Gloves Off: a marriage of convenience hockey romance (Vancouver Storm Book 4)

Alarm barrels through my bloodstream, lighting up my nervous system.

Tonight, all eyes will be on us.

Oh god. What if there are games? What if we have to dance? What if we have to kiss again?

“Did you know about this?” I hiss to him through a smile, pretending everything is fine as all our friends and colleagues watch us.

“Of course I didn’t know,” he mutters back, running a hand over his hair. “You think I wouldn’t warn you so you can put your knives away?”noveldrama

“Fuck you,” I whisper, still smiling.

“Fuck you, too, sweetheart.”

Tate Ward steps forward with a cautious look. “I see we’ve taken you by surprise.”

I force out a light, tinkly laugh. “You sure have.” I sound a bit manic.

“I hope this is okay.” He searches our expressions. “The team really wanted to do this for you.”

“It’s great,” Volkov says. “We really appreciate it. Thank you.”

“Yes.” I take deep breaths. I can do this. “Thank you so much.”

Tate reaches into his jacket and pulls out an envelope, handing it to us. My arms apparently aren’t working, but Volkov accepts it. “A little something from the team to say congrats.”

Volkov opens the envelope and arches an eyebrow at me, expression unreadable.

“A week in the honeymoon suite at the Silver Falls resort,” Tate explains. “Alexei said you were planning to take your honeymoon there before Miller’s wedding on New Year’s.”

“Did he, now.” I turn to Volkov with a hard stare. “That was our secret, darling.”

“That’s very generous,” he tells Tate, ignoring me. “Thank you.”

“Yes, very thoughtful.” I’m still smiling. Smiling so hard it hurts. “Can’t wait.”

There’s no way I’m spending a week in a hotel room with him. Especially not the honeymoon suite. Volkov doesn’t even go to weddings; to the surprise of his entire team last season, he skipped Jamie and Pippa’s. I’ll go myself and have the perfect week: drinking champagne and watching The Vampire Diaries in the bathtub—alone.

“We’re happy to.” Tate gives us a proud look. “Another two of our own getting married? It’s a big deal.”

A pang of regret twists in my gut. Tate Ward’s one of the few male bosses I’ve had who treats women like equals. He hires women, and even more, he pays us what we’re worth. When Darcy didn’t believe in her ability to work as an analyst for the team last season, he encouraged her. Team doctors are usually hired based on who the coach golfs with during the offseason, but Ward reached out to Heather and asked if any experts in athlete recovery would be interested in something with the team. When I preferred a part-time role so I could stay with the hospital, he made it happen.

And now he’s looking at me and Volkov like he’s proud of us. I want to puke.

“Have fun tonight,” he says before stepping away, and we’re surrounded by our friends.

“Surprise!” Darcy clobbers me in a tight hug. “Are you surprised?”

I let out a weak laugh. “I sure am.”

She admires my outfit. “Dressed to kill, as always. I’m sure Alexei’s having a hard time keeping his hands off you in this dress.”

From wringing my neck, maybe. I make a high noise of amusement, glancing at Volkov, who’s deep in conversation with Rory, Hayden, and Jamie. “Something like that.”

It seems everyone arrived earlier than us to surprise us, and now we’ve arrived, people are taking their seats for dinner.

“You two are up front,” Rory tells me and Volkov with a cheeky grin, “at the head table, so everyone can see you.”

Of course we are.