“Brilliant. Let’s get this show on the road, then,” I said, conjuring every ounce of enthusiasm I could muster. I picked up the pace; the cool breeze soothed my muscles like a familiarhug.
As we continued to skate in arguably the most horrible silence I had ever encountered, I tried to remind myself of our end goal.
I was trying my hardestto ignore my skating partner.
But it was fuckingimpossiblewhen my partner was Matilda Stevens.
I’d managed to avoid looking at her all morning. Then she had to go and kneel in front of me and look up with those huge green eyes, pretty fucking freckles, and blond hair, and I had to do everything in my control to think about anything but the fact she was face-to-face with my crotch.
It had been a while, all right.
I’d never sunk so fucking low. I had to distract myself to avoid getting too worked up with her being so close. I didn’t even like the girl, but clearly my dick wasn’t as picky.
Her attractiveness put me on edge, but it wasn’t just that now. The longer the training session dragged on, the more it sank in: I was going to have to trust her, at least a little, which went entirely against my instincts. And this was just a small glimpse of what the next few months would bring.
We’d been on the ice for over two hours, and I knew my legs would ache tomorrow. Matilda looked as if she’d just stepped outof hair and makeup, without a single spot of sweat or a hair out of place.
She was constantly praising my skating and, I’ll admit, it was nice to know that the practice had paidoff.
There was a reason I used to be the top pick for producers: I was always prepared and ready to take whatever they threw at me. I despised going onto a set without knowing every piece of information or any small detail that would help my performance.
So, I’d been practicing skating for a few weeks before pre-season training—sue me. I wasn’t telling Matilda that or admitting it to Jack, although I was sure he could guess.
“You’re so close to getting the backward C-cuts, Luca.” I ignored the thrill that pulsed beneath my skin at the compliment and focused on my footwork.
I lifted my skate slightly and pushed it out in a C shape, repeating on the opposite side. My movements were choppy and wobbly, but I continued on and on until I reached the other end of the rink. Turning around, I repeated the movements, skating backward toward Matilda.
“Woohoo!” she cheered me on as I approached, her hands cupped around her mouth. “Nice work! You’re doing great.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, stopping in front of her, using the technique she’d shown me at the start, and leaned on the side of the rink, mimicking her stance.
She nodded. “Let’s break for lunch and then jump back on for the last two hours?”
My knees shook at the thought of skating for another two hours, but I was a determined fucker, so I said, “Sure.”
“Did you want to get lun—” She was cut off by someone shouting her name.
“Matilda!” A tall woman with mousy brown hair stood at the rink’s entrance. I almost missed the small sigh from Matilda as shelooked toward the newcomer, her brows pinched tightly. It was the first time I’d seen her energy drop below anything but that of a megawatt battery.
She blinked at me and smiled before she waved at the woman.
I arched a brow in a silent question.
“My sister,” she said.
“Why’s she here?”
“I have no idea.” She paused, then jerked her head toward me. “I promise, I did not tell her we were partnered. She probably doesn’t even know that the season has started yet.”
I believed her. Her word-vomit and how she’d momentarily deflated when she spotted her sister made me think this wasn’t a welcome visit.
“It’s fine,” I told her. “Go see what she wants; she looks impatient.”
“Yeah, sure. Good idea,” Matilda said and started skating toward her. I followed, and as we got closer, it was clear how different the two were.
Her sister was still beautiful, but Matilda was in a league of her own. Where my partner all but glowed when she walked into a room, with a curve to her hips and bright golden hair, her sister was slim, tall, and stern-looking.
“Hey Lauren, is everything all right? Is Taylor OK?” Matilda asked her, stepping off theice.
