Chapter Nine
“From what I’ve seenin videos of sledders, you’re going to want a big burst of speed as you push the sled down the track,” Spencer said from his spot on the pool deck.It was her last day of training, and they were spending it in the pool.
He gestured for her to climb out, and he fastened a band around her ankle.Misty’s heart rate was up from her warm-up laps, and she felt it spike even more at his feather-light touch to such a surprisingly sensitive area.
He didn’t speak again until she’d jumped back in the water.“I’m going to hold this in place, and I want you to push yourself forward.This is going to be aloteasier with nothing attached and on land, and can only help you on the track.”
“Okay.”Spencer tightened the band in his fist, and Misty surged forward in the water.
“Again.Just relax, I’ll pull you back.”She felt like a fish being reeled in, but he might have done it so she could save her strength for repeating the exercise.
“One more time.”She bounced up and down a few times in the water before taking off.A startled noise behind her caught her attention, and she turned to see Spencer flying off the deck.He landed in the pool with his clothes on, splashing her and a group of senior citizens from the water aerobics class that had just let out.
The senior citizens laughed, and Misty covered her mouth with her hands.“Oh,shit!Sorry!”
He wiped water out of his eyes.“I’m dressed for this, and it just goes to show how strong you’ve gotten.”
She didn’t feel reassured.“You didn’t have your phone in your pocket, did you?”
“No, it’s on the table with the other stuff.Learned that one the hard way.”
“Good.Well, not good that it happened before, but...”
He ignored her babbling as he ducked underwater to remove the band.He would naturally have had to hold his breath to do so, but Misty’s own breathing stopped at the recognition of him dipping below her waist, if only for the briefest of moments.He fumbled a bit to detach the band, brushing against her ankle more than once and sending all sorts of thrills through her.
“I think we’re done with this now,” he said after he surfaced.He set the band on the deck with one hand and pushed his wet hair out of his face with the other.
“What should we do instead?”A number of possibilities raced through her mind at the sight of him in the water next to her.His wet tank top clung to his chest and revealed the first hint of a patch of dark hair.Their closeness in height was especially pronounced at this angle, which also allowed her to appreciate the flecks of gold in his brown eyes.He looked far more approachable like this, not to mention kissable.The whole thing would be a lot sexier if she weren’t wearing a highly functional one-piece, a swim cap, and goggles, but he’d still better come up with something for her to do to keep bad ideas at bay.
“As long as I’m here, I could do a demonstration.When you’re doing breaststroke, engage your core and inner thighs to help propel yourself forward.”He swam a few strokes before turning back to face her.“You see that?”
“Oh, yeah.”She had hardly needed an invitation to watch his long limbs slice through the water, nor to ogle the outline of his back muscles through that shirt.
“Then let’s see you do it.”
As she swam, she held onto his instructions and the mental image of him swimming.She’d never had a “coregasm” from a workout in her life, but the exercise and the sexy thoughts were sending stirrings below the waist.She’d take care of that when she got home.
“Good job,” he said when she neared him the fourth time.“Now let’s try something else to keep your heart rate up.”
He handed her a pair of swim gloves and strapped on his own pair before bending into a squat.“Spar with me underwater, but stay low and don’t let your arms or shoulders out of the water.”
She bent to meet him at eye level.“Is this a kickboxing throwback?”
