The Troublemaker (Players on Ice Book 8)

by Cathryn Fox

  “This is insane.” I tug on my hair, and take deep gulping breaths. “We’d never be able to pull it off.”

  He shrugs. “With the right motivation, we can do anything.”

  “Motivation. What do you mean?”

  He pulls me to him. “I get to have sex with you for another thirty days.”

  “Really? You want that?”

  His grin is sexy and adorable when he says, “Yeah, I want that.”

  I nod in understanding. “You do seem to kind of enjoy it.” He lets out a big laugh and it eases some of the tension coiled in my stomach.

  “So do you,” he says.

  “True, but I don’t know, Cason. You already told me you’re a two-week kind of guy. If we go through with this, how can I expect you to last a whole month without getting bored?”

  “I never said I leave because I get bored, Kinsley.”

  “Why do you leave?” I ask, really wanting to know. He looks like he’s about to push away right now, but I hold him tight. “Hey, you’re my husband now. I deserve to know the answer.”

  A pained look crosses his face. “Fine. It’s not them, it’s me, or rather it’s them. No, it’s me.”

  “Yeah, that clarifies everything.”

  He chuckles, but it holds no humor. “Kins. If you haven’t noticed, I have a bit of a hard time expressing myself.” He blows out a fast breath. “How personal do you want me to get here?”

  I glance at the unmade bed. “I think we’ve been as personal as two people can be, Cason, and you were pretty good at expressing yourself then.”

  “Okay, my parents were pretty absent when I was growing up. I was never really shown affection, and I have a hard time showing it to others. I never seem to say the right things at the right times. I swear to God, I mess up every relationship I’ve ever been in and end up hurting the person I’m with. Now, I get out after two weeks, before deeper feelings evolve, and no one gets hurt.”

  I’m stunned at what he’s telling me, and sense there is more. “Go on.”

  “I have this knack for fucking things up and for hurting others. I’m told I’m closed off inside, unable to give what’s needed, and I don’t disagree. Simple as that.” His eyes search mine. “But this is fake, so to speak. You’re anti-marriage, and neither of us is looking for more, so what can I possibly fuck up? We’re not trying to build a relationship, and we’re friends so it’s not like one of us will fall in love and get hurt. Wait, I’m not even sure that came out right.”

  I let that circle my brain for a minute. Okay, so he’s saying he’s not going to fall in love with me, nor me him—oh, how little he knows—but if I keep my feelings to myself, and go along with this, it’s the perfect way to get my hands on my trust fund. I can get the truck fixed up and finally open my restaurant. “Thirty days,” I say quietly. “You really think you could pretend to be my husband for one full month?”

  “Yeah, I do. Sex and all the tacos I can eat. I can handle that.”

  I arch my brow. “I don’t remember anything about all the tacos you can eat.”

  “That a deal breaker, Kins?”

  I laugh. “No, not really.”

  “I’m on break from hockey practice. Lots of time for us to spend together which will really help sell this marriage to your parents.”

  I cringe. “What about our friends? They’ll know better.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I guess we’ll tell them the truth.” He rolls one shoulder. “We’ll just let them know I’m just helping you out. They don’t need to know anything else.”

  “That’s probably for the best.” I twist my lips. “What about your parents?”

  “They don’t need to know anything,” he says. “We’ll likely have an annulment before I even see them again, anyway.”

  “That makes sense.” I glance down for a second. “Is it wrong that we’re doing this?” My stomach takes that moment to ache. “I don’t like deceiving anyone. I don’t even really want to take the trust fund. God, I sound so privileged.”

  “I told you there is nothing wrong with a trust fund, Kins. You work harder than anyone I know. Your father is using it to control you.”

  “If I could find another way to get my business off the ground, I would.”

  “What does your grandmother say? I’m assuming your grandfather that left you the money was her husband, or am I wrong?”

  “No, you’re right, and she doesn’t know. Not that I know anyway. I’m not about to bring it up and upset her.”

