After a hot and steamy session, he runs a bath for me. We luxuriate together in the bubbles, drinking wine as we take turns soaping each other. He holds me in his arms after he slips into bed beside me, and I’m still in his arms in the morning after a long and restful sleep for both of us.
And then it’s back to reality.
I spend Monday morning working on the charity event while Luke heads to the practice facility to meet with his coach and teammates. I have under three weeks to launch this event, and four weeks from today, training camp begins for him. I have no idea what life will be like once he’s at camp all day, and then a month later, the season starts.
He gets home a little after four, and I’m still in the office chipping away at this charity event. I’ve sent invitations to everyone on Luke’s guest list, which is mostly comprised of his teammates, and I’m staring at the short list of names I came up with.
Calvin Bennett.
Michelle Bennett.
Savannah Buck.
Jack Dalton.
Tim and Carol Dalton.
Kaylee Dalton.
All people Luke did not include on his list. All people neither of us really want here.
But also...all people who this charity could benefit from. All people we’d be showing goodwill toward as we also show how happy we are...not that his family deserves any goodwill, especially considering how much of a weight was lifted after we left the hotel we shared with them.
I’m torn, so when he gets home, I decide to ask his opinion.
“Honey, I’m home,” he sings, peeking his head into my office.
“Welcome home. Now have a seat,” I say, nodding to the chair sitting across from my desk.
He raises a brow but does as instructed. “Am I in trouble?”
I chuckle. “No. I just wanted to give you an update on our event. Invitations were sent out to everyone on your list, but I thought of a few others who you didn’t include.”
He raises a brow. “Such as?”
“Calvin.”
He shakes his head and starts to protest, but I jump in.
“You need harmony with him, Luke. Inviting the entire team and coaching staff and leaving him out looks petty, and besides, it’ll give him a chance to see you’re serious about doing your part for the baby even though you’re married. Happily, I might add.”
“The only way it’ll show that I’m doing my part for the baby is if we also invite Michelle,” he points out.
“Oh, good idea,” I say, scribbling her name down like I hadn’t thought of it.
“Ellie, no,” he says.
“Come on, Luke,” I say, sure this is a terrible idea but pressing it anyway. “We need to extend the olive branch. We need to be the bigger people here. And besides, Calvin probably has the fattest bank account of anyone on this list.” I don’t need to reiterate how that fact could benefit our little charity.
He huffs out a breath. “Next you’re going to tell me you want to invite my family, too.”
I raise a brow. “Now that you mention it...”
“No, Ellie. A firm, hard no.”
“At least Jack? Think how great that’ll look going into boot camp. You and your brother at a public event? The press will eat it up.”
“The press? You mean Savannah, don’t you.” His voice is flat.
“Yep. Let’s get all your enemies in one place and watch the fireworks.” I flash him a smile. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“It will not be fun.”
“You’ll be too busy to care what they’re doing. You can hang with your buddies, and I’ll take care of the rest. Come on, Luke. I’m trying to find a way to make peace between you and your boss. To keep you here in Vegas playing for the Aces. A charity event where you’re helping the community while also smoothing things over with those who have wronged you makes you not just the bigger man, but it’s what will catapult your status as indispensable fan favorite.”
He sighs. “You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”
I nod. “Yep.”
“You’ve already sent them invitations, haven’t you?” he asks.
I laugh. “No. I was waiting for your input first."
He narrows his eyes at me. “Were you?”
I shrug. “Not really. I’m going to do it either way, but I’d like to do it with your permission.”
He sighs. “I’m never, ever going to say it’s a good idea for the two of us, my brother, the girl I knocked up along with her father-slash-my boss, and my ex-wife all to attend the same event, let alone an event with my name on it. Don’t you see how fucked up that is?”
“Definitely.” I tap my pen on a pad of paper. “And it’s also a publicist’s dream, Luke. The way we handle this will pave the way for how we handle every single future event. It’s telling the world, including your boss, whose shit list you are already on, that raising money for charity is more important than petty differences.”
“I don’t think knocking up his daughter and refusing to marry her is a petty difference,” he points out.
“So why’d you really marry me?” I ask, trying to get to the root of this.
He glances away from me, like it’ll soften the blow of the truth even though I’m fully aware of what I signed on for. “You offered me the only way out of being trapped by Michelle into something I didn’t want. I take full responsibility for the child we’ll share. I will love that kid with everything I have. But that doesn’t mean I have to be with Michelle. Trust me when I say that the two of us together would be toxic for a child. Whatever happens between you and me, at least we both have an out at the end of it. With her...she wasn’t about to let me have that, and neither would her father if he had anything to say about it.”
“Then how great would it look for you to invite them both to this thing? To show them they have a place in your life, the baby has a place here, and you can still be one big happy family without having to commit to Michelle?” I set my pen down and fold my hands on top of my desk. “It’s the best of all worlds. It smooths things over with her dad, it shows you’re making a real effort. But leaving them off the guest list does the exact opposite.”
He thinks about that a few beats, and then he finally sighs and nods. “You’re right.”
I wink at him. “Get used to saying that.”
He rolls his eyes, and I shrug innocently.
“Happy wife, happy life...right?” I ask.
“Something like that,” he mutters. “But when this whole thing blows up, it’s on you.”
“I am willing to shoulder that so long as when it doesn’t blow up and you raise a ton of dough for your new foundation, that’s also on me.”
“Deal,” he says, and he sticks his hand out across my desk. I shake it. “I have more questions. Have you considered holding this event indoors somewhere or is it definitely an outdoor event?”
“Of course,” I say. “I found one affordable indoor option since, as you know, it’s hot as fuck in the summer in Vegas, but I reserved a local park. Indoors means fancier, and that’s not what you said you wanted. This way, people can bring their families, and we can hold it somewhere that’s similar to what you want to build for other parts of our community. I’m thinking we can set up tents for the players with extra air coolers, other tents for drinking and hanging out, and maybe a bounce house for the kids. It’ll be a charity event unlike any our guests have ever been to. It’ll be the event of the season, and maybe next year, we’ll find a date when we can hold it in sub-triple digit temps.”