Page 33

“I gotta lace up so I can be on the ice. Won’t take a minute.”

He seemed faster at getting in the skates than he had when we skated together. He was already in sweatpants, but after he hung his coat in the locker, he slipped out of the sweater he wore.

I restrained an audible gasp at seeing him shirtless for the first time. He had a perfect six pack and my mouth watered, wanting to lick around those ridges. A smattering of hair spread across his chest and a thin trail disappeared into his sweats.

I should look away.

He made no move to hide himself as he pulled a workout shirt over his head and then pulled on a Detroit jacket.

The image of his sculpted chest and abs was burned into my brain. I couldn’t fixate on it now because I couldn’t get aroused in these pants. Khakis didn’t hide much, and we’d soon be around kids.

“And in case you hadn’t heard,” he said as we went to the ice, “trade rumors spiked today.”

“Oh no. I hadn’t seen that.”

“Not a done deal, but it sounds far closer to it than I’d like.” Kyle struggled to keep his mood up. “I just wanted to mention it in case you hear any chatter here.”

I liked having the heads up but wished we could talk about it more. It’d be conversation for later.

The kids were closer to teens, most were between twelve and sixteen. I helped distribute gear and made sure the fit seemed right before they went on the ice. Sometimes they came back if something didn’t feel quite right. I loved how much equipment was here—a mix of donated and new.

Kyle had a blast on the ice alongside one of his teammates. Once Kyle retired from play, I easily imagined him coaching. He had such patience. He’d shown that with my lesson but it was even more on display here. He stayed on the ice until the last of his students was called off.

The ninety minutes flew by.

When he changed after the session, I busied myself on my phone so I wouldn’t stare.

“Everything okay at the office?”

“Seems okay.” I scanned the subject lines and nothing stood out as urgent. If something was on fire, they’d mark it urgent or call and nothing had come in while we were on the ice when I had my phone off.

“If you need to go back, you can say so. I heard some of the raised voices earlier.”

Ouch. He’d heard that. I’d been on the verge of losing my temper as one of our business development guys expressed a differing opinion on how we were handling follow up to the big presentation from last week. “Sorry you had to hear that. Things are more tense than usual with a couple clients in the balance and our yearly innovation summit coming up.”

He put a hand on my forearm and the understanding look in his eyes warmed me. “Only if you’re sure. I don’t want you in trouble with your staff, or with yourself, because I stole you away.”

“I’ll have time later tonight or tomorrow to go over what’s getting done.” No way was I giving up this afternoon with him. Plus Tamara knows I’ll pick up if she calls, and even though things are unsettled, she’s someone I can count on.”

“Do you want to pick up your car on the way to my place? Or, do you want me to drive you back after?”

His place. Interesting.

“I can get it later. I don’t want to risk getting sucked into something. You can drive or I can call a car.”

He nodded. “Off we go then.”

He offered me a hand up from the bench, but he didn’t let go afterward. Instead he held it as we left. Just as he started the car, his phone rang. On the dashboard, the word “Mom” appeared.

“Sorry.”

I stopped him before he could tap “Ignore.” “Don’t do that. It’s your mom. Take the call. I swear I won’t hold it against you.”

He studied me for a moment and smiled as he hit “Accept.”

“Hi, Mom. I’m in the car with a friend. What’s up?”

I liked how he immediately said that someone was with him. I imagined that was to keep the conversation away from anything that might be too personal, or maybe embarrassing.