Page 61 of Offside for Christmas
"No. I just..." She took a shaky breath. "Last night was incredible."
Cole's concern melted into a smirk that was absolutely insufferable. "I know."
"Cocky much?"
"You screamed my name twice. I think I earned it."
Ellie felt heat flood her face. "I did not scream—"
"You definitely did." He kissed down her jaw to her neck, and Ellie's protest died in her throat. "Want to go for three?"
"We should—" His mouth found that spot behind her ear that made her brain shut off. "We have PT this morning..."
"I'm getting plenty of physical therapy right now." His hands were exploring, remembering all the places that had made her gasp last night.
"That's not how it works—"
"No?" He moved lower, kissing her collarbone, the valley between her breasts. "Want me to stop?"
Ellie arched into his touch, her hands fisting in the sheets. "Don't you dare."
They eventually had to get up. PT session in an hour and a half, and Ellie needed to go home to change.
Except Cole pulled her into the shower with him, and the shower led to more—Ellie pressed against the tile wall, water streaming over them, quick and desperate and perfect.
By the time they were dressed and caffeinated, they had forty-five minutes to get to the facility. No time to go home, she'd have wear what she wore yesterday.
"We're going to have to be careful," Ellie said, wrapping her hands around her coffee mug.
"About what?"
"At the facility. Around the team. We can't let them know." She watched him over the rim of her mug, trying to gauge his reaction.
Cole raised an eyebrow. "Ellie. Mac literally caught us making out. At the cabin."
"Okay, fine, they probably know. But we should still try to be professional about it." She set down her mug. "I'm your PT. There are... professional standards. Even if everyone's already placing bets on us."
"Mac definitely is," Cole said with a smirk.
"Exactly. So at work, we're professional. We don't give them more material to work with." She moved into his space, slidingher arms around his waist. "Outside of work..." She looked up at him through her lashes. "We're this."
Cole pulled her close, resting his chin on top of her head. "I can do that. But fair warning: I'm not good at hiding how I feel."
"You've been hiding how you feel since you got here."
"Not from you." He pulled back to look at her. "Never from you."
They arrived at the facility separately—Cole first, Ellie five minutes later, both trying to look like they hadn't spent the night wrapped around each other.
Ellie was setting up equipment when Cole walked into the training room at exactly 8 AM.
"Morning," he said, professional nod, nothing in his voice to suggest they'd been naked together an hour ago.
"Morning. How's the shoulder?"
Cole's mouth twitched with a suppressed smirk. "A little sore. Someone worked me pretty hard last night."
"Cole." Ellie glanced around, but they were alone. Still. "We're at work."
