Page 23 of Cold as (N)ice

Barrett swallowed hard, feeling a sudden tightness in his throat. His gaze flicked to Irene, her wide, uncertain eyes searching his. She looked… fractured— like she was ready to shatter. The mix of emotions swirling in her expression was enough to make his knees threaten to buckle beneath him.

All her ‘eggs’were in his ‘basket’and she was hoping he’d protect them. The irony was not lost on him in the slightest.

“Yep – I’ve got this,” he said curtly, the words coming out sharper than he intended. They were meant more for himself than anyone else, a desperate reassurance that he could handle this. He let instinct take over, stepping closer, and as he slid an arm around her waist, time seemed to slow to a crawl.

It was like stepping into the eye of a hurricane—everything around them stilled, and all that remained was her. Barrett felt a roaring in his ears, a rushing noise that drowned out the world as he met her gaze. Her eyes, the color of a dark evening storm, held him captive. He saw so much in them: trust that she had no choice but to give him, fear of the unknown they were plunging into, and a fragile, trembling hope that he might be someone worth leaning on.

As her lips parted slightly, invitingly, a sharp pang of something unfamiliar pierced through him. Desire? Responsibility? Both? He couldn’t say. But it was enough to make him lower his head, drawn to her like a moth to flame. Her breath fanned across his lips, warm and sweet, and for a fleeting moment, he hesitated, the gravity of the situation almost too much to bear.

Then, he pressed his lips to hers.

It was a soft kiss at first, tentative, a brushing of mouths that held none of the passion that burned in the pit of his stomach. But when he felt her exhale sharply, almost a gasp, against his lips, everything changed.

Her lips parted under his, and when her tongue lightly touched his, it was like a spark igniting dry tinder. Heat flared between them, raw and unexpected. His grip on her waist tightened instinctively, pulling her closer, anchoring her to him as the world around them melted away.

This wasn’t just a kiss to seal a deal or solidify a contract. This was something else entirely. Something real. Something dangerous.

Her hands, delicate but steady, slid up to his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair. He cursed himself silently for leaving it down to dry, thinking it looked unkempt and unworthy of a wedding day, but now, with her hands threading through it, tugging gently, he wouldn’t have changed a thing. That simple touch sent a shiver down his spine, a reminder that maybe this wasn’t just a union of convenience. Maybe there was more here, something neither of them had been prepared for.

Barrett couldn’t pull away, not yet. Not when she was holding onto him like that— like he was her lifeline. Not when the taste of her, warm and sweet, filled his senses and made his heart thunder in his chest. He had thought this would be a simple kiss, a small act to satisfy tradition. He hadn’t expected to feel like he was falling, his carefully constructed walls crumbling as he gave into the moment.

When they finally broke apart, her lips were slightly swollen, her breath shallow as she stared up at him in surprise. Barrett couldn’t find the words to say. He just stood there, holding her, hoping that she didn’t see how completely shaken he was. Because this kiss? This wasn’t just a beginning.

It was a revelation.

Almost two hours later, he was entering the building through the employee’s entrance from the third floor of the parking garage. Barrett wasn’t exactly a religious man, but he sure was praying when he walked in and met Boucher’s eerily flat gaze.

“What did you do?” the other man snapped at him.

“Don’t ‘what’ me,” Barrett hissed under his breath. “I know…”

“You don’t know squat.”

“Yeah, I do… Wolverine,” he whispered and saw Boucher’s mouth drop open in shock right before the man dropped an ‘F’ bomb loudly in the hallway, slapping a hand over his mouth. Barrett wagged his finger at his teammate, eyes wide, and wiggled it. “Exactly!That!”

“Oh man… you too?” Boucher whispered and ducked slightly, looking around guiltily. “How? You aren’t married.”

Barrett held up his cheap wedding band he’d picked up on the way to the courthouse – and Boucher’s eyes widened again as he held up his own hand.

“When?”

“Well, not yet, but I was practicing wearing it. We’re heading to the courthouse in a few days. You?”

“This morning.”

“Coach is gonna kill us…”

“Yup,” Lafrenière said bluntly, walking in the door and looking at them both knowingly. “My agent told me, and word is getting out quickly. It will not be long before everyone knows.” Both men cursed as the trio stood there guiltily, looking ateach other, when it suddenly dawned on Barrett. He looked at Lafreniere’s hand, saw the wedding ring, and met the man’s face.

“You too?”

“Yup.”

“Oh man… we’re so dead.”

“Completely screwed.”

“When is your news being leaked to the press?”

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