"Oh, come on." Natalie rolled her eyes as she swallowed her food. "Don't bullshit me. Of course you're proud of your single reputation or else you wouldn't indulge in it. You wouldn't be asking me to stay married to you instead of working on your reputation in the first place."
"If I get my marriage annulled, that story will be bigger than my Stanley Cup win," Chris said. The playfulness was gone. Now, he was serious. Now, he was a man, and not the mischievous boy from earlier. "It will take away from the team and it will tarnish the memory."
"But marrying a woman you barely know in Vegas won't do that?" Natalie cut her waffle with a little too much zest and a slice of strawberry flew off her plate and plopped onto the burgundy carpet.
"That's something positive, something fun, something to celebrate," Chris said. "Who doesn't love weddings? Everyone loves weddings! But annulment? That just proves I'm an idiot, that I acted before thinking, that I don't respect the sanctity of marriage, and that I have no respect for you."
"What if we got an annulment in private?" Natalie suggested.
"Come on," Chris said, leaning back in his chair. "You're a smart woman, Nat. Annulment papers are public information. You don't think there are people waiting for my lawyer to file them at this very moment? Sports writers are awesome - most of the time. The fact that I'm from a hockey team in Newport Beach doesn't make me a celebrity - which I'm grateful for. But the fact that I got married the same night I won the Cup does indicate that -"
"You act before you think?" Natalie raised a brow.
Chris smirked. "Look at you," he said. "Already finishing my sentences."
"So," Natalie said, ignoring the compliment. She took a sip of coffee, buying herself more time to digest the information he just gave her. "Okay, you want to stay married to keep the focus on your win rather than on the annulment."
"Exactly." Chris nodded, leaning forward. "Exactly. Even if they interview us about the marriage -"
"Us?" Natalie paused momentarily, her fork filled with waffle and banana centimeters from her mouth. "What do you mean, interview us?"
"Stanley Cup Champions go on a huge media tour," Chris explained. She could hear the hesitation in his voice and it didn't help the case he was trying to make. "There's a parade, an awards ceremony. We even get to take the Cup home for a week and it's encouraged we film what we're doing with the Cup and post it on social media. I need you to be part of all of that. Things will calm down by September, and we can put in our request to annul the marriage then."
"I don't know," Natalie said. "I mean, there's so much to go over. Would we live together? Share the same bed? Am I taking your last name? Maybe I should sign a pre-nup. I don't want you to think I did this for your money."
Chris smiled at her. "Trust me," he insisted. "That is not what I think at all." He reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. "We can work out everything once we both agree to this. And this isn't just about me. For each month we stay married, I'll give you fifty grand to do whatever you want with."
Natalie sucked in air sharply. Fifty thousand dollars a month? That was a lot of money.
"Well?" Chris asked, squeezing her hand. "What do you say?"
Chapter 9
Chris knew he was asking for a lot. He wouldn't blame her if she turned him down, but he hoped she didn't. His phone kept blowing up with messages, it vibrated as people called him and he ignored it. He needed to at least get her to agree to this marriage for now, and then they could figure out semantics, like where they were going to live and how they would act when they were in public together.
"I'll think about it," Natalie finally said. She dropped her fork and took another sip of her coffee. "I just... I have one thing that's really important to me."
Chris smiled, and placed his hands on his thighs. "Sure," he said. "What's up?"
"I haven't made up my mind," she said. "I think it's a good idea that we have some space and think about it. But if we both decide to do this, then we have to do this." She scrunched her brow and pushed her hair out of her face. "What I mean by that is, obviously the marriage is fake, but just because it's fake doesn't mean we can act like it's fake." She shook her head and placed her hands over her face. "I'm sorry. I'm still not explaining correctly. What I'm trying to say is, if we agree to this, I don't want you seeing women behind my back and I won't see anyone behind yours. Just because this marriage is a sham doesn't mean you get to make me a fool in it."
Chris let her words sink in. In all honesty, he hadn't been planning on seeing anyone else, but he could understand why she would want to protect herself with that request. Which meant six months with no sex. With nothing physical. He didn't think he and Natalie would be pretending when anyone was around, and hooking up in Vegas didn't exactly mean they were falling in love. He didn't want it to mean that. Which meant if he wanted her to agree, he would need to make that commitment to her just like she was willing to make it for him.
"That's a fair request," he said, nodding. "I'll agree to it if we do decide to stay together for the next six months."
Natalie nodded and stood. "Okay," she said. "Well, I should go. I know my friends are probably wondering where I went off to. I think I have a pool party to go to today anyway."
"Those are fun," Chris said, though he felt a twinge deep inside of him. A pool party? She wasn't his wife - hell, she wasn't even really his girlfriend. Why was he being protective? She could do what she wanted, technically. She hadn't even agreed to stick with this marriage.
