Maid For Beckett Catching The Baseball Legend’s Heart novel Chapter 72

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10:52 am

Chapter 72

Chapter 72

-Andi-

I was grateful for the countertop I was leaning on. If not for it, I would have melted into a puddle at my boss’s feet.

Why did I zone out last night? Why did I hear nothing about Siobhan’s suggestion? Beckett can’t be just making this up. right? But Beckett and I? Making a fake relationship look real? Is he actually considering this?

I mean, look at him. No sane woman would pass this chance to be Beckett’s girlfriend, even if it was fake, but then, when I look at myself, I can’t stop asking why. Why would he even put this subject up for discussion? It’s clear that he would never date a nobody, much less a maid like me. Look at Carter. He couldn’t stand the thought of people finding out about me.

I knew my silence could be disguised as a scream. And Beckett was merely staring at me, waiting for my reaction.

The kitchen was quiet except for the faint hum of the refrigerator and the ticking of a clock, which I paid no attention to until today. Beckett sipped his coffee languidly, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb in front of us.

“You’re serious,” I said slowly, because if I didn’t slow myself down, I might bolt, “you and me, fake dating? Lying to the public?”

“You make it sound like it’s a crime.” His jaw flexed. “It’s Siobhan’s idea, not mine.”

“And you don’t oppose it?” My voice rises in question at the same time my eyebrows curl.

“It’s not the worst idea,” he simply offered, then he started filling his plate with food. Bread first, then eggs on top. He liked his egg yolk a little runny and dipped his toast in it.

Before that disastrous date, I liked watching Beckett eat the food I made. He was enthusiastic about his food; he’d pass for a food commercial model if he wanted to. But now, I don’t want to focus on him. I don’t want to watch him eat.

I picked up the carafe and poured myself a cup. I busied myself with putting cream and sugar on it just to get my eyes off of

Beckett.

“No one will believe you would date someone like me,” I said, my voice slightly breaking.

I hate that I feel so small about myself. This isn’t me. I paid no mind to whatever people said about me growing up, because this is my life, it’s my rules. But it’s different when the whole world paints you as the home wrecker, the boyfriend stealer. The gold–digging slut.

Then I stared at the granite countertop, tracing a crack I’d memorized from cleaning this house. I used to think knowing every inch of this place meant I belonged here.

I’d never been more wrong.

“People already think I’m a gold–digging nobody,” Ladded quietly. “You dating me won’t fix that”

“It will.” he said immediately. Too fast. Too sure.

I finally looked up at him. “How?”

“Because it reframes everything.” he replied. “Right now, Carter’s story paints you as a girl who chased him if you’re with me openly in public, it will be his word against mine”

I swallowed hard as his words echoed in my head. His word against mine. He sounded like a knight in shining armour who would protect me from all the trolls, haters, and bashers that targeted me because of what Carter said. I can’t stop my hear

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Chapter 72

from doing cartwheels in its cage.

Why does he want to save me?

“It’s your choice, still. Andi,” he said and kept eating his breakfast. Now I can’t stop watching him. I was so mesmerized by how smoothly he moves, as if there was no chaos in front of him.

He was giving me a choice of consequences,

–

to use him or drown in the hate of Carter’s fans, as if this were like a game with options instead

And what happens when they don’t believe us? If they said I am only using you?” I asked. “When they say I trapped you or manipulated you or slept my way into your house?”

He sighed. “We can’t control what people think, Andi. They’ll say what they want for whatever reason they have. That’s the downside of being in the spotlight.”

He was laying out the truth in front of me, and even if I insist I am a nobody, people have already seen me.

I folded my arms around myself, suddenly aware of how small I felt in this massive kitchen. I wasn’t built for this world–the press conferences, the headlines, the dissecting eyes. I liked quiet mornings, dogs at my feet, and coffee that tasted the same every day.

Why would you want to protect me?” I asked. “You don’t need to do this.”

You don’t need protecting,” he said. “I’m doing this because I am part of the reason this happened to you.”

You kind of are.” I shot back with a smirk, feeling a little lightheaded as I leveled him with a stare.

Beckett exhaled slowly, his gray eyes sincere and focused on me. “This is my way of apologizing, and Siobhan would be with is all the way. This wouldn’t be a lie in the way you think,” he said. “We wouldn’t fabricate feelings or make promises we can’t keep. We’d agree on boundaries. Appear together. Be seen and let the noise burn itself out.”

And once the noise died down?” I asked.

He hesitated, blinking at me. It seemed that neither Siobhan nor Beckett thought that far about this grand scheme of theirs.

laughed softly, the sound hollow. “So I become your girlfriend for damage control. What do I do while I am your fake girlfriend? Do I still have a job? Because my family’s welfare is much more important to me than my image, you know.”

Siobhan can answer all of that, you know. This is her specialty,” he narrated with a little too much enthusiasm. “What’s important is we shut Carter the hell up.”

Carter. It all comes back to him. That cracked something open in my chest

Carter had always been good at control–at shaping stories until I didn’t recognize myself in them. And I was tired. So tired of being quiet, of shrinking, of letting men decide who I was allowed to be.

Still fear wrapped itself around my ribs.

“You can walk away from this,” I said. “You’ll be fine. I won’t.”

Beckett met my gaze, unwavering. “Then I won’t walk away.”

The room felt too small again, and I know he’s only saying that to phase my worry.

I thought about the messages. The names. The way strangers spoke about my parents as if they knew them. I thought about hiding for weeks, maybe months, waiting for the world to forget me. But I wanted my life back. I don’t want Carter to rule

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Chapter 72

my life anymore.

So I squared my shoulder and asked Beckett with pure determination. “What are the rules?”

Relief flickered across his face–but he didn’t smile. He respected the weight of what I was agreeing to

vou mes

“Complete honesty,” he said. “No surprises. No physical boundaries crossed unless you’re comfortable. If it gets too overwhelming for you and you want out, we end it immediately.”

I nodded. “I’m not comfortable with the media.”

“I know. I don’t think we can fully avoid it, but we’ll try to stay off the radar and only allow them to see what we want them to

see

I liked the way he laid that out. He made it sound like we would be in control of what media’s access to our lives. “No kissing”

His brows lifted slightly. “Like I said, no physical boundaries crossed unless you’re comfortable. I won’t do anything without

your consent.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Does he think I would let him kiss me again? “And.” I added, my voice firmer now, “this doesn’t mean I owe you anything.”

Something unreadable passed through his eyes. “I expect nothing less, Andi.”

Silence stretched between us again. “And you will still give me my salary.”

“Done,” he said, smirking.

I tipped my chin up and stepped forward, extending my hand for a handshake. “Then we’re clear.”

He looked at my hand for a long second before taking it. His grip was warm and steady. “We have a deal.”

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