After pulling into the parking lot, we climbed out of Jack’s SUV and made our way toward the studio entrance.
“Wait till you see who I’ve managed to partner you with.” Jack smirked, looking too fucking smug for my liking.
“Who?” Of course, he ignored me. “What have you done, Jack?”
I grabbed the door, maybe a little too forcefully, and let Jack walk through first. I was surprised to see that the studio was prettysweet. For some reason, I had imagined that the ice rink would be like a community rink: broken lockers and counters where you collected the blue plastic ice skates that most likely had so many layers of foot sweat they could be deemed a biological hazard.
But it was the opposite. It was all shiny surfaces, fresh paint, and the smell of vanilla wafting through the entrance. Above the reception lobby, a huge glass panel stretched the length of the second floor, rows of gym equipment visible from our viewpoint.
“Well, this is nice,” Jack admired, looking around the room.
“Nice try. Who have you partnered me with?” I attempted to get us back on track.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” There was that annoying smirk again.
“Jack.”
“Bestie.”
“Why won’t you tellme?”
“Would you know any of the professional skaters on the show if I named her? Have you ever watched the show, for that matter?”
He had me there.
“Why do you have that shit-eating grin on your face?” I muttered. It was a smile filled with mischief, one that normally won him the favor of women. They seemed to love his easygoing golden retriever personality.
“Patience, bestie. Patience.”
Jesus Christ.
To put it modestly, my partner was disgustingly pretty. Not a “you might look twice on the streets” kind of pretty, but a “radiates brighter than anyone else in the room” kind of pretty.
Given her skates elevated her a few inches off the ice, she was relatively short at maybe five-foot-four without the boots. Bouncy blond waves were secured in a high ponytail swinging around her shoulders with every twist and turn. She was athletic, her legs and ass curved with muscle. If I were to guess, I’d have said she must have been around twenty-six or twenty-seven. Her tight, long-sleeved sports top accentuated her hourglass figure, which I didn’t doubt was the outcome of long hours spent training.
It pissed meoff.
Mainly because Jack had clearly done this on purpose. Knowing that dick thought it would be funny to leave me stuck with someone I’d have to pretend I didn’t find ridiculously attractive for sixteen weeks made me want to punch him. It was almost like he was testing me, and I didn’t need the distraction.
Good thing I had the restraint of a saint these days. Death-by-media will do that toyou.
“I know what you’re thinking, and I swear I didn’t do it on purpose,” he defended himself as we walked around. Similar to the studio reception, the training rink was immaculate and modern. There were only a few rows of seats. Lots of people were walking around the space, too, but I kept my eyes on the rink.
“Oh, really? Why are you laughing, then?”
“When we first spoke about sorting your image, I reached out to the PR team forStars on Iceand spoke to them about your…issue,and they sweetened the deal with her. She’s unproblematic and drama-averse, so they thought the pairing would be good. I agreed before I saw a picture of her.”
“What’s her name?” I asked.
“Matilda.”
I looked over at Matilda again, watching her float around the ice. The studio was packed with skaters, choreographers, andproducers, and while a few faces were vaguely familiar, I couldn’t put any names to them.
When she’d sauntered in through the double doors earlier, a tray of coffees in hand and a big, radiant smile on her face, unease had crawled across my skin. She’d handed out coffees to her co-workers like a Good Samaritan. Conversations sparked to life around her, laughter and genuine interest evident in every exchange.
She was also a hugger, apparently.
As her laughter rippled through the air at something one of the skaters said on the ice, I had to admire the magnetic pull she seemed to exude without even trying. I ignored the tension seeping through my body and dragged my eyes away fromher.
