Curvy Fake Wife for the Player

9. Alex

Chapter 9

Alex

“ T hat can’t be possible.” The words squeezed out through my clenched jaws as I tried to keep my anger at bay. “I placed the order and it was processed. My credit card was charged including the exorbitant delivery fees, which means you’re responsible for bringing all the items to the address I provided.”

“I’m sorry about the mix-up, sir.”

“It isn’t a mix-up,” I growled. “It is a total failure on your end.”

The customer service rep had the nerve to sigh as if I was causing her a big fat fucking headache. “Deliveries are scheduled and you are not on the schedule for today, but you are more than welcome to pick the items up at the store.” She rattled off the address as if that was a perfectly reasonable compromise.

“No!” I barked into the phone. “If you can’t make the delivery in the next hour, I expect a full refund today.”

“But, sir,” she began and I cut her off.

“Can you make that happen?”

There was a long silence before she sighed. “No. The delivery drivers have their schedules for the day, but we can have the order ready for pickup so all you have to do is pull up and our guys will load you up.”

It was a tempting option even if it wasn’t ideal. “Fine,” I growled eventually and ended the call.

“Everything okay?” Sasha’s soft voice had a calming effect that left me slightly unnerved but I focused on the calming part for now because I needed it.

“No.” I explained about the delivery fuck up, failing miserably to keep my anger out of my voice. “So now I have to pick it up or wait until tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have an assistant or something who does stuff like this for you?”

I frowned. “Why would I need an assistant when they were supposed to deliver it?”

She shrugged. “Don’t give me attitude, I didn’t screw up the order. And don’t people like you always have assistants?”

“Now you sound like Jack,” I growled. He’d been tossing assistants my way for years but I always refused. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Mostly.” I grinned and she rolled her eyes. “The point is, they were supposed to deliver it and they messed up.”

“Cool, so you can be mad about it or you can fix it. Which are you going to do?”

My first instinct was to frown, because no one, especially women, ever spoke to me like that. But as her words sank in, my anger slowly dissolved. She was right.

“I guess I’m going to pick up the stuff. Want to come along?”

She frowned. “I’m pretty sure Jack said that you were not to appear in public with Dixie.”

I shrugged. “We won’t technically be in public. You and Dixie will be in the car while I oversee the guys loading up the truck. No one will even see you.”

She looked indecisive, and I should have just let it go at that, but for reasons I didn’t want to explore, I couldn’t.

“Okay. Let me get Dixie ready and we can head out.”

“It’s not funny,” I growled twenty minutes later as Sasha watched me, laughing as I struggled to get the damn car seat installed.

“You’re right,” she sighed and handed Dixie to me. “It’s hilarious. Watch closely,” she said as she slid the seatbelt through the base easily, as if she created the wretched thing herself. She took the seat from me and held it up. “Listen for the snap,” she said as she shoved the seat onto the base, and a loud snap sounded. “And she’s safe and secure.” Her proud smile took the sting off the fact that she was able to do it easily.

“Yeah, sure.”

She laughed, the sound sexy and lyrical as she rested a hand on my shoulder. “It takes some practice, that’s all. But you will have to learn it eventually.”

I appreciated that Sasha didn’t rub it in or admonish me for my inability to do something so simple. Her words of encouragement with that hint of challenge was just what I needed to hear. “You would be a damn good coach.”

“A hockey coach?” She frowned in the passenger seat. “All I know about hockey is you put the black thingy into the net.”

“That thingy is a puck, and not necessarily hockey but anything. Tennis coach. Life coach. Figure skating coach. You’ve perfected tough love without being an asshole about it.”

“Thanks,” she laughed. “I think.”

We pulled up to the pickup station and I left Sasha and Dixie in the car, finally calm after the company’s earlier mistake. Five minutes later, my expression was thunderous as I stomped back to the car. “The entire order is wrong.”

