Page 10 of Pay the Piper

My skill at walking with skates on is almost as bad as skating, but I have a newfound reason to try. I’ll be damned if the first impression this woman has of me is watching me fall on my ass. I mean, I will undoubtedly fall on my ass, but at least I can earn some cool points before then. And I’ll never do that walking like a baby giraffe.

In fact, not moving at all is probably the best possible scenario for a good first impression. I lean my shoulder against the wall in a way that accentuates my biceps and wait for her to skate back to this side of the rink before clearing my throat.

Immediate regret.

Whatever scenario I imagined, it’s not this. The moment I catch her attention, she startles, losing her balance and tumbling to the ice. I run toward her as quickly as I can with the skates on, fighting the urge to fall as well. As soon as I reach her at the edge of the ice, I drop to my knees and help her sit up.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry. Abby, right? I’m Misha. I’m just going to do a little check to make sure you’re okay.”

She responds, but I’m too lost in my search for injury to make out the words. You’ve done this a million times over, Misha, think…head injuries, breathing issues, broken bones, and severe bleeding. I start with her head and lungs, then move to her arms, gently squeezing the joints before moving to her knees and ankles. I pause when I get to her ribs. Before now, my groping was completely clinical, but I can’t help but notice the way my hands fit around the small of her waist perfectly. My fingers have a mind of their own, and I’m powerless against them as I trace the curve of her side. She pulls away giggling, and I realize what a creep I must look like right now with my eyes closed.

“I’m fine, I promise. This isn’t the first time I’ve fallen on my ass, and I guarantee you, it won’t be the last,” she says, running her fingers through her hair.

“And here I was afraid I was going to be the one falling on their—”

Green it is, your favorite color is green.

She smiles, blinking big green eyes at me, and I melt. It’s not like I haven’t admired a woman’s eyes before. But there are pretty eyes, and then there are these. The kind that have the power to look directly into the soul of their beholder. God, I hope that’s not true. If it were, surely she would be running for her life by now. Still, I wonder what she does think of me. Even without knowing my history, I’m intimidating. Tall, dark, handsome if I do say so myself, and covered in black ink. Add in the fact that essentially my entire wardrobe is black, and I’m not fooling anyone for some picket-fence goody two-shoes. That’s Thatcher, and Teddy when he’s not in Pakhan mode, but not me.

She stands so gracefully that I hardly notice, and she reaches a hand down to help me up. I take it, of course, but almost lose my footing halfway as electricity pulses from where our hands meet. Well, that’s new. Are these tingles? It really does feel a lot like shocks, and I’ve felt that before. I’ve been electrocuted plenty of times, but I’ve never had tingles.

Interesting.

An overwhelming need to impress floods my senses, and my chest puffs on its own accord. It’s intrinsic, like I’m a peacock flaring its feathers to mate. I wish I could control myself right now because the same dumbass mating craze that’s taken over my body decides I should impress the incredible ice-skater with my macho-man skating ability…Fuck.

It takes all of three steps before I’ve humbled myself.

Abby grabs my arm to help steady me. “Whoa there, big guy, let’s slow down a bit. Today, we’re just going to do some drills to help me assess where to start with our training.”

We go through a series of drills that I can tell are beginner versions of the warm-ups Thatch and Teddy do. Even still, I suck at them. Abby never lets on how horrible I’m doing, though. She’s warm and encouraging, and I can see why she’s a teacher. Being able to do something and coaching others to do it are totally different skill sets. It took years for me to master the patience needed to properly train our soldiers. To push each individual to their limit without breaking them. This is the first time in years that I’m on the receiving side of lessons, and well…I only hope I’m as good a coach to my men as Abby is to me.

Before I know it, or more like an eternity later, she’s guiding me off the ice to a table.

“Great first practice! I can really see some potential,” she says with a smile.

The most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. I didn’t have much time to really take her in before, but here now, sitting so closely across from her, it’s all I can think about. Her lips are the perfect cupid’s bow shape, plump, perfect for kissing and licking and…don’t objectify her, you dog, this is your future wife, show some damn respect. Moving back up to her eyes, I make a note to count the freckles that cover her button nose. I’ll have plenty of time to do this while I’m watching her sleep. And God, I could lose myself in her gaze. If my enemies knew all it would take to bring me to my knees were the eyes on this woman, I would be long gone by now.

“Misha?”

“Oh sorry.” I blink back to reality. “Um, thanks, but I really sucked out there today.”

“No, you didn’t suck.” I would almost believe her if she didn’t give the smallest wince. She pauses, assessing me. “Let me ask you something. How’s your balance on land usually?”

“I have excellent balance. I, uh…think it was my skates. They’re a bit too small.”

“Oh!” She claps. “I’m sure there are some around here somewhere—”

“Oh no, that’s okay.” I pause as my macho-man-mating brain checks back in, unfortunately accompanied by a slightly deeper voice and yes, my proud chest. “They, uh, actually don’t even make them big enough to fit my feet.”

“Mm-hmm. Okay then, big guy, how about this? You can wear your regular shoes for a while while we build up some skills off the ice. WIll that work for you?”

“Off the ice?”

“Off the ice.” She digs through her bag and pulls out two apples. “Want one?”

I reach for my bag and pull out a pack of gummy bears. “No thanks. I prefer the good stuff.”

“That’s going to catch up to you one day.” She laughs and puts one of the apples back.