Maid For Beckett, Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart Novel – “I need you to sign this.” Carter’s voice was gruff as he dropped a paper on the bed. “What? Is that our prenup?” I cajoled, eyes glued on the ceiling. We had just finished making love. The bed was still warm, the sheets tangled, and my center was still sore. I received no reply from Carter. The bathroom door opened, the water in the shower pelted down, so I decided to entertain whatever it was that he wanted. My face pruned as I pushed off from the bed, pulling the sheets over my chest, squinting my eyes, trying to make out what was written on the paper. There were two documents: Non-disclosure Agreement and Deed of Waiver. “Is this some kind of joke? It’s not funny, Carter,” I say with a chuckle, clearing my throat when it felt like sandpaper from all the screaming and moaning I had just done under him. I heard the shower turn off.
Carter walked back into the room, wearing nothing but a towel that hung low on his hips. Pellets of water glistened on his skin, rolling down his Apollo’s belt and disappearing into the towel. Heat blossomed in my center as I caressed his body with my gaze. He was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. Clean-cut hair complements his sharp jawline, and his blue eyes mirror the deepest sea. I always get lost in them whenever he looks at me. I tossed the paper on the bed, frowning when a light yellow paper peeked out from under it. A check. Five hundred thousand dollars under my name with Carter’s signature. “What is this?” The playfulness in my voice was no more, sliding a frown at Carter and back at the check.
His face was stoic as he discarded the towel at the foot of the bed, pulling on his jeans. “You can read, right?” he said without throwing a glance at me. My heartbeat slowly gained speed, realizing that Carter was dead serious. I picked up the documents and scanned them again, this time with focus and blazing attention. My hands were shaking, my lips trembling as I went over the NDA and the waiver simultaneously. It clearly says here that I can’t tell a soul about Carter’s involvement with me. He’d make me pay him an amount I can’t earn even if I work twenty-four seven. He gave me options.
How generous of him. If I can’t pay, then I will go to jail for breaching this contract. And the waiver says that if I am carrying his child, he has nothing to do with the child, nor will the child ever have a claim on him. I can read alright, but every word I just read made me question my comprehension skills. “NDA really?” I huffed. Carter was now sporting his jeans and shirt. He sat on the couch and shoved his feet into his sneakers. “Don’t you think it’s a little too late for an NDA?” A flash of irritation crossed his devilishly handsome face. “Just sign the fucking paper, Andi,” he said with a glacier-crisp voice. He was uneasy, as if he had somewhere more important to be than talking to me right now.
The coldness in his tone was like ice daggers piercing my heart. “Where is this coming from, Carter? We just had sex a minute ago. You were inside me, for fuck’s sake.” I agreed to keep our relationship low-key, but Carter had never been this cold to me. We might appear estranged outside hotel rooms, but he was passionate and caring when we were alone. Carter and I met in a bar where I was waiting tables last year. He said he was just aiming to get drafted back then, so having a relationship in public would hurt his image. ‘Women would flock over a hot single major league rookie,’ was what he said, and honestly, I didn’t care if we went public or not.
I could barely make ends meet, juggling between two jobs, so caring about what others think was not really a priority. He has been good to me. He treated me well; he was great in bed, and he didn’t punch me in the face. But I guess I should have cared; I should have given a fuck about going public. It would have saved me a year of my life with someone who thought I was a gold digger. “We had our fun. It’s time to get back into the real world,” iciness dripped from his voice. “Ca… carter,” my voice quivered as I felt tears prickling my eyes. They were threatening to fall, my heart clenching painfully. “You’re… you’re breaking up with me?” He released a heavy breath. “Breaking up? We were just fucking, Andi. We don’t have a relationship.” I recoiled.
The truth was a sucker punch to my face. Did I just assume everything? We didn’t share I love yous, but we were exclusive. My throat was too tight to produce any sound. I just stared at him, dumbfounded, my hands shaking as I clutched the check. “What is it? Do you need more?” His patience was wearing thin. Five hundred thousand dollars. I could clear every debt under my name with this, pay Mom’s medical bills, buy a new car, and probably get us a leakproof and rat-free place. But Carter’s question made my heart drop. He was dead serious about buying my silence. My chest felt like it would explode at any moment. He grunted and pulled his wallet out, tossing another check in my face. “There? Is that enough? Lara was right.
You were a problem I shouldn’t have fucked in the first place.” Lara, his handler. Carter introduced us last week, and she made sure I knew that Carter was way out of my league. She even warned me to stay away from Carter, or she’ll make me. She clearly succeeded. I should lash out at him. I should slap him in the face because he’s blatantly insulting me. But I know that if I say another word, the dam I am holding in will shatter. I will break down in front of him. So I quietly got out of bed and got dressed, laughing at myself for thinking Carter would really fall for someone like me. I had seen him on TV once or twice. The stadium would go ballistic just seeing him walk out onto the field. The people at the bar said he was the greatest rookie of this generation.
‘You’re so stupid, Andi. You thought the greatest rookie would settle for a girl who only buys clothes from thrift shops and only has one pair of shoes? You can’t even go to the salon to get a proper haircut, and the rookie will love you? Stupid, stupid, freaking stupid!’ When I was done dressing up in my worn-out clothes, I snatched the pen from the bedside table and quietly signed the documents. It’s not like I would ever tell a soul about how this rookie played like his pupper on a string. “Here,” I said and slapped the papers on his chest along with the checks. Carter’s big hands wrapped around my wrist as I skirted past him. He tugged me back and stared down at me through the tip of his nose. “The money is yours, take it.” He raised the two checks to my face. I clenched my fist and snatched my hand from his grip, holding the dam together as I leveled Carter with a stare.
“You want me out of your life, right? You got it. This is the last time you’ll see me.” “You need it. I know what kind of life you have, Andi. Your mom is sick, and you’re the only one working for your family,” he said with disgust. “And you live in a fucking trailer. I should’ve known…” “Known what?” I cut him off, simmering. “You didn’t care where I lived when you were fucking me, remember? If you’re breaking up with me, you’ve got it already. What else is your problem?” “My problem is that I need you to get this money and get out of this city before the press gets a whiff of our situation. It would ruin my career!” His response made me speechless.