Page 51 of Hearts on Ice
She wouldn’t say that to Declan, though. She knew he was worried about the reaction of Josh and Lexi’s families, if they would continue as his students—as their students—and at his rink. They didn’t talk any more about what she wanted. About what he wanted. She knew why she didn’t. She didn’t want to spoil the weekend.
They would have to talk eventually, but maybe by the time they let themselves open up, she would have some answers for the questions he was bound to have.
Was she staying, or was she going back?
But right now he was rubbing his foot up and down her naked calf as they watched an old black and white movie, his arms looped around her, relaxed in a way he hadn’t been around her since they started sleeping together when they were teenagers.
Why couldn’t she just relax, too, and enjoy the easiness between them?
But Monday morning was coming soon enough, and with it the verdict of whether or not Mrs. Fletcher and Mrs. Santos would keep them on. Colby was mature enough, now, to worry more about Declan than herself. Sure, she needed the income, and the reputation, but Declan had worked with the kids for years, had developed them. He would suffer if he had to let them go on her account. The kids would suffer a set-back if they had to learn how to adjust to a new coach.
But right now, right now, she was going to enjoy him, even if she couldn’t be carefree. She turned in his arms, between his legs, and he wound his fingers through her hair, bringing her up to kiss him, his mouth soft against her, his body hard beneath her.
Not breaking contact with him, she scissored her legs to straddle his hips, dragging herself up and over him, breaking the kiss to smile down at him, sliding her hands down his chest and back up again. As he rolled on his condom, a move he’d had plenty of practice with this weekend, she bent to kiss him again. As she took him inside her, she lowered her head to swallow his sigh of pleasure as she brought him deep. She kissed him as he rose on his elbows to meet her, as she rolled her hips over him.
She kept the rhythm slow and easy, and he watched her with an intensity that pierced her heart, pierced through the shield she wanted to wrap around herself.
She cradled his head in her hands and kissed him, her mouth matching the same slow easy rhythm of her body, letting the desire built to match the love she was falling into again.
Declan wokein a good mood Monday morning, even though he didn’t know what was waiting for him when he got to the rink. He hadn’t looked at his phone, had pushed all thoughts of the media, all thoughts of anything but Colby out of his head.
He knew he was opening himself up for pain. They hadn’t talked really about why she’d come back, given up her dreams of being in Hollywood, hadn’t discussed if she had given up her dream.
Maybe they should have taken some time this weekend, put on some clothes and had that conversation, but he hadn’t wanted to destroy the magic bubble they’d built around themselves.
He made the two of them coffee in travel mugs as she got dressed, and when she entered the kitchen, he passed one across the counter to her. Something about her appearance, the way she looked…normal, like she’d been when they left the rink the last time.
Not like she’d been all weekend, when it was just the two of them. She’d been soft and warm, her hair loose, her eyes dreamy.
Naked, too, mostly.
Now she was sleek and professional, her hair back, her eyes made up, wearing her form-fitting workout gear. Somehow putting all that together made her behave differently, made her cooler. He didn’t know how to warm her up. He didn’t know if she wanted to warm up.
“I’m ready when you are,” he said.
She looked up at him, and he saw something in her eyes of the woman he’d spent the weekend with.
“If the Santos and Fletcher families don’t want you to coach anymore—” she began.
He held out a hand to soothe her. “I’ll be fine. The kids will be fine. You don’t need to worry about that.” He wondered how bad she would suffer, though, if she lost them as students. She was counting on them to make her career happen, and really she couldn’t have asked for a better pair to start with. But she would be okay, too. He would help her.
But he didn’t know how to say that without revealing just how much he had turned the corner. He didn’t know if he wanted to reveal that yet.
That she was concerned about him instead of just herself gave him some relief. He was sure she was worrying about herself, but she was also taking a step forward by worrying about him.
“You ready to go?” he asked, walking around the kitchen island to approach the front door.
She nodded, picked up her cup and followed.
He could feel her jitters on the ride. “Did you look at your phone?”
She let out a long breath. “Yeah. Did you?”
He shook his head. He had kept the screen dark and the ringer on silent. Yeah, he knew he was just pushing off the inevitable, but he had that prerogative.
“It’s going to be bad. It’s going to bring up all the bad things about our past. Are you ready for that?”
Why were they talking about this now, when they’d had two days to talk about it? “I am guessing I don’t have a choice.”
