Page 26 of Ice Rebel

The flush was back, crawling even further up to my eye sockets.

“You need to be around arrogant men.”

“Arrogant, huh? Did you know that from the way they looked or by what they were arguing about?” He pressed a heavy load of weight and after I blinked a few times, I realized he was pressing over three hundred pounds easily. With no exertion.

Yes, the man was muscular and had obviously been lifting weights for a long time, but he hadn’t even broken into a sweat.

“By their mannerisms. You can also tell a lot by what a man wears on his wrist.”

“Oh, yeah?” He did five reps while I stood there, each becoming easier than the one before. Then the heavy set pounded and vibrated the J-hooks with enough power I felt the deep rumble in my feet.

“Yeah.”

He jerked to a sitting position, which only forced my gaze to fall to the space between his legs for a second time. How un-ladylike. I pressed my fingers against my forehead, using pressure in hopes of driving aside the lurid thoughts. “So you’re saying a guy wearing an expensive watch is a jerk while one wearing a cheap take-off a cool dude then. Right?”

“Exactly.” As soon as the word slipped from my mouth, I instantly regretted it since he’d lifted his arm, fisting his hand while showing off what appeared to be a cheap watch purchased at any big box store.

In addition to grinning, highlighting his gorgeous dimples, he’d had the nerve to flex his arm so I’d have an up close and personal view of his sculpted muscles. Which were heavenly, I might add.

“Well, then I guess I’m the coolest dude you’ve ever met since I’ve had this watch since I graduated from high school. I think I paid ten bucks for this baby. It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.” He swung his legs off the bench, jumping up as if his exercise had invigorated him. I’d been wrong about him sweating.

There were several beads running down both sides of his face and it was impossible not to study them as they trailed down his glowing skin. Yes, his skin was lightly bronzed, glowing as if sun-kissed. I reminded myself the sun was coming in through the windows.

“There are several other factors on the cool test. None of which I think you’d pass.” Instead of looking at him directly, I counted the amount of weight on the bar. Three hundred and eighty pounds. That man was a beast.

“Such as?” He’d managed to take long strides closer.

As soon as I returned my gaze, I tried to concentrate on the sweat plastering the thin material of his shirt to his chest. His perfectly chiseled pecs were revealed.

“Such as the make of their sports car.”

“Ah, so every jerk drives a sports car. That’s what I’m doing wrong.” He rubbed his chin, which did nothing more than draw my attention to the uneven dark dusting covering his jaw. The slight beard added an air of effortless, tameless confidence.

Correction. Arrogance.

“Meaning?” Why was I engaging him in conversation?

“Because I drive a pretty beat-up truck. Any other test I won’t pass?” I could tell he wasn’t a man to ask for what he wanted, he simply took it. How had I come to that conclusion? When he’d slipped his hand into my partially open duffle bag, pulling out a bottle of water.

Now what was I supposed to say to that? I didn’t have much time to respond before he twisted the cap on the bottle, tipping his head and chugging the liquid.

He’d managed to invade far too much of my space, but stepping to either side or behind me would result in tripping over a piece of equipment. I was forced to watch a man quenching his thirst.

All while engaged in thoughts unbecoming an employee.

When he was finished, I expected him to belch like a normal guy, not pour the remainder of the bottle over his head. Instead of draining on the floor, which would force me into janitorial mode, his skin and clothes absorbed every drop.

A dazzling reminder of when every inch of him had been wet from a swim.

Any other woman would be gawking. Not this girl. I acted bored, managing to yawn while he dragged his hand down his face.

He’d obviously had hopes his salacious act would draw my full attention, which it had, but I was too cunning to allow him to know. His grin quickly faded when he noticed my expression.

“Any other tests?” he asked even more coyly. There were those dimples again.

“The others you wouldn’t understand. If you don’t mind, I need to return to work. My advice is you grab a spotter.” Somehow, I managed to slide around him without either touching or doing any physical harm.

“Ah, come on. Now you have my blood pumping.”