Tamara pasted a smile on her face. “Morning, TJ, I didn’t expect to see you here so early.”
“I’m the head trainer of the team; I have to be here early. Practices are going to become more intense over the next two weeks. Silly injuries can happen. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen. What’s your excuse?”
How did she answer that? Did she say she came to watch Drake practice because she was worried about him? No. While Drake might be a ladies’ man, and, for her own sanity, she’d be better off being as far away from him as possible, she had promised to help him. And she always kept her word.
She grabbed at the flimsiest excuse she could. “Couldn’t sleep. Too excited about being at my first Games.”
TJ chuckled and she relaxed a tiny bit. “Trust me, the novelty doesn’t wear off, no matter how many Olympics you get to attend.”
“I’m making the most of this one. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the chance to attend one again. I’m sure for the athletes competing it’s a completely different emotion to what I’m experiencing.”
“I don’t think you have to worry too much. As long as I’m the head trainer, I want you on my staff. You’re one of the best trainers we have. I had people question the sensibility of hiring a woman to help a men’s team, saying it was a risk and would lead to nothing but a broken heart because you’d get involved with an athlete.” He smiled up at her. “You’ve proven them wrong. You keep your head in the game and your focus on the athletes. The boys respect you and listen to your advice. You’re doing a great job.”
Tamara knew she was grinning like a fool. TJ’s words meant a lot. She knew she was good at her job. She’d worked hard to make sure she was familiar with all the latest breakthroughs with treating all sorts of ailments. She’d always put the athletes and their wellbeing first. She’d always maintained a professional attitude toward them and their injuries. She couldn’t let that change. If she wanted to get her contract renewed with Team USA, she needed to keep her record clean.
Which meant keeping her focus on the job—and not on Drake and his flirting.
“Thank you, TJ. I’ll make sure I don’t do anything to let you down.”
“I believe you. Now is there anything you want to discuss while you’re here?”
“No.” Tamara flicked a glance at the clock on the wall behind TJ’s desk. Fifteen minutes had passed since she had left Drake to have his shower. Most guys didn’t take long, and he could walk through the door any minute now, which would lead to questions from TJ. She needed to get out of here somehow without raising TJ’s suspicions. So much for keeping her nose clean and not letting her boss down.
Fortunately, fate seemed to be on her side. TJ pushed his chair away from the desk, while he collected the files that sat on the desk. “Right, well I’m out of here. I need coffee while I look these over. I’ll see you at the practices this afternoon, right?”
“Yep, you sure will.”
TJ opened the door, and Drake just about fell into the room. “Drake, what are you doing here?” TJ asked.
“Oh, hey there, I was, umm…” his voice trailed off.
“I ran into Drake as I was coming in this morning. He, uh, he wanted some clarification on the…” This time her voice trailed off.
Shit.
5
The last person he wanted or needed to see was TJ. The way he was looking at the two of them, his eyebrows raised in speculation, he was clearly wondering if something was going on between him and Tamara.
Fuck.
No way did he plan to tell the other man his knee hurt more than he’d indicated. Besides, the reason he was seeking Tamara out was to get treatment. If anyone should be telling TJ about his knee, it should be her.
Why wasn’t she?
“Fine, the truth is—” Tamara shook her head, her eyes wide in what he could only describe as panic. Hmm, very interesting. Fortunately, TJ’s attention was now fully on him. Okay, time to live up to his reputation as the team flirt.
“I asked Tamara to breakfast, and she shot me down. I thought I’d give it one more go.”
“Huh?” The head trainer once again flicked his eyes between Drake and Tamara, like someone watching a tennis rally. “Why don’t I quite believe that?”
Tamara had a deer caught in headlights look on her face. If she wanted to convince TJ what he said was true, looking scared wasn’t helping matters.
“Drake’s just messing with you, TJ. He knows better than to ask me for breakfast. Especially as we’re at the Games. Isn’t that right, Drake?”
He applauded her silently for her sassy comeback. He shrugged and winked at her. “It was worth a shot. Later, TJ, Tamara.”
With that he swiveled, grimacing as his knee let him know it didn’t appreciate the abrupt movement.
Hell.
Hopefully, neither of the two trainers saw him wince. As he walked out into the Rio sunshine, he looked around, noticing activity was building around him. People arriving for events. Athletes arriving for practice sessions.
Man, it really did feel good to be at the Olympics. While he might dislike the pressure his father pushed upon his shoulders, he couldn’t deny he’d been able to travel the world. Not to mention go to two Olympics. In a way he was sad Dad wasn’t in Rio to watch him run his final races. But with the threat of the Zika virus and the fact his father was still recovering from a bout of pneumonia, the decision to stay in Florida made sense. Now standing here, witnessing the excitement of everyone around him, feeling the buzz in the air, he knew Dad would love to be here.
A hard poke in his shoulder had him glancing over his shoulder to see who had inflicted the pain.
“Ow,” he said when he saw Tamara standing behind him.
“Oh, you big baby. That didn’t hurt you. Now, if I wanted to make something hurt, I’d have aimed for your knee.”
