Page 25 of Offside and Off-Limits
“Chemistry. Yup, I’ve heard of that,” I tease.
She shifts her weight. “The comments reflected that perspective.” She sounds all formal and librarian-y.
Totally on-brand for her.
“Did they now?” I’m playing dumb when the fact of the matter is I watched the video more than once, and I read some of the comments. A lot of them focused on how romantic it was when I looked at her when she landed in my arms (from a chick), right through to how this isn’t a freaking romcom movie, and where’s the freaking hockey? (from a guy).
At the risk of agreeing with @GoalieGirl23, her landing in my arms like that did look pretty freaking romantic.
And it felt pretty freaking romantic, too.
“So, Ms. Reynolds can see what I can see, huh?” I say, but all she does is tighten her lips. “Hey, do you wanna come in? It’s cold out here.”
Her eyes skim over me and she tightens her lips. “That’s because you spend most of your life shirtless, it would seem. You know it’s fall, right?”
I look down at the now goose flesh of my chest as though just realizing my current state of shirtless-ness. “I guess you're just lucky you caught me, Triple. Come in.” I stand back for her to walk inside and close the door over behind her.
“So that nickname is a thing now? What’s wrong with ‘Clara’?”
“Not one thing,” I say, enjoying the way my comment makes her squirm.
How’s the turning over of a new leaf coming along, Cade?I can almost hear Jamie’s voice in my head.
I gesture behind me with my thumb. “I can go throw on a shirt.”
“It's fine,” she says stiffly, pulling her lips into a smile that tells me it’s anything but. “I thought your Player Assimilation Liaison the Ice Breakers gave you to settle you in would be here. I was told you were at the gym.”
So she checked to see I wouldn't be home before she dropped by. Perhaps she thought it would be easier not to see me, what with all this chemistry between us.
Yup, she feels it, too.
“My gym is here at the house,” I explain. “And Damian’s done for the day, so you’ve got me. I was just working out in my gym with Hayes and Crane, but we’re almost done.”
“Which explains why you look like,” she waves her hand over me, “that.”
I can't help but smile at how uncomfortable my naked torso is making her. Her eyes flick to mine and she raises her brows as though I've been a naughty kid. I bet she uses that look on her own kids all the time.
“It's nice to see you again,” I say.
“Thank you,” she replies, and I wonder if she thinks it's nice to see me again, too. “Actually, I’m a little flustered today. I just found out that our town is in jeopardy. There’s been an emergency town meeting and everything.” Her face is stricken, and concern leaps in my chest.
“Threat? What do you mean?”
“Apparently, some heir no one knew about is claiming our town and all the land around it, and he wants to redevelop it.”
“Wait,what?”
She shakes her head, her features taut with tension. “Some guy called Alexander MacDonald. Everyone is saying he’ll ruin Maple Falls, putting in all the big city stores and the like. People are freaking out.”
“I bet they are.”
“We’ve been told that he’s instructed his lawyers to moveahead, and everyone is riled up, holding our proverbial pitchforks following an emergency town meeting a bunch of the townsfolk attended a couple days ago. We’re not taking this lying down. We’re going to fight it by raising money to save our town.”
Her firm tone and commitment is impressive, her pretty face flushed with passion. It only makes her all the more attractive.
“What will that mean for the team, I wonder?” I say to myself more than anything.
“It could mean the team has to move to another town. Spokane or Seattle. Somewhere else within the state. That’s what people are saying.”
