The Troublemaker - Cathryn Fox Page 0,27

last night.”

Gasps fill the room as all jaws drop to the table.

“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