  “Your grandmother and grandfather would want you to have the money to use as you wish, I’m sure. I think grandma knows you well enough to know you wouldn’t blow it, Kins.”

  I smile up at him, and say, “Just so you know, all-you-can-eat tacos will ruin that perfect six pack.”

  “You think I’m perfect,” he jokes.

  “Perfectly full of yourself, yes,” I shoot back. I briefly close my eyes as he chuckles. “I still can’t believe this happened.”

  “We just happened to be at the right spot at the right time.”

  “You mean the wrong spot at the wrong time,” I say.

  He laughs. “Where’s your glass half full, Kins? This mistake is going to get you what you want.”

  Mistake.

  He’s right. It was a mistake, and even though I know it, I’m not sure why hearing him say it loud and clear bothers me. “I never knew you were all the lemons make lemon juice.”

  “I’m not. If you’re given lemons, it’s tequila time.”

  I laugh at that, and hold my head. “I am never drinking tequila again.”

  “We’re going to have to get you a better ring,” he says.

  My hands drop and I examine the school ring on my finger. “You don’t have to do that. I don’t want you spending any money on me.”

  “It’s my money, I can spend it any way I want.”

  “Are we about to have our first fight as a married couple?” I ask with a shaky laugh, still not convinced this is a good idea. Pretending to be married, well technically, we’re not pretending, but playing house with a guy like him is every girl’s dream. He might be closed off, might say the wrong things, but I am definitely not immune to his charm. This can go sideways on me so fast, go wrong in so many ways that I could lose something far more valuable than my trust fund if this goes off the rail.

  “Come on,” he says, his voice softer. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right. We’re either all in or we’re not.”

  “I guess I’m all in.”

  “Okay, let’s get dressed, and go talk to the others. Then we’ll get you a proper ring.”

  “Look at you, showing your true sides now that we’re married. If I’d known you were going to be such a bossy husband, I might not have married you,” I say and go perfectly still. Wow, I kind of like the sound of husband on my tongue.

  He slaps my ass and I yelp. “Easy there, wife,” he says. “Or I’ll tie you up and show you just how bossy I can really be.”

  I go still again and he laughs. “Oh my God, you like that idea.” I blink at him all innocent like. “I like you more by the minute, Kins,” he says and my stupid heart misses a beat.

  “What’s not to like?” I say to cover that ridiculous emotional reaction. He smiles and is about to turn when I touch his arm. “Cason.”

  “Yeah.” His eyes are warm as they narrow in on me.

  “I really want to thank you for this. It means a lot.”

  He makes a fist and nudges my chin. “Anything for a friend. Now come on. Let’s go shock our friends.”

  We both dress and head down to the restaurant where we find everyone seated around a round table for brunch.

  “About time you two got here. What’s been taking you so long?” Liam asks with a smirk and Cason rolls his eyes at his friend.

  “If you want to know,” Cason says and pulls me in. “Kinsley and I got married last night.”

  Gasps fill the room as all jaws drop to the table.
<
br />   “Are you serious?” Nina, his sister says, as his best friend Cole opens and closes his mouth like he can’t find his words.

  Jules nudges Rider. “Catching the bridal bouquet works magic, huh?”

  “Not really,” I say. “It was kind of a mistake.”

  “Oh, another mistake,” Liam says and Cason casts him a glance that screams shut up all over it. I’m not sure what the two are talking about but when everyone around the two starts asking a million questions, I hold my hand up to quiet them and take a seat. Cason sits beside me and we flip over our coffee mugs. We stay quiet, keeping the gang in suspense as the server fills our cups and takes our orders.

  “Spill already,” Nina says, leaning in all conspiratorial like, staring at her brother, her eyes big, like she’s eager to hear the details.

  “Okay, we didn’t think it was real,” I begin.

  “Elvis was performing on the street. Someone told us it was fake,” Cason adds. “Plus, there was tequila involved.”

  “Lots of tequila,” I add.

