The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(12)

I kept my voice casual. “Where’s Baby Krista?”

“Charlie?” she looked perplexed. “She went to get my coffee.”

A smidgen of relief trickled through my veins. I wanted to talk to her. Find out what last night was really about.

“Tell me about Charlie.”

Krista gave me a sharp look, her voice curious. “She’s whip-smart, does the work of three average PAs, and is a workaholic. Why?”

I shrugged. “No reason.”

She eyeballed me for a moment before she shifted gears. “Let’s talk about who you’re going to marry.”

I crossed my arms, feeling defensive. Everything in my body wanted to fight this plan. “Fine.”

“We’ve hit a few snags.”

My mind started to wander. Maybe I could sit this year out. What if we brokered a deal where Mark suspended me for a year so I didn’t have to get married? It would kill me to not play hockey, but it might be a better alternative than having to marry someone. Would he go for that? Could I go an entire year without playing hockey?

“Mica, are you listening?”

I worked to focus back on Krista. “Sorry.”

She paused and folded her hands on the desk. “I know you have issues with marriage.”

Just the word marriage made my throat tighten with discomfort. Almost like a noose was tightening around my neck. I couldn’t rationalize how I felt, it was just the reaction I had. I worked to explain how I felt to Krista. “I swore I’d never get married.”

Her voice softened. “Because of your parents.”

My parents were the last two people I wanted to talk about. “I don’t want to get into it.”

She glanced down at her files. “I will be honest with you. None of these candidates will work.”

Relief seeped into my veins. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t think marrying a complete stranger, when you are so averse to marriage, is our best game plan. And frankly, I’m not sure that any of these women would be capable of keeping their end of the bargain.”

I didn’t want to know. “What does that mean?”

“I think most of these women would agree to marry in name only, but before the ink dried, they would start working to make the relationship real.”

I inwardly shuddered. I’d take a year off from hockey. Anything was better than this. “Tell Mark to suspend me for a year. Let’s work that angle.”

She paused and studied me. “I have a better idea.”

Honestly, anything was better than this marriage plan. “Talk.”

“I told Mark Ashford you were marrying someone nice. Someone who was a good influence on you.”

I rubbed one eye. Krista, once she got hold of something, never seemed to let it go. It was pointless to argue. My best option was to hear her out before working on her to nix the marriage and get me suspended long term. “Right.”

She took a breath. “I was thinking about Charlie.”

I frowned, not connecting the dots. “Okay.”

“She’s a good girl. She has a great reputation in the industry, and all the players love her.”

Wait. Was she putting Charlie forward as a candidate? I cut her off. “You want me to marry your PA?”

“It’d be easy to sell her as the nice fiancée who is a good influence. Plus, it’d explain away a secret relationship. You two have known each other for a couple of years.”

I worked to keep my expression blank while I tried to imagine being married to Charlie, but my imagination didn’t stretch that far. “She’s your PA.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“She hates hockey. I’m pretty sure she hates me.”

“Well, the good news is that she wouldn’t try to make the marriage real.”

I tried to imagine her moving into my place. She’d probably kill me in my sleep. “We’d have to live together.”

“That’s the idea.”

I worked to imagine her as a roommate. It hadn’t bothered me to give her the code to my house and let her pick up my tux. When she looked around my place after the police had destroyed it, she reacted perfectly, with a mixture of sadness and anger. Her outward display of emotion had done much to soothe my own. But inviting her to live full time in my place was a lot different from having her visit.

“What do you think?” Krista watched my face.

The Charlie I knew was independent and feisty. I couldn’t believe she’d sign up for this. “Did she agree to this?”

Krista winced. “Not yet, but I think I can convince her.”

“How?”

“I think she needs money. I’m not sure why, but I think if we offered her enough, we could convince her.”

I knew she needed money. The person she owed money to had zero scruples. What kind of asshole would send a complete scumbag to pick up money from a woman in the middle of the night? That gesture was made to intimidate and create fear. Whatever mess she was in might blow up and make my situation worse. But I kept that fact to myself. I had promised Charlie not to involve Krista, and I would keep that promise.

“I don’t think she’ll agree to this.”

“Leave that to me. I want to know if she’s someone you’d be willing to go through this with.”