Claimed By The Hockey Star

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

The Ninety-Day Deal

I stepped out of the large office building at

exactly fifteen minutes past five in the evening. I held my leather bag tightly over my shoulder like a protective shield, scanning the busy street with narrowed eyes. The summer wind blowing through the city streets was freezing, and the harsh winter air made my skin feel completely numb.

I looked up and down the crowded block. There was no massive black Range Rover in sight. There was no giant hockey player blocking my path on the sidewalk. Good. That was a very good sign. Maybe he had finally gotten the message after reading the last text message I had sent him.

Venessa:Watch me.

I allowed a small, satisfied smile to touch my lips. I felt a sense of relief wash over my body. I started walking quickly toward the main road so I could hail a yellow taxi to take me straight home to my warm apartment. Today had been an incredibly exhausting day at the community outreach center. I had spent hours dealing with files, gossiping coworkers, and the lingering taste of a man I shouldn't be thinking about. I just wanted to crawl into bed and forget everything. I didn't need any more drama.

“Venessa.”

The deep, rough voice stopped me completely cold in my tracks.

My heart skipped a beat, and my breath caught in my throat. I turned my head slowly toward the curb. Khalid was leaning casually against the side of his shiny black Range Rover. He was parked illegally right across from the main entrance of my office building, blocking a whole lane of traffic. His massive arms were crossed tightly over his broad, wide chest.

He had changed his clothes since lunch. He was now wearing a fresh, tight black button-down shirt with the long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The dark fabric exposed his thick, powerful forearms, which were corded with hard muscle and dark veins. He looked far too relaxed, looking like a man who had been patiently waiting out in the cold for hours just to catch a glimpse of me.

My steps faltered for half a second. My body wanted to turn around and run the other way, but I forced myself to straighten my spine and keep walking forward.

“I am not doing this with you again, Khalid,” I said, my voice tight and firm as I reached the sidewalk near his car.

He pushed his heavy body off the side of the vehicle and fell into step right beside me. He walked with a lazy, athletic grace, his long legs matching my fast strides without any effort at all. He easily towered over me, making me feel incredibly small against his giant frame.

“We need to talk, Venessa,” he said, his deep baritone voice sliding over my skin like a hot brand.

“I gave you your one hour at lunch today,” I shot back, keeping my eyes glued straight ahead. “The clock is ticking on that promise you made to leave me alone forever.”

“You told me you would think about coming to my hockey game tomorrow night,” he said, his voice dropping slightly. “You did not say you were going to completely ghost me and ignore my texts.”

Suddenly, his large, rough hand brushed against my elbow. The contact was incredibly light, but a sharp electric shock shot straight up my arm. He used his body to gently steer me away from the open sidewalk and toward the open passenger door of his massive car.

“Get inside,” he commanded softly, his dark eyes locking onto mine. “Just five minutes. That is all I am asking you for right now.”

I yanked my arm away from his grip, spinning around to glare up at his handsome face. Even though I was wearing high heels today, he still made me look tiny. His broad shoulders completely blocked out the view of the street behind him.

“You have some nerve showing up at my job for the second time today,” I hissed, my face burning with sudden heat. “I told you to watch me resist you, Khalid. I have strict rules for my life to keep myself safe. And you just keep smashing right through my walls like they are made of cheap glass.”

His sharp jawline tightened, and the dark shadow of stubble on his face made him look incredibly rugged and dangerous. But that slow, predatory smirk played at the corners of his perfect lips.

“Just five minutes, little liar,” he whispered, leaning his tall body down so his face was just inches from mine. “If you don't get in the car right now, I swear I will follow you all the way to your house. We can have this exact conversation right on your front doorstep, where every single one of your neighbors can watch 'The Beast' beg for your attention.”

The threat was delivered in a low, rough growl that sent a sudden rush of unwanted heat spiraling deep into my belly. I hated how my traitorous body reacted to his voice. I hated the wild butterflies in my stomach, and I hated it even more that he knew exactly what he was doing to me. He could see right through my defenses.

“Fine,” I snapped, my chest heaving with a mix of anger and desire. “Five minutes. That is it. Then you drive away from here, and you stop turning my workplace into your personal hunting ground.”

I marched past him and climbed into the high passenger seat before he could reach out to open the door for me. It was a small, silly act of defiance, but I needed to feel like I had some control over the situation.

