The Job Offer

"Ni, ni, ni, Dytyna. You need more speed going into the triple Lutz, or you'll catch your toe pick!"

  Kerri Sullivan didn’t turn her head to look at her coach but increased her speed as she rounded the boards and headed back to the center of the ice rink. She changed her position so that she now skated backwards on the ice. Then she moved her weight onto her left leg and went into her preparations for the jump that had been plaguing her since the U.S. Nationals. She lifted her right leg and leaned forward with her torso. As quickly as she could, she pushed off with her right foot that she dropped suddenly to the ice.

  One.

  Two.

  Three.

  She came down perfectly on the ice with her weight on the ball of her right foot and the correct edge of her blade and swung her left leg around and behind her. Quickly, she leaped in the air again and completed the triple toe loop in her combination triple-triple jump required for competition. She nailed the landing on her second jump, too. The feeling of victory she gained after completing her triple-triple continued as she glided across the ice doing two more jumps before going into her final spin to end her long program. The second movement of the Rachmaninoff piano concerto she skated to ended gradually in exact synchronization with her spin.

  Clap.

  Clap.

  Clap.

  "Beautiful! Perfect, Kerri!"

  Kerri looked over at her coach, who stood on the other side of the boards, then up at the mostly empty seats in the ice arena they were using for practice that morning. There were several people scattered in the seats. Some of them were family members of skaters who came to watch the practice. Some of them were reporters covering the figure skating events. She saw her mother sitting in the seventh row. A huge smile was on her face.

  Kerri felt good about practice today. It went better than she had hoped. It was important that she practice with the team even though she was only an alternate. She still needed to be prepared to compete, so she practiced daily with the team to keep herself prepared. After skating over to the boards, she pushed open the door that would take her to the bench where she could put her neon blue guards on over her blades. As she dropped down heavily onto the bench, she worked at catching her breath.

  "Very good, Kerri," Coach Baranski praised. She was known for being stingy in giving praise, so any words received were high praise, indeed. Her words were thick with the Ukrainian accent she had yet to lose after twenty years in the United States, and Kerri smiled at her vocal patterns. Petra Baranski had been Kerri's coach for the last four years, and in that time, Kerri's skating had improved enough for her to win several junior national and world championships, a few senior level competitions, and become an alternate to the U.S. Ladies’ Figure Skating Olympic team. Coach Baranski was also the assistant coach for the U.S. Ladies’ Olympic team. "You keep doing it like that and you may find yourself in the top ten if Shannon is too ill to compete."

  Kerri took the towel her coach handed her and wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck before she looked back at her coach with interest. Her coach’s words filled her with nervous excitement, but she remained speechless while she worked at being able to talk over her breathlessness. Coach Baranski raised one of her brown eyebrows and looked down at Kerri with a slight smile that showed her that her coach was proud of how well she did in her practice that day. But practice was not competition, Coach Baranski’s look also said. "Your Lutz was good today, Kerri, but you still need some work. I don't like the way you transition with your arms. You are still pulling back too soon with your left arm. We finish for the day, though. The Japanese team has the arena booked for the next three hours."

  "That was great, Kerri." Kerri's mother said excitedly when she finally reached them by the bench. Kerri's mother was a medium sized woman in her middle forties with a pretty heart shaped face that matched Kerri's, light brown hair that she wore in a short bob, and blue eyes that were lit with excitement and great interest at what Kerri's coach just said. "Coach Baranski, will Kerri be competing? She's worked so hard, and it looks like she fixed her problem with the Lutz." There was a hopeful look on her face that was mirrored by Kerri.

  "Who's to say, Mrs. Sullivan? Coach Taylor said to have Kerri prepared to compete on Monday. I know not if Shannon is over her illness. Come, Dytyna. We discuss your performance now."

  "When will we know if I'll be competing?"

  "We will not know until Monday when we check in at the Olympic arena. Coach Taylor will know then."

  "I'm going back to the hotel to call your father, Kerri. We plan on meeting for lunch then will head on over to the hockey arena. Two kids in the Olympics! Whoa. I'll see you later." She leaned down and gave Kerri a hug before she kissed her forehead. "Stay out of trouble."

