Fake Engaged to My Hockey Rival

Lanaya

he suffocating inevit

ardboard boxes that held the entirety of her life. Ash-wood floors. Slate-grey wa

ike a room. It f

those for yo

the doorway - older, sharply dressed,

you. I'll d

re you are settled. I am Mrs

dryly. "Because calling this a p

Dinner is at seven. Mr. Hayden exp

ayden I'm n

r attendance is mandatory. To d

to smile, wave, and pretend the heavy diamond on her fing

en," Lanay

e a crisp nod

to her hands. She had survived the morning press conference. Ba

the media. And for once,

their f

o be meeting over a merger. At one point, Alexander said something low and her father nodded - not the nod of a man receiving new information, but the slow, automatic nod of a man being reminded of something he already knew. When someone nearby mentioned Crew's n

known what t

till

et, channeling all her vibrating anger into the simple task. By six-thirty the boxes were empty. By six-forty-

er ribs. She hated the imm

me

ack t-shirt stretched across his broad chest. The bruise on his jaw was a dark,

ed lunch,"

n't hu

t. You have pra

" She crossed her arms. "An

diating off him immediately changed the temperatu

f your possessi

e. He closed the distance until he was stand

a harsh laugh.

about the paper. They ca

a performance

is fingers wrapped around her wrist, pulling her left hand up between them. The diamond caught th

ed. Not pride. The specific blankness of a man who had learned exactly how much pressure that name could apply, and

back to her face an

d. She tried to pull her han

hed against hers. The friction sent a shocking, unwanted spike of e

you to l

can

e cold, mocking mask was gone. His grey-blue eyes were storm-dark, fi

e warned, her

ispered, his thumb tracing the frantic p

t, his hand tangled in her hair, a