Page 16 of The Husband Game

Charlie wasn’t really contemplating pretending to be married to some virtual stranger, was he?

“I’m sorry, I can’t do it,” Charlie said with a shake of his head. “Not for all the money …”

He froze.

Dustin might not have all of the money in the world but he had a lot of it. He was one of the highest-paid forwards in the league.

Charlie might not be crying out for love but his bank account sure was.

Most of his paychecks went toward the huge debt he owed Taylor’s family for helping pay off his bills from the hospital stays and rehab facility.

The Hollis family was more than generous and there was no time limit on when Charlie had to have it paid off but this might be the only chance Charlie would have to wipe everything away and get a fresh start on his life.

Maybe this whole staying in a sham marriage wasn’t such a crazy idea after all …

CHAPTER FOUR

By the time they finished hammering out the details of the plan to stay married for a year, all Dustin wanted was to go lie by the pool and let the late-afternoon sun bake away his headache.

This was supposed to be a vacation.

But he had no one to blame but himself.

If he hadn’t gone to a tacky Vegas wedding chapel and said, ‘I do’ with a man who barely tolerated him, he wouldn’t be here right now.

“So, let me run the whole thing by you one more time to make sure we’re all on the same page.” Wade glanced at his watch. “A press release will go live in about an hour. Dustin, you’re going to take care of flights to Chicago?”

He nodded.

“After you’re done packing up Charlie’s belongings in Chicago and grabbing his passport, you’ll both fly to Toronto. I’ll give you a few days to get settled, then we’ll talk more about media obligations. If anything urgent comes up before then, we’ll be in touch.”

“Sounds good,” Dustin said.

Charlie nodded tightly. “I’m going to need to go to my hotel and get my belongings before the flight. And I’m sure Jamie and Taylor will want to talk to both of us.”

“We’ll do that as soon as I reply to some urgent messages I have and get checked out of the hotel here,” Dustin said, hastily tacking on, “if that works for you, Charlie.”

“Sure.”

Dustin looked over at Wade. “How likely are we to encounter reporters at the airport?”

Wade let out a little hum as he seemed to consider the idea. “You might encounter a few here. Most of the press is on their way home now. Chicago should be okay, since no one will be expecting you there. Toronto would be the worst, of course. Honestly though, your real concern is fans. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the off-season or what, but there’s an unusually high amount of online fan activity about this.”

“Okay.” They’d take a private jet home then.

Charlie glanced down at his outfit. “Is this outfit okay for flying?”

“You look great,” Dustin said honestly.

“What if we do run into reporters or fans who take pictures and ask about my, uh, fashion choices?” He waved a vague hand and Dustin gave him a once-over. He wore a pair of slim-cut cropped trousers, a sheer black floral print shirt, and a pair of heels.

“I’ll tell them I think you look beautiful.”

Charlie blinked at him.

“Or handsome?” Dustin offered, a little unsure. “Which do you prefer?”

“Uh, beautiful is fine.” Charlie scratched his cheek, glancing away.

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