Her hand tingled where he touched her. Not like a friendly hum of happiness at being touched, either. This was more like an electric jolt that buzzed with high voltage and singed her in its wake. She yanked her hand back, rattled. She’d touched him plenty of times, so this shouldn’t have been a big deal.
But then again, it had been the first time he’d touched her. The results were skin-tingling.
“You know that’s unethical for a staff trainer.” For a moment, she wondered if this was yet another of his ploys to send her running from this job so he could ditch the mandated workouts in favor of training however he wanted. Or to replace training with activities that were more fun.
Like sky diving.
But Javier didn’t seem the type to be anything less than forthright about his motives. Subtlety didn’t seem to be a commodity he prized, judging by his recent dust-up with the Boston Aces’ catcher, or his ease in confessing to the media where he’d been during the off-season when he took off for the far corners of the world to chase new thrills.
“But you don’t work with the whole team, right? You’re working with me on a temporary basis. And the coaches aren’t going to keep me on a leash forever.”
“Do they have you on a leash now?” She couldn’t resist the jab since she’d never met anyone less restrained. “From what I hear, you don’t answer to anyone. But any way you look at it, I’m an athletic trainer, not a personal trainer. I can’t go out for drinks with you.”
She shouldered past him, determined not to succumb to the he-man appeal of a guy who lived for the moment. She didn’t need that kind of temptation even though she hadn’t indulged her adrenaline-seeking side in almost eight years. Maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea to put herself in his path in the first place. Who would have thought he could touch an old nerve she’d figured was long dead?
Who’d have thought she could experience such a sharp attraction for a man she’d only just met?
“Wait.” He followed her out of the physical therapy area and into the weight room. The Flames’ training facility was big and impressive, and she had a long way to walk before she would be home free from the man who’d sent a lightning bolt through her so damn unexpectedly today.
“I can’t.” She shook her head and kept on moving, not sure if she could outrun the invitation in his sea-glass eyes. “I’ve got things to do today and I need to—”
He laid a broad palm on her shoulder without gripping it, his touch alone halting her in her tracks. She closed her eyes against the expected jolt and wondered how the hell she’d gone from helping this man to running from him in the course of a brief therapy session.
She was the one who needed therapy, damn it, and not the physical kind.
“Lisa.” He turned her around with her name, proving he’d kept his word to remember it this time. “You say you’ve known the lure of a bungee jump before. How do you feel about something less risky but still fun?”
She had no idea what he was about to suggest, but she was very worried she might say yes. She was a full-time trainer at a local university’s athletic department, so she didn’t technically need the Flames gig. But she cared about her reputation in the industry and wouldn’t want to compromise it by making an unwise step with Javier. Still, maybe spending more time with him would give her the insight she needed to understand why he wanted to play with fire all the time.
She just hoped they wouldn’t both end up getting burned.
“I assure you, I still know how to have fun.” She folded her arms to insert a barrier between them, wishing he had a shirt on.
A severe overbite might have helped, too.
“Then how do you feel about kite surfing?”
2
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU talked me into this.” Lisa strapped on her life vest while Javier checked the lines on her kite’s safety harness.
They had pulled into the parking lot at Montrose Beach about an hour ago, and were almost ready for a trial run. The wind was blowing in from just the right direction off Lake Michigan. Other kite boarders were already out on the water, surfing across the waves and catching big air on the major power generated by the traction kites. The sport was similar to windsurfing, but required less wind to generate speed. The gear could easily lift a rider out of the water twenty to thirty feet, a fact which had started to make Javier a little wary.
It was one thing for him to dive headfirst into adrenaline spiking sports. But was it wrong to coerce his sexy new trainer into something that had the potential to be dangerous? He’d already alerted the lifeguards that she was a newbie and they’d given her a special colored streamer for her rigging to help them keep track of her out in the water. Still…he planned to make sure she stayed safe.
“You think you were surprised?” Satisfied that her equipment was ready to roll, he turned his attention to his own. “You could have knocked me over with a feather. It’s a rare woman who turns down drinks in favor of kite surfing.”
He couldn’t deny he’d been thrilled at the time. Before he’d fully recalled how dangerous the sport could be for people who weren’t trained. All the more reason to take good care of her.
She didn’t look nervous, however. After quizzing him thoroughly on all her equipment, she’d watched a few other fans of the sport on the water and had told him she was ready to be suited up for her first attempt. Now, her eyes glowed with excitement, her cheeks flushed from wind and anticipation as she tested the directional lines that controlled the kite.
“I haven’t done anything like this in a long time.” She dipped her toes in the sand while her eyes followed the progress of some show-off doing flips and riding his board all the way into the beach—a trick that would get his access card pulled if he wasn’t careful. The kites had too much power to be used safely so close to the shore full of people. “I forgot how much I liked the rush.”
“A woman after my own heart.” Strangely, the sentiment freaked him out when he would have expected the discovery to make him all the more attracted to her. Sure, it was cool to have something in common with the hot, hard-nosed trainer. But she inspired a protective streak he couldn’t ever recall feeling on a first date.
“You don’t know the half of it,” she confessed. “But I’m committed to enjoying the thrill while being safe at the same time. I’m no adrenaline junkie.”
Javier wasn’t so sure. He’d never met anyone with the same adventurous impulses as him and the knot in his gut made him think he never should have suggested this.
“Let me know if you still feel that way after your first jump.” Tugging his board closer to the water, he dragged his safety rigging and his kite behind him. “You ready for a quick lesson?”
Lisa nodded, more eager than she would have ever admitted.
She watched Javier as he took her through the basics of getting the kite in the air even though her fingers twitched on her lines with the need to jump right in and try it herself. Who would have thought she’d end up being drawn in by Javier’s adrenaline seeking when she’d planned on helping him find ways to stifle those impulses?
Still, she fully believed she stood a better chance of understanding Javier’s need to live on the edge if she ventured deeper into his world, and this day together seemed like a positive first step as long as she could keep a lid on the attraction simmering inside her. Seeing him in a pair of board shorts was enough to make a lesser woman hyperventilate. As it was, she sank deeper into the chilly water whenever he touched her to help douse the fire his fingers could ignite with the sparest of strokes.