She went back over to the bed and picked her bed off the floor. She stared at her little black dress for a moment, and Chris wondered what she was thinking. She seemed frustrated, perhaps even regretful? But no. Maybe she was still trying to remember what happened last night. Even for him, the night came back into broken pieces he was still trying to put together. And he was bigger and stronger and probably held his alcohol better than she did.
"What time should we meet?" Natalie asked as she picked up the dress before heading to the counter and grabbing her clutch. Her cell phone was already bulging in the jacket pocket.
"Do you want to go out for dinner?" Chris asked. His heart thudded against his chest and, for some inexplicable reason, he felt himself holding his breath. Like he was asking a girl out for the first time. Which was absolutely ludacris. "I could meet you at your hotel room around six?"
"Honestly, I'll have to check the agenda," Natalie said, pulling out her phone. "Could you program your number jn my phone? I'll text you later to let you know if dinner works. Thanks."
Chris furrowed his brow, slightly caught off guard at her abrupt rejection. He wasn't used to women turning him down, and he wasn't quite sure what to feel about it. He cleared his throat, taking the phone from her hand and doing as she asked. He refrained feom saying anything about the dismissal because he knew it shouldn't bug him. They weren't actually together. She could do whatever she wanted.
"Great," she murmured, taking the phone from him and sticking it back in her pocket.
Chris stood so he could walk her to the door. His body was stiff, as was hers, and when they both reached the door, they paused and looked at each other awkwardly.
"Well," he said, unsure of what else to say. He reached down and hugged her. She tensed in his arms and he awkwardly patted her back. "Text me."
"Yeah," she said with a nod. "I will."
She curled her hair behind her ear - it must be something she did when she was nervous - and slid outside.
When the door closed, Chris turned and leaned his body against it before sliding to the floor in a sitting position. He stared up at the ceiling and shook his head. What the hell had he gotten himself into?
- - -
It took two hours and fifteen minutes to respond to everyone. In that time, Peter had returned - once Chris removed his tie from the door handle, letting Peter know he was preoccupied with someone in their room - and finished Natalie's breakfast without even asking. He had a meeting with Seraphina Hanson in an
hour, probably to clarify what this marriage was and what it meant. Everyone knew he was married, that this was real and not a farce.
"You fucking idiot," Isa said the minute he called her back. He winced and shook his head. He deserved that. "Why am I not surprised that you and your fucking hockey team go to Vegas to party after your Stanley Cup win, and you're the only idiot who wakes up married the whole day? Even the couples who are actually dating and have been together for months haven't gotten married. One is in the process of divorce, Chris. Dimitri Petrov isn't getting married!"
Chris waited for her rant to finish up. "Are you done?" he asked.
"Did you just ask -"
"You're right, Isa, okay? I made a mistake when I was drunk." He continued to pace around the room as Peter leaned back in his chair, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "I'm sure you're going to like her."
"Why would I like her?" Isa replied. "Why would I even care? Chris, you are getting it annulled, aren't you? Why the hell wouldn't you get it annulled. She could go after your money, Chris. You know that, right? God, why am I reacting more than you are?"
"Isa, I already had my internal mental freak out, but I talked to Keagan -"
"Here we go." Chris could already picture her hand hitting her thigh and her eyes rolling in the back of her head.
"I don't have the best reputation in the league, Isa," Chris pointed out. He padded over to the cart and picked up a couple of grapes, popping them into his mouth. He continued to speak after swallowing them. "You know this. I know this. Keagan suggested I stay married to her until the new season starts. Just so the focus can be on the Stanley Cup win, you know?"
"I don't know, Chris," Isa snapped. "I don't know. What's this girl's name, anyway? What does she think about this whole situation?"
"Her name is Natalie and she wants to get divorced just like you do," Chris said. "But I don't want my name to be synonymous with Drew Dowdy or Patrick Kane."
"Those are two different cases," Isa pointed out. "And why are you comparing yourself to those two? They were both accused of rape, and you weren't. You like to chase skirts, sure, but you don't do anything without their consent." She huffed a breath. "I don't get you. You are the last person I would have thought would do something like this. Even signing a contract that locks you into the same team for more than one year gives you hives, and now you're married?" She laughed but he could tell she didn't find it funny. "Well, whatever you do, Chris, don't be a dick, okay? Keagan may think he has what's best for you in mind, but don't forget about the girl - Natalie, or whatever. If you say she wants out, don't force her to stay married because it will benefit you and only you."
"I would never do that," Chris said. "I would pay her to stay married to me."
Before Chris could explain what that meant, the call dropped.
Peter laughed. "I love your sister, man," he said with a grin. "Hey, now that you're awake, do you want to get breakfast."
"I just had breakfast," Chris pointed out, heading over to his closet. "You just had breakfast."
"Dude, I just settled my stomach," he pointed out. "That was not consuming for pleasure, but consuming for necessity. I want pancakes, egg, ham, sausage, bacon. I want everything."