Slashes of red highlighted her cheeks, and her blue eyes glittered dangerously. He expected to see darts flying from them. Hitting him fair and square between the eyes. Yep, she was fired up. Would she look this fired up spread out beneath him?
Whoa. Okay. Random thought. Not unpleasant, but random all the same. He may have a reputation for being a big flirt, but not as many women warmed his bed as people thought. When it came to women who he shared his bed with, he was particular.
“I think you like your job too much to do anything to make my knee any worse than it already is,” he commented dryly, facing her.
Immediately the concern replaced the anger. “What did you do between my leaving you at the locker door and now?”
“Nothing. I swear.”
“Then what’s with the my knee hurts really badly look?”
Drake burst out laughing at her weak imitation of him. “What was that?”
Again colored bloomed in her cheeks, from embarrassment and not anger this time if the way she glanced away said anything. She shook her head at him. “I give up. Is everything a big joke to you?”
He stopped laughing. Now those words annoyed him. While on the surface, it may look as though he didn’t take things seriously, he practiced hard every day. He watched what he ate. Tried to get a good night’s sleep. Others may dispute this, like the woman standing in front of him, but he took care of his body. This knee issue was something that could’ve happened to anyone. The fact it happened to him annoyed the crap out of him.
“No. I happen to take everything I do seriously.”
“Right, so that’s why you stood in front of my boss and told him you’d asked me to breakfast. What were you thinking?”
“Hey, who was the one that fumbled over her words in front of her boss?”
“Only because you couldn’t string any words together.”
They were both sounding like bratty siblings whining, He started it. No, she started it.
But, man, she looked beautiful with her blue eyes sparkling. Her ragged breathing drew his attention to her impressive cleavage, peaking out from the vee formed by he
r button-down shirt. Her lips—ruby red and inviting. So very inviting.
Drake didn’t think; he just acted. Leaning forward, he placed his lips over her soft ones. They tasted as sweet as they looked. He shuffled forward until his body brushed up against hers. As she gasped, he took advantage and slipped his tongue in. Her hands landed on his chest. He expected Tamara to push him away. Why wouldn’t she? He was taking liberties he hadn’t asked for. Instead of a shove, her fingers curled into his shirt, and her lips softened even more.
He didn’t know how long they stood there, sipping at each other, but eventually sense returned and he pulled away.
He went to reach for her when she stumbled away from him. “No. Don’t. That shouldn’t have happened.” She paused and closed her eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly. He didn’t think the movement was a leftover reaction from his kiss. “My God, Drake, anyone from the team could’ve seen us. TJ could’ve seen us.”
“But they didn’t,” he reasoned with a shrug.
Her ponytail swished from side to side as she shook her head. “How can you be sure? Seriously, you’re still joking around. You need to tell TJ what’s wrong with your knee. Get one of the other guys to work on it, because I just can’t. Not now.”
“No!” The word burst out of him. He didn’t want that at all.
“What do you mean no? You don’t get to pick and choose who works on your injury. If you’re not going to tell TJ, then I will. I won’t lose my job over this.”
Regret slammed into him like a runner who false started in a final and knew he or she was about to be disqualified. He didn’t want Tamara to think she’d lose her job. If someone did see them kissing and decided to tell the team managers, then he would take the fall. Not her.
“No, I won’t let that happen. I won’t let you lose your job, Tam. But I also don’t want anyone else working on my knee. You helped me when I first got injured. I trust you to get me right for my race. I promise to keep my hands and my lips to myself.” Even though he really wanted to do the opposite and grab her again so he could kiss her some more. “I will do whatever you want me to do. Please don’t walk away.”
A small crease appeared between her brows. Her tongue swiped her bottom lip. He bit back a groan as the action had his body perking up in appreciation. Damn. He would control his reaction to her. He had to.
“Do you give me your word that you won’t kiss me again? And that you’ll listen to all my recommendations without arguing about every single suggestion I make.”
“Yes. I will. I trust you. And I trust you not to tell TJ or Len what’s really going on with my knee.”
Tamara didn’t say anything, just crossed her arms, stretching her shirt tight, emphasizing her breasts. He jammed his hands in his pocket. Man, he wanted to touch her. To take the weight of her breasts in his hands, but that was never going to happen. Unless she made the first move, that is.
She nodded briskly. “I can’t say I’m happy about this, but fine, I won’t say anything. Now we’ll have to work out where and when I’m going to be doing your treatment.”
“Why can’t we do it in the treatment rooms?”
“Well that was my initial plan, but if we’re continually seen there, TJ is going to work out that there’s something more serious going on than the usual post practice muscle manipulation routines.” She paused and glanced at her watch. “Shit, I have an orientation to go to. I’ll meet you tomorrow after your morning run and we can take it from there. Hopefully, by then I’ll have worked out a place for me to work on you in peace.”
“In peace, huh? That sounds like something I could get onboard with.”
Her eyebrow rose at his teasing tone. Drake waited for a cutting remark. It didn’t come.
