ROMANCE: SPORTS ROMANCE: Royal Game (A Second Chance Secret Baby Princess Romance) (Contemporary Bad Boy Baseball Romance) (2 page)

Ellie had begun to doze off, she had worked 50 hours the previous week and was determined to be everything to her daughter, which meant that she gave up a lot of sleep in order to spend time with her. Micah was Ellie’s life and she was determined to give Micah the life she deserved, even if it could not be in the palace.

There was a loud knock on the front door, causing Ellie to jump. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around the room, she was disappointed in herself for falling asleep but knew that her body needed the rest.

Ellie yawned as she stood and began walking to the door. She was not ready for what stood on the other side. It was Mitch and he looked more pissed off than when he lost a baseball game. His face was red, his eyes looked wild and sweat dripped down his temples.

“Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on,” he blurted out, not wasting time on pleasantries.

“Come in,” Ellie said, stepping away from the door, allowing him to walk past her.

“So you take off from the park, but now you are willing to let me in your house,” Mitch’s voice sounded stressed.

Ellie closed the door behind him, “Please, the baby is asleep,” she whispered.

“Oh, you mean my baby,” Mitch growled at Ellie as they walked into the living room, “the baby that you never told me about.”

Ellie sat down on the sofa, shaking her head, trying to figure out how she could get Mitch to understand.

“How did you expect me to tell you,” she finally blurted out, “it’s not like you stayed in touch and it was you that said you didn’t want to be anybody’s boyfriend, I assumed you didn’t want to be anybody’s daddy either.”

“You could have found me if you wanted, it’s not like I went into hiding,” Mitch snapped back. He was pacing the floor. Ellie could see that his muscles were tense as they bulged through his shirt and reminded her of their one night together.

He was right, Ellie knew it, if she really wanted him to know, she would have been able to find him, but the truth was, she didn’t want him to know.

“You’re right,” she finally spoke up, feeling as if she was a child being scolded by her father, “I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to feel like you were obligated to one of the women you spent a single night with. We both knew that it meant nothing. You and I were both just looking for a bit of excitement in our lives.”

“Don’t you think I should have been given the choice at least,” he said, finally sitting down and placing his head in his hands, “all this time, I had a daughter and didn’t even know.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ellie replied, trying to sound brave, “we don’t need anything from you. You can go on with your life and forget that any of this ever happened.”

Mitch looked up at Ellie, she could see the pain in his eyes, pain that she had not meant to cause but had caused it all the same. She had never thought of Mitch as a man with feelings, just one that cared about himself. Seeing the pain in his eyes made her feel terrible for what she had done to him, even though he was a complete ass most of the time, he did not deserve that type of pain.

Mitch stood and walked to the door of Ellie’s house. “You’re not going to keep her away from me Ellie,” he said, turning back to her, “I don’t care what I have to do, I have the right to know her.”

Anger filled him and Ellie could see it and she knew that he was going to do whatever he needed to do in order to see Micah.

“Her name is Micah,” Ellie replied softly, walking up to Mitch as he stood at the door.

“What you have done is very wrong, Ellie,” he growled softly, causing every part of her skin to tingle, “you are going to have to do a lot of making up to make it right.”

Mitch reached out and grabbed Ellie by the arm, pushing her up against the wall and pressing his body firmly against hers. He held her arms down and looked into her eyes. His were dark and full of mystery, but Ellie knew that he was serious.

“She is my life,” Ellie struggled to say.

Mitch took a deep breath and pressed his lips hard against Ellie’s taking her completely off guard. Ellie inhaled deeply, his scent causing her senses to go wild. The feeling of his hands wrapped around her wrists made her feel as if she had no control of the situation and as much as she hated to admit it, she loved it.

She thought back to the first time she had kissed him. It had been softer and he had been gentler with her. Now, it was as if he was a completely different person and she could feel the anger that he had inside of him as he pressed his lips against hers.

“Do you think that I just forgot about you,” he asked, his breath teasing her neck causing goose bumps to form.

Ellie tightened the muscles in her body, she had never considered that he had ever thought about her. She had read about him in the tabloids, how he was always seen with different women but never had she imagined he even remembered their night together.

Mitch released her wrists, his hands began sliding up her arms as he, pushing her even harder against the wall, “I expect you to let me see my daughter,” he whispered in her ear.

Ellie nodded her head. Her heart raced, she was not afraid of him, but she knew that he was serious and he was right, it was time for Micah to meet him.

“Don’t hurt her,” Ellie whispered back, causing Mitch to jerk back.

