Gloves Off: a marriage of convenience hockey romance (Vancouver Storm Book 4)

When my ride drops me off in front of the house late that evening, my old junker car sits under the streetlight, clear as day.

Compared to the new car in the garage this morning, my old car looks laughably shitty. It could be part of the set in an apocalypse movie. It’s sitting on a flatbed, like a truck hauled it here, and the wheels are gone already. One of the windows is smashed, and the passenger door looks dented, but maybe that was there before? It’s concerning that I can’t be sure. The driver-side door’s unlocked, but the bracelets that used to hang on the rearview mirror are gone, and when I pop the hood⁠—

Yep. The engine’s gone. I stand there with my hand on my hip, thinking about the flowers he sent to my office today.

Hyacinth—I’m sorry, forgive me, your loveliness charms me.

I overreacted this morning. I’ve been replaying it all day. My emotions got the best of me.

He didn’t ask me, though. I didn’t matter, and I thought I did.

The lights are on inside the house, and he’s sitting in the front room when I step inside. Upon seeing me, he stands.

“Georgia.” He clears his throat and glances out the front windows. “You saw the car?”

“Yes.”

“Here.” He steps forward, holding his hand out. The friendship bracelets sit in his palm, and something in my chest squeezes.

I pluck them out of his hand, my fingertips accidentally brushing his warm skin.

“I overreacted this morning.” I chew my lip. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you didn’t.” He holds my gaze as he rubs the back of his neck. “I shouldn’t have gotten rid of your car without asking you. That was a fucked-up thing to do.”

That’s . . . not what I expected him to say.

What do I do with this version of Alexei? I didn’t know he was capable of this. Men like him never apologize, never take accountability, and nothing is ever their fault.

But maybe I was wrong about him the way he was wrong about me.

“I’ll put it back to the way it was.”

I let out a short laugh. “There’s no engine.”

“I’ll get a new one installed.”

“The window’s smashed.”

“I’ll replace it.”

“Tires.”

He nods. “I’ll get those, too.”

I twist my mouth to the side, fiddling with the beads on the friendship bracelet.

“Why’d you do it?” Something about our relationship looking more realistic for the citizenship process, I’m sure.

His jaw tightens, and something flickers in his eyes. “I was worried about your car breaking down and your phone being dead and you being stranded.”

Deep down, beneath all the anger and frustration and stubbornness, something melts. Liam unenrolled me for his own gain.

Alexei bought the car because he was worried about me. He didn’t mean to hurt me.

“You hate me,” I say quietly, even though I know it isn’t true.

I don’t know what else to say, though.

“I know,” his mouth flattens, “but I was still worried about you.”

He’s not supposed to be like this. He’s supposed to be brutal and condescending and controlling.

“I don’t like how things have been between us the past two years. I don’t like how I acted. It doesn’t sit right with me.”

Something unfurls in my chest, and I grapple to close it back up. Where’s the asshole who called me incompetent? Where’s the guy who sneered at me about hunting for a rich husband so I could be a lady of leisure?

“So you want to buy me a new car and pretend the past never happened.”

“No. I want to buy you a new car and start over.”noveldrama

A strange emotion catches in my throat. If we had met differently—if I weren’t his doctor and he weren’t my patient, would everything have been different between us? Of course it would have.

I don’t want to think about that, though.

He holds my eyes, expression unreadable. “Or we can go in a new direction.”

A new direction. I think about us hate-fucking at the benefit. About sleeping in his bed, curled around him.

“I can’t accept this kind of gift. It’s too much.”

“I’m rich, Georgia.”

I let out a short laugh. “Humble, too.”

He smirks. “If you really were my wife, I’d be happy to spend money on you.” He looks away, then back to me. “And I’d feel better with you driving something safer. If you want to keep driving your car, I’ll get it fixed up and I won’t say another word about it.” His throat works. “But I’m going to ask my dad to look at it regularly.”

“It doesn’t make sense to source all those car parts.” I glance at the floor, the giant pink crystal he hates so much, the photo of us from the team dinner. Anywhere but at him. “Your dad’s already so busy.” Maria mentioned his garage is booked for weeks.

I can’t believe I’m about to do this.

“I’ll drive the car for as long as we’re married, and then you can do whatever you want with it after that. Sell it, keep it, give it away, whatever.”

Alexei doesn’t say anything, and when my gaze lifts to his, I’m struggling to read his expression. His lips part and he takes a breath like he wants to argue, but he stops himself.

“Okay.” A short nod. “Thank you.”

“Okay.”

Part of me worried he’d look smug, like he won something, but he doesn’t. He just looks relieved. His eyes dart to the window, though, and a frown passes over his features.

“How did you get home?”

“I got a ride.”

Our eyes meet. “Dr. Handjob?”

My stomach dips at the possessive flash in his eyes. “So what if he did?”

His jaw ticks. “I deserve that.”

Another opportunity to act like a jealous asshole, and he passes it up? “Volkov, relax. I took a rideshare home.”

He’s visibly relieved, and I don’t know how to feel. “Okay, well, goodnight.”

“There’s a dinner for the league in Toronto next week,” he says, stopping me. “Come with me.”

A few weeks ago, Ward asked me to accompany the team on the road trip. I wonder if he assumed I’d join for this dinner.

“You owe me a date,” Alexei adds, but with a twitch to the corner of his mouth. “It would look weird if my wife didn’t show up.”

It would look weird.

“I’ll buy you a new dress.”

I raise my eyebrows. “And shoes?”

His eyes dip to my feet. Another jaw flex before his chin dips in a nod. “And shoes.”

“Anything I want?” Now I’m just teasing him. If this is the new direction he’s talking about, fine by me.

His mouth slants. “Anything you want.”

I stare him dead-on, starting to smile. “I’m going to burn a hole in your pocket, baby.”

Volkov. I meant to call him Volkov, not baby. From the way his eyes flare with interest, I guess he doesn’t mind, though.

“Fine.”

“Fine.” My heart flutters. I thought I’d enjoy spending his money, but I’m more intrigued by him buying me things.

I’ve always been independent. I’m proud that I can unapologetically buy myself things. I don’t need some guy to buy me shoes. I think about Alexei buying me a pair, though, and a fizzy little shiver of delight rolls through me.

A beat of silence passes where we just stare at each other.

“Who’s Liam?” he asks, watching me closely, and my stomach drops.

I didn’t mean to bring him up during the argument. The woman who let herself get swept away by Liam is long gone, so different from the person I am today. Even if things are changing between Alexei and me, I’d never tell him what happened. I’d never show him how truly stupid I can be when in love.

“No one.” I look away. “I should go to bed.”

He watches me for another beat, looking like he wants to press, but instead, he just nods. “Okay. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Later, I lie in bed, thinking about his expression of regret and shame as he apologized. I don’t think Liam apologized once to me. Before I fall asleep, I’m left with one concerning realization.

My crush on my husband is back with a vengeance.