Page 30 of Hearts on Ice
“We’ll practice in the gym,” Colby said. “Not on the ice. If they can get it, we’re adding it. It would definitely add points to the routine.”
“I think the lift would be sufficient, but good idea about practicing in the gym.” He was glad he hadn’t put his skates on yet, though he wanted Josh and Lexi to be wearing theirs so they’d have an idea how to balance.
“You always were resistant to risk,” Colby said as she walked past him up the steps to the doors leading to the lobby.
All the blood rushed to his head at her comment. That wasn’t true at all. He took risks. This place was a risk. Taking on coaching a pair as talented as Lexi and Josh was a risk. He didn’t think her assessment was fair, but he wasn’t going to argue with her now. He just wished she hadn’t said it in front of his students and their moms, though.
The new lift was simple enough, but Josh was going to have to work on his strength to hold Lexi over his head for the count required. Declan gave him a weight assignment to complete later this afternoon, and told them to let their ballet teacher know of the new lift so she could give pointers.
They spent another hour on the ice, working through other elements, then the kids went off to school and Declan ducked into the weight room, leaving Colby on the ice.
When he walked out of the gym an hour later, Colby was sitting in the lobby, a laptop in front of her. He didn’t remember seeing her carrying a laptop this morning.
“What are you still doing here?” he demanded, lifting the towel to his face to mop off the sweat he’d worked up.
“No ride,” she reminded him.
He held in the breath he wanted to blow out. He wasn’t expected to be her chauffeur, was he? “Call a ride share.”
“Then I have to call another one to take me to my car when my car’s ready. Can’t I just wait here?”
“Sure.” The word came out grudgingly as he approached her, and realized that she was working on his laptop. “You just helped yourself to my computer?”
“I was trying to use my phone but I wasn’t able to maneuver as well. I was looking at video of some of their competition.” She gestured to the front door but he knew she meant Josh and Lexi. “I’m sorry, but I think we’re going to have to step it up. We can’t play it safe. Have you seen some of the lifts the other teams are doing?” She turned the laptop toward him, open to a website of videos. She hit play before he even sat down. “Have you watched any of these?”
“I’ve seen a few,” he said, his gaze shifting to the sidebar, hoping she hadn’t noticed that he’d been watching videos of the two of them in their competition days.
“You need to watch these. You’re babying Josh and Lexi, and you need to push them. Some of these lifts are more complex now than when we competed. Good enough can’t be good enough, if you know what I mean.”
“If I promise to watch, will you let me have my computer back? I need to get to work.” He didn’t actually have anything he could be doing on the computer, but he didn’t like her having access to it. How did she access it, anyway? He thought he’d had it locked.
“One more thing.” She turned the keyboard back to herself, and typed in a few things, then turned the computer back to him.
And there, on a website with a tabloid paper heading, was video of the two of them walking into the rink this morning.
“Martin and O’Hare, Back Together Again?” the headline queried.
Declan had to admit, the video was pretty incriminating, the two of them getting out of the truck, hurrying into the rink with their heads down, standing close together but not too close. But yeah, if he didn’t know better, he’d find their behavior very suspicious.
The name of his rink figured prominently in the video, also. He was going to have to hire security.
“No good deed goes unpunished,” he muttered, picked up the laptop and carried it into his office.
Her car wasn’tready by the time Josh and Lexi’s second lesson was over. Colby called the mechanic just to be sure it wouldn’t be ready tonight, and he told her he wouldn’t be able to get it done until tomorrow.
She did not have the cash for a ride share home, and then back here tomorrow, and then to the mechanic after that. And she did not want to ask Declan for another favor, because doing so meant she’d have to admit to him that she didn’t have any money. He’d probably figured that out already but she just couldn’t say it out loud.
So what was she going to do? She couldn’t just sit here in his rink all night. And while she’d grabbed a salad from the snack bar, she was starving now, and the snack bar had already shut down for the evening.
“Let’s go,” he said without preamble when he walked out of his office.
“Go? Where?” But she picked up her gear bag and followed him out the front door.
“I’ll take you home.”
“Oh, you don’t—”
He stopped and pivoted toward her, making her draw herself up short. “What? I don’t have to? What are you going to do, sleep on the floor of the rink?”