Sasha frowned. “It’ll be faster together, but I think you should stay in the car while Dixie and I do the shopping.”

“I can’t ask you to do that again.”

“You’re not asking, I’m volunteering. Do you have a better plan?”

“You know I don’t.”

“Then you stay here and I’ll rush through the store and scan everything again. Let’s hope this time it works.”

She was right. Of course, she was right. “Fine.” I watched the swing of her hips as she moved to the store’s entrance, angry that Jack had put these restraints on me. Don’t do it, my conscience warned after about fifteen minutes of sitting in the car and doing nothing.

At the twenty-minute mark, I went inside and found Sasha chatting with Dixie who smiled and babbled as if she understood.

“What can I do?”

Sasha let out a shocked gasp and turned, punching my shoulder before she could stop herself. “Sorry, but stop sneaking up on me!”

I smiled and rubbed the spot she’d hit. “Nice jab.”

“Thanks. Self-defense classes.” She turned back to Dixie and pushed the cart forward. “What’re you doing here?”

“Helping.”

“This is a bad idea,” she said in a sing-song voice meant for Dixie. “But he’s gonna do what he’s gonna do, am I right?”

Dixie’s smile grew and she responded with a loud series of shrieks and gargles.

“See? Even Dixie knows.” Her playful smile made me relax as we went up and down the aisles, replacing every single item that had been in the shopping cart just last night.

Being with Sasha was easy. She was funny and easy to talk to, and she wasn’t at all in awe of me for being a celebrity.

“No one even notices me,” I assured her when she spotted two young women staring in our direction. “They just see a good-looking man.”

She laughed. “Or maybe they see a very familiar good-looking man.”

“Then they would come and ask for a photo or an autograph,” I told her honestly. Fans were never shy about approaching and asking for what they wanted, no matter how ill-timed their appearance might be. But it was because of the fans I got paid so well to do something I loved.

“Do you ever go out, like, incognito? With a wig and a big nose and sunglasses?”

I laughed. “No. Given my size, it’s difficult to hide who I am most of the time.” Sometimes I was confused for a football player or a superhero, but people always assumed I was somebody they knew. Dixie began to fuss and instinctively, I unfastened her and held her close as we finished the shopping.

“Bummer. I would love that.” At my stunned expression, she laughed. “That’s the one thing I think would be cool about being famous, just dressing up in disguise to go fill up the gas tank or grab midnight snacks.”

“That’s what you think would be cool about being famous? Not the adoration?”

“Ugh, no,” she shuddered. “I’d be happy for people who know me to adore me, but strangers? No offense, that feels creepy.”

“It is a bit. But I’m an athlete so I know why they love me. I win games and that gives them bragging rights over other hockey fans.”

“Fair point. I guess that would be pretty cool to have people fist-bumping you at the grocery store. Good game, ” she said in a gruff voice meant to be a hockey fan. “ Totally sick goal, Alex.”

I stopped and just stared at this strange woman. She stopped and looked up at me, her blue eyes serious for a beat before she erupted in a fit of laughter that definitely drew a few stares. “You are a strange, strange woman Sasha.”

“Thanks,” she replied with a genuine smile, not at all offended by my assessment of her.

She was a strange woman, though. Instead of sitting inside the cool truck with Dixie, she kept an eye on her while she helped the workers load everything into the vehicle, ordering them around as if she was the boss. Every last one of them obeyed her commands with a smile.

“Thank you guys so much for the assist. I really appreciate it.” She beamed that wide, full-lipped smile at them and I knew they would have followed her into battle. Hell, I might’ve gone with them.

On the trip home, all I could think about was that shopping for baby items was the most fun I’d ever had with a woman outside the bedroom. And wasn’t that a sad state of affairs?

Maybe Jack was right and I needed to get my personal life in order, and not just because of the impact it could have on future endorsement deals. The problem was I met very few women like Sasha, and she was, well she was completely and totally off-limits.

Strictly off-limits.