six months. She and Liam had decided on a long vacation to Hawaii, teasingly calling it their honeymoon. When they’d returned, she had moved right into setting up her business, which had required long hours and some travel. Meanwhile, the Stingers had been wrapping up their season. Liam had taken to spending time with some of his teammates and the coaches, talking over strategy and preparing for next season.

“Well, we’re here now,” Cara said. “And I know how much this team means to Liam. I’m grateful he was able to come back.”

“Oh, so are we,” Mark Lawrence said firmly. “Last season was kind of a disaster.”

“I didn’t watch much of it,” Cara said.

“Probably a good call,” Liam admitted. “It was a little hard to watch Sandusky running for passes every week.”

“And missing most of them,” Mark said wryly. “You’ll see what I mean if you check the stat sheets. We dropped to the bottom of the league without you. That kid was not ready for prime time.” He leaned in. “I think the coaches were actually considering ending his contract, but they decided to keep him on and let him warm the bench a little. See if he ripens.”

“I could live without that,” Liam admitted. “But…I suppose everyone deserves a second chance. Maybe he’ll learn a little humility.”

Mark laughed. “We can hope,” he said. “The good news is that you’ll be back off the bench and starting for us, so we’ll actually have a shot at winning a game or two in the upcoming season.”

“Can’t wait,” Liam said. “I think it’s going to be a big one for us. I’m thinking playoffs.”

“You think?” Sandy chimed in. “The Stingers haven’t had a playoff team since we were part of the organization.”

“Yeah, but miracles happen,” Liam said. He wrapped his arm around Cara’s waist. “And this year, we have a good luck charm.”

Cara looked up at him. He was beaming at her. “I’m not good luck,” she protested.

“No, you definitely are,” he countered. “My life has gotten exponentially better since you came into it.”

“Yeah, but none of that was luck.” She grinned at him. “You’ve just been making really solid choices ever since I met you.”

“Maybe.” He reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “And maybe I’m about to make another one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know you and I are already married,” he said. “But I’ve been thinking about that marriage for a while. About that wedding. I mean, I don’t think it was what either one of us would have wanted if we’d been choosing for ourselves, right?”

“Being married to you is the best accident that’s ever happened to me,” Cara said.

“Yeah, I’m not even surprised by the fact that you two never had it annulled,” Mark said. “Everything Liam has told me about you had made it obvious that you’re perfect for him, Cara.”

She beamed. They had talked about annulling the marriage back in the early days of their relationship, but when it had gotten right down to it, neither of them had really wanted to. “We can do it sometime in the future if we decide this doesn’t work,” Liam had said. “But for right now, I just want to be with you.” And Cara had agreed.