Page 2 of The Grinder

She had the urge to pick up the nearest stack of papers and fan herself. She couldn’t remember ever meeting a guy who made her body flush with heat from her toes to her scalp. And everywhere in between.

Rugged features that reminded her a little of a young Brad Pitt but even more handsome. Damn, she never would’ve thought that possible.

His brown hair had a wave to it, and his eyes were a dark greenish-brown that made her want to lean over the counter and get really close so she could see them better. Like, maybe flat-on-his-back-lying-on-top-of-him close. With their noses almost touching and their lips only centimeters apart—

“Hey, yeah, I’m hoping you can.”

Can what? flashed through her mind, but luckily she couldn’t get her mouth to work right away. Oh yeah, she was at work.

When he reached behind his back to take something out of his back pocket, all the muscles in those arms shifted and bunched and generally made her feel like she was watching a porn movie. Which she never did.

“I got this bill…”

He grinned at her as he unfolded a piece of paper and set it on the counter.

And holy crap, she nearly swallowed her tongue.

Down, girl. He wants you to fix his bill, not lick him from head to toe.

“I’m not sure why I got it. It should’ve gone to my former team.”

Swallowing hard, she smiled and reached across the counter for the paper. Tearing her gaze away from his, she focused instead on scanning the bill. After she’d taken a look at his hands. The man had huge hands, with long fingers covered in scars.

“Of course, Mister…” she looked down at the name, “Hatch. Let me take a look.”

“It’s Riley. And thanks, Miss…?”

“Martin. Aly Martin.”

She happened to look up at that moment and found him smiling down at her. Not a full-out grin, but one of those half grins guys did so well.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Aly Martin.”

She blinked and sucked in a breath. “Nice to meet you, too. I’ll, ah, just take a look at your bill.”

He leaned his forearms on the counter, getting even closer. “Got it a week or so ago but we’ve had practice every day and I haven’t been able to get over here. I figured it was better to do this in person than try to explain over the phone.”

And she was so grateful he had. “Practice?”

His smile widened and her ovaries practically exploded.

“I play for the Redtails.”

“Redtails?”

She cringed as she parroted him for a second time, just as she realized that he must be a hockey player for the local Reading Redtails.

“Sorry. Stupid question.” She shook her head and focused her attention on the paper in front of her. “Let me take a look at this.”

“Are you a hockey fan?”

The bill was standard and nothing looked out of ordinary. The only thing that didn’t make sense was that the bill was from this hospital for services at a hospital in another state that was in the same network. “You were treated for a shoulder injury last July?”

She looked up to find him watching her with a slight smile on his face, the kind of smile that invited her to smile back. Which she did.

“Yeah. Took a hit into the boards.” He reached for his left shoulder and rubbed it with one of those big hands. She couldn’t help but follow the movement before she blinked and snapped out of it.

“Does it still hurt?”

---