Page 23 of Treat

Jude’s knees went wobbly, and he sat down on the couch. “I’m not in love with her.”

“Maybe not all the way,” Tommy conceded, coming around the counter. He shoved the little candles and the plant out of the way and sat on the steamer trunk facing Jude. “But you’re headed in that direction.”

Jude scrubbed his hands over his face. “Shit.”

“On the bright side, I think she’s in love with you, too.”

Jude’s head came up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. “What?”

“Well, she wants to bang you, anyway,” Tommy amended. “You didn’t see the way she was looking at you?”

“No,” Jude admitted. He’d been too busy trying not to look at her to notice how she was looking at him. “How was she looking at me?”

“She stared at your thighs almost as long as you stared at hers,” Tommy said. “She was more subtle than you, of course.”

“Of course,” Jude muttered, the tips of his ears heating with embarrassment.

“When she was talking about filming your workout, there was a moment where I thought she might melt into a puddle right there on the stool.”

“Really?”

Tommy nodded. “She’s into you, man. What are you going to do about it?”

Jude stared. “What do you mean, what am I going to do about it? I thought you said it was a terrible idea.”

“I changed my mind. I think you should go for it.”

“Go for it?” Jude echoed.

“Ask her out,” Tommy clarified. “See where it goes.”

“What happened to ‘a sexual harassment scandal could ruin your career’?”

Tommy snorted. “In this league? You’ll be fine.”

Jude barked out a laugh before he could stop it. “Jesus, Tommy.”

Tommy cocked an eyebrow. “Am I wrong?”

“No,” Jude admitted. They’d both seen players who’d done far worse be condemned in the press and social media, offer either fierce denials or false apologies, and go right back to playing under multi-million dollar contracts for top teams. The league talked a good game about not wanting abusers on the ice, but money trumped ethics, and the sad truth was a guy who brought in enough of it could probably commit murder and still have a job.

“Besides, you’re not going to sexually harass her.”

“Just asking her out could be considered harassment,” Jude pointed out. “I’m her boss, remember?”

“So don’t ask her out yet. Just…observe.”

“Observe.”

“Yeah. How she talks, how she looks. You know how a woman acts when she’s interested.”

“Yeah, okay. Then what?”

“Then you sit down and have an adult conversation about it.”

“Just like that?”

“What could be easier?”

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