FOUR
‘Seen the new dancer?’Dion asked him as they watched the boys doing their drills that afternoon. ‘Your bee-sting girl got in and she’s good.’
She wasn’t his bee-sting girl. And he was trying very hard not to watch the women doing the warm-ups down the other end of the pitch. Usually they made it a rule not to practice when the girls were around—it was too distracting. But it was the day before the first big game of the season and everyone wanted extra pitch time.
‘Foxy Roxie.’ Dion’s smile was pure evil.
Gabe nearly jumped out of his skin. ‘Who’s calling her that?’ He consciously tried to relax but his body had been nuked and he was boiling from the inside out.
‘Jimmy, couple of those new kids. Got their eyes trained.’
Foxy Roxie wasn’t that at all. She might have her hair blonded and her eyelashes blackened and her breasts pushed up front and center, but that was all surface. The suggestion of sophistication was merely skin deep. She was an innocent at large. Admittedly she didn’t want to be innocent but that was beside the point. She still was. And he didn’t want any of thoselouts taking advantage of her. No, truth was, he wanted to take total advantage himself.
‘She’s just a kid.’ He tried to act dismissive and completely blanked Dion’s snort of laughter.
Inevitably the two groups met up as practice ended. It was brief, management were watching close to make sure the boys didn’t get up to bad the night before a big game. She stood on the edge of the circle of dancers, not saying anything, a little distanced. Probably because she was new. But it was only a matter of time before one of the guys would strike up a conversation with her. Sure enough, one of the young bloods took a buddy as back-up. Shook her hand and everything. But Roxie had a back-up too, another dancer who was doing all the talking while Roxie had a Mona Lisa smile on.
Gabe didn’t like her standing that near to any of them. As he watched she flicked a glance at him. Her blue eyes burned brighter—and she smiled wider at the guy beside her. Gabe knew she was doing it deliberately to tease him. Because every few moments she glanced back at him, saw him watching and her blue eyes burned brighter.
So, yes, he was staring. And, no, he couldn’t stop. The thought of her hooking up with someone else ate him whole.
When she went to put her empty electrolyte bottle in the recycling bin he took the chance to talk. ‘Don’t do anything dumb.’
He’d been a jerk to her—several times over—and he deeply regretted it. But he didn’t want her making a worse mistake out of hurt pride. Of course, complete louse that he was, the thing he regretted most was not kissing her.
‘Didn’t think you cared,’ she said with an annoying level of composure.
He hesitated.
She smiled, drawing his attention to her glossed lips. Yeah, he totally regretted not kissing her. It was all he’d been thinking about since—how soft and hot she’d been in his arms, how vibrant, how beautiful. Fresh as a damn daisy.
‘You had your chance,’ she said with a smugness that suggested she could read his mind.
‘You’d go off with just anyone?’ he asked snarkily.
‘Not just anyone. I’m sizing them up. You know them well, got any recommendations for me?’
‘Not funny.’
It really wasn’t. But she chuckled anyway.
‘Not one of those guys would be any good,’ he said firmly. Would it be bad if he told her they all had STIs? Yeah, defamatory and enough to cost him his job.
‘None as good as you, right?’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘Oh, Gabe, ever heard of the dog in the manger?’
‘I just think you’re making a mistake.’ Massive mistake. And the idea of it was killing him.
‘No, I’m getting on with my life. There are lots of things I want to do. This is just one of them.’
‘Well, do some other things first.’ He thought half desperately. ‘Go swim with dolphins or something—wouldn’t that be good?’
She put on a thoughtful pose and her eyes went bluer than that fantasy ocean he wanted her to dive into—alone. ‘I guess that would be good. I’ll add it to my list. But right now I’m enjoying flirting.’
He put his hand on her arm to stop her, couldn’t resist that smallest touch. ‘Some of these boys don’t know how to do slow,’ he warned.
She turned back to face him, her smile slaying all his good intentions. ‘Who said anything about slow?’
She pulled her arm free and sauntered back to the group of girls and their hangers on, and Gabe was left with his jaw hanging mid-air. Yeah, he couldn’t leave. Just stood, ostensibly laughing at some of the jokes with the guys, but, really, watching her like a damn hawk and mad with himself for obsessing. It was only because he’d put her out of bounds that he wanted her so much, right?
