Page 26 of Deking at Love
He let out a mirthless chuckle.“Guess I’m not your average patient.”
Without looking at him, she said, “No, you’re worse.You think being an athlete means you can out-stubborn anatomy.”
They were right back to where they had started, but somehow he didn’t mind the barbed exchanges.They were like foreplay, and he was suddenly very interested in keeping up the banter.Why hadn’t he pursued this girl six years ago?
Oh, right.The NHL had come calling, and he hadn’t been able to hear other voices besides the one telling him to report.Could he have handled it better?No question.Did he regret not trying?He was beginning to acknowledge it was a possibility.
When he moved to the balance board, she hovered close—not hovering enough for him to accuse her of coddling, but near enough to catch him if he lost it.His stabilizers trembled, sweat beading on his forehead.This sucked.
“Three sets,” she instructed.
He grimaced.“Are you trying to kill me?”
“Just your ego.And I predict it’s going to be a long, slow death.”He thought he detected a ghost of a smile.
“Are you implying I have a big ego?”
“I’m not implying anything.I’m declaring a fact.”
Getting through the exercise routine was tougher than usual, though he wouldn’t admit it aloud.She asked if he wanted to stop after the first set, but he refused.His stubborn streak carried him through all three sets.He could already feel the joint swelling the moment he stopped.
Angie regarded him with something akin to sympathy.“I think your ankle would appreciate some ice and compression, followed by a little babying.”
He didn’t argue.Reality had flayed him, and he couldn’t even muster a snarky, flirty twist to her mention of babying.Other than the kiss, which he’d never be able to repeat again, this entire day and night was one to toss in the crapper.
Chapter 9
Kryptonite
Angieregardedthemanin front of her with a mix of admiration, frustration, and sympathy.All three emotions were fueled by his stubborn determination to overcome an injury that had a timeline of its own.Admiration because she was a fan of his optimism and his grit.Frustration because those very traits were like a steel wall and gave her whiplash every time she rammed her head against it.And sympathy because she understood no amount of willpower would get him to his ultimate goal fast enough if the body couldn’t keep up, and oh, how she wanted him to get there in time.She wanted it so badly she could almost reach out and squeeze it.Professional sports was an unforgiving business, and his best shot at staying in the NHL might have already come and gone.The thought made her heart hurt for him.
There was also that small matter ofthe kiss, which had her looking at him with a completely different emotion: unbridled lust.The embers that kissing him had whipped up were foreign yet so familiar.The stirrings hadn’t been there for a long time, but the taste of him, the smell of him, the way his body had fit hers exploded from her memory locker and came roaring back at her.
Right now she needed to close the lid on that locker and concentrate on getting him out of here before she climbed him and broke every rule in the book.But how she longed to continue what they’d started when their lips had met.Oh, mama!He’d been good at kissing back then, but either he’d gotten impossibly better with more practice or she’d forgotten how the feel of his mouth and his hands on her could transport her to a world where nothing mattered but the press of their two bodies.
She told him none of this, nor would she—not about her wavering hopes for his recovery, nor how that kiss had rocked her and left her panting for more.Nope, she was smarter than that.Or was she?If she truly was smart, she would have reined in her libido and not let it walk all over common sense in the first place.But this was Sam, the man she’d dreamed about before that fateful night and ever since.He was her kryptonite.
Wheeling her computer outside his arm’s reach, she began typing in bullet points because her mind was taxed as it was, and stringing coherent sentences together would have pushed it beyond its capacity.So she merely listed phrases summarizing his progress.As far as her growing concerns, though, she decided to wrestle with those later when she had more brainpower at her disposal.
His exercises done, he pulled on his boot, his eyes focused on his ankle.“So when do I come in next?”
Finally, a different topic where she could focus her attention.“I have good news for you.”She injected as much cheer as she could into her voice.“Starting next week, you’ll come in three times a week instead of every day.Unless, of course, you pull another boneheaded stunt and hurt yourself.”
He tilted his head and peered at her.“Oh.”Was that disappointment in his navy blues?If it was, it was quickly blotted out by a renewed brightness.“I mean, already?That must be good news, huh?”One corner of his mouth lifted in a tentative smile.
She didn’t want to let him down, but she didn’t want to give him false hope either.“It’s the normal course of treatment for your kind of injury.”
Pleats formed between his dark brows, and he cast his eyes to the side, but not before that look of dejection reappeared.
She withdrew her hands from the keyboard and faced him, once more shedding the professional crispness she normally held in place like a shield.“Sam, have you ever thought about what you’d be doing if you weren’t playing hockey?”
Spinning on his rear end, he let his legs dangle over the edge of the table and perched a fist on his tree-trunk thigh—one she’d been resting her hip against not too long ago.He was all easy, confident masculinity right now, with no clue how his merely sitting there looking that way made her pulse jump.Good thing too.“No idea.Slinging burgers at McDonald’s?”
“Seriously.”
“Iamserious,” he chuffed.“You may not remember, but I didn’t exactly kill it in school.In fact, I’m pretty sure a couple of teachers passed me just so they could get rid of me.The other classes I passed were ones where you tutored me, and those by the slimmest of margins.”
“Oh, come on, Sam.Don’t be so hard on yourself.You’re smart.”
