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“Can you believe he did that to poor Alina?” Marie says, looking at me in disgust. “Mom?”
We’re all sitting around the kitchen table having coffee at my mom’s house—the house I grew up in. I keep a weary eye on my angry sister, half-expecting her to throw her scalding cup in my face.
My mom is trying not to smile as she stares down at her mug. “I knew those two would get together. Remember, I said that years ago?”
“They’re not together, Mom!” Marie practically shrieks. “He made it all up!”
I kind of zone out as they argue. My mind goes straight back to that conference room with Alina standing in front of me.
Even now I can still feel the deep sense of awe that permeated my body when I saw her. My limbs went numb. My heart thundered like the hooves of a thousand galloping horses. I forgot where I was. What I was doing. The only thing I could focus on was her.
Alina is not the shy nerdy girl I once knew. She’s grown into an incredible woman. Smart, successful, and one hell of a knockout.
I remember her in those scuffed-up black and white Converse shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt that usually had something clever on it like I Just Hope Both Teams Have Fun. It was a shock to see her so dressed up at the office in a slim gray pencil skirt that highlighted her long legs, heels, and a white blouse that made her look so professional.
Her straight brown hair was longer too, ending somewhere above her perfect ass.
But when she smiled that big smile, it brought me right back to my youth. I still remember perfectly the way she would chew on her pencil as she sat at this very table with Marie, working on their homework. I would get a bite to eat from the fridge and steal glances at her. Whenever our eyes would meet, she’d drop them immediately and those adorable cheeks would turn bright red.
“So, what’s the endgame here?” Marie asks with a hand on her hip. She’s leaning on the counter, glaring at me. “You’re going to pretend that you’re married to Alina while you go around and screw any girl in a skirt behind her back?”
“What?” I snap. “No!”
I don’t want anyone but her. Not anymore.
She’s always been the one for me, but I was too stupid to realize it. I was too focused on hockey and getting to the highest level. I failed to see the treasure that was right in front of me. I took her for granted. I missed out on years. Years that she could have been mine. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for that, but all I can do is take it from here and look forward. There’s no point in dwelling over lost time.
“She’s too nice,” Marie says with a shake of her head. “That’s always been Alina’s problem. You’re going to drag her name through the mud and what does she get out of it?”
“I’m going to pay her well,” I say. We never mentioned any money; she said yes before I had the chance to. But I’m going to set her up so well that she’ll never have to worry about money again.
“I don’t like it,” Marie says with a huff.
“I think it’s romantic,” my mother says with a smile.
“You read too many romance novels,” Marie says with a roll of her eyes. “There’s nothing romantic about paying someone to pretend to be your fiancée.”
Mom grins. “It is when they’re in love but don’t realize it.”
I realize it now.
I’m fully realizing that Alina Hoover is the woman for me.
I want to marry her, buy a mansion, and fill it with babies. I want to spend the rest of my life with that incredible woman.
And I want it to start tonight.
At five o’clock tomorrow, I’m picking her up in a limo, heading to the airport, and flying back to San Antonio in Van Morgan’s private jet. We’ll attend the fancy party he’s throwing and if all goes well, I’ll be signing a contract with the San Antonio Hyenas by the end of the night. And if things go really well, Alina will be falling in love with me all over again.
Marie stares at me with narrowed eyes. “You’re my brother and I love you, Sebastian. But if you hurt my best friend, I’ll kill you.”
She’ll have to get in line.
If I was ever stupid enough to hurt Alina, I’d kill myself first.
That’s the last thing in the world I want.
Chapter Five
