The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

75

Carrie jumped when Harrison opened the shower door and stepped inside. "Geez, you scared the shit out of me."

He smiled. "Sorry."

She was in the middle of washing her hair when he interrupted. Harrison stole the shampoo and dumped some more in her hair.

"You don't have to."

"But I want to."

Carrie gave in and let him finish washing her hair. Truthfully, it felt so good, but she also didn't want to make him do it for her.

Harrison kept going after he finished washing it. Her hair was so much fun to play with, and besides, she deserved it. He'd been doing it for about 10 minutes when she slumped against his chest.

"You look tired."

She slowly nodded. Now that the Panthers were in the playoffs, Carrie worked extra hard to cover every news story and break it to the public. She was racing against other journalists from companies like FOX, CBS, and NFL Network.

Harrison wanted to help her. But he couldn't write well, and she certainly knew what she was doing when it came to this stuff. And he was a player. Most of his time now was spent at practice, working out, and studying film on the two teams they could play in the divisional round.

"Why don't you ask for an assistant?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because my job isn't qualified as hard enough for an assistant."

Carrie stepped out of the shower with him right behind her. "What time is it?"

"Around midnight."

She sighed in annoyance. Carrie had been on her computer for about 5 hours straight, working on articles. This was the first time she'd gotten up to do something.

"Demand they give you an assistant. Remember when you told me how much they begged you to come back. If they want you on the staff that badly, they'll give you an assistant. Besides, there's nobody better than you. Or else you wouldn't have this job."

Carrie shook her head. "That's not true. Some of it is because I do my job well, the other part is that I know you. On a very personal level."

"So they think you have the inside scoop because of us?"

She nodded as he handed her a towel. "Well f**k that. I thought they said they weren't going to push your deadlines?"

"That was before you guys made the postseason. Now, all the news surrounds the undefeated Carolina Panthers. I'm the Panthers rep. And for people that have subscriptions to ESPN News, the faster I get stuff done, they make money because it's not on any other website yet."

Nobody said anything as they dried off and changed into clean clothes. Then he knelt down and kissed her belly, something he'd been doing quite often after they learned she was pregnant.

Carrie was almost into her fourth week. And they were able to barely feel the baby. Harrison placed his hand on her belly, where the hard mass of the baby was. It wasn't noticeable to anyone who didn't know about her pregnancy. But to the baby's parents, they knew exactly where he or she was.

"I can't stand seeing you stressed like this," Harrison told her as he rose back to his feet. "It drives me crazy knowing I can't really help you. And I want to. So much."

She put both hands on his shoulders. "I'll be fine Harry. I covered two teams at one time before. It's going to be tough with you guys being the big news, but I can do it. I have to do it."

"You don't have to do it."

"Yeah I do. Although my job sometimes kicks my ass, like right now, it's something I love to do."

Harrison nodded. Sometimes people got so stressed out, it made them sick. He couldn't let that happen to Carrie and the baby.

Then he scooped her up over his shoulder and carried her to bed, where he made Wilson and Gary move to the other side. Harrison tickled her side while he waited for the dogs to move.

"Put me down!" She insisted. But the linebacker didn't budge.

He simply continued to tickle her. "Harry please?"

"If you say so."

Harrison leaned forward and dropped her off his shoulder. She gasped when he let go, expecting to hit the mattress with a thud, when his strong arms caught her. He gently kissed her before shooting her one of his lopsided grins.

"You thought I was going to drop you."

He kissed her again. "I would never drop you."

Harrison gently set her down on their bed and crawled over to his side, in between her and their dogs. On his way over, he stopped and kissed her belly once again.

Carrie watched him kiss her belly for the second time tonight, and look up at her with those loving hazel eyes of his. "What?"

She didn't realize she was smiling. "You."

"What about me?"

"You're going to make a great father."

"I hope."

Harrison rolled over to lay by her side. For sure, he was going to make a great dad. Carrie already knew that. Like today on the way home from practice. Someone pulled out in front of them, forcing him to slam on the brake. Instead of flipping out like she probably would've, he kept his cool. As he hit the brake, he had one hand on the wheel, Carrie found the other on her belly, keeping her and their baby safe. She didn't say anything about it, but simply knew he was going to protect their child from anything.

"I know you'll be a great father."

He has his head propped up on his elbow. "You're going to be a great mother."

She rolled over and pressed her lips to his. "I love you."

"I love you too."

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