The Job Offer - By Eleanor Webb Page 0,81
the U.S. team and had the opportunity to watch his performance while she waited for her chance to practice. In her estimation, his performance was flawless.
"Thanks, David. You looked really good out there." David was four years older than Kerri, and she had a huge crush on him. She had a bad case of hero worship; at least that was what her mother called it. Kerri had been following his skating career for the past four years ever since he competed in the Salt Lake City Games and finished fourth. She heard that he still dating Shannon and had been since the beginning of the season last July. But the rumor mill also had it that they would probably be breaking up after the games. Her stomach gave a little flutter when David walked over and flicked her strawberry blonde pony tail, smiling the whole time into her jade green eyes. Vaguely, she heard the sound of the men's locker room door opening down the hall, but she did not turn to look at whoever left the room because her gaze remained locked on David's smiling face.
"So, Kerri... A few of us were planning on going over and watching the ice dancing short program tonight instead of staying in the dorms. Do you want to come?" Kerri couldn't be sure, but he appeared to be flirting with her. She looked into his blue eyes, lost in their beauty. His dark blonde hair was still wet from his shower, and she wanted to touch it. "You certainly are a pretty thing, aren't you? So what do you say?"
"I'm afraid that I can't tonight," she told David feeling both flustered by his invitation and disappointed that she could not go along with the group. Her heart sang because David asked her along. He noticed her and wanted to spend time with her! "The men's hockey team is playing the Swedish team tonight, so I'll be cheering them on." All season long David had kept his distance from her, and she was overwhelmed by his talking to her now. Her stomach quivered with butterflies when he smiled at her. Oh boy! She felt her face warm with a blush and gave him a shy smile. He noticed and gave her a knowing smile in return. The man was positively gorgeous, she thought. How she wished she could go over to the arena with the others. "My brother is starting forward. Maybe, after the Games we could...?"
"Too bad you can't come, Kerri. It would be fun to have you along." He took her pony tail in his hand again and held it for a second before letting go. Then he winked at her and walked away. She sighed and had a wistful smile on her face as she watched him walk up the corridor toward the main entrance.
When he turned the corner at the top of the corridor, she looked around the hall where she stood and saw Jakobe "Jake" Takeda leaning against the wall by the men's locker room watching her closely. He was the three time reigning men's world champion, the gold medalist in Salt Lake City, and was expected to take the gold again at the end of the week. She always thought he was one of the most focused skaters on the senior tour, and his powerful style laced with animal grace had caught the attention of non-skating fans and advertisers alike around the world in addition to the legions of fans of the sport. His intense stare made her slightly uncomfortable, and she turned to begin the walk down the other end of the hall to the ladies' locker room.
"I'd stay away from him, if I were you."
That stopped her, and she turned back around. He was dressed in black workout clothes, his signature color, and his skates added several inches to his already tall muscular frame. His hair was black and his eyes a light brown in his handsome face. She knew from a feature done on him last month that he was twenty four years old and was the son of the Japanese Takeda Athletics CEO and the British national championship pairs skater, Evelyn Andrews.
"Excuse me?"
Kerri could feel the power emanating from his body even from the twenty foot distance between them. It was his intense gaze and seemingly casual stance, she thought. Everything about Jake Takeda intimidated her. He was like a tiger ready to pounce, but she did not move when he walked over only