“Not good enough to teach,” I replied with just a turn of my head, knowing where his thoughts were.
“No,” he agreed. “But you’re better than average.” He raised a brow as if posing a question.
I huffed. “I was an ice hockey cheerleader at Hamilton University.”
I expected him to laugh. Or call me some kind of a hypocrite. I wasn’t expecting the response he gave instead.
Green eyes scanned me head to toe, “Were you any good?”
I scoffed and pushed off the ice. “I was amazing.”
He rubbed his chin and turned, his eyes following me. “You expect me to believe that youcheeredon hockey players?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything,” I continued in circular motions around him. Then pivoted to do the same backwards, feeling like I needed to prove something to him. “I was one of the best.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Swiftly, he seized my arm and pulled me into him. I braced myself expecting to slam into a hard body, but his other hand gently gripped my waist, steadying me just inches from his chest.
We held a gaze for a millionth of a second before my mouth opened to protest. But he spun me once and then drew me close gliding across the ice with him. Seamlessly.
Professionally.
He bent slightly, without slowing our speed. His breath against my ear. “Something else you hiding from me?”
I lost my balance at his last words and he caught me, twisting me to face him. His arms tight around my waist.
I didn’t have it in me to look him in the eye, but I certainly didn’t need to be focused on his lips either.
I swallowed. “If you’re accusing me of something, why don’t you just say it.”
His eyes searched mine, then dropped to my lips. “You know who I am,” he breathed.
If only that was all.
“Yes.”
“And that disqualifies me as a private coach for Jax?”
God his lips were so close. “I think it over qualifies you.”
He didn’t respond right away. His face hardened and his glare unwavering. And I found myself wishing he wouldn’t let go.
The opposite effect Max had on me.
When he would corner me on the ice, even when we were together, I’d felt intimidated somehow, unbalanced, and completely off-center. But right now, with Logan, even with his scrutiny and the fact that he was the last person on earth I should trust—I felt incredibly and oddly safe.
If he knew who I was—who Jax and I were—he’d run. I knew this and it was something I couldn’t help but repeat at sporadic moments, such as this.
He released his grip and pulled me alongside him to the board. “You’re probably right,” he admitted and let go completely. My chest hitched and I gripped the edge with both hands to keep from reaching for him.
It felt good in his arms. And that—wasn’tgood.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Look, your kid needs lessons—and there’s no one better in town to give them.”
He was right. And hell was it tempting.And not just for the sake of my son.But it wouldn’t be right. And there was no way I could tell him. I thought it’d be easy. But after feeling the warmth of his body so close to me, searching me, being one with me on the ice, in a way I’d never imagined possible…
But before I could finish that thought, a new question struck me. “Why?”
“Because it gives me a reason,” he answered after a beat, his eyes flashing to the ice.