Tamara nodded and walked off, back toward the athletic building. He watched her disappear into the building, deliberating whether he’d pushed her too far and his chance of getting race ready had disappeared with her. He stood for a few minutes before giving himself a mental shake to let go of his worry about what would happen next. He headed in the opposite direction of the athletic building toward the aquatic center. Mitch’s first race started soon. Hopefully, watching his friend would erase the memory of the taste and feel of Tamara in his arms. Sadly, he didn’t think he’d be so lucky.
6
It was late afternoon by the time Tamara got back to her room. She opened the door and collapsed on the bed. All day she’d tried to forget about the kiss she’d shared with Drake. It had been a big mistake. Huge. Colossal even. One she wouldn’t mind repeating.
“I must be insane,” she muttered out loud.
Her number one rule had always been not to get involved with a person she was treating. She should’ve tried to get a job with a women’s team. No chance of her having a hot and heavy affair. Not that she was about to have a hot and heavy affair with Drake.
Was she? No she wasn’t.
A knock sounded on the door. The last thing she wanted was a visitor, and the only people who knew which room she was in were the people who she worked with. They were all fortunate enough to get single occupant rooms.
Dragging herself from the bed, she made her way to the door. She opened it to find a complete stranger standing there.
Damn, she should’ve checked who was there before she opened the door. Why hadn’t she? If she had, she could’ve ignored the stranger who stood in front of her.
“Can I help you?”
“Good afternoon, ma’am, I have a note for you.” He held out a white envelope. She was glad he spoke English. Before she’d left for Rio, she’d taken some Portuguese classes. While she could say good morning, good afternoon, good evening, how are you, do you speak English, she definitely didn’t understand most of what was being said around her.
“Thank you.” She took the note from the man and went to close the door, before quickly realizing she should probably tip the guy for bringing the note to her. She dug into her pocket and found some cash, which she handed over to him. He smiled big so she must have given him a larger than normal amount for such a minor task.
She closed the door, her focus fully on the note. She didn’t recognize the handwriting. Who would be sending her a note? If any of her colleagues wanted to get in touch with her, they’d call the room phone or knock on her door. They wouldn’t hand deliver a note to her.
Only one way to find out who wanted to communicate with her, Tamara tore open the envelope and pulled the piece of paper out.
Hi Tamara,
It’s Drake. Haha, kind of silly to start a note like that but, yeah, anyway. Tonight Mitch is swimming, and if he wins either one of his races, he will join the elite group of American athletes to win gold in three consecutive games. I’m trying to get as many of the US team at the pool to support him. The swimming finals start at 10pm. Yeah, I know, it’s late, but if you can make it, that will be great.
Hope to see you there.
Drake
Tamara folded the sheet of paper and put it back in the envelope. She looked at the room clock—5:30pm, four and half hours until the finals started. Did she go? How hard would it be to go and watch history being made? She didn’t have to stay for the whole session. She could watch one race. If Mitch won, voila she could say she’d been there when he’d joined the elite group. No one could question her if she went back to her room after the race so she could still get a decent night’s sleep. After all, her job was to make sure her athletes looked after themselves and got the requisite eight hours sleep each night.
The likelihood of her having to spend an inordinate amount of time with Drake would be slim. His note said he planned to get as many people as possible to the pool. No doubt a lot of the team would want to see Mitch race.
“Oh, for goodness sake, just go. What’s the worst that could happen? You have to sit next to Drake for a little while. He gave you his word he wouldn’t try anything. And being surrounded by a group of people, there’s no way he could.”
And who are you trying to convince by saying the words out loud?
* * *
At 9:45pm Tamara walked into the aquatic center. The first night of swimming finals had drawn a huge crowd. She searched the stands, trying to determine where the American team was sitting.
“Hey, you made it.”
Tamara turned to her left, and there stood Drake. He was dressed in his team tracksuit, sans jacket. His red shirt fit snugly over his muscled chest. A lock of dark brown hair flopped over his forehead and his green eyes glittered with excitement, tempting her to lean into him.
Man, why did he have to look so irresistible?
“Yep, couldn’t miss history in the making, could I?”
Drake laughed. “I wasn’t sure.”
She looked at him from beneath her lashes. “Well, you asked so nicely. It’s not every day I get a note hand delivered to me.”
He gave a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t sure what you’d do if I delivered it myself, so I got a volunteer to do the job for me.” Drake placed a hand on her back, and immediately her skin warmed beneath his touch. She overrode her natural instinct to relax into his touch and stiffened her spine. “Let’s get you seated.”
A perfect gentleman.
Why was he acting this way? Was he trying to lull her into a false sense of security? Or was he just being nice and he did this to every woman he invited to watch Mitch race?
Did she have to scrutinize every single thing Drake Roberts did? It was going to be a tiring two weeks if she did.
Energy buzzed around her as they walked beside the pool, the surface so smooth as it sparkled beneath the bright arena lights.
“It’s just asking to be messed up,” she murmured.
“What?”
Tamara waved a hand in the direction of the pool. “The water. Not a ripple breaking its surface. I’m tempted to put my hand in and shake it up a bit.”
Drake laughed again, the sound spreading tingles of awareness over her, just like the ripple she wanted to create in the water.
Fighting to Dream (The Elite Book 2) Page 3