“Fine, we’re fine,” Amanda said, hurrying to take her place at the machine. Intent on showing him they didn’t need his help, she lifted her legs so fast, the weight clanked as it reached the top. Her calves groaned at the unnecessary strain, but she forced herself to lower the weights again, careful not to drop them.
“Here,” said Michael, bending over her to adjust the weights. He was close enough for his powerful thighs to press against hers and to give her a clear view of his perfect butt. Instead of the khakis he normally wore when they showed up to train, he had on compression shorts under a pair of athletic shorts, and the loose fit only seemed to emphasize the tight, round butt at her eye level.
Lord.She was doomed.
She turned her head to the side to minimize the temptation to bite him, but even with her eyes closed, she could feel him everywhere, hovering over her, crowding her personal space.
“I’ve got it! I know what I’m doing,” she snapped, pulling her legs free and sitting up so fast she gave herself a head rush.
“Okay, okay.” He held his hands up in front of him, confusion clear in his expression. “I was just trying to help. It’s not supposed to make that noise. I’ve got a tech coming to look at it. Let me move you guys to another machine.”
“Never mind. I’m done anyway. Randolf needs me back at the store.” It was a lie. Becca knew it, and Michael would have to be stupid not to. Regardless of his other irritating characteristics, stupidity wasn’t on the list. But she couldn’t stay for a minute longer with him standing so close and trying to be so helpful. “Besides,” she said, getting to her feet. “The two of you should probably train together since you’re going to be partners.”
She pinned Becca with her gaze. Her sister might be ruthless, but Amanda could be tenacious as hell when she needed to. Where Michael was concerned, she definitely needed to.
“TELL ME YOU HAVE A plan to fix this,” Becca said, glaring at him over the top of the wall.
Somehow Michael had managed to infuriate both Southerland women within the space of twenty-four hours. It had to be some kind of new record.
“Fix what? We’re partners. It’s not the way I would have worked it out, but I don’t see your sister budging anytime soon.”
“Of course she’s not budging. She likes you. A lot. And she might be the single most stubborn person on the planet. Next to me, of course.” Becca swung her leg up over the wall and hoisted herself up. She scrambled over to the other side, which meant she could direct her ire at him on much firmer footing.
“Listen, I don’t know what I did to piss you off. Whatever it was, I’m sorry. I take it back. I didn’t mean it. Tell me what you want. Whatever you need me to say, consider it said so we can move forward.”
Literally as well as figuratively. He’d scheduled time for the entire team on the low ropes obstacle course so they could get in a final run-through before the first event on Saturday. He and Becca were holding up the rest of the group. Not because she was having trouble with the obstacles. She’d never be a natural athlete, but she took direction when it suited her and she worked hard. She was doing as well as the rest of the team, maybe with the exception of him and Amanda. It was her continuous stream of derision that was slowing them down.
“What I want is for you to stop being a dumbass. Our quota is already filled.”
She glanced over to where Ethan sat, his leg stretched out in front of him and his crutches leaning against his folding chair like a trident. In a supremely ironic twist of fate, because of his injury, the other man had taken on the role of self-proclaimed coach. He’d turned up the volume on his condescending twit nature, and Michael could see it had already started to wear on the rest of the team. If the man could stand up on his own, Michael would be tempted to knock him down again just to take away some of his obnoxious bluster.
As it was, he tried to act as a barrier between Ethan and the rest of the team, mitigating bad advice and keeping morale from sinking even lower. None of it was easy and Becca chewing his ear off every chance she got didn’t make it any easier.
“Hey,” he said, squatting down and holding his linked hand in front of him to make a step for her. “I’m not sure what you think I could be doing differently but if you have ideas, by all means share. You’re wrong about your sister, though. She doesn’t like me.” He growled the last part under his breath as her weight settled in his hands. “She barely looks at me anymore.”
The last part had been a bitter pill to swallow. He’d known Ethan and Amanda were together, but he’d foolishly thought it might not be that serious. That she might be developing feelings for him. Ethan’s injury put an end to that. Actually, it probably went back even earlier to when she met him and Becca at the high ropes course. Regardless, whatever had been growing between them was over. Frustrated at the generally screwed-up state of his life, he hoisted Becca a little harder than was necessary. She caught the top edge of the wall and glared over her shoulder at him.
“I can see I’m going to have to take care of it myself,” she said.
He had a split second to wonder what she was talking about. He’d practically lifted her to the top of the eight-foot-high wall. Ignoring the hands he still offered her as footholds, she scrabbled against the wooden boards and then dropped straight down to the ground. Before he could react, she turned on him.
“I can’t work with you,” she screamed, a slightly hysterical edge to her voice. “I’m doing the best I can and you’re making things harder, not easier.”
She poked a finger in his chest and he stepped back, stunned. Angry tears swam in her eyes. Faced with a crying woman, his natural response to apologize kicked in and he opened his mouth to tell her he was sorry, closing it again when he realized this time he honestly had no idea what he was supposed to be sorry for. They’d been talking about her sister, not the obstacle course. It was as if Becca had thrown a switch and shifted them both to another emotional dimension.
Regaining his ground, he started to call bullshit when he heard Ethan’s voice from the sideline.Perfect.
“Becca, Michael, what’s going on? You’re holding up the entire team.”
They were. Michael knew that, but he didn’t need that guy pointing it out.
“Becca, you’ve got to push harder,” said Ethan, struggling to his feet and hobbling in their direction. “If you don’t do better, you’re going to lose this thing for everyone before we even get started. Dig deeper.”
Becca’s tears tracked down her cheeks and even though Michael felt pretty certain they didn’t have anything to do with the gimpy dictator, he couldn’t let the comments stand. Becca, despite her temporary insanity, deserved better than that.
“Relax, Ethan,” he said, closing the distance between them. “Becca’s working hard. Harder than most of us, in fact. She’s doing great and the team is going to do great.”
“Not if she keeps falling off things. Jesus, we haven’t even gotten to the high ropes stuff. With her fear of heights, I doubt she’ll even be able to do it.”
