The Machine

by Stephanie Julian

  “What do you want to know?”

  He seemed to settle more comfortably in the chair and watched her in a way that made her think he was a lion and she was an antelope. An antelope that didn’t run very fast.

  But she found herself waiting for him to ask his question, more because she wanted to hear him speak again than anything else.

  “How long have you worked here?”

  “Almost a year.”

  “Where did you work before this?”

  “At a retirement community. I was the activities director for about two thousand residents.”

  “How did you go from retirement community to working here, with these children?”

  A little heat shimmered through her body. Did she feel flattered? No, of course she didn’t feel flattered. That was stupid. Why would he be trying to flatter her by asking questions? That made no sense. But why was he asking all these questions in the first place?

  “Is there some reason you need to know this?”

  He shrugged. “Indulge me. I am curious.”

  Those two little words made that crazy little shimmer in her blood shimmy even more.

  Indulge me.

  Why in the world would he want her to indulge him? Usually men who wanted you to indulge them were selfish or egotistical. They wanted you to listen to them whine or boast.

  And maybe this is why you haven’t been on a date since you were stood up at the church.

  Ugh.

  But that’s not the vibe she got from Jake. He actually seemed interested in her.

  Was he? Interested in her? Why the hell would he be interested in her?

  Indulge me.

  “My boss at the retirement community…she was wonderful. She would’ve found me a job when I was ready to come back to work. They had to fill my position when it was obvious I wouldn’t be able to physically do the job. I didn’t have the stamina and there were times I needed to help the residents get up and down or help them into their wheelchairs or whatever. I mean, I couldn’t walk. How was I going to help them?”

  “They were unwilling to give you aid?”

  “No, no, they were more than willing to help me but…” But what? She shook her head. “I don’t know that I wanted to be there. And the residents deserved someone who was enthusiastic about the job.”

  And she’d been…depressed.

  “You were no longer enthusiastic.”

  Jake’s statement drew her gaze back to his. Damn, his eyes were gorgeous. How did blue eyes so cool seem to burn so hot?

  She blinked and let her gaze drop. “No, I wasn’t. I spent a few months wondering what the hell I was going to do with my life.”

  She’d never said that to another person before. She couldn’t believe she’d said it to him.

  “But I knew I couldn’t sit and wallow.”

  He understood that. She saw it in those blue eyes and the expression on his face.

  “And so you came here.”

  She nodded. “I got lucky. Discovery was looking for an activities director and I happened to have the right qualifications at the right time.”

  His eyebrows rose. “You believe it was coincidence you got job? Not your skills or your determination?”

  “No, not coincidence, exactly. Maybe luck?”

  “I think you sell yourself short.”

  Their conversation had begun to seem surreal. What had seemed like such a completely normal conversation, one she had several times a week with different people, had become a mind-bending interview of her.

  “Jake…is there a purpose to this?”

  His expression didn’t change. “I am interested in your answers.”

  “Why?”

  He didn’t have an immediate response and she wondered if she’d finally stumped him. But when he finally did answer, she wanted to roll her eyes in exasperation.

  “Why do you not want to talk about yourself?”

  “Because this isn’t a job interview. Discovery is more than happy for you to give whatever time you have to spare for this program. You don’t need to suck up to me.”

  As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. They were completely inappropriate and she didn’t know why she’d said them.

  Frustration, probably.

  She had no idea what Jake was playing at. He’d never seemed interested in her before, but Friday night at the bar and now this…

  If she were a different kind of woman, she’d think he was flirting with her. But that was crazy talk.

  She’d seen Jake flirt with women. Before he’d been injured, she’d watched him use that blond and blue-eyed charm on beautiful women with perfect hair and perfect smiles and perfect bodies.

  She’d watched him smile and watched them fall like dominoes at his feet. She’d never expected to be on the receiving end of that interest. Couldn’t really believe that’s what was happening now. No, she had to be mistaking his intentions.

  She could read nothing from his expression. He still hadn’t said anything in response to her last stupid statement and she shook her head now, holding one hand up in front of her.

  “Sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”

  His head cocked to the side. “Do I make you nervous?”

  Her back straightened and she narrowed her eyes at the glint of…something in his gaze.

  “No, you don’t make me nervous.”

  His mouth curved in a hint of a smile. “Good to know. And I do not suck up to you. I am genuinely curious about you.”

  Turnabout was fair play, she decided.

  “I’ve answered your questions, how about you answer a few of mine?”

  That hint turned into a full-blown grin, as if he’d been waiting for her to push back. “I am open book for you. Ask what you want.”

  An open book, huh? Why did that make her feel like he’d given her the keys to the kingdom?

  She opened her mouth to speak and he raised his index finger.

  “But I get to ask you question in return. Seems only fair.”

  She didn’t really have time for this. The students were already gone for the day and she typically used this time to get set up for the next day. But…she didn’t want him to leave just yet either.

  “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”

  He shrugged. “I do not. Practice this morning. Workout this afternoon. And this is not your day for therapy.”

