Wedding Rings & Champions: A Slapshot Novel (Slapshot Series Book 8)

by Heather C. Myers

  Natalie was different. Natalie was awed by him, like he was some kind of god and she was in the process of worshipping him.

  "What are you doing?" he mumbled. It was doubtful he would be able to get back to bed now, especially with his stomach rumbling and his head pounding.

  He drank too much last night.

  That had always been the plan, of course, but now it didn't seem as necessary to have done that. He needed to hydrate. He needed a shower. He needed coffee and food in his system, especially if the team was going out again tonight.

  "Shit."

  Chris cracked open an eye and glanced at the woman before him, leaning over his body as she looked at his left hand. Her straight, brown hair fell forward, slightly messy from the night before, and there was still sleep in her brown eyes. She wore nothing but his blue collared shirt from the night before and he could not help but smile at the sight of it on her body. Like it fit.

  She looked beautiful, and she wasn't even trying. Judging by her narrowed eyes, the way her teeth tugged at her bottom lip, she wasn't as concerned about her looks as she was with whatever she had found on his left hand.

  "What?" he asked.

  He closed both eyes before forcing them open. Sunlight cracked through the curtains, but besides that, the room was surrounded by darkness and shadows. There was no snoring in the bed on the other side of the room, which meant Peter probably spent the night somewhere else. Chris wondered if he actually hooked up with Cam or if that was too good to be true.

  "You have a ring," she said. There was attitude in her tone and Chris slowly sat himself up. She scrambled to move so she wouldn't get in his way and positioned herself on the bed next to him.

  "A what?"

  She nodded her head to his hand. From where he sat, he could hear people in the next room start to stir. If he remembered correctly, Kyle Underwood and Alec Schumacher were sharing that room. How could they be up so early? How could Chris?

  "A ring," she repeated, curling her hair back behind her ear. For some reason, Natalie had yet to look at him directly. Her hands seemed to be fidgeting a lot, whether they played with the sheets, her hair, the hem of his shirt. "On your ring finger. On your left hand. Just like I do." She flashed him the back of his hand and wiggled her fingers so he could see that she did have a ring on her finger.

  "Maybe it's too early or maybe I'm too hungover," he murmured, raking his fingers through his hair and all but collapsing forward as he circled his arms around his bent knees, "but I have no idea what the significance is of both of us wearing rings. It's not like we're -"

  Chris cut himself off and sat up straight.

  "Shit!"

  "You remembered something?" she asked, crawling closer to him. "I can't, for the life of me, remember what happened last night, but when I went to check my phone to call my friends, I saw a pretty incriminating photo."

  "A photo?" he asked. "Can I see?"

  She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and handed it to him. Chris clicked it to the lock screen and his mouth went dry. That was what he had been afraid of.

  "That's you," he said.

  "Yes."

  "And me."

  "Uh huh."

  "It looks like we got married."

  "Probably because we did get married!" she exclaimed. "I mean, why else would we buy wedding clothes? I have a wedding dress on the floor and I'm afraid to hang it up because touching it means it's real and not some kind of sick, drunken game."

  "A game?" he asked, dropping his hands from his face. "You think marriage is a game?"

  "That's the last thing I think," she told him. She started clicking her phone each time the lock screen faded to black until Chris reached out and placed his hand over hers to stop her.

  "I need a shower," he said. "And some coffee. Maybe... maybe we really didn't get married. Maybe it just seems like we did. And, if we did get married, we'll just get it annulled quickly and quietly. I'll pay for it myself."

  "I can split it with you," Natalie told him. There was a slight edge to her voice, as though she didn't quite appreciate the fact that he insinuated he didn't need her financial assistance. Which he didn't - he was a millionaire, after all.

  His phone buzzed. He glanced around, feeling the surface of the bed, before realizing his phone was on his nightstand. He picked it up. A red circle with the word News bolded flashed across the screen.

  "Shit," he muttered.

  "What?" she asked, getting closer to him. He was confronted with the floral scent mixed with vanilla. If he had to guess, he would say she smelled like lavender. "What is it?"

  He couldn't even say it. Instead, he gave her the phone.

  "Shit," she said.

  Newport Beach Seagull Christopher Worthington marries unknown brunette in a Vegas ceremony. Worthington, 28, and the Seagulls, just won the Stanley Cup.

  She buried her face in her hands, her hair falling forward, over her shoulders. "What are we going to do?" she asked.

  Chris's phone started buzzing.

  "Consider yourself lucky," he said.

  She picked her head up, her eyes narrowed. "What?" she asked.

  "I'm being serious," he told her. "No one knows I married you. You are an unknown brunette -"

  "And you're a major asshole," she said. She shook her head, muttering things he couldn't quite hear to herself, and stood. She all but stomped over to the coffee table and grabbed a pad of hotel paper and pen and began to scrawl something on it. When she finished, she tore the paper and slapped it against her chest. "Call me when you make plans abou what to do about our situation. I'm going back to my room so I can drown myself in the shower."

