Playing for Hearts (48 page)

Coach Lindhurst shook his head in disgust. “You had one more month to return and win another gold, and you threw it away because of some woman who wants a piece of — ”

“Stop. Seriously, don't go there, or we're going to have problems between us. I'll talk to Wyden. I'll get my sponsor back,” Juan said. “Can you keep me on the roster until then?”

“It's out of my hands. You had two warnings. Three marks and you're out. Balden will go in your place. You're immediately on reserve.” Coach stared Juan down, cursed, and headed toward the door.

She scrambled out from behind Juan. “Wait!”

“What are you doing?” Juan whispered.

She ignored him, stepped over, and picked up her wedding dress, holding it in front of her. “Juan's right. There's a simple explanation for what you saw. You see, we're getting married. He was helping me into my dress, and I was helping him out of his suit. You can go to the lobby. There's a minister waiting for us. We're already late though, so if you'll excuse us, we need to finish getting dressed.”

Juan walked over and ushered everyone out of the room, a look of bemusement on his face. Dana crossed her arms and cradled her elbows in her hand. It didn't take a genius to figure out Juan was on the Olympic team, and he was in deep trouble. She owed him for being so kind to her.

The more she thought about actually marrying him, the better she felt. She'd stay on her schedule, and figure out what to do later when she had time to think over her rash decision. She'd prove to Jace and her father that she was not spoiled. She'd help Juan for the goodness of the United States.

“Thanks, babe, but I can take it from here. This is my fault and I only have myself to blame.” Juan ran his hands through his hair and groaned. “I'll figure out some way to make it back on the team with a new sponsor. This isn't the first time I've had to go in front of the board and prove myself to them.”

She took off his coat and pushed it into his chest. “Get dressed.”

“What?” He slipped his arms in the sleeves. “I said you could take the jacket. I've got plenty.”

“We'll have to hurry or the minister will leave.” She stepped into her dress and turned around. “Zip me up.”

“You're not serious?”

She patted her hair. “I take it you need an excuse for what that man saw in here today to get back on the Olympic team, and I have a deadline. We're getting married.”

“We can't.” He tilted his head and looked up at the ceiling. “This is not happening to me.”

“Yes, it is.” She grabbed his hand. “I'm Dana Reese. My daddy is Colton Reese of Reese Enterprise. You know, the owner of the most popular line of ski equipment. He'll sponsor you, and be happy you took me off his hands. Trust me.”

“Are you serious?”

“More than you'll ever know. I won't let Daddy or Jace ruin my life schedule.” She laughed hysterically. “Let's go get married.”

Each of the Olympic panel members' voices echoed in Juan's head long after the meeting was over. He closed the sliding door of his suite and escaped to the balcony. The cold wind slapped him in the face, somewhat relieving the tension headache he'd developed when he'd said “I do” earlier to a woman he didn't know anything about — other than her name and the fact that her father owned the biggest ski equipment company in the world, and half the clothing factories in Europe that catered to winter-wear. He leaned over the railing, letting the snowflakes land on his overheated face.

One minute, Coach was putting him on reserve, stripping his chances of participating in the Olympics. The next minute, people were congratulating him on his nuptials and bolstering his drive to be a two-time gold medalist for the men's downhill ski team. With only one month to go, and twenty practices to keep himself in top shape, he needed to get his head in the sport.

He'd succeeded in straightening out his professional life, and jumped right into fucking up his personal life. He looked down at his left hand. The simple gold band constricted his finger. The piece of jewelry would throw off his grip on his poles, not to mention the odd feeling of having something foreign on his hand.

He felt like shit not having a ring for Dana, but he'd never planned to get married today.

Married?

He groaned. Buying a house in Tahoe, he could see himself doing. Hell, purchasing a yacht to cruise the isle with room for two or three women to sail with him, he'd do without thinking about it. But marriage?