“You think I would hurt my own daughter,” he replied in a stern voice that scared her.

“I just mean, if you are going to be a part of her life, then be a part of it, don’t disappear, she doesn’t deserve that,” Ellie spoke quietly, trying not to upset him more.

A frown formed on his face and she knew she had touched a nerve. “You don’t know anything about me,” he said, pulling his hands off of her arms and throwing them into the air.

Mitch turned his back to Ellie and ran his fingers through his hair. “I know what it is like to grow up without a father,” he said, lowering his head.

Ellie took a deep breath and leaned her head against the wall behind her. There was so much about Mitch that she did not know, she felt stupid for thinking that he would not want anything to do with Micah, she hated herself for not tracking him down and telling him that he had a daughter.

Lifting her head, she stared at his back, his muscles bulged out from under his shirt. Ellie couldn’t imagine how much he was going through at that moment. Her heart broke for him, but she had no idea how to make him feel any better.

“Momma,” Micah called from her crib, “momma.”

Mitch turned his head, looking at Ellie, even through all of the pain and sadness, he could see the excitement of getting to see Micah

********

The three of them spend the entire day together, Mitch doing everything that he could to get to know his daughter and make her feel comfortable around him.

Ellie watched as he smiled each time she giggled. She loves how he was so gentle with her and how he was so caring as he held her. He fed her when it was dinner time, he read her a story and rocked her to sleep when it was bed time and when the day was done, even though he looked completely exhausted, he looked happier than he had ever been.

“Do you mind if I stay here tonight,” he asked, walking out of Micah’s bedroom after placing her in her crib, “I’m just not ready to leave her.”

Ellie understood how he felt, but she did not want him to get his hopes up and think that he could stay with her whenever he was in town.

              “I think we have a lot to talk about, but for tonight, I don’t mind if you sleep on the couch,” Ellie gave in, “it will be good for her to wake up to her daddy being here.”

              Mitch shot her a huge smile she could tell that being near his daughter meant a lot to him. Leaning back on the couch, he raised an eyebrow at Ellie, “Have I told you how good you are looking,” he asked, still smiling.

              “Don’t get any ideas,” Ellie replied, standing up and stretching. She had not realized just how stressful the day had been on her and she was ready to take a long relaxing bath. “I’m going to go relax for a little bit,” she smiled at Mitch as she walked out of the room.

              “Just call me if you get lonely,” he called after her and gave out a laugh. Ellie just rolled her eyes as she headed to the bathroom and began running herself a bubble bath.

              The water was hot as Ellie stepped into it, she watched the steam rise, filling the room with what looked like a thick fog and as she leaned back into the tub, it felt as if her day had been one long dream.

              Mitch sat in Ellie’s living room, listening for his daughter to make any sounds and getting up every few minutes to check on her. This was all completely new to him, he really had not ever had a real relationship before, let alone been around anyone’s kids. Unsure of how he was going to make it work, he thought hard, trying to come up with ideas.

              Playing baseball meant that he had to travel all of the time. He had to go to travel to be at his games, and even during the offseason, he had to spend most of his time practicing. That was one of the main reasons that he had never committed to a relationship, he did not want to just have a child and not be there for it.

              He looked around Ellie’s house, she had done quite well on her own, but he could not help feeling guilty. He was sure that it had been difficult raising their daughter on her own.
But damn she still looks good,
Mitch thought to himself.

              Ellie took a deep breath and pulled the plug in the tub, she wasn’t really ready to face Mitch again, the truth was, she wished he would go to a hotel and let her get her thoughts together. She was really trying to understand why he needed to be close to his daughter and she knew that she was being selfish, still, having someone in her home, her space that was supposed to be just for her and Micah was stressful enough, having it be Micah’s father was almost more than she could handle.

              Stepping out of the shower, she grabbed her towel and began drying off. She was surprised at how uncomfortable she really was having another person in the house. She never even went on a date after she found out she was pregnant with Micah, she surely had never had a man in her house while she bathed and dressed.

********

Ellie walked into the living room to find Mitch sitting on her couch, his feet were propped up on her coffee table, his arms stretched out on the back of the couch, fast asleep.

              Rolling her eyes, she looked around, half expecting that he would have picked the house up at least a bit but finding that he had done nothing.
What an ass,
Ellie thought to herself, as she began cleaning up.

              It had been a long day for both of them, but Ellie had expected a bit more out of him. She quickly straightened the house, did the dishes and put always the laundry for the day. Finally, completely exhausted, Ellie grabbed a pillow from the hallway closet and a blanket. Walking through her living room, she threw the pillow and blanket at Mitch, a bit harder than she had intended, waking him up.

