[i]Don’t look at her butt.[i]
“No, but Stu can grab you a pair.”
[i]Her butt is the enemy.[i]
“You’re late,” he managed to say, barely keeping his eyes above her hips.
She finally turned and sat on the bench. “Sorry, I was…I slept in.”
As she pulled on her skates he strode past her an
d stepped out onto the ice. “I paid good money for these sessions, Barker. Don’t be late again.”
Logan skated a few laps while she finished lacing up her skates and by the time she joined him on the ice, his blood was flowing and he was feeling pretty good.
That was until Billie-Jo Barker put him through the ringer.
He was a guy who was in shape. He played hockey, baseball, basketball and soccer. He knew that his mother thought the reason he was still single, was because if he wasn’t at the shop, he was playing some sort of organized sport. There was some truth there—he didn’t know many women who’d put up with their man out of the house five nights a week. But the point was, he was a guy who was used to hard, physical activities.
And yet, Billie had him doing drills over and over again that had his legs shaking, and his heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst.
She had him running drills up and down the ice, some utilizing the puck and some not. He spent at least fifteen minutes skating backward around the center ice, and then around each faceoff circle in the end zones. Always with her on his heels, shouting for him to be better. To go faster. To keep his head up and use his legs.
You name it, he did it.
Shit, maybe she was trying to kill him, but Logan was stubborn enough to play along and by the time she set up pylons down the center he’d almost had enough.
Almost.
“I think it’s time you show me some of your skills.”
She turned to him and he was struck by the fragility of her bone structure. Just like that his thoughts scattered. Her jaw and cheekbones were exquisite, her nose delicate and that mouth. Sweet Jesus..
How was it that this woman could tear up the ice the way she did, and still be the hottest thing he’d ever seen?
Her blue eyes were wide and questioning as she skated over to him.
“What do you mean?”
She propped her elbow against her stick. Her hair was wet from the rain when she’d arrived and she’d clipped it in a mess on top of her head. Now, small chunks fell free and hung in long curls down her back. Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her lips…
Okay, stay away from the porn star perfect mouth, dumbass.
“Well, that is if you’re feeling up to it,” he goaded.
The tension inside her seemed to dissipate, and she offered a small smile. “What did you have in mind?”
He grabbed several pylons and skated out to center ice, noticing for the first time that they had a crowd watching. The midget girls from next door were gathered beside the player’s bench, their excited chatter now hard to miss.
He placed the pylons in exactly the same pattern that she had done and pointed toward her. “A race.”
“You’re kidding.”
Was that sarcasm? “No, I’m not.”
“Are you sure you’re up for that Forest?”
Definitely sarcasm.