  "It looks like you already showered," he pointed out.

  "Don't make me demand half of your money," she snapped.

  Chris's brow shot straight to his hairline. She wouldn't actually do that, would she? No, not her. He didn't know her, of course, so he couldn't say for sure, but there was something stubborn about her, something that made Chris believe she wasn't after his money.

  "Sorry," she said. "I wouldn't actually do that. I don't want you to think..." She shook her head.

  "We're both hungover," he said with a shrug. "I can appreciate the fact that perhaps neither of us expected to start our morning off like this." His phone started vibrating. He glanced down at the caller id and saw Keagan Tully flash across the screen. His agent - Teagan would know what to do. "Look, I'm going to take this. I'm hoping my agent will be able to get us out of this spot. Look, text your friends and let them know you're all right but maybe you could order us room service and we could figure this out together."

  Natalie nodded, she seemed opened to talking, at least. When Chris saw her reach for a menu, he pressed the answer button and stood. The minute his bare feet hit the floor, he nearly toppled forward as a rush hit his head like a stick to the cranium.

  "Are you shitting me, Chris? I've been trying to call you for the past, I don't know, hour, and I'm hearing about your wedding from the gossip rags?"

  Chris closed his eyes, wincing, as he slowly padded over to the couch and coffee table. It wasn't exactly privacy but it was enough to have a conversation without Natalie listening in. Although, as he looked at her, he had the feeling that she was the sort of person who avoided drama. At least, her insistence on handling this impromptu marriage made him feel this way.

  "Look, it wasn't planned -"

  "Clearly." There was a pause on the other line as Keagan took a breath. Keagan had always been passionate, but that meant he was also quick to anger as well. "Look, bud, I don't know what to tell you. Do you want to stay married to the girl?"

  "What? No." Chris couldn't help but look at Natalie, sitting cross-legged on the bed, flipping through the menu. His heart lurched against his chest. She looked absolutely beautiful. "We both want an annulment."

  "No."

  Chris shook his head, using his free hand to rub his face. Did Keagan just say no or was he so hungover that now he wa
s hearing things?

  "What?"

  "No, Chris, no." Keagan cleared his throat. "You just won the Stanley Cup. If you get an annulment, especially now that your marriage is public knowledge, people are going to hate you. This will make news more than the win will. It already has. Everyone wants to find out who your bride is. Hell, I want to find that out. But you can't get an annulment without damaging your reputation."

  "What are you saying, Keagan?" Chris asked. This was a dream or some kind of sick joke. There was no way Keagan really meant for him to stay married when he and Natalie both wanted out.

  "I'm saying," Keagan said, "if you don't want your image to be tarnished, and if you don't want to be known as the player who just got married after his Stanley Cup win, you'll stay married to her. At least for six months, until the new season starts, this drama dies down, and things are forgotten."

  "What?"

  Chris looked back at Natalie, who seemed to detect something was happening. Without thinking twice, he hung up on Keagan and cleared his throat.

  "We're staying married," he said.

  Chapter 8

  He couldn't be saying what she thought she heard him say. There was absolutely no way Chris Worthington, professional hockey player, actually told her that he wanted to stay married. Not when he just recently won the Stanley Cup. Not when he had so much more partying to do and so many more girls to have fun with. Being married would put a dent into all of that.

  "I'm sorry?" Natalie said, picking up her head from the ground so she could look at him. "I must have misheard you. I thought you said something about staying married."

  "I did." He didn't seem certain about it but he also wasn't back down. "I just got off the phone with my agent and he said it was the best idea." He headed back to the bed and took a seat on the edge. "Let's order room service. Let me take a shower. Then, we can talk about it. I promise that I will make it worth your while."

  Natalie wanted to argue. She wanted to figure everything out right now. However, her stomach had been rumbling off and on since she woke up, and coffee sounded good right about now, considering her head was still throbbing. She pressed her lips together and nodded her head, flipping open the menu once again and scanning what was available. She tuned out after she saw that a parfait was seven dollars, but if Chris insisted, she wasn't going to be rude.

  "Fine," she said tightly. "What would you like to order?"

  "Oatmeal, please," he said as he stood up. "Wait. No. I'm not training anymore. The season is over. Do you mind if you...?" He let his voice trail off and he extended his hand.

  Natalie placed the menu in it and looked away. She needed to get clothes on, but besides her little black dress, there was nothing for her to change into.

  "I'll take the eggs and steak, the coffee, a cinnamon roll, sausage and bacon, and hash browns, please." He handed her the menu. "Oh, and pancakes. And I think I will have that bowl of oatmeal. Oh, and a coffee, please." He gave her a grin. "We all good now? I really want to shower. I promise we'll talk about everything soon. Also, I think if you tell them your sizes, they'll bring up a change of clothes for you in case you didn't want to walk back to your room in your dress. Just a thought." He gave a small shrug and disappeared in the bathroom.