  Okay, she refused to have any more of that shimmying going on in her body. He only knew her therapy schedule because he’d been on the same schedule.

  Get over yourself.

  “But if you want to finish somewhere else,” he continued, “we can go to dinner.”

  Her lips parted as if she had something to say to that but, really, she couldn’t think of anything except, “Are you asking me to dinner?”

  “If that is what you want to do, then yes. Let us go eat. We can talk over food.”

  “But…it’s too early for dinner.”

  Now why the hell had she said that? Her brain and her mouth were obviously not connected. How had he managed to scramble her mind so badly in such a short time?

  “Not really, but if you insist, we can meet later.”

  “I didn’t…I mean, I’m not insisting on anything.”

  “Good. Then we will meet at seven for dinner and we will continue this conversation.”

  He wanted to take her to dinner.

  The only response she could formulate was, “Why?”

  He didn’t hesitate at all. “Because I will be hungry later and I want to talk to you more about your school.”

  So this was all because he wanted to know more about Discovery Academy? Her brain spinning, she tried to make sense of the conversation. But finally, she mentally threw up her hands. And gave in.

  Right. Sure, you gave in.

  “Fine. We can talk about this over dinner. But this isn’t a date.”

  “Who said anything about date?” />
  Ooh. She wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. Although…his smirk was more of an impression than an actual expression.

  Damn him. She really hated that she couldn’t tell.

  “I just meant—”

  “I know what you meant, Faith.”

  She couldn’t tell how he felt about it, though. She wanted to ask. Wanted to know if he wanted to have a date with her or if he just wanted to bust her ass.

  I’d love to tap his ass.

  No, no, no.

  She swallowed hard. “Okay. Fine. Then I’ll meet you at Papa Tsouk’s—”

  “We can meet at Judy’s tonight, yes? It will be quieter there and we can…talk.”

  Talk. How did he make that sound so sensual? And why was she even thinking about his voice in that way? This was so not what she should be doing tonight. Not with him.

  She sucked in air to reverse her decision and Jake stood. And she followed him all the way up with her eyes, practically swallowing her tongue.

  Where the hell was this…this weird attraction coming from?

  She didn’t like Jake. No, that wasn’t what she meant. She liked him. She just didn’t like him.

  And when the hell had she regressed to being a teenager?

  She needed him to leave now. Before she made an even bigger fool of herself than she already had.

  “Sure. Yes, that’s fine. I’ll meet you there.”

  She’d agree to anything right now to get him out of her office.

  He smiled again, this time flat-out lethally devastating.

  Damn him.

  “I will see you there.”

  Nodding, he headed for the door but stopped just before he left her office. He turned his head and looked over his shoulder.

  “Don’t be late.”

  She wanted to say something smart, something to put him in his place.

  She couldn’t think of one damn thing as he disappeared out the door.

  Leaving her staring at the space where he’d been.

  Chapter Five

  “Hey, man, if you don’t have anything going on tonight, me and D and some of the other guys are going out for dinner.”

  Jake shook his head at Brody. “No, I have…date.”

  Brody gave Jake a rare grin as he sprawled in a chair, a book split open on his chest. The guy was never far from a book, Jake had noticed.

  “You sure about that? You don’t sound so sure.”

  “I am meeting woman at restaurant. To me, that is date.”

  Brody shrugged but his lips remained curved in a slight smile. “Yep, sounds like a date to me. Anyone I know?”

  Jake didn’t answer right away as he headed for the small kitchen in the apartment they shared. Grabbing his water bottle from the fridge, he headed back to the living room and sank into the couch opposite Brody.

  “Is possible. Her name is Faith.”

  Brody thought for a second, eyes narrowed down to slits of pale blue. “The brunette with the bum legs. Pretty. What happened to her?”

  Jake didn’t know if Brody meant to be a dick or if he just sounded like one. Half the time, Jake thought Brody was as decent guy and then he said something like this. But a split second later, the guy grimaced and shook his head.

  “Yeah, that sounded— Sorry. Still working on the people skills. Apparently, I have,” he made air quotes, “issues with my attitude.”

  Jake shrugged. A lot of the guys had “issues” with their attitude. They either got over them or learned to work around them. If they couldn’t… Well, if they didn’t have the skills to back them up, they usually found themselves out of a job.

  Being part of a team, you needed more than just skill to be a success.

  Brody had the skill. But Jake believed the guy was honestly trying to work on whatever “issues” he had.

  “She was in accident a few years ago. Doctors told her she would never walk. She proved them wrong.”

  Brody nodded, his expression impressed. “Sounds like a determined woman.”

  “She is. She is also stubborn.”

  Brody’s grin returned and Jake could see why women flocked around the guy. None of them actually stayed longer than a night. Brody made sure of that.

  “Those are the ones you gotta watch out for. Some of ’em are like leeches. They latch on and won’t let go.”

  “Sounds like you have first-hand knowledge of this.”