Not for him. He wasn't sure if he'd ever find the one woman who'd make marriage worth it for him. Just thinking about spending more than a couple of days shut in a hotel room with only one woman gave him hives, and left him feeling guilty. His motto to spread himself around meant exactly that. And he sure didn't want to chain himself to a woman who loved someone else.

Marriage was a sacred union in his eyes. A one-time deal made with a woman who stole his heart and made him blind to everything else. He wasn't ready to settle down. His wife would be the one woman he spent the rest of his life with, and she'd have to be
the
one.

Even though Dana was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met, he knew nothing about her. Although, seeing her with her mouth going at his zipper earlier, he had an idea that he'd like to get to know her better.

She'd grabbed his attention when she ran past him in the lobby, almost knocking him against the wall in her hurry. The cream-colored lace dress hadn't registered. It was the way she'd hitched the hem to her thighs and ran, her shapely calves flashing him. Then he'd noticed the way her ass swished out of the room.

Any man would've noticed. It only made sense that he'd follow her and take another look. He'd expected to find a woman luring him to a private room. When she'd asked him to unzip her dress, well that was par for the course. That's what all females offered him. He could undress a sexy snow bunny in the dark with his eyes closed.

Married?

Hell, she'd thrust her hand out to shake his after the ceremony as if they'd agreed on a business deal instead of a life together. He ran his hands through his hair and groaned. She'd even turned her head when he'd leaned in for a kiss.

Not only had he gotten married. He'd hooked himself up with a sexy prude. What had he ever done to deserve that kind of punishment?

“Aw, shit.” He straightened and shoved his hands in his coat pocket. “What do I do now?”

Tomorrow, his new married status would be plastered over every newspaper, in every sports magazine, and talked about on all the news channels. Juan Santiago, notable playboy and sexiest man in the upcoming Winter Olympics, veers off-course and head-banks on the rockiest course of his life. He'd be ruined.

Cold and miserable, he went back inside his suite and found Dana sitting on the edge of his couch. He walked to the other side of the room and sat on the love seat across from her. She'd changed clothes.

Skinny jeans, bunny boots, and the softest, tightest, palest pink, angora sweater hugged the plush curves he'd already seen earlier when she'd stripped down to barely anything. She'd let her hair down. Straight blonde streaks reached her elbows. His gut tightened, and his body betrayed him. He really did want to get to know her better — in a purely sexual way, of course.

“Daddy faxed the papers to the hotel. I picked them up in the office for you and set them on the table.” She crossed her legs and slid her hands between her thighs. “He … uh … included a wedding present too, and his sponsorship papers are signed.”

“Okay.” Juan couldn't stop staring.

Dana darted her gaze from the floor to him to the door. He softened. Their rushed vows before the minister, the papers, the press conference, everything was finally catching up with them both. She was nervous and probably regretting her impulsive decision.

He stood. “There's a spare bedroom. If you tell me where to find your luggage, I'll get you settled in.”

She sat forward. “Wait.”

“Yeah?”

“I know this is weird.” She scooted to the edge of the couch. “You needed help, and I … I need time to figure out a new schedule. But I'm feeling a little guilty. I mean, marriage? We don't even know each other.”

“I know.” He relaxed. “Me too.”

“I work here, so I have my own room.” Her smile didn't quite meet her eyes. “We can talk tomorrow when we're both thinking straight.”

“You're not staying with me?”

She shook her head. “There's no reason to push myself on you further. Besides, I don't think your coach would want me causing you more stress. I get that you're the star of the team. Everyone in America is counting on you to bring home the gold.”

Everything she said was true. Yet, she was his wife. Having her stay in her own room when he was responsible for her sat wrong with him.

In his family, marriage was forever. Guilt and disappointment in himself made the situation worse. Yet, it was obvious that she was alone. She'd had her world tipped upside down today. She shouldn't have to suffer alone.

