The Penalty Box (Vancouver Wolves Hockey #3)(14)

Krista glanced back at Mica before looking at me. “Mica’s future rides on this. We need someone we can trust. Someone who understands what’s at stake. I need someone willing to do what it takes to make this work, because this is super important to both me and Mica.”

“Should I get started with more research?”

“I’d like you to marry Mica.”

What the actual fuck?

I felt myself freeze as I held her gaze. She’s joking. She stared back at me with intensity. She’s not joking! My throat swallowed convulsively. Was this part of my job requirement? Would she hold it against me when I said no? Because there was no way in hell I would marry Mica.

“No,” I blurted, unable to look at him. I realized that my reaction might be hurtful, so I tried to soften my rejection, but the only words that came out of me were, “That’s a hard no.”

“Mica will pay you one hundred thousand dollars to remain married to him until he gets his contract renewed. You will live rent-free at his place. Think of this as a high-paying acting job.”

No. No. No! I stared back at Krista, willing her to tell me this was a joke.

She leaned forward, making her voice soft and hypnotic. “Mica needs this. He’s in serious trouble, and his career will not survive this unless we help him. Charlie, he needs our help.”

I hated when she pulled on my heartstrings. She was damn good at it too.

“It’s marriage, Krista.” Marriage to a guy I had secretly lusted over for the past two years. I could barely handle the short time we spent together.

“Not really. Think of this as just a piece of paper. Like a contract.” She glanced over her shoulder at him and then back at me. “You know how much hockey players travel. He will barely be home. And you saw how big his place is. You two could just live quietly as roommates. That you two have known each other for two years is the perfect cover.”

I had always been hyperaware of this man. And he just wasn’t into me. That was a fact. There was no way he’d be able to convince the world he’d fallen for me. This plan was humiliating. I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up at him. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to have Mica marry someone he’s already dated? I think that would be more convincing.”

“The fact that you two have been in contact for two years is convincing. People will buy this.”

I finally forced myself to glance up at him. His eyes assessed me, inspecting me. His scrutiny made me feel naked, vulnerable. The guy had the ability to charge the room with electricity by simply being present. I had spent the last two years avoiding him because my reaction to his magnetic pull was so hard to hide.

Marrying and moving in with him was the exact opposite of what I needed to do. They both thought I hated him. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him, but the fact that I couldn’t take my eyes off him made me the exact candidate they were trying to avoid.

I couldn’t admit it to him. Not now, not ever. But it was something I needed to share with Krista. As much as it pained me, she needed to know the real reason why this wasn’t an option.

I cleared my throat. “Krista, can I talk to you alone?”

She looked at Mica. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

Without moving, he continued to stare at me. Finally, he nodded, pushed off the window and disappeared out of her office.

Fuck, that guy is intense.

Krista crisscrossed her fingers and propped her chin up with her hands. “Talk to me, Charlie.”

Time for full disclosure. “I think it’s a terrible idea for me to get involved in this situation.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Because you want to fuck him.”

The air sucked out of my lungs, like she had sucker punched me. “Krista!”

“For the past two years, you’ve stolen glances at him when you think no one is looking. Whenever I mention his name, your voice gets weird. And you’re as prickly as a cactus towards him. Only him.”

She knew my secret. I stared at her, aghast. “How long have you known?”

She shrugged. “Since the first day you met him.”

“You aren’t mad?”

“I told you never to get involved with my clients. You can’t help how you feel, but you did everything in your power not to let your feelings show.”

I tried to explain myself. “I don’t even like him. He’s wild, and he likes to party, and he serial-dates puck bunnies. He’s so reckless. And he plays hockey, which I hate. I don’t even know why I am attracted to him. It makes no sense!”

“Mica has this charm that women can’t resist. Plus, he’s hot as sin.”

I laid my hand on my chest. “I don’t think I can live with him. If he ever figured out how I felt, it’d make him so uncomfortable.”

Krista laughed. “Are you joking?”

I shook my head. I wasn’t. This was no joke.

She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Mica is comfortable with women wanting to rip his clothes off. That’s all he knows. Pretty much every woman he comes into contact with wants him. Your lust wouldn’t even faze him.”

Well, that kind of took the wind out of my sails. “I don’t want to act on those feelings, but I don’t know how long I can hide it.”