The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife (Blair and Grayson) novel Chapter 240

Chapter 240

CHARLOTTE-

I sat on the bed and thought about the powder room.

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Nico had made me laugh. Luca had looked at me like the sound belonged to him. Then he had taken me apart against a sink because another man had told a joke..

I blushed into my hands.

Jealous.

Possessive.

Marks I was not supposed to cover.

I could not believe this was a side of Luca I had never witnessed before. It was hot. It had me swooning all over again.

He was out with his parents and Marco. Family damage control. Beatrice. Whatever else the Vescari family required after breakfast earlier today.

I had time.

I wanted tonight to be something.

A night out. Dinner, maybe. Something that looked like more than a locked bathroom and a rule

whispered against my temple. His hand on the back of my chair because he wanted it there, not because he was hiding.

The rules said just sex.

Whenever we both wanted. No one else.

They did not say dinner.

They did not say he was mine in public.

I still opened my phone and searched anyway.

Quiet places. Rooftops. Somewhere in Barcelona that did not look too popular. I wanted privacy, though that was difficult with Luca.

That was when I saw them.

Photos.

New. Recent.

Luca in the hotel corridor.

Paloma Voss.

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The Hockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife

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Close. Smiling. Her body angled toward him like she already knew she would end up in his bed tonight. His face turned toward hers. From that angle it looked like flirting.

My heart dropped.

Today.

This morning.

He even had on the same clothes.

After he had come inside me and told me not to cover his marks.

When had that happened?

I knew her. Everyone knew her. Luca had a crush on her before he was anyone. Posters. Campaigns. He had been crazy about her. I used to tease him about it before I realized my own feelings. I used to do the voice. I used to threaten to tape the campaign over his bed.

Pain formed in my chest and did not move.

Did they exchange numbers?

How long had he stood there for paparazzi to get these?

I scrolled.

Another shot. Both of them smiling.

My chest ached.

I locked the screen.

Unlocked it.

Looked again like an idiot.

The door opened while I was still in the middle of processing it.

Luca stepped in, already frowning when he saw my face.

“What’s wrong?”

I held the phone up.

I did not trust my voice yet.

He came closer. Looked.

His jaw tightened.

Then his whole face changed.

Shock first.

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The Mockey Captain’s Unwanted Wife

Then something like panic.

Charlotte-”

“When.” It came out flat. “When was this.”

“This morning. I went to find Marco. She was in

the hall.”

“You had a crush on her.”

“Years ago.”

“She looks like she has one on you.”

He dragged a hand through his hair. “She asked for dinner. I said I wasn’t free.”

“That isn’t what the picture says.”

“The picture is a lie. Clearly.”

I laughed once. It hurt. “You dragged me into a bathroom because Nico made me laugh. Then you stood there with Paloma Voss long enough for cameras to get photos of the two of you flirting.”

His eyes flashed. “I didn’t touch her. That’s not how I flirt either.”

“You talked. You stayed.”

“I was polite.” He said it like he could not understand how politeness had become a crime. “Charlotte, I walked away. I didn’t wave. I didn’t get her number. I went to find Marco and then I came back.”

Silence.

“Did you give her your number?” I asked.

“No.”

“Would you have, if I wasn’t around?”

“You weren’t around then. The answer is still no.” Immediate. Then, quieter, confused: “I don’t want her. Please don’t take those pictures seriously.”

“It’s hard not to, knowing your reputation.”

He frowned, like he had not expected me to say that.

I looked at the mark on my neck in the mirror across the room.

Don’t cover it, he had said.

While he smiled at a woman he used to dream about.

“I was looking for a place for tonight,” I said. Stupid. Honest. “I thought maybe we could go out. Then I

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remembered the rules. It’s just sex. Then I saw this. No flirting, remember? No sleeping with anyone else. You aren’t even keeping up with the rules. Then why make this deal?”

He stood very still.

Like he had walked into a wall he could not see.

“Charlotte.”

“If this deal means nothing to you, then just say that.”

He crossed the room.

Stopped before he touched me.

His hands flexed at his sides, like he wanted to reach and did not know if he was allowed.

“I said I wasn’t free,” he repeated. “Because I’m not. Not for her. Not for anyone. That was the deal.”

My eyes burned.

I hated that.

I hated that a photo could do this when he had called me his life in front of his parents and then forced it back to best friend.

“Then why do I feel like the secret,” I whispered, “and she gets you in the hallway like this? No one will ever think we have something going on because I’m not the type of girl you’re usually seen with.”

Luca looked at the phone again.

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