Page 34 of Ice Me Out

A strangled noise from Christiansen caught my attention. I looked at him curiously.

“Guys, I think my future beard just walked into the bar.”

I glanced up, and my mouth dropped when Vera walked—no—strutted into the bar, turning every man’s head along the way. Our eyes locked, and hers briefly widened before settling into a stony glare. Words couldn’t describe how pissed I was at seeing her at Netz after she ignored me all day, but my dick betrayed me as my eyes scanned her outfit. She wore a black long-sleeve mesh shirt with a daring V-neck. The shirt parted, revealing killer abs, and her black leather pants molded her hips and legs perfectly.

Marlon craned his head around, let out a low whistle, and said,

“Nah, buddy. Stand down. We can’t let a fine woman like this go to waste on you.”

“I second that,” Chandler piped up.

“You have a girlfriend, you sleaze,” Rossi reminded Chandler.

He snorted.

“When has that ever stopped me before?”

“Never, and that’s why you keep getting kicked out of the house,” Morgan sighed.

“She is not something we see in Russia,” Boris said, adding to the conversation.

Fury ignited inside me when Vera shifted her gaze from mine and stared straight ahead as if I didn’t exist. I was inside of her less than 24 hours ago, and her scratches still gleamed bright red against my skin.

The fury I felt morphed into a full-on rage when Marlon grabbed her wrist as she passed our table and tugged her back. I had expected her to shake off his grasp, maybe even swat him with her designer purse; instead, she smirked at me, walked two steps back, and planted herself in front of him.

“Do I know you?” she asked, raising a brow.

“No, but allow me to introduce myself. My name is Marlon, and I’m your future husband,” he said, grinning like he didn’t just rattle off the cheesiest pick-up line known to man. The guys snorted in derision but tuned in to watch him inevitably crash and burn.

Vera laughed softly and shrugged her purse off her shoulder before plopping it down on the table—a power move on her part. I recognized the emblem, and those purses didn’t come cheap.

“What’s your name, wifey?”

“It’s Lenora.”

“That’s the most beautiful name I’ve heard in a long time. It’s very nice to meet you, Lenora.”

She squinted, then gasped dramatically.

“I know you,” she proclaimed, rapidly snapping her fingers as if she were trying to place him. “You play hockey, right?”

Marlon’s grin widened, and my patience thinned with each passing second.

He’s still fucking touching her, and she’s letting him!

“I do. I’m the captain of the Washington Warriors. Are you a hockey fan?”

Vera smiled seductively before answering, “I am the biggest fan.”

“Then we’ll get along beautifully. Do you have a man, Lenora?”

Vera sighed and finally tugged her wrist from Marlon’s clutches.

“It’s complicated,” she admitted, earning a curse and a groan from him.

“So, you’re taken.”

“I don’t know. I thought there was something there, but he seems a little wishy-washy. Maybe you guys can give me a little bit of perspective.”