1. Chapter One

"Do you really think your brother will agree to be my fake date for the wedding?"

My gut twists at the thought of having my best friend set me up with her professional hockey player brother and rookie of the year, Miles Rivers. It"s not just the prospect of a blind date that"s making me nervous, but also the five pounds of nachos we"ve consumed since we arrived at The Penalty Box, the hottest new sports bar in our neighborhood.

I never thought we would become best friends when I met Natalie six months ago at this bar.

That night is not one I care to remember. My longtime boyfriend, Lance, dumped me that night at this bar of all places while watching his favorite hockey team on TV, the Chicago Kraken. Correction: he dumped me during a commercial break.

Natalie found me sitting in a corner booth contemplating my life choices and why I wasn"t sad over the breakup.

After four years together, I expected to feel sad or even hurt about Lance breaking up with me. But as I sat there that night, I realized that I felt not sadness but relief.

Lance isn"t a bad guy. He"s just not the guy for me.

"Of course, Miles will do it. He"s a super sweet guy. I think you two would be amazing together." I don"t like the sparkle in Natalie"s eyes. It"s almost as if she is already planning my wedding to her brother.

"Wait a second. All I need is a date for Lance"s sister"s wedding, not a husband." The hair on the back of my neck stands up at the thought of getting back into a relationship.

It"s only been six months since Lance and I broke up, and I still haven"t met my rebound guy. You know the type. The guy that"s so sexy it hurts to look at him. The guy who doesn"t believe in commitment but is committed to making all your dirty fantasies come true for one night. All those fantasies you"ve dreamed about in the darkness of the night after having boring vanilla sex with your boyfriend. The same fantasies that are now part of my erotic book series.

That"s another reason Lance broke up with me. He was embarrassed to tell anyone what I do for a living. I"m a best-selling erotic romance author by the name of Clita Cox.

"Potato, tomato." Natalie waves her hand in the air before taking a long sip of her Natalie Tea.

We"ve become such regulars at the Penalty Box that the bartenders have named our favorite drinks after us. Natalie Tea is basically a Long Island Iced Tea minus the iced tea. My drink"s namesake is The Garden of Eden. It"s a lavender-infused Old Fashioned.

"I don"t think that"s the right saying." I place my lips on the edge of the glass and take a drink, the smooth whiskey coating my throat as I swallow the liquid. And now I"m thinking of a different kind of liquid I would like to swallow—something Lance and I never did. He thought it was messy and unsanitary.

What guy in his right mind would pass on getting his dick sucked. That should have been my first clue we weren"t compatible.

"Close enough." She wraps her lips around her straw and takes a long sip before tilting her head back to let the cold liquid slide down her throat before continuing. "Look, I"m not saying you have to marry him or anything, but you know the old saying: To get over one guy, you need to get under another. Besides, it"s not like I"m trying to pimp him out or anything, but you seriously need to get laid."

I inhale sharply at her words, causing my whiskey-laced spit to go down the wrong hole, causing me to cough uncontrollably.

Natalie jumps out of her chair and rushes to my side, slapping me on the back in an attempt to save me from my spit. "Are you okay?"

"I"m fine." I wheeze. "And I don"t need to get laid," I add between coughs.

"Suuuure." She drags out the word as she makes her way back to her chair. I raise an eyebrow at her. "Fine. It"s just a date. Now remind me of the details."

"It"s next weekend. All guests are expected to stay at the hotel, which will host the pre-wedding dinner on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday." I say clearly now that my breathing is back to normal after my coughing fit.

"Oh, so it"s a two-night sleepover." Natalie cuts in, suggestively wiggling her eyebrows.

"Get your mind out of the cutter." I pick up a tortilla chip, load it with cheese, and shove it at Natalie. "Maybe this will shut you up."

Natalie opens her mouth and takes the offered chip, chewing it slowly, giving me a chance to finish telling her the deals.

"It"s perfect. Miles"s team has next weekend off."

"Are you sure he"s going to want to spend his weekend off doing a favor for someone he"s never met?" Miles might not know me, but I know everything about him and his teammates. Having a boyfriend who thinks spending quality time together is watching hockey game after hockey game. A girl"s got to make the best of it.

I know everything about the Chicago Kraken, from their team statistics to their favorite foods. They"ve actually inspired my new best-selling erotic hockey series. Now, if only I could get over my writer"s block and come up with the next best-selling erotic series.

"Oh, he"ll do it." That look is back in Natalie"s eyes, "Just tell me where and when you want to meet him."