  “Yeah, I’m guessing you never would have done it otherwise,” Jonah, aka, the Body Checker pipes in, his wife Quinn smiling at us, like she knows a secret we don’t. Actually, many of our friends are giving us that same smile. What’s that all about?

  “No, of course, we wouldn’t,” I say and Cason flinches, but when I angle my head his way, he’s seated and relaxed, sipping his coffee. I must have mistaken the flinch. He doesn’t want this to be real any more than I do. I mean, I don’t want it to be real, right?

  Oh, crap.

  “You’re getting it annulled then?” Cole asks.

  “Not just yet,” Cason says. “We’re going to stay married for thirty days, I’m going to help Kinsley out with something personal, then after that, we’ll get it annulled.”

  Cole pushes back in his chair and grins. “Thirty days, huh?” he asks, like he doesn’t believe it for a second and once again my stomach tightens. He doesn’t seem confident that Cason can hold out that long.

  “That’s right,” Cason says.

  Samantha gives me a sweet smile. I don’t know her very well, but I think I’d like her. She and Zander, aka The Hard Hitter, live in Boston. “I think you two make a cute couple,” she says.

  “Technically we’re not a couple,” I correct and smile. “But yeah, we’re cute together.” I nudge Cason playfully.

  “Can we count on you guys to keep this a secret, and really act like we’ve suddenly fallen in love and the marriage is legit?” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Wait, I mean, it is legit, but it’s not legit, you know.”

  “That’s our Cason. Always as clear as mud,” Cole says.

  Cason shoves him and the two get into a pushing match, and I smile, loving the camaraderie between all these hockey players. The wives ignore them for the most part.

  “Does this fake marriage come with all the perks?” Jules asks.

  I don’t answer. I don’t need to. The heat racing to my cheeks is a dead giveaway.

  “You go, girl,” Katee, Luke’s wife says.

  I turn to hide my blush, even though it’s too late, and that’s when my gaze lands on Emily. She’d been quiet but now, with her worried gaze on mine, a burst of unease goes down my spine.

  She sets her napkin down and stands. “I have to go to the little girl’s room.”

  I take the hint. “I’ll join you,” I say.

  We hurry to the back of the big, busy restaurant and once inside, she puts her arms on my shoulders.

  “My God, Kins, what is going on? For real.”

  “It’s okay,” I say. “We really did accidently get married, and I suggested we get an annulment right away, but Cason offered to stay married to me so I could get my trust fund.”

  She gives a low, slow whistle. “That’s a big offer.”

  “I know. He’s a nice guy.”

  I turn to the sink to wash my hands—anything to get away from her probing eyes. But I catch her reflection in the mirror. Christ, I can’t get anything by her.

  “Kins…” she begins softly. “You like him.”

  “Of course, I like him.” I give a casual shrug, not about to tell her he’s been the star of my fantasies for many months now. “He’s nice and he’s doing me a big favor.”

  “No, Kins, you like him, like him. It’s easy to tell from the way you look at him, and it’s also easy to tell you guys have been sleeping together. You both have sex written all over you.”

  Well, shit.

  “We are married,” I joke, even though my stomach is so tight, the coffee I sipped earlier is threatening to make an appearance.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Yes,” I lie.

  “He doesn’t do relationships, you know that,” she says gently. “He never makes it past the two-week mark. It’s a running joke between his friends and the puck bunnies.”

  “We talked about that. It’s different this time, though. We’re not trying for a relationship. We both know where we stand.”

  “Do you really, Kins? Do you know where you stand? What you’re really getting yourself into with Cason?”

  “Perfectly,” I say, that lie spilling easily from my lips. I don’t really know, but I mean how hard can it be to play house and enjoy the benefits that come with marriage for thirty days? “I’ll get my trust fund out of this,” I tell her.

  “Yeah, but what will you lose in the process?”

  The question is a good one. Am I really going to barter with my heart? Will money in my palm, and my heart in Cason’s be worth the trade off?

  I guess we’re going to find out.

