Page 15 of Slapshot Summer
Anna’s voice piped up in her head.“He’s hot as hell and built like the male equivalent of a swimsuit model.Don’t you want to get your hands on those muscles and find out if they’re as hard as they look?”Except Neil’s were the muscles she wanted her hands on.Weren’t they?
Josh bent down to the table and picked up a pen in his left hand.Lexi sneaked a look at the check as he scrawled a room number and his signature below a figure that made Lexi’s eyes pop.If she read it right, he’d left the woman a tip that exceeded the total for the meal.Lexi was used to cheap—that’s what Conrad had been, and it was one reason she’d paid for the entire honeymoon.
Josh handed the woman the small folder.“In case the other guy spaces getting back here to pay you, his name is Neil Afton, and he’s staying at this hotel, so feel free to charge his room.”He sent her a sly wink that made the woman beam him a brilliant smile.He turned back to Lexi.“Ready?”
Mind made up, she dropped her napkin on the table.“Where are we going?What are we doing?”
“I’m going to show you something else I enjoy.”
Oh God!Itissex.Alarms clanging in her head, Lexi feigned casualness and cocked an eyebrow.“Are you going to tell me what that is?”
“It’s a surprise.And it’s too late to back out now.”
“I never backedin,” she pointed out.
“You threw down your napkin.That’s a challenge.”His eyes twinkled.“Instead of telling you, it’s better if Ishowyou instead.”
A thrill effervesced behind her breastbone.Or was that panic?
He seemed to read her thoughts.“Don’t worry.We’ll be in public, and you can tell me to get lost any time you want—and I will.”
Oh.Not sex, then.A frisson of disappointment threaded through her.She popped out of her seat, whacking her knee on the table’s edge.Unfortunately, she pitched toward Josh.Fortunately, his arms came up in a decisive motion, cradling her before she could fall.
Upright again, she pressed the back of her hand to her forehead.“Ooh!”Oh, those muscles are hard all right.They feel like granite … steel … wood … concrete.She told her galloping heart to settle back down.
The smile slipped from his face, and his knees dipped.He looked her in the eye, his own filled with concern.He ran his gaze up and down her body.“Did I hurt you?”
“N-no, I just was caught off guard by your …”Muscles made of iron.“Reflexes.You have excellent reflexes.”
And there came that smirk tipping his lips.It didn’t bother her as much now as it had when she’d first met him.No, she found it … sexy.Playful.Sinful.
“Yeah, well, I’ve had a lot of practice.”When she merely gaped at him, he jabbed his thumb at his solar plexus.“Goalie, remember?Lots of practice builds muscle memory, which builds reflexes.Gotta stop pucks without thinking about stopping pucks.”
Her mind shot to what else he could do with hismuscle memory.
Before she could ejectthatinappropriate thought, he surprised her by steering her toward the beach—not the interior of the hotel—kicking off his flip-flops as he went.He paused and pointed to her sandals.“You might want to take those off.”
“Um, I’ll keep them on, thanks.”Why was she resisting?Shoe removal did not automatically lead to clothing removal.It was naturally and completely harmless.But he made her tipsy—or maybe it was the penis coladas—and she withdrew to her safe shell.She wasn’t takinganythingoff.Not yet.
“Suit yourself.”He took her by the hand, and his touch shot off a shower of embers that raced to her core.His hand was big and rough and warm, and it wrapped hers up in a gentle hold.Where the hell were all these fiery feelings coming from?Apparently, she was desperate for a man’s touch because his light one felt really, really good.It conveyed a masculine protectiveness that had her entire body humming.
They stepped off the concrete patio, and the heels of her sandals sank into soft, warm sand and stuck.
She slid her hand from his hold.“Okay.You’re right.Wait.”Placing her hand on his rock-hard shoulder—an unnecessary move, but oh so nice—she shimmied out of the sandals and let him lead her down the beach toward a band covering rock-and-roll oldies in a covered, open-air pavilion strung with twinkle lights and packed with bobbing bodies.Palm trees rimmed the perimeter, and tiki torch flames swayed in the breeze.The setting was pure enchantment.
He lifted her footwear from her hands and, together with his, tossed them at the base of a palm tree.“We’ll come back for those later.”Then he tugged her toward the dance floor’s perimeter.She gaped at him.“We’re … dancing?”
“Only if you want to.”He kept her hand nestled in his.
“Youliketo dance?”Men didn’t like dancing.This was a well-known fact and one she had reported on in her articles.
He smirked—again.“This is one activity you left off your list.You never asked if I did.I haven’t had much spare time or the desire to hang out in clubs lately, but I do like to cut a rug.”
“I’m not … very good at this,” she warned.At least that’s what Conrad had told her when he’d walked out on their first dance lesson—also paid for by her, so she’d stuck with the eight-week commitment.The woman teacher had taken pity and stepped in as her dance partner.
“Don’t worry.Iam.”Surprisingly, his declaration didn’t come across as cocky.It was matter-of-fact.He nudged them onto the dance floor with his big shoulders and created a space where their two bodies could fit.He lifted her hand to his shoulder and placed his other one on her waist.Oh, that felt good.His touch was strong but reverent and so warm she could feel the heat through her dress.
“Just keep your eyes on mine and follow my lead.”He stabbed his index and middle fingers in the general direction of her eyes and back at his own, emphasizing the point.He was dead serious, and she tried not to giggle out loud.
