On Thin Ice by Susan Andersen Page A

glance but waited until they reached the locker room before saying anything. Then she turned to face Sasha, fanning her cheeks with her fingers. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. That man is potent,” she declared.
    Swallowing, Sasha nodded her agreement. That was the God’s honest truth—more potent than anything she’d ever before come across.
    â€œAt first when he was standing so close and looking at you—the way he was looking at you—I was a little jealous. I mean, I saw him first after all.”
    â€œYeah, but you didn’t say dibs.”
    Connie laughed. “Yeah. And just as well, I think, too. I have a feeling that fella is way more man than I’d know how to handle.”
    Sasha grabbed Connie by the wrist and dragged her over to the frayed couch in the corner of the room. “And you think I can?” she demanded, collapsing onto the dusty cushions. “Even supposing that I wanted to . . . God, Connie, he probably comes on like that to every woman he comes into contact with.”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so, Saush.” Connie sat down next to her. “I stood there talking with him for a while and there wasn’t so much as a hint of anything like that. Not with me, not with Karen this afternoon, and not with Brenda, Lois, Mary, or Sara, all of whom came up for introductions about the time you were coming off the ice. God, when he said ‘we’ll . . . talk,’ I about swallowed my tongue. I think what he was really saying was, ‘come to my room and I’ll rip all your clothes off and do stuff to your body so nasty it’ll make you scream.’ ”
    Sasha licked her lower lip. “It wasn’t just in my mind then,” she said slowly. “I thought maybe I was exaggerating the . . . vibrations.” She rubbed her hands down her thighs and gripped her knees. “Wow,” she whispered. “He’s good. I mean, I’m used to those guys who drool all over me after they’ve seen me perform, and I know how to handle them. But he’s a lot more subtle—which makes him about a hundred times more effective.” She turned her head to look at Connie. “I take it it’s safe to assume he watched the ‘Playing with Fire’ number?” Dammit, how many times had she been through this, through the multitudinous come-ons from men who thought she was what she skated?
    â€œYeah, he did,” Connie acknowledged. “And I’m as sure as I can be, without having checked to see if there was any action going on behind his fly, that it turned him on. But I think you’re seriously underestimating the man if you think he’s the type to allow himself to be led around by his hormones. Y’ask me, if he’s decided he wants you, it’s got nothing to do with having watched one performance on ice.”
    â€œMaybe. But in a way, Connie, that’s an even scarier scenario, don’t you think? Because, I mean, you’re right.” She leaned over and tugged at her laces, working them loose to take off her skates. Finally, she looked up at her friend. “He is potent and you’re not the only one who wouldn’t have a clue how to handle him. There’d be no staying in control with that guy.”
    â€œSo you’re going to just let an opportunity for a romp with a man like that one pass you by? Ah, Saush, tell me it isn’t so.”
    Sasha’s laugh was involuntary and nervous. “Well, at the very least I think I’ll exercise a little native intelligence for once in my life and arrange for any future meetings between the two of us to be conducted in the hotel coffee shop.” Her eyes held confusion when they met Connie’s. “Maybe if we didn’t have to work with this guy for God knows how long...”
    She blushed and gave Connie a sheepish smile. “You know I’m not a big fan of one-night stands, but