I said my goodbye, and handed Kova the phone. I picked at my already chipped pale pink nail polish and stayed while he continued talking to my dad. I knew just as much as Kova did I couldn’t afford to take time off. After all the long, rigorous hours I put in to get ahead only to take ten steps back? Not going to happen.
There weren’t enough hours in the day, but come hell or high water, I planned to be at practice bright and early tomorrow morning.
Kova hung the phone up and angled his chair toward me, leaning back with his legs stretched open. He looked fucking sexy sitting back so casually with his head tilted to the side. His clandestine eyes were on my body. I wanted to know what he was thinking of for his lips to form a slow sexy twist and his eyes to sparkle when they met mine again. The air changed in the room. When we were alone, the intensity of his gaze always undid me, and I knew if I looked at him any longer I’d agree to anything he said.
The cell phone on his desk vibrated. Kova glanced at it only to reach over and silence it.
Staring straight at him, I said quietly, “You have to let me keep practicing.”
“I do not have to let you do anything.”
Kova was goading me. His phone vibrated again and this time I looked at it. I didn’t get a chance to read the name on it before a grimace knotted his face and he sent it to voicemail.
“You and I both know I need to practice as much as possible. Especially if I want to reach my dream of the Olympics one day. I’ll scale back on my floor routine if I have to, only practice on beam and bars to take the pressure off my ankle. I’m willing to do anything, just don’t force me to take time off.”
“Maybe it is not meant to be for you.”
I saw red. “What does that even mean? Not meant to be for me? Why do you have to be a jerk all the time?”
He raised a brow. “I am going to let that one slide. Your body was not prepared for the kind of change you underwent and you became injured. Maybe going back to basics is a better idea.”
Mumbling under my breath, I cursed him out in my head.
Kova tensed, leaning forward. “What did you say?”
“Nothing. I was talking to myself.”
His office phone rang and I jumped not expecting it. When he leaned over his desk to look at the caller ID, his brows were pinched together and his shoulder brushed my thigh. I followed his gaze as he sent the caller to voicemail. It had to be important for whoever was calling and I almost suggested he pick it up.
Sitting back, he said, “Did you purposely wear that dress to taunt me?”
My head snapped in his direction, annoyed he’d think such a thing. His eyes were trained on my chest so I followed his heavy stare. My breasts were pressed together unknowingly by the pressure of my folded arms, giving me ample cleavage in my v neck dress. And by ample, I meant normal sized B cups on a good day. I hadn’t given much thought when I slipped it on, but I guess subconsciously I wanted to attract his gaze.
Not surprisingly, the smug look Kova donned suited him. It wasn’t often he smiled at gym, or even the few times I’d been alone with him. He was always so serious, so brooding, so…hot.
And let’s not forget major asshole, either.
His eyes flickered deviously as he rocked in his chair with his hands clasped casually in his lap. His smile grew larger, and my heart began to melt. I realized in this moment I liked seeing Kova smile, liked seeing his cheek indent with a dimple and wished he did it more. He was carefree, and it dawned on me he was possibly flirting with me.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I wasn’t even thinking of you this morning when I got dressed.”
His infectious smile only grew larger. I had to fight mine, and the shiver from the goose bumps on my skin. The phone rang again, and this time Kova reached for it.
“What,” he snapped. A moment later he turned to his native tongue. He was short, clipped and angry. Quite the opposite just seconds earlier with me. “No, I do not want to do this,” he bit back to the person on the other end. I was curious to know what the conversation was about and why he was abruptly so angry. When I heard the name Katja, I decided against it. Kova had opened up to me about his family life, but nothing about his girlfriend. I was curious to know about his relationship with her and how they’d come together, but decided today was not the day to ask with his sudden change of tone. “I refuse to—” he said, only to be cut off. I could hear her voice and she was just as heated. His eyes widened and a scowl formed on his striking face before he sputtered off in Russian again. His voice rose and his hand tightened on the receiver before he slammed it down with her still talking. He dropped his head to his hand and rubbed his eyes. Whatever happened couldn’t be good. His body was rolled tight, fury radiating off him. A few moments of uncomfortable silence went by before I spoke up.
“If you think for one second I wore this dress for you, well, then, you’re crazy.”
Kova picked his head up and angled his body toward me, raking his eyes down my body. His shoulders relaxed and he leaned back in his chair, spreading his legs wider. This made me happy. I didn’t like seeing him so bothered and upset. I couldn’t help my eyes as they wandered over his broad shoulders down to the thick bulge in his shorts. There was no way to ignore the hard outline laying on his thigh. I tried to picture exactly how he looked under his clothes and my body warmed at the thought. He sat forward. His hand dropped to the side and his fingers danced up the back of my leg. His touch was as soft as a butterfly’s fluttering wings and caused a rush of warmth to flow through my body. Expelling a slow breath, I fought it and didn’t move, didn’t show anything on my face.
“Oh, malysh, I am definitely crazy,” he said in a low voice with a peaked brow.
I playfully slapped his hand away.
He only put it back.
“Stop!” I whispered with a smirk.
Kova chuckled, and God help me, I loved the sound of it, loved the big grin on his face.