Their strides matched, the rubber soles of their sneakers pounding the concrete in unison. She was perfectly happy to lead him around the complex in silence, and for a little while, it seemed he was, too, but as they rounded the corner at the outer edge of the practice courts, he broke it: “How much farther?”
“Winded already?” she said, keeping her eyes trained ahead.
“Hardly, just making conversation.”
“Well don’t. I have nothing to say to you.”
Alex chuckled, his stride breaking a bit. “I don’t know, I think we have a lot to say to each other. Last time we were really alone together we didn’t exactly exchange a lot of words, though if I recall, my name was a favorite of yours.”
Her nostrils flared as she tried to tamp down her reaction. They’d been operating under an unspoken agreement for the last two days not to talk about that night. Why the hell was he bringing it up now? “Just shut up and run.”
“Hit a nerve, did I?”
She didn’t answer but instead glanced up and sideways, taking in his profile, the strong jawline, a glittering blue eye, a nose slightly crooked, probably broken in a bar fight or something equally reckless.
“I wonder what Dom would think.”
That stopped her, both her mind and her feet. It was a few seconds before he stopped as well and jogged back to her. She wanted to scream, to blast him and let him know that that night was the biggest mistake she’d ever made. But as he towered over her, his eyes softer than before, she couldn’t.
“Please don’t say anything,” she said, avoiding his gaze.
He lifted a hand and ran it through his hair. “He doesn’t know?”
“No, I told him nothing happened.”
Alex pursed his lips and a muscle in his jaw clenched. “And of course he believed you. No wonder he offered me a spot here. If he knew I’d fucked his star player—”
“Nice,” she said with a snort, stepping around him and breaking into a measured run.
Again, he caught up with her in a matter of seconds. “Don’t take offense. Despite what they say, I’m rather choosy, as I’m sure you are. And you can’t deny we were fantastic together.”
“You were fine,” she said, a smile quirking up at the corner of her mouth. “I was fantastic.”
Alex raised his eyebrows but didn’t take her bait. Instead, his eyes sparkled at her and for a moment she almost forgot she hated when he did that. “You were at that.”
They fell back into silence, though a much more comfortable one than before as they approached the last and most difficult part of the tour, running on the sand. They were halfway across the beach when his pace started to slow. Penny glanced down out of the corner of her eye and saw his gait was a little labored, favoring his left leg.
She stopped and looked up at him, the sunlight shining behind his head, making her squint. “Is your knee okay for this?” The sand was soft now that the tide had rolled back out, much looser than their clay practice court or the low-impact rubberized paths they’d run on. The unstable surface could be hell on a recovering joint, especially after all the work they put in.
“Concerned? I’m touched.”
“Purely selfish. I’ll never be able to find another hitting partner this close to the French.”
“Right, of course,” he muttered. “I told you, the knee is fine. Or do you need me to kick your ass on the court again to prove it?”
They ran together, his strides as smooth as her own. The practice courts came into view as they passed the last of the vacation homes beside the OBX property.
Penny let out a tiny groan and then muttered, “Time to face the music.” She was not looking forward to whatever lecture Dom was about to deliver post-run.
“Wait, hang on a tick,” Alex said, coming to a halt as she was about to tackle the long wooden stairway that led up from the beach.
“What? We’ve already taken too long.”
“C’mon, wait,” he said, touching her arm.
She froze at the way his hand immediately set her skin alight and looked up at him.
“I asked you not to touch me.”
