Tamara

My eyes snapped open when a loud banging noise filtered into my dream. I traveled often enough that I was used to waking up in strange beds, but they weren’t normally decorated in masculine colors. And they definitely didn’t smell like the specific cologne a certain sexy hockey player wore. A scent that’d invaded my dreams more times than I wanted to admit over the past few months. “Shit! What the hell did I do?”

I jackknifed off the mattress, and the thick, navy blue comforter that had been covering me fell to the floor. I was relieved to see I was still wearing my clothes from the night before since I didn’t have any memory of how I’d ended up in Ryan’s bed this time around...and because I heard male voices coming from the living room. I would have preferred to wait out whoever it was out there with Ryan instead of having a witness to my walk of shame, but a quick glance at my phone confirmed that I couldn’t afford the delay.

“Here goes nothing,” I sighed, pushing open the bedroom door and walking down the short hallway to the living room. I inwardly cringed when I recognized Ryan’s guest as one of his teammates, Alec Rourke. When his blue eyes landed on me and lit up with humor, any hope I had of avoiding gossip at the rink flew out the window.

“Well, hello there,” he drawled. “It’s suddenly clear why Ryan’s spent the last couple of minutes trying to shove me out his door with promises of a ride to the rink if I’d just give him a little time to get ready first. Since he’s never had a problem with me hanging around, I should have known he was trying to hide something from me.”

“Shut it, Alec,” Ryan growled.

“C’mon now, you can’t expect me not to react when Tamara was the last person I expected to see in your place this morning. How in the hell did the two of you manage to hook up last night?”

“We didn’t hook up!” I yelped. And it was the truth...this time around.

“Nothing happened,” Ryan backed me up, waving towards the couch. A pillow was at one end, and a blanket was bunched up opposite of it. “Coach set her up in the apartment a couple of doors down, and we bumped into each other in the parking lot. I made her dinner, and then her jet lag caught up with her and she passed out on the couch about two seconds after she finished eating.”

“If that’s the case, how’d she end up in your bed?”

As frustrated as I was with Alec’s nosiness, at least it saved me from having to ask questions to which I should already have the answers. Especially ones that caused a super cute blush to stain Ryan’s cheeks.

“None of your damn business.”

“But—”

“The only way you’re getting a ride to the rink from me is if you disappear for at least fifteen minutes. Now.”

Alec’s eyes, gleaming with humor, darted between the two of us. “Do speed skaters like it fast in—”

Ryan slapped a hand over his mouth and pushed him towards the door.

“I’ll call you when I’m ready to go,” he told Alec, right before he shoved him through the door and slammed it in his face.

“Shit, I’m sorry about that. His ankle is bothering him, and since it’s his right he didn’t want to drive to the rink in case it hurts more after practice,” he explained.

“It’s not your fault. I’m the one who should be apologizing since I passed out on you like that.” But there was still part of the story that I definitely wanted to understand. “You didn’t say; how did I end up in your bed?”

His cheeks went ruddy again. “I tried to wake you up, but you were out cold. So I carried you in there and set myself up on the couch.”

“You carried my stuff to my apartment, made me dinner, and let me sleep in your bed while you took the couch?”

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “I made double my normal amount of coffee, too. Just in case you wanted some.”

I walked over to him and held my hand out. “Hello, I’m Tamara Antonov. Olympic speed skater and power skating coach. It’s nice to meet you.”

His low chuckle rang in my ears, and humor filled his gorgeous eyes as he slid his palm against mine. “I take it this means I’m forgiven for being a jackass yesterday.”

“Absolutely. You more than earned a clean slate as far as I’m concerned. Let’s start over?”

His hand tightened around mine and he tugged me closer. “Fuck no. There’s no way in hell I’m ever going to agree to a deal that requires me to pretend that the night we spent together didn’t happen." I gulped as he acknowledged the elephant in the room; one I’d managed to avoid the night before. “If you want to avoid talking about it for now, I’ll agree to that but only because I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Putting off that conversation as long as I could worked for me. “If you give me that cup of coffee you mentioned, then you’ve got a deal.”

“You could get me to agree to almost anything if it meant you’d give me another shot.” My breath caught in my throat when he lowered his head and briefly brushed his lips across my cheek. I’d thought for sure he was going to aim for my mouth, and if I was being honest with myself I’d admit that I was a little disappointed he hadn’t. But also damn impressed—even more so when he went into the kitchen, poured a mug of coffee, and handed it to me without asking if I take anything in it. “How’d you know I take it black?”

“It seemed like it was a safe assumption since there wasn’t any milk or sugar in with your groceries,” he answered.

“Aren’t you an observant one?” I snickered.

“When it comes to you, count on it.” His hazel eyes burned into mine with an intensity that had the laughter drying up in my throat.

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to respond, so I avoided it by lifting my mug and taking a sip of coffee. “Damn, that’s good.”

“Anytime you want a cup, you know where to find me,” he offered.

“What brand do you use?”

He flashed me a sly smile. “I’d tell you my secret, but then I’d have to find a new excuse to get you to come over and see me.”

I gulped down most of the coffee and set my mug on the counter. Then I sidled closer to him. “I’m not going to turn down meals or coffee that’s a thousand times better than what I could make for myself, but I have a feeling you’re not going to need any tricks to make that happen.” I rose up on my toes and brushed a kiss against his cheek the same way he’d done mine earlier. “But right now, we’ve both got somewhere else to be. You’d better get ready since Alec is waiting for you, and I’ve got to run so I’m not late for my morning training session.”

“It can’t be easy to train for the Olympics while working.”

I shrugged as I headed towards his door. “It’s pretty standard for Olympic athletes to have jobs. Well, except for the pros like the hockey players. If only speed skating paid as well.”

“Hey! I work damn hard for my paycheck.” I looked over my shoulder and quirked an eyebrow at him, smiling when he had the good sense to grimace. “Shit. That made it sound like you don’t when I know damn well that you work hard, too. I’m lucky to make good money doing something I love.”

“And I’m lucky your team is willing to pay me to turn you guys into the fastest skaters you can be.”

It wasn’t until the door was shutting behind me that he responded, “I’m lucky for that, too, and it has nothing to do with my skating.”

Hearing that, I would have walked right back inside if we both didn’t have other places where we had to be. Instead, I forced myself to head down the hallway and slumped against my door in the privacy of my apartment. “I might be lucky, but I have a feeling I’m also in trouble.”