So Over You (Chicago Rebels #2)(14)

No, her needs had been more primal.

“How’s your knee?”

Sore. “Fine.”

“Then why aren’t you bending it more? You can never have enough knee bend. Every part of your skating motion depends on getting lower.”

She waved him off, so he backed up a few strides. Starting on her right foot, she circled the ice, staying close to the painted line, her knees bent perfectly as she brought her body low.

He could watch her all day.

“I do not have your center of gravity. I won’t be getting that low.”

“You used to bend your knee more.”

She skated back over to the bench, and he was rather annoyed to find his gaze fixed on her ass in the snug confines of her tracksuit pants. Perfectly heart shaped, it made his fingers twitch in his gloves, so he was relieved when she retrieved the iPad and skated back. A couple of taps, and she pulled up a video from last season taken before the injury that had torn up his knee meniscus.

“See how low you’re getting there?”

He leaned in to view the screen, the proximity allowing him to inhale her scent. Peppermint. Hibiscus. Bella.

Memories flooded his senses, making his mouth water and his cock hard. Please, Vadim, I need you. So bad. Only you.

Now the skate was on the other foot, because he needed her to get approved for play again. And here she was with her ridiculous instructions to bend his knee and “get lower.” As if he could not figure that out for himself. He was a professional!

“Your skating stride is so much smoother here. Now you’re overcompensating by leaning on your noninjured side.”

“My knee is fine.”

She made a sound—was that a growl? His cock certainly thought so.

“This isn’t going to work if you lie to me. I don’t want you to overdo it and risk reinjury.”

“You worry about this little job you have been assigned. I will worry about my health.”

She clutched the iPad to her chest. Her considerable rack, if he was being honest, and he was always honest with himself. She had not been so well endowed years ago. At that time, she was barely a woman, tall and strong, but with no curves to speak of. Now she had an ass he wanted to take a bite out of and breasts he wanted to suck deep and long.

Intolerable.

“This little job is the difference between you playing and not. Dancing with the Stars, Vaddy baby. It’s where all the washed-up pros end up.”

Annoyed at his reaction to her, he skated away, throwing out over his shoulder, “I will be playing, Isobel. You will have no say in that. I spoke with Moretti—it is clear why you have this job.”

Her brow crimped. Naturally, it was adorable. “Please. Enlighten me.”

“He is new and no doubt under pressure to bow to the owners. You can write your own ticket.”

“If that’s the case, I’d just appoint myself as head coach and be done with it.”

“You are also conscious of what the fans and media think, so you are starting small. Really, you could have called or texted, Isobel. Buying my contract seems like a lot of work to bring me back into your world.”

“You weren’t my first choice. But luckily your poor play this season meant Quebec was happy to offload you.”

He ignored the brief stab. The last six months had been difficult. Isobel understood this, yet they could not resist these little cuts.

“I think you wanted to be closer to me. Just like before, right, Bella?”

A blush crept up her cheeks on hearing his endearment for her.

He would test her. Make her angry and emotional. Make her cry. Because angry, emotional crying was not the stuff of coaches. If she was serious about a career in the NHL, she would hear worse.

She would get him game fit. He would get her battle ready.

He continued to needle. “Yes, I think that must be it. It seems that the female owners of the Rebels would like to abuse their position and use the players for their personal pleasure. Your sister and Remy DuPre—that is interesting.”

“Is it?”

“Harper may have duped a Rebel player into her bed, but please don’t imagine you and I will be renewing our acquaintance in a similar manner.”

That got her attention, at last. Her creamy skin blazed, her crimson mouth twitched, and even from a distance he could see those melted-shamrock eyes darken. She looked like she wanted to scream at him. Burst into tears. Slap his face.

Yes, Bella. Let us see if you can handle the barbs of every player, coach, and fan who will dismiss you. Let us see if you can handle me.

Fury powering her stride, she skated over, skidding to a halt mere inches from his face. As before, she was magnificent.

“You’ve found me out, Petrov.”

“I have?”

“It’s all an elaborate ruse. We bought your contract even though you really haven’t been performing well this season. Let’s face it, you’ve sucked donkey balls, Vadikins. But I convinced my sisters that I alone could bring you back to top condition. Make you a valuable asset to the team. I also made sure I’d be the only one working with you . . .” She leaned up on the tips of her blades, a balancing act that required great skill and remarkable ankle strength. Close enough that he could have slipped his tongue between her lips and tasted hers.

Her breath was a hot puff of temptation. “So we would have all this alone time.”