Page 14 of Offside Bride

“I have no wife.”

“Did you discuss this with the young lady in question?”

“Sure. The answer is no.”

“She turned down the incentive package?”

“What incentive package?” I ask.

Bruce laughs. “I take it this is the first you’ve heard of it, Miss…”

“Jones,” I say. “Maggie Jones.”

“Miss Jones,” he says. “Nice to meet you. I’m sending through a proposal, just in case Sawyer lost the last one I sent. It should be going through…now.”

“I didn’t lose it,” Sawyer says. “I’m simply against bribery.”

Hendrix taps the screen a few times and makes a long low whistle. “Dude, I’ll marry you.”

I cross my arms and look directly at Sawyer. “I can’t be bought.”

“I know,” he says, almost softly. His face is unreadable, but there’s a hint of a frown.

“Maggie, I beg you to reconsider,” Bruce says. “Sawyer, I didn’t want to say anything yet because it’s still early days, but I’m in conversations with Velocity Gear. They have a newproduct in development and are looking for an athlete to get involved in the design process. They’re open to proposals. I’m working on a five percent royalty contract for each product with your name on the tag. And I think there’s a good chance we can get a cut for both youandMaggie.”

“No.” Sawyer is seething.

“I thought you wanted Velocity Gear,” says Bruce. “This is the golden egg, Sawyer. You get Velocity, mark my words…Nike, Adidas, Puma…They’ll take notice. You’ll be fighting them off with a stick.”

“I don’t have to be married to do commercials,” Sawyer says.

“You do if you want to keep the cereal. And if you lose them, it’s not going to look good for you. I can hush one breach of contract. Not two. How many more good years of playing hockey do you have until you’re forced to retire? You need endorsements, that’s just smart financial planning.”

Sawyer is quiet for a moment and looks at me ever so briefly.

He closes his eyes and hangs his head down. For a second, I think he might cave. But then he says, “I’d rather lose endorsements than be married to Maggie.”

Ouch.

I mean, I’m as much against this as he is, but the way he put it kinda stings.

“So…no wedding, then?” Griffin asks innocently.

“Maggie, are you still there?” Bruce asks desperately.

“She’s still here,” Owen says.

“Maggie, listen to me,” says Bruce. “It’s a piece of paper. A business deal. You sign your name. Sawyer signs his. Boom. You’re half a million dollars richer. Plus, you’ll get Velocity royalties if that goes through. I’ll make sure you get a piece of the pie.”

Everybody looks at me expectantly. Except Sawyer. He’s still looking at the ground.

“Whattaya say?” Bruce asks. “Marriages of convenience are more common than you’d think. People do it all the time.”

“We’d have to make it look like they got married weeks ago,” Hendrix adds.

“How would we do that?” Griffin asks.

Hendrix smirks. “I know a guy.”

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