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He leaned in and kissed her, and as always, she fired him up, body, heart and soul, like no other woman ever could. When he pulled back, he took her hands in his. "Amber. Look at me."
She did.
"I'll move mountains to make it work with you."
Tears streamed down her face. "Now I understand. This is love. This is how it works."
"Yeah. This is how it works."
She kissed him back. "Love hurts sometimes, Will."
"Yeah, it does."
"Also, I don't want to dance on that show."
"You don't?"
"No. When my mother told me about it, I kept waiting to get excited, but I wasn't. And I'm not. And that's because it's not what I want to do."
"What do you want to do?"
"Remember when I told you I wanted to teach skating to kids who have the talent but can't afford it?"
"Yeah."
"I want to open a school, to teach skating to young kids, so they can find their passion early in life."
He nodded. "That's a great idea."
"But I still have this tour."
"And hockey is over by May if we make the playoffs."
"Which you will."
He loved that she always believed in him. "Thanks. So when that's done, where you go, I go. And after that, we'll figure it out."
She threw her arms around him, then climbed onto his lap. "I love you, Will."
"I love you, too, Amber." He put his arms around her. "We'll make this work."
"Of course we will."
He laughed. "Don't ever doubt it. Because as long as we love each other, nothing will stop us."
He kissed her, and lost himself in the feel of her body against his.
He pulled back. "Did you ever get your skating tattoo?"
She shook her head. "Not yet."
"We're taking care of that right away."
"Okay. I didn't want to do it without you, anyway. You being the expert on tattoos."
He laughed. "I'll hold your hand through the whole thing."
"Thank you. Oh, and one more question."
"Yeah?"
"Can you get me a ticket to your game tomorrow night?"
He grinned. "Well, I know a guy who plays for New York. So I think I can score a ticket or even a few in case you want to bring some of the skaters."
"Awesome. Now you'll have a New York cheering section."
"Right now I'd like to have some sex in your dressing room."
She slid her hand under his shirt. "I already locked the door."
His mouth met hers and he murmured against her lips. "See? We're meant for each other."
"Oh, and another thing. I have lucky panties."
He arched a brow. "Lucky panties?"
"Yes."
He cupped her butt. "Would you happen to be wearing them?"
"Of course. I wear them for every performance now. They bring me luck. I own several pairs."
He lifted her robe to reveal hot pink satin and lace underwear. "I like these."
"The other pair is black."
"So you can wear those tomorrow night to bring me luck when I play."
She skimmed her fingertips over his shoulders. "Of course."
"We're a hell of a team, Amber."
She leaned in to kiss him, her lips soft and warm. "Yes, Mad Dog. We certainly are."
TURN THE PAGE TO READ A SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM THE LATEST HOPE NOVEL BY JACI BURTON
ONE PERFECT KISS
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2018 FROM JOVE
ZACH POWERS READ OVER THE LIST OF GRADES, THEN scrolled down to his two football players who been placed on academic probation. His gaze narrowed when he saw which teacher had been the one to put them there.
Josie Barnes.
"Dammit, Josie." He clenched the paper in his fist and left his classroom in search of the woman who was trying to ruin Hope High School's football season.
He found her in her classroom, looking content and calm and gorgeous in her long skirt and white short-sleeve button-down shirt, so unlike the outfits she wore outside the classroom. Here she was buttoned up and professional, always nodding and smiling at him in the halls, but never giving away anything other than polite teacher-to-teacher glances.
When they were out with their friends, though, she flirted with him. Nothing had happened between them yet, but Zach knew she liked him.
He liked her, too. Or he had, until now.
He knocked on her door. She looked over, then waved him in. She always wore her hair cut short, which did nothing to detract from her stunning face. In fact, it brought out the amazing sea blue of her eyes and her generous mouth, which today was painted a pale, shimmering pink.
If she'd been his teacher, he would have never been able to concentrate. Like right now, when he was supposed to be pissed off about those grades.
He opened the door, then closed it, coming over to hover over her desk.
"What's this all about?" he asked, shaking the paper at her.
She looked at his hand. "What's what all about?"
"You put Paul Fine and Chase Satterfield on probation."
She leaned back in her chair and gave him a confused look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
He dropped the paper on her desk. She opened it up, read it, then lifted her gaze to his. "Oh. Football."
She said the word "football" like she had no idea what it meant.
"Yeah, football. You know, that thing that's my life here."
"Huh. I thought teaching history was your life here." She finished her statement with an arched brow.
He narrowed his gaze at her. "Don't play games with me, Josie. Paul's my best wide receiver and Chase is my center."
"Uh-huh. Whatever. We're four weeks into the semester and Paul's missing four assignments. Chase is missing five. Which means neither of them is passing my class. I'm just doing what the school board requires by submitting progress reports."
Zach clenched his jaw. Bureaucracy always got in the way of his players doing what they did best--play football. Some of the other teachers understood this and were more . . . lenient with grades for his players, giving them a sliding scale to work with. But those were typically players that were on the cusp.
Five assignments? Jeez.
He took another glance at Paul's and Chase's grades in the class. They were both F's.
It wasn't like you could "sliding scale" your way up to a passing grade when you were already on your ass.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"Take a look."
She took out her grade book and showed him. "Chase has only turned in one assignment. Paul two. And the two Paul turned in--" She looked up at him. "I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, Zach, but honestly? They were bad. I couldn't even say he was phoning it in. He hadn't even picked up the phone."
This was where he needed to remind himself these were high school students. High school students who had potential college careers ahead of them, which meant they also had to do the academic work.
He unclenched his jaw. "Fine. Tell me what they need to get done and I'll make sure it's turned in before the end of the week report comes in."
"Sure." She got out a piece of paper, opened her laptop and jotted down the list of assignments. When she handed it to Zach, she looked up at him. "And Zach, make sure they're the ones doing the assignments, okay?"
"What the hell does that mean?"
