Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Holly
By the time we get back to Atlanta, it’s late in the afternoon and even though a car service is there to pick us up, it takes an hour-and-a-half to get home.
Rush hour in Atlanta is no joke, and there’s no way to circumvent it.
And sitting in the car with Kelly for ninety minutes is excruciating.
She’s polite, but I know how she feels about me and there’s no doubt about the way she only talks to Viktor, as if I’m not even there.
I know Serena notices because she cuts a look in my direction but I give a tiny shake of my head.
This is neither the time nor the place, and Viktor and Kelly are close.
The last thing I want to do is come between them.
Even though she pisses me off. I understand why she’s wary of me and my intentions, but Viktor and I have an agreement and she has to deal with it.
Whether she likes it or not, I’m his wife for the next year.
We get to West and Serena’s house, and she immediately runs to find her three-year-old son, Joey, while Viktor takes our suitcases to his bedroom. The house is in a state of flux right now because everything is about to change.
Originally, West bought the five-bedroom house and invited four teammates to live with him.
But then Bodi met and fell in love with Jayne, and she moved in a few months ago, along with her seven-year-old sister, Lindy, whom she has custody of.
Their new house should be ready the first week of June but for now, they’re still here.
Then West met Serena and she and Joey moved in.
Joey and Lindy share what used to be West’s den.
Viktor, Simon, and Felix have the three upstairs bedrooms for now, and Viktor was supposed to take the downstairs guest room once Bodi and Jayne move out. Except now he just bought a house and our plan is to move as quickly as possible. In the meantime, I’m not sure where to go.
It’s expected that I’ll stay here with him, but all my things are at Serena’s old apartment, which she’s still paying for so I can live there.
I guess technically West is paying for it, but they said something about not wanting to leave her old landlord in the lurch.
I think they just feel sorry for me, but I was in no position to turn them down.
“I should go to the apartment,” I tell Viktor once we’re in his room. “I need to get my clothes and all my stuff.”
He looks at me. “Then I will come also. We cannot sleep apart. Not this soon.”
I understand what he’s trying to say—if my father is watching, it could be a problem.
“But you have practice tomorrow, and my place is another twenty minutes in the wrong direction.”
“Doesn’t matter.” He hesitates. “Is easier for you to be there?”
I hesitate too. It would definitely be easier for me but harder for him. And it’s the playoffs. I feel like I need to be making his life easier for the time being.
“It’s fine,” I say quickly. “I can move in here. I just need to get some things tonight.”
“Okay.” He nods amiably. “I will pack also. But I am hungry—we can eat first?”
“Sure. I think West is going to order Chinese. What do you want?”
He gives me his order, and I go in search of Serena, finding her in the kitchen.
“Hey, what’s the plan for dinner?” I ask. “Is West going to order?”
She nods. “Yeah, tell me what you and Viktor want and he’ll place the order.”
“He wants kung pao chicken and I want shrimp fried rice.”
“Okay.” She types into her phone and then goes back to the pantry.
“Whatcha doin’?”
“Making a grocery list. There’s not a lot in the house, and I want to make sure I make the right food for the guys over the next few days.”
“I don’t even know what he eats,” I admit quietly.
She smiles. “It’s okay. I didn’t know when West and I first met either.
You’ll learn. They try to eat really clean during hockey season.
Low-carb, lean protein, lots of veggies and fish.
It’s kind of boring, but I’m doing my best to create healthy but tasty meals.
” Serena is a chef as well as an actress, and I always look forward to meals she prepares.
I lean against the counter as she makes notes on her phone.
“So, uh, how’s married life?” I ask. She and West just got married three weeks ago, so technically we’re both newlyweds.
She grins and wiggles her eyebrows. “Everything it’s supposed to be.”
I laugh. “That’s good to hear.”
“He’s pretty awesome.” She pauses and looks at me. “And honestly, you have a great guy too.”
“I don’t have him,” I say softly. “This is a business arrangement.”
She smiles. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?” I demand. “That’s all this is.”
“Uh huh. The way he was holding you during the turbulence? That’s more than a business arrangement.”
“I was scared!” I protest, even though I had the strangest feeling that he enjoyed holding me. I enjoyed it too. I’m just not willing to make myself that vulnerable.
“Okay.” She shrugs and goes back to her list. Then, without looking up, says, “but there’s no reason you can’t make it real.”
“We literally signed a contract.”
“You signed a contract regarding money. How much you get while he protects his assets. Nothing in there says you can’t fall in love.”
I laugh but it’s not funny. “You’re just so happy and in love, you think we all should be. Life, and certainly love, don’t work that way.”
She shrugs. “I swore I’d never date another hockey player and look at me now.” Joey’s biological father is another pro hockey player who abandoned her when she told him she was pregnant.
“Look, after the mess I’ve made of my life, all I want now is to make sure I save my grandmother’s farm and the sanctuary.”
“I know. And you are. Meanwhile, you’re married to this hot, rich, good-looking guy who needs a wife. Why not be his wife, in every way that matters? And maybe find something worthwhile?”
I frown because it never occurred to me that there was even a chance that Viktor and I would be anything more than…
married business partners. He’s a handsome professional athlete—he must have women in every city he plays in waiting to warm his bed.
Why on earth would he give up that life for me?
His mother’s machinations notwithstanding.
I warned him he has to be careful because I know my father will make a nuisance of himself, but unless I’m willing to fill that void, what options do we have?
I can’t imagine he’ll go a full year without sex.
And though I’m not opposed to the idea in general, I know myself.
Being that intimate with him will make me vulnerable, and I’m already too vulnerable.
Falling in love with a guy who’s going to walk away at the end of twelve months, well, that’s just not a risk I’m willing to take.
“He seems like a good guy,” I admit. “But I don’t think I’m ready to trust anyone with my heart. Not after what Nathan did.”
“I said the same thing after Joey was born. And I was wrong.”
“Look, it’s been a day. And we have two big storms to weather, between my father and his mother. Maybe once we get past that, and hockey season is over, we can take the summer to really get to know each other. Until then, I have to keep my head down and focus on what’s important.”
She arches her brows. “Which is?”
“Hockey and our families and the sanctuary.”
There’s a strange look on her face, one that’s reminiscent of disappointment, but it’s gone before I can truly take it in. Then she nods. “West says dinner in about thirty minutes.”
“Why do you seem like you’re mad at me?”
Her eyes meet mine. “Oh, honey, not at all. I just think you’ve been presented with this amazing opportunity and you’re letting it pass you by.
If it doesn’t work out—if there’s truly nothing there beyond friendship—that’s absolutely fine.
But why not give it a shot? You already had a little crush on him.
What do you really have to lose? Would it be your first broken heart? ”
“Not even close,” I mutter. “But this is different. We’re married. I mean, imagine if—” I stop talking and look around before lowering my voice to a whisper. “—we were sleeping together. And then at the end of a year, we just shake hands and walk away. I’m not built that way.”
“For some reason, I don’t picture Viktor doing that. I can’t explain it. There’s just something about him. And the two of you together…I don’t know. You look right—like a couple.”
I blink.
I’ve had a moment or two where I felt that way as well.
When he held me while I cried in the hotel room.
When he comforted me during the turbulence.
When he promised to protect me, no matter what.
There is definitely more to Viktor Maslak than meets the eye.
Now I just have to figure out if I’m brave enough to find out what it is.