An Inconvenient Wife by Katy Madison

Author:Katy Madison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic comedy, funny, olympics, russian, humorous romance, ice skating, sports romance, marriage of convenience
Publisher: Katy Madison

Chapter Eight

Brandi’s arms and legs were on delay as if she was controlling her body from a remote. Her arms weighed more than normal, too. She hadn’t slept more than twenty minutes before the front desk was calling with their three-twenty wake-up call.

“Parents here,” said Nikolai, as he swept Brandi through a turn.

She dropped her head forward to his shoulder. She wanted to skate well for her parents, but she wasn’t sure she could pull out her best performance with her sluggish body.

Mikelina and Yuri had eyed their outfits and frowned before offering lukewarm congratulations. Yuri had left angrily when Nikolai offered the MP3 of the music Brandi wanted to dance to. Her husband had remained firm on the issue even though Brandi was willing to forgo the idea.

Her husband. She couldn’t get used to the idea, although he was making sure she was reminded.

He would hold her face with his left hand and make sure she could feel the gold band with a subtle shift of his fingers. He held her hand and twisted her ring on her finger. He even called her wife at every opportunity. He’d left her hungry when he turned away from her in the bed.

She felt a little like she’d gone through the looking glass backwards. She’d thought things were one way, and they were totally different. And she had no idea what she was looking at with Nikolai. Partner? Friend? Husband? Potential lover? All of the above? Or was he just a lying conniver? And if it had been his intent to trick her into marriage, why? And why wasn’t he taking advantage of the situation. Her token resistance last night was surely transparent.

“We say hello, da?”

“Yes. I suppose we should.” She didn’t know if she wanted her parents to leave or stay longer. She didn’t want to deal with misrepresenting her marriage to her parents, and she wasn’t even sure what the truth was any more.

“Try look like happy,” he whispered in her ear. He put his arm around her waist as they skated to the boards.

“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad,” said Brandi brightly as they reached the side of the rink.

“Hello, honey,” said her mother reaching out to hug her, while she saw her father stretch out his hand to Nikolai.

“Wish thank you for room,” said Nikolai. His hand settled on her shoulder.

Her parents looked at the tee shirt he wore, and no doubt recognized it as one she wore to sleep in at home in California.

She looked up at him, and his blue eyes fixed on her indulgently. She gave him a wan smile before leaning her elbows on the edge of the barrier. “Yes, it was a treat. They gave us champagne.”

She didn’t mention that they hadn’t opened the bottle. It was outside in their car. They would take it home to their apartment and stick it in the refrigerator. She couldn’t figure out if it was waiting to celebrate their real wedding night, or if they’d save it for their first win in competition.

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