Every Beat of My Heart (New York Sullivans 0.5) - Bella Andre Page 0,14

kiss on the lips. “I love more babies!”

“We do too,” Smith and Jackie agreed as they got on Heather’s lap too.

Though Sophie told her twins to be careful that they weren’t crushing Heather, she felt anything but. Wrapping her arms around the three kids as best she could, Heather closed her eyes and let herself savor all the happiness she’d once been so afraid she could never have.

CHAPTER FIVE

Vicki could sit in the stands for a thousand World Series games, and she’d never get used to the butterflies in her stomach. Every time Ryan let a ball rip, she held her breath. And every time he struck out yet another batter, she nearly lost her voice from screaming his name. The Hawks were behind 3–4 at the top of the seventh inning, and the series was tied at one game apiece. If this was to be Ryan’s final season, she wanted him to go out on a high.

Fortunately, though, Ryan didn’t look nervous at all. She was always amazed by how calmly he approached his job. He’d been like that even as a teenager—so steady and confident without being cocky. Fun first, winning second was his motto.

She’d learned so much from him, not only how to be more steady and confident, but also how to love with her whole heart. And how to trust that she would be loved back.

After striking out the third batter in a row, Ryan blew her a kiss from the mound. She blew him one back as the butterflies danced in her stomach for an entirely different reason now. He laughed as he reached out with his mitt to “catch” her kiss, and she was struck for the millionth time how wonderful it was to be with someone who was always laughing, always filled with such joy.

Every time they made love, she felt utterly cherished, but last night had been extra special. Almost as if the knowledge that they were close to finally making their vows to each other had amped up their emotions. Of course, it didn’t hurt that for all his laid-back ease, Ryan was alpha to the core when it came to lovemaking.

Three years ago, just after their fake engagement had been announced, another woman had asked Vicki how it felt to tame the ultimate bad boy. She’d replied that he was nowhere close to being tame, and truer words had never been spoken. Because after the deliciously wicked things he’d done to her last night—things that made her feel owned, possessed, and claimed in all the best possible ways—she could confidently say that Ryan Sullivan would never be anywhere close to tame.

“You two are still so adorable together,” Ryan’s sister Lori commented as she found her seat when the seventh-inning stretch began. “I always think how sweet it is that you’ve been in love with each other since high school.” Lori and her husband, Grayson, had been caught in bad traffic and had just arrived holding a huge tub of popcorn for everyone to munch from. Lori obviously hadn’t waited to start snacking, as her question came around a mouthful of kernels. “Any crazy new wedding requests come in since last night?”

Vicki laughed. “Not yet.”

Lori looked down at Ryan’s team in their dugout. “Ballplayers can be so weird. Weird but hot. Although nowhere near as hot as my cowboy.” She looked up to where Grayson was walking down the stands, his arms full of boxes of candy. “Look at how all the girls in the stands are shamelessly drooling over him. I’m going to have to make it clear that he’s all mine.”

Vicki couldn’t stifle her grin as Grayson came into their box and Lori planted a majorly hot kiss on him in front of the whole world. Somehow he managed to keep one hand on the candy while taking a handful of his wife in the other. By the time they pulled back, everyone in the stands was watching, wide-eyed.

Everyone except Zach and Heather, who had eyes only for each other a couple of seats away. Vicki wasn’t at all surprised to see how protective he was of his pregnant fiancée. Zach had always been the biggest player of the bunch, but Vicki now knew it was true what they said about reformed rakes: They really did make the best mates. Zach was utterly devoted to the woman he loved. Just the way all Sullivans were devoted to their significant others.

More than once, Vicki had been tempted to pinch herself