Score Her Heart: A Marriage of Convenience Hockey Romance (Philadelphia Bulldogs Book 2) by Danica Flynn (free novels .TXT) 📕

She laughed heartily at my reaction. “Am I not allowed to ask you that question? I thought since I’m your wife, you’d actually tell me the truth.”

I ran a hand down my face and gave her an exasperated look. “You know how the team’s doing.”

“Yeah, like shit. Are you afraid you’re gonna get traded?” she asked cautiously.

I shrugged. “No clue. We’re past the trade deadline now, but yeah, I’m worried. If they don’t re-sign me by July, I’ll become an unrestricted free agent.”

“You want to stay in Philly?” she asked while spearing another sushi roll. I had to smile at how happy she looked when she ate.

“I do,” I admitted.

“Why?”

“I want to stay near you.”

Her face flushed at my admittance. “Oh.”

“Philly’s home for both of us, Fi. I want to make sure we stay in the same city.”

“But what if you got traded? Or signed somewhere else? Where would you want to go if they gave you a choice?”

“Minnesota,” we said in unison and then laughed together.

I shrugged. “I can’t really think about it right now. Have to focus on this season first.”

She nodded. “It’s hard to know when I read so many articles ripping you to shreds, saying you should be traded. It makes me so angry. I want to go to their houses and punch them in the face. Like these armchair analysts even know shit about hockey.”

I eyed her. “You read what they say in the sports section?”

She scoffed at me. “Minnesotan! I love hockey, you know that. Also, I may have a Google alert set up for you,” she muttered that last part under her breath.

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I have a Google alert set up for you. I care about your career, about you.”

“You do?”

“Of course!” she exclaimed. “You worked your ass off to get where you are; it’s something I always admired about you. I always wanted to know where you ended up.”

“I hate that our careers kept us apart so much.”

She grimaced. “It wasn’t just our careers, you know that.”

I was honestly surprised she admitted that. It had been clear to me that her ex didn’t like me and didn’t want us spending time together. When she told me he refused to have a summer wedding, I knew it was because he didn’t want me to show up.

“He really didn’t want us to be friends.”

“I’m sorry; I should have fought him more. You’re my best and oldest friend; I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

I grumbled and drained the rest of my wine. I was really glad she didn’t marry that douche. I was pretty sure I would have never seen my best friend again if she did. Just the thought of it put an ache in my chest.

“You don’t have to worry about that now. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere,” I reassured her.

She gave me a small smile in return.

The waiter came and dropped off the check, so I picked it up to take care of it while she sipped on her water. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” I said to her once the check was all squared away.

I felt warmth fill my chest when she reached out for my hand and slid her small fingers between my larger ones. Maybe I could score her heart after all.

Chapter Seven

FIONA

It might have been the wine, but I felt a warm sensation in my chest by the time dinner was over and we got back to the hotel. I walked into the bedroom and kicked off my heels, then sat on the bed and rubbed my feet. I’m not sure why I even wore them in the first place when they hurt so much.

Riley sauntered into the room and started taking his tie off and shrugging out of his suit. He looked damn good in a suit, I knew that, but it was nice that he dressed up to take me out to dinner.

“What time is our flight, again?” I asked, too lazy to look at the email he had sent me earlier.

He unbuttoned his shirt and untucked it from his pants, and all thoughts left my brain as my eyes scanned across his body. Geez, what was wrong with me? Well, it wasn’t weird to ogle the guy so much if you were technically married to him, right?

“It’s early. Sorry, that was the best I could do,” he offered. “I need to be back for practice.”

When Riley looked at me, I felt like that timid seventeen-year-old girl in her parents’ basement again. I put a hand to my lip, and my thoughts drifted back to the plans for my book that I had gotten while we were at dinner. The words were still rolling around in my brain, and I needed to release them now, or I would lose them. The problem was, I also needed to pack up all my things and shower if we were going to leave early.

I jumped when I felt Riley’s hand on my arm. “Sorry,” he said and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck.

I shook my head and looked up at him. He was still shirtless, damn him, but now he was wearing a pair of pajama pants. He looked down at me but then planted a tender kiss on my forehead. “Go on,” he urged.

“What?” I asked and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

He took my hands in his. “You’ve got that look in your eyes like you need to write.”

“But I need to pack.”

“I’ll handle it,” he offered.

“You sure?” I asked hesitantly.

He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me so softly his lips barely ghosted over mine. “Go.”

I didn’t need to ask him twice. I rushed into the adjoining room where my computer was, sat at the counter in front of my computer, cracked my knuckles, and poured out my soul onto the keyboard.

Later, when I finished and had