The moment the heavy car door clicked shut, the familiar, intoxicating scent of his cologne wrapped around my senses. It smelled of rich cedarwood and dark amber, a masculine scent that was now permanently linked to him in my mind. Khalid slid his massive frame into the driver's seat beside me and started the powerful engine. The car roared to life with a deep rumble, and he turned on the heater, filling the space with warm air. He didn't drive away into the traffic. He just sat there with the hazard lights flashing, turning his intense, pitch-black gaze onto my face.

“The clock is running,” I said, lifting my wrist and tapping the face of my watch. “You have four minutes and thirty seconds left.”

He didn't smile this time. His expression became completely serious, his dark eyes burning into mine with an unnerving intensity that made my mouth go dry.

“I am not playing games with you, Venessa,” he said, his voice deep and heavy. “Not the way you think I am.”

“You could have fooled me,” I laughed, a short, bitter sound escaping my throat. “You show up uninvited at my job, you kiss me until I can't breathe in your front seat, and then you demand that I wear your team color tomorrow like I already belong to you. You are telling me that is not a game?”

“It is an obsession,” he said bluntly, his voice raw and honest. “The real kind. The kind of dark obsession that doesn't let me sleep at night. I have spent years playing professional hockey, Venessa. I have had thousands of beautiful women throw themselves at my feet just because of my name and my money. But you… you crashed into me one time at a club, and then you tried to run away into the night like I was absolutely nothing to you. You lit a fire inside my chest, and I can't put it out.”

I stared at him, my heart slamming against my ribs like a trapped bird. His words felt too big, too intense, and completely terrifying.

“Obsession is not romance, Khalid,” I whispered, looking away from his handsome face because the intensity was too much to handle. “It is exhausting. I have spent years of my life fighting to protect my peace and quiet. I do not need a possessive, wild hockey star turning my entire life upside down.”

Khalid leaned closer across the center console, draping one massive, scarred arm over the top of the steering wheel. His large body crowded into my personal space, making the interior of the big SUV feel incredibly small and hot.

“Then let me prove to you that I am worth the chaos,” he said, his dark eyes holding mine captive. “Give me ninety days.”

I blinked in total shock, my mind going completely blank. “What did you just say?”

“Give me ninety days,” he repeated, his voice dropping to a low, steady baritone. “Three months. Ninety days to show you who I really am under this hockey jersey. Ninety days to chase you properly, to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, and to make you fall completely in love with me. I will take you on real dates. I will give you all my attention. Everything. If at the end of those ninety days you still look at me and feel absolutely nothing real—if you haven't fallen for me—I will walk away forever. I give you my word. No more text messages. No more showing up at your desk. You will never have to see my face again.”

The silence inside the warm car felt completely deafening. The only sound was the low hum of the car engine and the frantic beating of my own heart. I was certain he could hear how fast my pulse was racing.

“You are completely insane,” I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief. “You honestly think you can just force a person to fall in love with you in ninety days?”

“Not force,” his voice dropped even lower, getting rougher and full of a dark, sexy promise. “Convince you. Seduce you. Earn your trust. I am not asking you to hop into my bed tonight, Venessa. I am not asking you for any big promises or marriage. I am just asking you to give me a real, honest shot. You keep running away from me because you are terrified of the electric spark you feel the second I get close to you. Come to my world for three months. Prove me wrong. Or prove yourself wrong.”

I turned my head away and stared out the passenger window, watching the red brake lights of the cars crawling through the heavy Chicago evening traffic. My mind was spinning in wild circles, trying to process his words.

Ninety days was not forever. It was just three short months. I was a strong woman. Surely, I could survive three months of whatever this crazy connection was. And if I stayed strong, if I kept my heart locked away behind my high walls, the ninety days would end, and he would disappear from my life just like he promised. The disruptions would stop. The gossip at my office would die down. I would finally be free of this insane, terrifying pull I felt toward him.

But as I stared at the reflection of his sharp, handsome jawline in the glass, a dark fear gripped my chest.

What if I couldn't stay strong against him? What if his touch destroyed every single wall I had spent years building to protect myself?

“What exactly happens during these ninety days?” I asked carefully, turning my body back around in the leather seat to face him fully. “Because if you think for one second that I am going to drop my job at the outreach center, ignore my friends, and give up my entire life just to follow you around the country like some shiny trophy girlfriend, you are completely mistaken.”