  9

  Cason

  “Relax, we got this,” I say to Kinsley as she anxiously waits for me to finish dressing. We’ve been back for two days now and we’re ready to meet her parents for dinner and drinks.

  I take in her light blue dress, the way it flares around her gorgeous thighs, and consider the best way to remove it from her body later.

  “My father is good at seeing through a lie, Cason. There’s a reason he’s one of Seattle’s best defense attorneys.”

  I work the buttons on my dress shirt and step up to her. She’s so fidgety I put my hands on her shoulders to settle her. “We’re not lying. We really are married, remember?”

  “I know, but…”

  “No buts. We got this.” I dip my head and press my lips to hers. She looks a little startled as I kiss her.

  “What was that for?” she asks, her finger going to her lips.

  “No reason. I wanted to. Does a husband have to tell his wife why he wants to kiss her?”

  “No, I guess not,” she says, and holds her hand out to examine her diamond ring. I fiddle with the band on my finger. At first I wasn’t going to bother, but then realized to make this authentic, I’d need a ring, too. Here I thought it would deter women from approaching, but oddly enough it seems to draw in more, and that’s just wrong. I’m definitely a one-woman kind of guy—even if it is only for two weeks.

  “Is it bothering you?” Kins asks and I glance at her.

  “Is what bothering me?”

  “The ring, you keep fiddling with it.”

  “No, it’s fine. I’m just not used to it.”

  “Well don’t get too used to it. It comes off in a few weeks,” she says and I clench down on my jaw at the reminder. “Although you might want to leave it on. It’s odd how it’s a chick magnet. What is with women wanting what other women have?”

  “I’m not a cheater, Kinsley.”

  “Same,” she says.

  Just then my cell rings, and I grab it off my nightstand. “It’s Cole. I’m going to grab this, okay?”

  “Sure, I need to reapply my lipstick. You keep messing it up. But I like it.” As she leaves the room, I slide my finger across the screen and step up to my mirror.

  “What’s up?” I ask and wipe her lipstick from my lips.

  “We’re all thinking of goin
g to the cottages this weekend. You guys coming or have you already gotten a divorce?” he asks with a chuckle.

  “Not funny and I’m not sure. I’ll check with Kinsley. She works seven days a week on her truck so I’m not sure she can get the time off.”

  A long pause and then, “You really doing this, Cason? You’re going to stay married to her for one whole month?”

  “I’m helping out a friend, so yeah, I’m doing this whole thirty-day thing.” I hear pool balls in the background.

  “You guys at Nelly’s?” I ask. It’s our favorite bar, and tonight is pool night, but I begged off. Guess the guys are all together making plans for the weekend.

  “Is he coming?” I hear Liam ask.

  Cole covers the phone to say something, then I hear. “Man, he’s pussy whipped already.”

  “Tell him to fuck off,” I say.

  “I will, then I’ll beat his ass at a game just to really piss him off.” He goes quiet for a second.

  “What’s on your mind, Cole?”

  “Just ah, you don’t think you’ll bolt after two weeks? You know as well as I do as soon as a girl gets serious, you’re gone.”

  I fist my hair. It’s not quite like that. I leave before they can get serious and I hurt them. “We’re not trying to get serious here. We’re pretending, remember?”

  “Still, I bet you can’t make it for the whole month, without her falling for you, and you hurting her by saying the wrong thing.”

  “I’ll make it, and she’s the last person I want to hurt, Cole.” I lift my eyes to make sure she’s not at my door listening.

  “You’ll take the bet then?”

  “Sure, I’ll take it,” I say, since he keeps pushing the idea. “What are you putting up?”

  “What do you want?” Cole asks. It shouldn’t piss me off that he thinks this bet is a sure thing for him. Two weeks is my record for a reason, but this is different. We’re not trying to build something, and she’s not going to fall for me, right?

  Ah, but the real question is, are you going to fall for her?

  Shit.

  “How about your precious 69, Dodge Hemi Coronet,” I say. I grin. I can just picture the surprised look spreading across his face. I guess he didn’t expect me to put that on the table.