  "I can hardly get into any trouble in the Olympic village, Mom." At almost seventeen, Kerri was still able to feel embarrassed at receiving her mother's counsel, and she thought that her mother's advice was unfounded. The village was closed off, after all, from the rest of Turin and from the fray of the crowds that converged upon the venues. She watched her mother walk away before she stood up and adjusted the strap of her black exercise leotard. Then she picked up the towel and a water bottle that was also sitting on the bench and followed her coach. As they left the rink that began to fill up with the Japanese coaches, they discussed her performance and walked into the large gathering room that would take Kerri to the women's locker room.

  "You go, Dytyna. I meet you in front of the building in twenty minutes," Kerri's coach told her before she left Kerri’s side. Coach Baranski had spotted Coach Taylor standing by the vending machines in conference with an Olympic official and began to walk over to them. Being used to the constant interruptions and calls on her coach's time now that she was one of the assistant coaches, Kerri said "goodbye" and quickly headed down the corridor to the locker rooms for a quick shower and change of clothing. Twenty minutes wouldn’t give her much time to get cleaned up.

  "That was a great practice, Kerri. You looked really good out there." Kerri looked around to see who was talking and saw David Rathbourne, a member of the men's team, standing by the water fountain in the hall that crossed the end of the corridor to form a T. He was dressed in his official team sweats. Because he was the second skater on the ice that morning, he had plenty of time to shower and change. Practicing earlier also gave him time to watch the rest of the practice routines. Because Kerri was an alternate, she was the last skater to practice with the U.S. team. She usually hated to wait, but going last gave her the opportunity to watch his performance while she waited for her chance to skate. In her estimation, his performance had been flawless.

  "Thanks, David. You looked really good out there, too," Kerri said a little breathlessly. David was four years older than Kerri, and she had a huge crush on him. Her mother called it a bad case of hero worship that developed four years earlier when Kerri began to follow his skating career. Four years ago, he competed in the Salt Lake City Games and finished fourth. She had heard that he was dating Shannon Ellison, who was the odds-on favorite to win the ladies’ gold that year, and had been since the beginning of the season. But the rumor mill also said that they would probably be breaking up after the games. It was a rumor that Kerri latched onto with relish.

  Her stomach gave a little flutter when David walked over and flicked her strawberry blonde ponytail before he gazed down into her jade green eyes. In the distance she heard the faint sound of the door to the men’s locker room opening, but she didn’t turn to look at the door. She was too focused 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 positive, but he appeared to be flirting with her. She looked into his dark blue eyes and became lost in their beauty when he smiled like that. His dark blond hair was still damp from his shower, and she wan
ted to reach out and touch it to feel its texture. "You certainly are a pretty thing, aren't you? So what do you say?"

  "I'm afraid that I can't tonight, David." Kerri felt both flustered by his invitation and disappointed that she couldn’t go along with the group because it sounded like fun. She really wanted to spend time with David. Her heart simply sang because he asked her to come along. He actually 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."

  That entire season David had kept his distance from her and spent all of his free time with Shannon and the members of the men’s team. The fact that he was talking to her now overwhelmed her. Her stomach quivered when he smiled at her and revealed his small dimple. 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 wished she could go over to the arena with the others. But she couldn’t.

  "My brother is starting right wing in tonight’s game. Maybe, after the Games we could...?"

  "Too bad you can't come tonight, Kerri. It would be fun to have you along." He took her ponytail in his hand again and held it for a second before he let go. Then he winked at her and walked up the corridor. She sighed and smiled wistfully as she watched him walk toward the main entrance. It was a shame that she couldn’t go. But maybe there would be another time, and she smiled at the thought.

  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. Jake was the three-time reigning men's world champion, the gold medalist in Salt Lake City, and he was expected to take the gold again at the end of the week. Kerri always thought he was one of the most focused skaters on the senior tour. His powerful style laced with animal grace had even caught the attention of non-skating fans and advertisers alike in addition to the legions of fans of the sport. Everyone wanted to be around him, except her. His intense stare made her slightly uncomfortable. Because she didn’t want to engage him in a conversation, she turned to begin the walk down the other end of the hall to the women's locker room.