“You live your own life,” he cut in immediately, his expression softening just a fraction. “I live mine. I have my hockey season, my daily training, and my team travel schedules. But when we are both in the city, we make time for each other. Real, uninterrupted time. We have dinners. You come to my games. We have real conversations. I get to chase you the way a good woman deserves to be chased. No other women. No media bullshit. Just you and me.”

I swallowed hard, my throat feeling incredibly tight. “And what happens if I look you dead in the eyes right now and say no to this deal?”

His dark eyes narrowed, darkening until they looked nearly pitch-black with sheer determination. “Then I drive you home to your apartment tonight, and I spend the entire night planning exactly how to change your stubborn mind tomorrow morning. Because I am not walking away from you easily, Venessa. Not from this connection. I don’t let go of what is mine.”

The sheer, unadulterated arrogance of his words should have made me furious. It should have made me open the car door and slam it in his face. Instead, a traitorous, wild thrill rushed straight down my spine, pooling deep between my thighs. No man had ever fought this hard for my attention before. No one had ever looked at me with this kind of raw, heavy intensity, as if I were the only thing that mattered in the entire world.

I forced myself to look down at my watch again, trying to break the hypnotic spell of his gaze. “Your five minutes are officially up, captain.”

He didn't move a single muscle. He didn't take his hand off the wheel. “And what is your answer, little liar?”

My fingers tightened around the leather strap of my purse until my knuckles turned white. Every single smart, logical part of my brain was screaming at me to say no. My mind begged me to run away, to protect the safe, quiet, and predictable life I had built after surviving so much pain in my past. But another part of me—the wild, passionate part that had completely melted under his deep kiss earlier that day—wondered what it would feel like to finally stop running. It wondered what it would feel like to let The Beast chase me.

I lifted my chin, meeting his burning gaze straight-on. My heart was pounding like a drum in my ears, and my mouth felt completely dry, but I forced the words out.

“Ninety days,” I said slowly, my voice steady despite the trembling in my hands. “But I have some very strict conditions, Khalid.”

A wide, devastatingly handsome smile spread across his rugged face. It was the smile of a predator who had finally caught his prey, flashing perfect white teeth against his dark stubble. It made him look so sexy it was hard to breathe.

“Name them,” he said, his voice dropping to a low, possessive whisper that made my skin break out in goosebumps. “I will give you whatever you want, Venessa.”

“First,” I said, lifting a finger. “You do not show up uninvited at my workplace anymore. You are a giant celebrity, Khalid. Your face is on every billboard in Chicago. When you lean against my reception desk, it causes a total circus. I have a professional reputation to keep, and I won't have my coworkers taking sneaky photos of you and gossiping about my private life.”

He nodded his head once, his eyes tracking the movement of my lips. “Deal. I won't step foot inside that building unless you ask me to. What else?”

“Second,” I continued, my voice gaining strength. “No paparazzi. No media drama. If we go out to dinner, it has to be at private places like the restaurant from lunch. I don't want my face plastered across gossip blogs or sports channels. I value my privacy above everything else.”

“Done,” he said without a single second of hesitation. “My team security can easily handle the cameras. Nobody will see us unless we want them to. Next condition?”

“And third,” I whispered, my pulse thundering in my throat as I stared at his full lips. “You don’t get to just touch me or kiss me whenever you want. You said you wanted to chase me properly, Khalid. That means you have to earn it. You don't just claim me.”

His eyes darkened with a heavy, dangerous wave of desire. He reached his large hand across the space between us, his thick fingers hovering just a millimeter away from the skin of my cheek. He didn't actually touch me, keeping his promise, but the radiating warmth from his palm made my skin tingle.

“I will earn every single touch, Venessa,” he growled softly, the sound vibrating deep in his massive chest. “I will earn your lips, your body, and your heart. But make no mistake, little liar. When these ninety days are over, you are going to be completely mine. Now, let me drive you home.”

He shifted the car into gear, and the massive Range Rover pulled away from the curb, merging smoothly into the freezing Chicago traffic. I sat back against the cool leather seat, my thighs pressed tightly together against the sudden rush of heat in my body.

I had no idea if I had just saved my quiet life, or if I had just signed a contract to let The Beast completely destroy it. All I knew was that as the city lights blurred outside the window, I was already counting down the seconds until tomorrow night’s game.