Chapter 11
Genevieve
The first thing that catches my attention when I pull into the parking lot is just how good Luke looks leaning casually, arms crossed, against his SUV. Taking advantage of my sunglasses, I let my gaze linger. But then Bogey’s harness, and the bicycle beside him grab my attention.
I forgot that Luke Nichols likes to excel at everything he does.
Thank goodness he didn’t break his neck.
I should’ve been crystal clear about how we would progress. But in my defense, most of my clients don’t have the mindset of a professional athlete. They’re more than happy to wait for our session before beginning.
Getting out of the car, my brow furrowed, I walk toward him. “Please tell me you didn’t start without me?”
He gives a shoulder shrug only to quickly raise a hand to the side of his neck. “Not today,” he grumbles, causing me to shake my head and roll my eyes like I’m chastising a child in grade school.
“Bikejoring can be really dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
The corner of his lip twitches, and the gleam that lights his eyes has my stomach dipping. This version of Luke Nichols is dangerous to my heart. “Worried about me, Genevieve?”
I narrow my eyes. “Worried about you? Not in the least. I was thinking about your dog.” I scoff, causing Luke to press his lips together letting me know he sees through my protest. I tilt my head toward Bogey, who’s looking between the two of us as if he’s trying to figure out which side he wants to be on.
“Don’t worry. Bogey is fine, and so is my bike.” I watch as he lifts his hand to his shoulder. “I, on the other hand, am a bit worse for wear, but nothing my massage therapist won’t be able to fix.”
Jealousy pools in the pit of my stomach. Which is ridiculous: the majority of professional athletes have massage therapists they see regularly to maintain peak athletic performance.
But more than that, I don’t care who’s touching Luke, right?
Despite what I’m telling myself, I can’t deny that I don’t like the idea of another woman touching him. Before I know what’s happening, I start fishing for information. “Did you set up an appointment with…” I move my hand in a circle, and a slow smirk crawls across his mouth.
“Steve?” Heat pools in my cheeks. He knows exactly what I was doing, and I want to turn tail and hide. “Not yet, but I left a message for him saying I needed to get in as soon as possible.”
Flustered, I point to his steel frame mountain bike and immediately get into ‘trainer mode’. “Nice choice. But you can put that away; we’re not going to be using it yet. Today will be all about teaching Bogey right and left turns, along with how to stop on command.”
The ‘Howoooooo’ sound the pup lets out has me giggling, and I can feel Luke’s gaze on me as he walks back to the side of the SUV sans bike.
“I’m going to show the two of you,” I say, rubbing both sides of Bogey’s face, which makes him add some additional yowls and yodels that make me laugh some more. “Impatient, just like your dad.”
Glancing back, Luke watches us. The brim of his hat covers his eyes again, making it impossible to see what he’s thinking, which is probably for the best since I’ve already let him see more than I’d like in the last ten minutes.
“Ready?” He gives a nod, and I stand up, pulling my phone from my pocket to focus on something other than the man next to me. “Tell me what you learned about bikejoring already so I know where to start.”
Walking down the trail toward an open field, Luke gives me a rundown of his research. It’s not bad, but he obtained very little information on how to train his dog to slow down or stop. Two very necessary skills when you have a sled dog pulling you.
“You have the basics, but you’re missing some key information. Like telling Bogey how to go ‘hike’, turn right ‘gee’, turn left ‘haw’, slow down ‘easy’, and the most important one—”
“Stop,” Luke mumbles, rolling his neck. “That one would’ve come in handy.”
“Yup.” I can’t stop the chuckle that pops out, and when he gives me his signature scowl, I clear my throat to keep from laughing again. “The word we’ll use is ‘whoa’.”
Forty minutes later, man and dog are working together as a team. I can’t help but be impressed with how well they both took to the instructions, not to mention the work ethic they seem to share.
At the end of the trail, about fifty feet in front of us, a group of people was watching every move we made. I catch Luke, pull the brim of his hat down further, like he’s somehow trying to hide under it. When I glance back toward the group, I notice them pointing at us.
Lifting my chin toward the crowd, I say, “Looks like you and Bogey have some fans.”
Luke pulls at the collar of his shirt and rolls his shoulders. “They’re probably talking about one of the photos from the golf rumor mill.”
“There’s a golf rumor mill?” The surprise in my voice is obvious. I didn’t realize that golfers had a cult following. He gives a stiff nod in response. “The one from a few days ago?”
“No.” He shakes his head. “A different one.”
A huff of laughter escapes. “Are we really that entertaining?”
“Apparently, ‘Golf’s Grim Reaper’ and a radiant beauty who’s in danger of having him suck all the joy from her is gossip fuel.”
A tightness grips my lungs. Yeah, he’s grumpy and a bit standoffish, but he’s not cruel or unkind.
“So I’m the beauty, and you’re the ‘Bogey-man’?” When he turns to me and pulls a face, it takes everything to keep the innocent expression on my face. “Get it?” I point to his dog, then to him. “Bogey, man?”
His mouth hinges before a hardy guffaw breaks free.
My pulse races at the sound. Even when we were dating, getting him to just relax and have fun was difficult. I forgot how much I loved being the one who could pull that out of him.
“He only lets his guard down like that with you.”
Claire’s words from school come flying back, and the warmth I felt then floods me.
“I’ve missed you, Gen.”
Luke’s words run over me, causing my heart and feet to stumble. His soft ‘easy boy’ and Bogey responding by slowing down barely gauge my attention. But the surprised smile on Luke’s face as his husky responds is like a kick to the gut.
The memory of him walking away from me, following his dad, plays in my head. Along with the pain I felt at not hearing from him after that.
Even his sister couldn’t give me a reason for the radio silence.
The question that has kept me up at night for years falls from my lips.
“If you missed me, how come you never called?”