  "I'd stay away from him if I were you."

  That stopped her. She turned back around to look at him. He was dressed in black workout clothes, his signature color, and looked strong and lean. His skates added several inches to his already tall muscular frame. His hair was black, and his eyes were 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 pair skater, Evelyn Andrews.

  "Excuse me?"

  Kerri could feel the power that emanated from his body even though there was a good twenty feet between them. It was his intense gaze and seemingly casual stance, she thought, that made her uneasy. Everything about Jake Takeda intimidated her. He was like a tiger ready to pounce, but she refused to move when he walked over and stopped when he stood right in front of her. Mere inches separated them now, and she had to crane her neck up to look him in the eye. She could feel the heat from his body reach her and could smell the spiciness of the cologne he wore.

  Her heart began to beat wildly in nervousness. She wanted to flee, to get away from him. But she didn’t move. She refused to do so and continued to hold his gaze, unflinchingly. It was difficult to not reveal just what he was doing to her by standing so close. She could see why he had become so successful both in and outside of the sport. Jake didn’t say anything as he watched her, but she could feel the power and charisma oozing from him.

  "I told you to stay away from him," he finally said again.

  He spoke English with a slight Japanese accent, but the little that was there gave his deep voice a quality that made the hairs on her arms stand up. His voice was like smooth dark velvet that drifted over her skin.

  "I don't think that what I do is any of your business." Her voice came out strong and sure. She grew up in a house with four brothers and knew how to hold her own in a stare-down match.

  "Maybe not, but Rathbourne is only interested in one thing from you, shoujo."

  "What does that mean?"

  "Shoujo?"

  "Yes."

  "It means 'little girl' or 'virgin', both of which describe you. You are Kerri Sullivan, correct?"

  His explanation of what he called her caused Kerri to blush angrily. This man was as arrogant as he was handsome. She chose to ignore his question about who she was.

  "You can't be serious? David is seeing Shannon Ellison."

  "That hasn't stopped him, yet. Stay away from him, Kerri. You'll only get hurt." He looked deeply into her eyes for a moment as if he was looking into her very soul, but she would not look away. Once again, she refused to do so and give him that small victory. Her body became warm, and her nerve endings prickled. His nostrils flared with each of his deep breaths, and she saw his pupils dilate. The spell he cast her in was finally broken when Kerri heard a woman softly speaking Japanese. Jake answered her with a quick reply that sounded almost like a bark, but his eyes stayed on Kerri when he spoke. After giving Kerri one last look and raising his left eyebrow in a sort of command or challenge, he turned to walk up the corridor with his female teammate, Izumi Sasaki, who stood a few feet away watching them closely.

  Kerri shivered when he left but didn’t stay to watch him walk up the corridor even though she wanted to do just that. Coach Baranski would be waiting for her soon, and her coach didn’t like to be kept waiting. After hurrying into the locker room, Kerri quickly removed her skates and stuffed them into her duffle bag. She wouldn’t have time for a shower, so she just put her team sweats on over her practice clothing and slipped on a pair of athletic shoes. Without a second glance, she hurried up to the main entrance just as Coach Baranski walked out the main door to the team bus.

  Kerri climbed onto the bus, made her way to the back row, and dropped her duffle bag on the seat next to her. When everyone was seated, Coach Taylor stood at the front of the bus and said something to the group about the ice dancing teams needing to be ready and back at the bus at noon. It didn’t need to be said that the ice dancing teams needed to eat as soon as they arrived back at the dorms, and everyone else could wait until they had gone through the line. Several of the skaters talked as the bus drove away, but Kerri chose to remain silent. She wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

  As they rode through the streets of Turin, Kerri didn’t bother to look over at David, either. Instead, she sat in silence and looked out the window as her mind replayed the entire encounter with Jake Takeda. She could still see his intense gaze and smell his cologne. As she sat and looked out the window, she also tried to shake off the feeling of having been burned.

  Chapter 1

  Seven years later