Page 2 of King of Wands

It’s not an exaggeration to describe the man as a god. He’s the kind of unattainable perfect reserved for underwear models, action movie stars, and Greek gods. Sandy, Thor-like hair—new, short-haired Thor, not old, long-haired Thor—he had piercing eyes, and a strong jaw that looked great clean-shaven or with a little stubble, like he was sporting today. And then there was his body. Drivers weren’t tall or bulky. They couldn’t be if they wanted to win. Thor—I meanKing—was one of the tallest in racing at five-foot-eleven. He was also one of the heavier drivers because he was basically pure, lean muscle. The man’s arms were just...I shook my head to clear the brain fog created by staring at his muscular forearms and that vein that ran from his wrist to his bicep like some sort of hypnotic snake charmer.

In short, Kingston Reynolds had the sexiest forearms I’d ever seen.

And right now I couldn’t stop staring at them as I tried and failed to catch my balance. To my complete horror his focus zeroed in on me just as I gave up and leapt backward off the machine, crashing into the mirrors behind me.

To add to my horror, I tripped and fell sideways. This drew the attention of pretty mucheveryonein the room. And to top it off for old times sake, it was King who rushed to my rescue.

My heart may or may not have completely stopped when he put those strong hands of his on my hips—myhips!—and helped right me.

“Whoa there,” he drawled in his sexy, sexy British accent. “You all right? Is that machine trying to eat you for breakfast?”

I died. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened. Between the mortification and thehands on my hipsI had to be dead, right? That would explain why there seemed to be no beat coming from inside my chest, no air in my lungs. I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze. Mostly because my eyes were stuck on his forearms. They were my favorite part of him. They were also attached to his hands.That were still on my hips!

“Hey now, you good?” And. Then. He. Squeezed.

The pressure of his touch sent a zing straight to my core. I stumbled again because the world had suddenly gone a bit sideways.

“Hey, hey, hey,” King cooed, and pulled me against his chest. “Careful now. Is your blood sugar low? Let’s get you a juice.”

Then he turned me, tucking me firmly against his side, and led me all the way into the break room next door. I could feel every sculpted muscle. His body heat was several degrees cooler than my own and yet was still somehow scorching. I could smell him. Mostly because I had a good workout stink going on while he had the remnants of a smooth musky cologne clinging to his skin.

He was basically heaven and I never wanted him to let me go.

But he did. He eased me down onto the couch and retrieved an orange juice from the giant drink cooler. Then he squatted in front of me as he opened it and pressed it into my hand. “Take a few sips. It’ll help.”

I wanted to correct him. The only thing that would help would be a time machine. One that would stop me before I fell off the elliptical. That way King would have started his workout without ever noticing me. I’d watch him surreptitiously from the corner like I always did. He’d never know I existed.

It was the way it was supposed to be.

“You’re one of the public relations interns, yeah?”

Oh god...he knew who I was?“Um, yeah. That’s me.”

He smiled as he stroked my knee with his thumb. It was the first time I’d seen him smile (he was scowler) and I was struck a little bit dumb by how completely gorgeous it was. It made his eyes light up. “How are you liking things? They treating you well?”

I blinked. Mostly because I never thought I’d have a one-on-one conversation with King, but also because the management was kind of nasty at the factory. “Well, I mean, I’m an intern. I’m basically their grunt. But I love the gym and the cafeteria and the stylist.” I clamped my mouth shut because that was way too much information.

He laughed lightly. My insides did a double back flip. “Those are my three favorite parts too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, then his eyes roamed over me as if he were really and truly getting to know me. “I like clothes but hate thinking about them, so it’s nice to have someone take care of it all for me. I love food.Love. It. And I wouldn’t be a professional athlete if I didn’t have a morbid love of working out. You?”

I needed to keep him from speaking in long sentences. The longer I listened to his lyrical cadence the deeper into a trance I fell. “Um, yeah. Same.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Really? You’re always dressed so nicely. Even on your first day. I assumed you probably hated being told what to wear and how to style your hair.” And then his eyes ran over my sweaty hair.

Wait...wait one stinking minute. Did he just say what I think he just said? “You remember my first day?”

His eyes widened and he swallowed hard. He also froze his thumb. But, I noted, he didn’t take away his hand.Curious.Then he slowly nodded, choosing his words slowly and carefully. “Uh, yeah. I do. I try my best to know everyone on the team, even interns.” Except his eyes didn’t agree with his words. They still wandered my face like he was memorizing me. I might have a massive crush on him and I might have been under the impression he had no idea who I was, but I wasn’t oblivious. King liked what he saw.

Was King...attracted to me?

And did it really matter? It wasn’t like we were going to have some torrid secret office affair. He was allowed to enjoy the opposite sex—visually—as much as I was. I’d be a hypocrite after my eye-ogling sessions at the gym. So I decided that’s what all this was. King liked looking at me. King was a decent guy who knew everyone. It was as simple as that.

“Better now?” he asked.

I nodded, took another sip. “Yeah. I think so. Must have overdone it today.”

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