Page 137 of Gloves Off

With his eyes on mine, he makes a low, humming noise, and electricity zings through me. I pull my gaze back to where my hand’s working, working the tension out of his shoulder.

“Hellfire.”

“Mmm?”

He stares at my shoulder. “Is that one of the things I bought you?”

I glance down, where the edge of my bra strap peeks out from the jersey’s collar. My body flushes with heat.

“Tell the truth.”

My mouth tips up but I keep my gaze on his shoulder. “Maybe.”

He makes a low, pleased noise, chest rising and falling with a deep breath. Delight crackles through me. Wearing the things he bought me should feel like losing the game—but it doesn’t.

It just feels fun. A wave of self-consciousness hits me.

“So, you figured it out with the rookie,” I say, glancing at the bar, where Luca’s now flirting with Jordan while she ignores him.

When I look back at Alexei, his eyes are on me. “I figured things out with the rookie thanks to you. Soccer practice. Watching you coach. It helped me.Youhelped me.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Yes, you did, Georgia. You’re a good coach.” He tilts his gaze to where my hands work on his shoulder. “And a good doctor.”

My thoughts drift to a question that’s been rising in my mind more and more these days.

“What’s that look?” he asks, studying me.

Nerves tumble in my stomach. “Why did you call me incompetent, two years ago?”

I’ve replayed that meeting a thousand times, read over my notes again and again. He said I reminded him of his ex, and I know he was upset that I recommended him for retirement, but I feel like there’s more.

“Did I do or say something that made you think I wasn’t good at my job?”

He takes a deep breath. “Are you sure you want to know?”

I brace myself for criticism. “I can handle it.”

A tiny shard of vulnerability rises in his eyes. “You called me a lost cause.”

I sink. I did call him that.

“Even if you hadn’t, though, I would have asked for another doctor.”

“Why?” I breathe, and he hesitates.

Here it comes. Whatever Alexei’s about to say, it’s going to hurt so much worse now that I know him. Now that I have this ridiculous crush on him.

“While you examined me,” his eyes meet mine, dark and intense, “I was hard as a rock.”

CHAPTER 64

ALEXEI

Her jaw drops,but her eyes flare with lust.

That first meeting was excruciating with her running her soft, delicate hands all over my body, feeling out my previous injuries and how they’ve healed. I remember biting back a groan as her nails grazed my knee. At one point, her hair brushed my bare shoulder and I almost came in my shorts.

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