“Well, since you two kids are having so much fun,” Finn said, “I’m going to head on home.”
“Get him off the damn board first,” Julia told him.
“I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I’m not stupid enough to come between Noah and his board. I’m outta here.” He lifted his fist to Julia, and she met the bump. “Later, bro,” he called to Noah on his way out. “Get off the board so Julia doesn’t have a heart attack, would you?”
“She’s too stubborn to have a heart attack.” Noah followed Finn down the hallway, swerving into the dining room as Finn closed the door.
“What the hell?” she said, experiencing a shocked awe that kept her gaze on him even when watching amped her blood pressure. “Do you realize how dangerous that is? One misstep, and you could reinjure your ankle all over again.”
He rushed toward her again, moves smooth and strong. She had to admit, there was something seriously hot about the confident way he owned that board as if it were an extension of his body.
He came to a stop at the counter, dropped his elbows to the granite, and grinned at her. His eyes sparkled, his smile gleamed, and his entire face radiant with life. “Where was your head when we talked about not pushing this?” he asked. Heat slid into his eyes, and he rocked his hips side to side, swishing the board. “Probably in your pants.”
She heaved a sigh and covered her eyes. “Sometimes you’re like an exuberant puppy. Too cute to get angry with.”
His grin fell into a thoughtful frown. “I’m going to take that as a backhanded compliment. Like…seriously backhanded.”
“You’re making me crazy.”
“Hey, relax,” he said, his voice that easy, casual what’s-up-dude tone she’d grown to enjoy. “I’m a professional, remember?”
“That didn’t stop you from getting here, did it?”
He kicked up the board on one side and started spinning again.
“Oh my God. I can’t watch.” Turning away, she pulled a water bottle from the fridge. “If you hurt yourself, I’m not fixing you.”
He slammed the board to the floor. “Isn’t that your job?”
“My job is to heal the injury you have, not the new ones you create doing stupid shit I’ve told you not to do yet.”
He just gave her that maddening grin. “You’re so cute when you’re jacked.”
“I’ll show you jacked when I get you on the table.”
“Promises, promises.” Bending at the waist, he unfastened the boots holding him to the board and stepped out in bare feet.
Julia almost spit her water out. “What the hell? Where’s the brace I told you to wear?”
He gave her a one-shouldered shrug. “It’s itchy.”
Frustration swirled into something resembling a tornado. She slammed her water bottle on the counter. “I don’t think you’re getting therapy tonight. If I touch you, I’m pretty sure I’ll leave marks.”
“Ooo, baby.” He strode past her, purposely brushing her shoulder on his way to the fridge. “I like the sound of that.”
He pulled a bottle of water from the door and leaned his hip into the counter. With those bright eyes holding hers, he lifted the bottle to his mouth and downed half, then sighed and licked his lips. And, yeah, she watched, because…well, she could. And because fantasies were as close to Noah as she was going to get.
“Besides,” he said, “you didn’t tell me not to get on my practice board.”
“You are, officially, maddening.” She set her water down next to the electrostimulation unit.
H
e frowned hard at the contraption. “What’s that? And what are those electrodes for?”
“My new toy.”
“Whoa, wait, what? You’re not planning on putting those on me.”