Page 41 of Melting the Ice

She’d worked the following night at Tipsy and had missed coming to the game against Calgary—where we’d had our asses handed to us, followed up by Millsy delivering round two of handing us our asses. Fun fucking night. And then we’d had a quick two-game road trip, where we’d won one game in OT and lost the second in OT, before I’d come home—to a bed that heldJosie’s intoxicating scent but luckily not her body—and we’d lost a game against Pittsburgh.

It’d been an extremely frustrating nine days.

But tonight, we were going to win. I was going to keep my head out of my ass and get my job done. I was going to work on this puzzle for my allotted thirty more minutes, shower, take my pregame nap, and head to the arena. Everything would be fine.

Yup. Perfectly fine.

And I was not going to think about pushing Josie against the closest wall when we passed each other in the hall or cornering her against the kitchen island when I helped her make dinner. Or any other excuse I liked to make about getting close to her.

“Mind if I join you?”

I glanced up to see her walking into the room and took in an audible breath. Fucking hell. Were her yoga outfits getting smaller? Shit. Now my puzzle concentration was obliterated. I didn’t like to think that I was controlled by my dick, but when she was close by, my brain headed south. I was stronger than this. I wasn’t some kid controlled by my hormones.

Fuck. She was gorgeous. And that bright smile always did me in.

“So, can I?” she asked.

I shook my head to clear it.

“No? Um, well, okay,” she said, sounding confused.

“No, no. It’s fine. Just thinking about something,” I muttered.

She walked toward me but didn’t stop at the yoga section of the room.

“What are you doing?” My tone was off.

“Just seeing how the puzzling is going.” She held up her hands. “I promise not to touch. Still working on this one, huh?”

Her hair brushed against my arm as she moved in close, and her scent overwhelmed me. My dick was ready to punch a hole in my athletic shorts.

Fuck me.

“Ooh, I think this one goes here,” she said, reaching across my arm. I assumed she was snagging a puzzle piece, but all I could focus on was her soft breasts pressed against my forearm. My muscles clenched.

“Dammit, Josie,” I gritted out.

She pulled back. “Sorry. I know, I know. I won’t try to help. I’m really messing with your routine, aren’t I?”

I shifted to catch her gaze and tried not to groan as she bit her lower lip.

Was I being punished or something?

“Yes, you are.”

“I really am sorry, Micah.”

“Are you?”

Her eyes widened.

I shook my head, breaking our held gaze. “Ignore me.”

“I’ll do yoga later,” she said.

I sighed. “No, don’t. We can both be in the same room, Josie.”

“You sure about that?”

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