              “You’ll need this,” Ellie snapped, wrinkling her face at him.

              “I’m sorry,” Mitch replied, rubbing his eyes, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

              Ellie quickly turned and walked to her bedroom, she didn’t care what he said, the truth was, no matter what she wanted to believe, she knew that he was only there for a short time. Ellie refused to get her hopes up and let herself believe that Mitch was going to stick around. She knew how important baseball was to him, much more important than Ellie would ever be.

              Ellie curled up in her bed, her head ached, but the soft pillow helped her to relax, the bed gave under her body, and she finally realized just how tense she was. As her eyelids grew heavy, she stretched her body across the bed finally fully relaxing after a long day.

              It seemed to Ellie that she had just fallen asleep when she felt the bed shift as if someone was sitting on it. Ellie’s eye flew open, fear filled her as she sat up on the bed. Having completely forgotten about Mitch being there, she instinctively began to swing her arms.

              Mitch grabbed Ellie’s arms, pushing her down on the bed and placed his face close to hers, “Calm down,” he whispered, his deep voice almost too quiet for Ellie to hear.

              Ellie’s heart was pounding so hard she could barely hear anything else, it was far too dark for her to see but she could smell him. That familiar smell of his body and cologne intermingling caused her relief and anxiety all at the same time.

              It was a smell that she had not smelled in nearly three years yet is was so familiar to her, she could not confuse it with any other.

              She could feel his body as he lowered it against hers and wiggled, trying to get out from underneath him. “I couldn’t sleep in there by myself, knowing that you were in this nice comfortable bed all alone,” he teased her ear with his warm breath.

              As Ellie lay there, completely frozen with disbelief but she was suddenly taken back to that night they had together in the garden. She remembered the smell of the roses, the excitement she had felt and how the cool night air had kissed her skin. She also remembered the heartbreak that she had felt when it was all over.

              She had not meant to care for him, it was something that just happened naturally. When he left, it was devastating, but nothing compared to how hard it was to carry his baby for 9 months or raise her for the past few years without having any contact with him.

              “Mitch, you have to go back in the living room,” Ellie said to him, trying to wiggle out from underneath him and doing everything she could to ignore that which she was feeling.

              “Do you really want to be alone,” he asked, his lips brushing against her neck, causing her senses to intensify and her mind to fog.

              Ellie nodded, lying and doing everything she could to convince him that she was telling the truth. She placed her hands against his chest hoping that he would feel rejected but knew he was not the type of man to ever give up when he wanted something.

              “I don’t believe you, Ellie,” he said, taking her earlobe in between his lips and giving it a little tug. Ellie pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, trying to stifle a moan of pleasure, chills flowed through her body yet still she tried to convince herself that she was not turned on by his touch.

              Ellie had never been much of a liar; it was just something she was not good at. She could not deny how she longed for the touch of a man, how she hated spending her nights alone with no hope of ever finding a man that would accept her daughter as his own.

              She tilted her head back as he kissed down her neck. It was obvious to her that he was trying to be gentle but the animal within him clawed to get out, she could hear small growls escaping from his lips. He wanted her and there was nothing that was going to change it.

              Raw passion between the two of them, caused their breathing to quicken, as his rough, calloused hands slid up her legs, she could hear the pounding of his heart as she ran her fingers through his soft short hair, she could already feel that he was beginning to sweat, it was much warmer in her house than it had been their first night together in the park.

              Ellie’s hands shook as she touched him, fear filled her knowing how much it would hurt to lose him again. “You don’t have to worry, Ellie,” he whispered, his lips inches from hers, “No matter what, I’m not going anywhere this time.” It was almost as if he could read her mind as if the two had already become so in tune with each other that he already knew exactly what she needed.

              Ellie wanted to believe it, even though they had only had one night together all those years ago, he was the only man that filled her dreams as the years went by. In her mind and in her heart, no other man could ever compare.

              Looking deep into his eyes, Ellie tried to see if he was lying, she just needed a sign, but all she saw was concern and love. She gently nodded her head as he placed his lips on hers. Pressing hard, but trying to control himself.

              Mitch had never felt hunger for any woman as strong as he felt it for Ellie and he wanted to show her what it was like to be with a real man. The last time they had been together, it had been all about the sex, there were no feelings involved. Now, after spending the day with Micah, learning about Ellie, he couldn’t help but have feelings for her.

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