She’d gone into physical therapy after the grueling months of recovery from her accident. Regaining the use of her leg after the way she’d torn up her hip had been difficult, but she’d been intellectually fascinated by the process enough to launch a career.
“Yes.” His dark eyes glittered and she allowed herself a moment to admire his Latin good looks. Tall and dark-skinned, he had pale green eyes that were a surprising combination with the rich color of his skin. His short hair was deep brown, and his features were sharply patrician from the high cheekbones to the straight arrow nose. And as a power hitter, he was strong as an ox, arms full of muscle. “That’s what the first-name basis means. I’ll stop trying to scare you off, but you cease and desist any attempt to get inside my head.”
Her jaw fell open. “I asked you one question. It was direct and straightforward, with no subterfuge.” She shrugged her shoulders and stood. “Forgive my curiosity to know what’s eating you, but as someone who has dangled at the end of a busted bungee cord and known the merits of cliff diving firsthand, I thought we might have something to talk about besides your lame attempt to pick me up.”
Turning on her heel, her gym shoes squeaked on the tile as she marched for the door with a head of steam. He beat her to it. Planting himself between her and the knob before she reached it, her hand connected with his abs instead.
She yanked back her fingers, unwilling to touch him any more than she had to. Attraction between them would be more than problematic—it would get her fired and could be the final straw in Javier’s touchy relationship with the Flames’ management. She couldn’t afford to get hot and bothered from the sincerity in his eyes or the sizzle in his touch.
“I’m an ass.” He held his hands up in surrender, conceding the point. “It’s common knowledge around the League. I guess I assumed you’d been briefed on that character flaw.”
His hands fell to his sides, but he didn’t step away from the door. His quick apology had chased away her irritation anyhow. Ah, who was she kidding? Mouthy Javier had utterly charmed her.
“The character flaw section of the file was too much dense reading, so I skipped it.” She didn’t plan on letting him get away with anything, suspecting he would steamroll any woman who couldn’t hold her own.
But he took no offense, grinning at her in a way that made her heart sit up and take notice.
“That’s great. I can start with a clean slate.” He reached out to her, surprising her by taking her hand in both of his. “Forget what I said. Forget that I’m notoriously difficult to work with. How about we get out of here and have a drink? Get to know each other in an environment that doesn’t involve me being naked or you having a job to do.”
Her hand tingled where he touched her. Not like a friendly hum of happiness at being touched, either. This was more like an electric jolt that buzzed with high voltage and singed her in its wake. She yanked her hand back, rattled. She’d touched him plenty of times, so this shouldn’t have been a big deal.
But then again, it had been the first time he’d touched her. The results were skin-tingling.
“You know that’s unethical for a staff trainer.” For a moment, she wondered if this was yet another of his ploys to send her running from this job so he could ditch the mandated workouts in favor of training however he wanted. Or to replace training with activities that were more fun.
Like sky diving.
But Javier didn’t seem the type to be anything less than forthright about his motives. Subtlety didn’t seem to be a commodity he prized, judging by his recent dust-up with the Boston Aces’ catcher, or his ease in confessing to the media where he’d been during the off-season when he took off for the far corners of the world to chase new thrills.
“But you don’t work with the whole team, right? You’re working with me on a temporary basis. And the coaches aren’t going to keep me on a leash forever.”
“Do they have you on a leash now?” She couldn’t resist the jab since she’d never met anyone less restrained. “From what I hear, you don’t answer to anyone. But any way you look at it, I’m an athletic trainer, not a personal trainer. I can’t go out for drinks with you.”
She shouldered past him, determined not to succumb to the he-man appeal of a guy who lived for the moment. She didn’t need that kind of temptation even though she hadn’t indulged her adrenaline-seeking side in almost eight years. Maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea to put herself in his path in the first place. Who would have thought he could touch an old nerve she’d figured was long dead?
Who’d have thought she could experience such a sharp attraction for a man she’d only just met?
“Wait.” He followed her out of the physical therapy area and into the weight room. The Flames’ training facility was big and impressive, and she had a long way to walk before she would be home free from the man who’d sent a lightning bolt through her so damn unexpectedly today.
“I can’t.” She shook her head and kept on moving, not sure if she could outrun the invitation in his sea-glass eyes. “I’ve got things to do today and I need to—”
He laid a broad palm on her shoulder without gripping it, his touch alone halting her in her tracks. She closed her eyes against the expected jolt and wondered how the hell she’d gone from helping this man to running from him in the course of a brief therapy session.
She was the one who needed therapy, damn it, and not the physical kind.
“Lisa.” He turned her around with her name, proving he’d kept his word to remember it this time. “You say you’ve known the lure of a bungee jump before. How do you feel about something less risky but still fun?”
She had no idea what he was about to suggest, but she was very worried she might say yes. She was a full-time trainer at a local university’s athletic department, so she didn’t technically need the Flames gig. But she cared about her reputation in the industry and wouldn’t want to compromise it by making an unwise step with Javier. Still, maybe spending more time with him would give her the insight she needed to understand why he wanted to play with fire all the time.
She just hoped they wouldn’t both end up getting burned.
“I assure you, I still know how to have fun.” She folded her arms to insert a barrier between them, wishing he had a shirt on.
A severe overbite might have helped, too.
“Then how do you feel about kite surfing?”
2
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU talked me into this.” Lisa strapped on her life vest while Javier checked the lines on her kite’s safety harness.
They had pulled into the parking lot at Montrose Beach about an hour ago, and were almost ready for a trial run. The wind was blowing in from just the right direction off Lake Michigan. Other kite boarders were already out on the water, surfing across the waves and catching big air on the major power generated by the traction kites. The sport was similar to windsurfing, but required less wind to generate speed. The gear could easily lift a rider out of the water twenty to thirty feet, a fact which had started to make Javier a little wary.
It was one thing for him to dive headfirst into adrenaline spiking sports. But was it wrong to coerce his sexy new trainer into something that had the potential to be dangerous? He’d already alerted the lifeguards that she was a newbie and they’d given her a special colored streamer for her rigging to help them keep track of her out in the water. Still…he planned to make sure she stayed safe.