“I don’t know how to skate.” He frowned down at his tiny boots.
“Neither do I, but I hold hands well. I won’t let you go.”
He sighed, eyes longing but still torn, thanks to his fear. A few of the kids laughed as they whizzed past, holding on to the hockey sticks a big player with wild facial hair held as he skated backward.
Andy tugged me forward, eager to join the fun.
After making sure we had a big-enough gap between skaters, we stepped out onto the ice. Good thing I held Andy’s hand because he immediately flailed. He made a small gasping groan and fell. But another hockey player skated up and bent in half to grasp Andy under the armpits.
“Find your balance,” he said.
My entire body warmed. Holy hotness. The man’s voice washed over me, intoxicating—better than any margarita I’d ever imbibed. I swallowed my whimper and forced a smile to my lips. “Thank you…”
“Cormac,” he replied. His gaze darted up to mine. His eyes were a rich brown, surrounded by bristly, dark lashes.Beautiful.“Cormac Bouchard.”
“Thank you for catching me, Mr. Cormac Bouchard,” Andy squeaked. “The other kids would make fun of me if I fell.”
Cormac smiled, showing white teeth. I thought hockey players didn’t have all their teeth—where had I heard that? Cormac’s weren’t braces-straight, but they were nice. I caught myself, shocked to be fan-girling over a man’steeth. I glanced up, met his eyes again.Muchbetter than his teeth…
“You okay there, Andy? Ready for a trip around the ice?” I asked, yanking my mind from Mr. Hockey Player. No doubt he had a beautiful wife and athletic children at home.
“I’ll take him,” Cormac said, looking back up at me. “You don’t have on skates, and it’s harder to stay upright in tennis shoes than you’d expect.”
I kept my attention on Andy. He was my responsibility today, the reason I was at the rink—notto lust after a hockey player.
“You okay with that, Andy?”
The boy chewed his lip, looking out at his laughing classmates. “Yeah, Ms. Keelie. I’m going to learn to skate now.”
I smiled, and I thought I heard Cormac draw in a breath, but that made little sense.Focus. “You’ll wow us all,” I said, giving Andy’s hand one last squeeze before I let go. My heart slammed against my ribs as I watched Cormac’s sculpted backside flex in his uniform pants as he slid with such grace over the ice. The man seemed to have my libido on direct-dial, and I didn’t like that.
I stepped off the ice and resisted the urge to fan my face. I settled into a comfortable spot to observe, but the longer I watched Cormac with Andy, the more my ovaries wanted to explode. The big man remained patient, even though Andy struggled. He let the other guys handle the more athletic kids while he helped Andy build confidence.
The hour ended, and most of the kids tromped off the ice. Andy glided around the rink with the agility some of the other kids had shown much earlier. When he made his third lap, his smile grew to huge proportions. I rested my hand over my heart,, the grin echoing my charge’s.
“Thank you,” I whispered to Cormac when they stepped off the ice.
“My pleasure. This kiddo’s got drive. That’s going to take him far.” He offered Andy his fist, and again, those flutters pulsed through my tummy. Andy’s fist met Cormac’s much bigger one.
“Ah, Andy, you should have shared Bouchard with us,” one kid grumbled.
Cormac chuckled. “I’m not as fun as Cruz the Cruiser. I saw him whipping you guys around.”
The kids chattered again, louder thanks to their excitement after time with professional hockey players.
“Seriously,” I said to Cormac. I met his eyes, the luscious brown melting into my soul. “Andy’s a doll, but because he’s slower, the other kids give him a hard time. And his mom works a lot, so he spends most of his days in the classroom with me.”
Cormac’s brows puckered. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Special needs classrooms are different. I work with a handful of kids, not an entire class. My students have more and more-complex needs.”
Cormac nodded, running his free hand over his chin. “You care,” he stated.
I laughed. “There’s a saying: I love the work, not the pay.” My cheeks burned. That probably wasn’t appropriate. What if he thought I was commenting on his salary? Panic rose. “I didn’t mean—”
“Time to go!” Ms. Vaughn clapped her hands. “Make sure you’ve collected everything.”
I turned on my heel and hurried over to a group of four kids. Andy had removed his skates and swung his slip-on-shoe-clad feet as he sat on the metal bench. Next to him, his classmate Lori sat, tearful, hands fisted, unable to release the knot she’d made.