"Get everything, then." Chris tugged on a t-shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles. "I have a meeting with Seraphina Hanson. I guess she rented out the conference room downstairs so I need to talk to her about this."
Peter laughed and shook his head as he grabbed a slice of melon. "Vegas," he said.
- - -
Chris Worthington didn't like to be late, so once his shoes were on and he brushed his hair and tied it back, he headed down to the lobby. Now that he was aware of the ring on his finger, he felt it. It didn't feel as suffocating as he had imagined these rings to feel. In fact, as he brushed his teeth before he left, he found himself staring at the black metal and found he didn't actually hate it.
The meeting with Seraphina was exactly as he expected. Somehow, despite the glitz and glamour of a Vegas evening followed by a dirty, grungy morning, Seraphina Hanson looked fresh and polished. She wore a pressed, white collared shirt and skinny jeans tucked into black ankle boots. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her face was made up.
When he walked in, she smiled at him. The meeting itsellf took no longer than fifteen minutes. Seraphina asked him about the marriage and asked what his plans were. After he told her what his agent said, Seraphina surprised him by disagreeing.
"Chris," she said. "As much as I appreciate the fact that you're doing this for professional reasons, you need to do what's best for you and what's best for your wife."
Wife. He was struck by the word. It was hard to imagine that he actually had a wife.
"This marriage isn't going to take away the fact that you and the team won a Stanley Cup," she said. "The season is over. Yes, we have the awards, we have the parade. I have to worry about trade deadlines and the upcoming draft. But you don't. Do what's best for you. Both of you. You have my support."
The meeting ended with a hug and Chris was on his way.
He wasn't quite sure how to respond to Seraphina. He had expected her to rip into him the way Isa had. Now, he found himself staring at his phone, waiting for Natalie to text him so they could figure this out together.
Except there was no message from her. Not yet, anyway.
He couldn't exactly blame her. She had a whole plan about how her trip would go before she met him and completely changed that. She was doing him the favor as well, which meant he could be patient if he needed to. He had no other choice. Yet, as he headed back up to his room, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of anxiety course through his body. He thought he had this whole thing figured out, but now, after Isa and Seraphina, he wasn't as sure.
Chapter 10
Natalie found Drew and Cam still sleeping when she got to her room. She couldn't blame them. The night was long and the drinks flowed. She walked to the closet and changed out of the tracksuit she wore and into a summer dress before crawling onto her bed and closing her eyes. Her hands rested on her stomach and she sighed heavily, trying to think about everything that had just occurred and trying to figure out the best way to handle it.
She picked up her phone from where she set it on the nightstand and checked her email. She frowned when she another email from Bruce, responding to the one regarding mediation. She knew she had to pick a date - she knew mediation was a good idea and she thought that someone on the outside of their relationship looking in might actually be able to resolve things fairly. But that didn't mean she wanted to be confronted with the fact that she had to go.
Because then she would remember that she and Bruce were not together and she would be confronted with the memory of why they weren't together. And somehow, this would only emphasize that she was married now, to a man she barely knew and was asking her to stay married so his reputation didn't take a hit.
Which was stupid because if Bruce, after ten years together, didn't want to marry her, why in the hell would some stranger she barely even knew want to stay married to her?
She reached her arms up and stretched. She needed today to let everything sink in. Natalie had no idea what she was going to do.
- - -
"You did what?" Cam asked. "Is that why that little snot, Peter Pratt, texted me Fuck the sanctity of marriage?"
"How does Peter Pratt even have your number?" Natalie asked, scrunching her brow and crossing her legs. She leaned back in the armchair as Cam paced up and down the room and Drew sat on the edge of her bed.
"Look," Drew said. "I think we're all to blame here. The drinks were flowing. We knew Natalie can't hold her liquor and we didn't stop her. We didn't stop her when he had his hands all over her. We didn't stop her when the two disappeared for a while."
"I didn't realize they disappeared to get married," Cam said, stopping and throwing her hands out. "I thought Natalie was getting laid. She deserved to fuck a really hot hockey player sh
e was never going to see again after last night."
"I think they'll be seeing a lot of each other now, don't you?" Her eyes were on Natalie's finger, her shoulders hunched forward. "Look, regardless of what happened, something happened, right? Maybe... maybe it won't be so bad being married to the guy."
"What?" Natalie and Cam both said at the same time.
"Are you crazy?" Cam asked.
"Me? Married after my breakup?" Natalie pushed.
Drew held up her hands and slowly started to move toward the window. "Look," she said. "Let's be real, here. Natalie hadn't gotten any in a while and now we know why - Bruce was cheating on Natalie with some woman. Chris Worthington wants to use you as a way to ensure his reputation isn't affected by this gesture. If you think about it, it shows complete lack of judgment and maybe Chris doesn't want to be known for that. You could use Chris to your advantage too."
Wedding Rings & Champions: A Slapshot Novel (Slapshot Series Book 8) Page 6