  Natalie's mouth dropped open and her head tilted to the side. She took the menu and placed it on the nightstand next to her before grabbing the phone and pressing the direct button that would lead to room service.

  After placing her order, Natalie requested to be transferred to the lobby, where she requested a change of clothes, as Chris suggested. She was surprised to learn that he was actually right, and in less than ten minutes, someone was at the door with a folded track suit in her size.

  Natalie closed the door and peeled off the dress shirt before tugging onto the zip-up jacket and sweatpants. They were a little tighter on her than she was expecting but it didn't matter. At least it gave her something to do. At least she was fully clothed. Once she had some food in her and some coffee, she would be able to deal with this conversation.

  The door knocked and she opened it, letting in the bellboy who rolled in a tray of a variety of breakfast foods. He set it next to the window and presented Natalie with the bill for her to sign. Natalie didn't feel comfortable handling money when it came to expensive charges, considering it wasn't her money or her room, but a small voice reminded her that Chris told her to take care of this and, technically speaking, they were married.

  After leaving a nice tip and signing the receipt, the bellboy left. At that moment, Natalie heard the water in the bathroom stop running and her heart sped up. She took a seat next to the cart and began to pour herself some coffee. She was suddenly hit with the thought that she had no idea what she was going to say.

  The door opened and Natalie's head stopped throbbing. Chris walked back into the room, dripping wet, in nothing but a towel that hung dangerously low around his waist. Natalie closed her mouth when she realized it had dropped open and swallowed, trying to moisten her throat. In her drunken haze from the previous night, she had not taken the time to fully appreciate the specimen that was Chris Worthington.

  The first thing she noticed was that his playoff beard was gone. His lips had been surrounded by blond scruff. She remembered Bruce told her once a team made playoffs, most of them refrained from shaving as part of the superstition. Now, his face was smooth and clean, making him look younger and more mischievous.

  His shoulder-length blond hair was damp, tiny drops of water falling onto his broad shoulders and running down his chest. His sky blue eyes sparkled boyishly, something she thought was a permanent fixture. He had high cheekbones, a sharp jaw line, straight white teeth. But more than anything, she noticed his smile. He was happy. He always seemed to be happy. His lean frame was packed with muscle and definition, and as Natalie allowed her eyes to roam over his body, she concluded that there did not seem to be an ounce of fat on him.

  "You okay?" he asked.

  "Oh." Natalie felt her cheeks turn pink and she grabbed a polished fork from the tray so she could do something with her hand. "The food's here. I wanted to wait before, uh, before I started."

  "You didn't have to do that." He headed into the closet and, after a moment, came out in a pair of jeans and a white shirt that strained against his body. Even fully clothed, Natalie felt the lingering pressure to stare at him. "Now, where were we? Oh, right? Marriage."

  Chris plopped into the seat across from her and took his cup of coffee Natalie poured. She watched as he added cream and one pack of real sugar. He stirred it four times before bringing it to his lips and taking a long sip.

  "Ah," he said in a low voice, setting the cup down and grabbing the silverware. "This is exactly what I needed. How about you?"

  Natalie nodded her head but there were no words that followed. She took her own cup of coffee and drank from it. Already, like magic, she could feel her headache start to dissipate. She started eating her pancakes as well.

  As they devoured their meal, their phones started going off. She understood why Chris was getting all of these text messages, but she wasn't sure why she was. No one knew she was the mysterious brunette Chris got married to.

  She grabbed her phone and found a text from Drew.

  You okay?

  Another text from Cam came in at that moment.

  Can you just respond so I know you're not dead somewhere?

  Natalie felt her lips curl up and she took the time to send each of them a message, assuring them both that she was alive and eating breakfast with Chris Worthington.

  Okay, cool, but we have a pool party at noon, so get here by eleven so we can all get ready.

  "So," Chris said, once he finished sending a message to whoever had just messaged him. "This whole marriage thing." He set his phone down and locked eyes with Natalie, as though he was intent on giving her his full attention. He picked up his spoon and started to stir the small bowl of oatmeal. "I know it might not be ideal, but I was ho
ping that we could continue with the charade - at least for a little while. If that's okay."

  Natalie was ready to pounce on the idea. Instead, she clenched her teeth together to keep from automatically reacting before slowly swallowing the food inside of her mouth. "Why?" she asked. "How would being married to me help you out?"

  "Somehow, everyone found out I got married," Chris said. "Me. I don't have the best reputation when it comes to women. I don't commit. I like to have fun. I -"

  "Scared of settling down?" Natalie finished before stuffing her mouth with a big bite of her waffle.

  He nodded his head. "Pretty much," he said. "I'm not proud of it -"