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“The other day — who was the guy at the hardware store?” Navarro says laconically.
It comes as a surprise to me. Our hands take turns laying the cards on the middle of the table. Occasionally, his fingers brush against mine, sending a warm flicker through me. Just the mere vestige of his touch leaves goosebumps along my arms.
“My neighbour,” I don’t look into his eyes. Although, I feel his steady, curious gaze on me.
“A married neighbour, I noticed,” He says.
There’s a slight edge to his voice. Why does he care? He’s just been a d!ck to me. He should mind his own business. What I do in my own time shouldn’t be his concern. Not that I’m having it on with Mr Zeepler — argh! — but you know what I mean, right?
“Look, it’s nothing to do with you,” I shoot a glare at him, “What about Therese? When are you getting married?”
I may as well eek out some information about him — it’s not as if he’s the most talkative person in the world during training sessions. He’s what you call a “private man”. Who does he think he is? Some brooding Byronic hero (come to think of it, I’ve actually seen him reading Byron!)? Yeah right.
“This summer.”
Wow. That’s only a couple of months away…
I swallow. “Nice.”
The silence is intimidating. He continues to lay his cards down. Each card is a red or black blur. My hands turn clammy. No matches yet. This is rare…
My stack of cards is slowly diminishing as each second passes.
“How did you meet her?” I say.
The coach lays down the queen of diamonds. “All these questions…”
He shakes his head with a wry smile. This annoys me beyond belief. Such an idiot! I’m surprised he’s even engaged. Who’d want to get married to such a douchbag? Oh yeah, Therese Weber.
She probably just wants him as eye-candy. To her, Navarro will always be intellectually inferior…
God, I’m so b!tchy sometimes.
It’s only because I’m jealous though. This man drives me nuts! I can’t take it anymore…
“Tell me to p!ss off, coach. I dare you,” My frustration is bursting out of me in waves. I’m high with anger. God, why does he have to torture me?
“Her boat capsized on Lake Como…” His voice is level.
“What?”
“I dived in and rescued her.”
I gawp at him. Certainly didn’t expect him to say that…
There’s never a dull moment with him — that’s all I can say. I can’t help imagining him wearing a wet white shirt and rescuing me. Therese can just drown in Lake Como. Oh wait — I have a better line…
More like Lake Como spat her out because she tasted so nasty…
Her perfume would have damaged the lake’s ecosystem.
“Couldn’t she swim?” I sound strangely perky.
“Not at the time. She knows now, of course,” He grins.
“You taught her?”
“To all intents and purposes, yes.”
“Show off.”
That warm laughter fills the room. I try to prevent the corners of my mouth raising into a smile. The light dances off his brown eyes.
“I’ve been called worse things, Van Hoff…” He has a faraway look in his eyes as he remembers something.
“I can only imagine…” I lay down my last card, distracted by his sexy smile. It feels d@mn good to have it directed at me. I’d rather have a smile than a scowl any day.
Navarro allows his eyes to wonder down my face. It’s like a caress. Smooth as the ocean.
What’s he thinking? Does he even like me? Or is it just my imagination playing tricks on me…
Navarro looks over my face thoughtfully. I don’t fail to miss the way his eyes momentarily fall on my lips. His face moves closer to mine. Each strand of his brown hair is perfectly visible to me. I’d like to run my hands through his hair. I’d like to bury my lips in the crook of his neck. I’d like to own him. But, of course, that’s impossible…
My fingers are itching to grab his face and brutally snog the life out of him. I tilt my head up expectantly.
Just kiss me!
He allows his hand to reach out toward my mouth. The pad of his thumb explores the outline of my lips. His skin is warm and dry — very pleasant. I’m strangely aroused.
What’s he doing? Well, as long as I get my kiss…
I close my eyes and prepare for the kiss. Although, I can’t help my lids flickering open. His lush lips travel towards mine.
Yes — this is the moment!
A warm breath falls on my waiting lips instead.
“Snap,” he whispers.
My eyes snap open. His mouth taunts me. It’s almost touching mine — almost. Dazed, Navarro moves his head away from mine and shakes his head. It’s as though he’s waking himself out of a self-imposed trance…
B@stard. B@stard. B@stard.
Excuse me while I regain my fvcking composure…
B@stard. B@stard. B@stard—
“You cheated,” I look down at the table and realise part of his hand is covering the pile of cards. He’s won the game. Two bloody Kings. His fingers are absentmindedly caressing the back of my hand. “And you’re still cheating now! That’s not fair!”
He pats my hand with a relaxed grin. “Seems like you’ll continue helping Claude in the foreseeable future.”
I splutter.
“I’m back. Who won, Armand?” Claude opens his office door with a cheery smile. A small brown parcel is tucked behind his arm and he’s sipping from a coffee mug.
“Congratulations, Claude,” Navarro winks at him.
The groundsman beams. It’s touching that The Cheat made a sly old man’s day…
“He cheated!” I protest.
“Rules are rules,” the coach gathers up the cards and tidies them back into a neat deck, “Winner takes all.”
I can’t take it anymore. Before I can stop myself, I grab the cards out of his hand and toss it at the wall. They make a dull thudding sound and scatter to the ground in a miserable, messy heap. “Snap is for babies.”
Claude slips out of his jacket and hangs it behind the door. Navarro’s already caught up in his thoughts. He doesn’t have much of a reaction to my meltdown — I don’t think he particularly cares…
“You wanted to play snap. You know, I was going to let you ride on my tractor but now I’m definitely not allowing you to help me on the pitch,” Claude takes one of my fruit and nut bars and tears open the wrapping. He dunks the chocolate in his mug.
“That’s a lady’s prerogative,” Navarro smiles mockingly at me.
“I’m not a lady! Claude—”
The men share a look of camaraderie. The groundsman almost chokes on the chocolate. A deep rumble of laughter comes out of him. His grey whiskers bounce heartily.
“That reminds me. A moment of your time, Claude. We need to talk about the pitch.” Navarro stands up from the table.
Before Claude follows him to the doorway, he nods at the mess on the ground.
“You know the drill, Amelie. Pick up the cards. There’s a good girl.”
I glare at them both with venom.
Why couldn’t Navarro make my day instead?
A/N: Please VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE! Thank you! Apologies for the slight delay - wild weekend ;) Why do you think Coach didn’t kiss Amelie?? :D Dmitri.