  Brody didn’t say anything right away and Jake figured he wasn’t going to. That was one of the things he missed about Lad. He missed his sounding board.

  Yeah, he was happy that his best friend had finally gotten his shot at a place with the Colonials. It’s what they’d been working toward since they’d both been kids growing up in small towns in foreign countries.

  When they’d been drafted together at eighteen and sent here to play for the Redtails, they’d formed an immediate bond. Lad had known very little English. Jake had known more than enough Russian for Jake and Lad to communicate, and Jake had been fluent enough in English to interpret for Lad until he’d learned English.

  They’d formed a tight bond on the ice, playing defense like two cogs in a well-oiled machine. Off the ice, they’d become just as close.

  Jake fucking missed his friend.

  Brody was a poor substitute. Not that he cared. Brody only planned to be with the Redtails for as long as it took to rehab his shoulder.

  But like Jake’s issues with his hamstring, Brody apparently was having recovery issues with his rotator cuff.

  “Yeah, I do,” Brody finally responded, shocking the hell out of Jake.

  He’d assumed Brody would simply blow him off. That was his normal response to any personal questions.

  “You want to…talk about it?” Jake asked.

  Brody didn’t answer right away, and Jake figured the guy was going to shut him down. If this had been Lad, he wouldn’t have had to ask if he wanted to talk. Lad would’ve opened his mouth and it all would have spilled out.

  Jake wouldn’t be surprised if Brody just picked up his book and started to read again. His new roommate sometimes made introverts seem like the life of the party.

  “There’s really not much to tell.” Brody shook his head but his gaze shifted away, which led Jake to believe there was a hell of a lot more to the story. “I knew she was bad news and I got involved anyway. She made my life hell for months and nearly cost me my career. Lesson learned.”

  There was definitely much more to that story and Jake sensed that Brody needed someone to talk to. So he asked the tough question, one Brody would either answer or shut him down.

  “How is your shoulder?”

  Brody automatically rolled his injured shoulder, his gaze retreating inward, taking stock of his body’s response.

  Jake knew that look. He’d done it often enough.

  “Better. But not one hundred percent yet. I know I can’t push because that’ll only fuck it up more but…damn, I hate feeling like I’m going backward and not forward.”

  Yeah, it must suck being down here with the lower class.

  “Fuck.” Brody bit out the word and shook his head as he met Jake’s gaze head on. “I didn’t mean… Shit, sorry. Yeah. I did. But… Shit.”

  Jake let the unspoken insult roll off his back. “I understand. This is not where you want to be. Do you think I don’t want to be in NHL lineup? Of course I do.”

  With a sigh, Brody shook his head and stared out the window to his right.

  They could actually see Mount Penn from that window. Right now it was barren and lightly covered in snow. The sight made Jake somewhat homesick. But only for his mother and brother. Not for his actual home. He liked the states much better and couldn’t wait for his family to get their visas and join him. Once he had an NHL spot, it would be easier for them to get approved.

  “I thought this would be a week, maybe two at the most,” Brody continued. “Now, I think I might be here for the rest of the season.”

  “Who did yo
u piss off?”

  Brody’s smile reappeared. “I don’t know, man. But somebody definitely has it in for me.”

  “Are you happy with your physical therapist? I am certain mine saved my career. I will give you his number.”

  Brody looked back at him and nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. That’d be great. The guy I’m going to is fine. We just don’t… I don’t know. We don’t connect. Makes it tougher than it has to be.”

  “I will text his info.”

  “Okay.” Brody picked up his book again. “Have fun on your date.”

  Jake grinned and headed for his bedroom. “I plan to.”

  *****

  Faith stared at the contacts list on her phone for what seemed like forever.

  Of course, it had only been five minutes but that was five minutes too long.

  “Oh, just call her already.”

  With a huff, Faith pressed her index finger on Bliss’s face then decided this had been a mistake and she should hang up. She didn’t need advice—

  “Faith! Hey. What’s up?” Bliss’s voice sounded like she had Faith on speakerphone. “I haven’t heard from you for a while.”

  “Is this a bad time? I can call you back if—”

  “No, no. This is perfect timing actually. I’m just getting in the car to drive down to Philly to meet Shane. I’ve been meaning to call you for days. There’s just never enough time, you know?”

  “I know. So, I need a consult.”

  “A dress consult?”

  “No, a girlfriend consult. Well, it does have something do with apparel but mainly…”

  “Mainly what?”

  She took and breath. “Jake and I are going out to dinner tonight. But it’s not what you think.”

  A pause. “How do you know what I’m thinking?”

  “Oh please. I know exactly what you’re thinking but it’s not like that.”

  “Okay.” Bliss sounded like she was trying to hold back a laugh. “Then what’s it like?”

  “He’s going to be working with the kids at the academy and he wants to discuss that.”

  “Over dinner.”

  Faith heard Bliss’s amused disbelief clearly through the phone line but chose to ignore it for now. Didn’t want to get sidetracked.

  “Yes, over dinner.”