“I only ski for two hours a day. Why don't you stay with me — in the spare room — and when we're both free, we can talk.” He walked over, held out his hand, and smiled when she allowed him to pull her up from the couch. “You can go direct a bellhop to help bring your things to my … our suite, and I'll order room service for dinner. I don't know about you, but getting married makes me hungry.”

“You're being so cool about all this.” Her shoulders sagged and she let her hair fall forward. She tossed her head in a perfect blend of flirtatious and feminine grace. “I promise. In a few days, I'll have an answer to both our problems. I'm good at figuring out solutions for tense situations. You'll see.”

“I'm sure you'll figure it all out, babe.” He gave her one of his killer smiles.

Her chin lifted. “And whatever happens, or whatever Daddy's papers say, I'll make sure he continues sponsoring you.”

“We'll work it out. Don't worry. Go get your things brought to the suite, and I'll order dinner to come in an hour.” He walked her to the door, put his hand low on her back, and encouraged her to leave.

He shut the door behind her, took two steps, and ripped off his coat and threw it with all his strength across the room. This called for some serious backup.

He pulled out his phone and called Crista Johnson, one of the few of his women friends that he could count on to be straight with him.

When Crista answered, he said, “Hey.”

“You better have a good reason for calling me, Santiago,” Crista said.

He laughed, relieved to catch her answering the phone. “Come on, sexy. I knew you were sitting by the phone hoping I'd call.”

“I've been truly gifted.” Crista snorted. “What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?”

“Why would you ask that?”

“I know you.” She sighed. “You seem to only call when you're having woman problems or you're in the hospital because you banged yourself up.”

“That's not true,” he muttered.

“Totally is, dude,” she said. “Speak to me.”

He closed his eyes for a beat. “I've totally screwed up.”

“Let me decide that,” she said gently. “Doesn't matter how big of problem you have, with your smooth moves, we can figure out a way to get you back on course.”

“I got lowered to reserve.”

“Dammit, Juan. You're almost on the plane to compete. We're not talking about rumor control or making up time on the slopes. This is serious. Have you been in front of the board yet?”

“I fixed that problem. I'm back on the roster.” He paced the room. “There's more though, and it isn't pretty.”

“You're worse than a girl. Get to the point. I'm about ready to call the airlines and go kick your butt myself,” Crista said.

He stopped in front of the sliding door. “I got married.”

Silence. If his news kept Crista from voicing her opinion, he was in deep shit.

“What do I do?” he asked.

“How the hell did you end up married?”

His chest tightened. “You know if I see a woman in need, I'm going to help. I thought she needed rescuing.”

“Give me a break, Santiago. You saw your moment, and you took it. Women no longer need a man to save the day,” Crista said.

“Our marriage was a spur of the moment decision for both of us. Trust me, pretending to be husband and wife will benefit me, and it'll be all over after the Olympics are done. It'll be like it never happened.”

“Dick,” Crista mumbled. “That's sick, Santiago. You can't mess with a woman's life like that. It's different for a man. You'll recover. She'll remember what happened to her for the rest of her life.”

“I know,” he said on a sigh. “I don't know what to do, except try to stay calm and wait until we can slip away quietly after the games and erase what we've done.”

“Slap on your boxers and grow up. You're married, and now you have to deal with it.” She paused. “I don't mean to add to your problems. I just didn't expect this. Married? I never thought you'd do it. Really, Juan, what were you thinking?”

He groaned. “I was thinking more along the lines of an annulment and hitting Friday night's Women Are Free down in the lounge. I'm not the marriage type of guy. I love women too much to settle down.”

“What's your wife … ” she laughed loudly, “like?”

“She's hot. Blonde, stacked, legs that'd make any man hyperventilate. She's also smarter than the average snow bunny I go out with, which I'm finding incredibly sexy, and is leaving me more confused.” He dropped his chin to his chest. “She's also a spoiled daddy's girl who can throw a tantrum and get whatever she wants. I doubt if she's had to work a day in her life for anything she's wanted. She just has to ask her father. Plus, she has some delusional thought process about life schedules that I really don't understand.”