Lucy smiles, the fondness clear on her face. “Yes, I did.”
I nod. “What are you doing here?”
Her smile falters a little. “I can come back at another time, Grant. I really didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You aren’t, depending on why you’re here.”
She holds up her camera that’s hanging around her neck. I don’t know how I overlooked it. “I wanted to get comfortable here if I’m going to take more pictures.”
I cock my head to the side to examine her. “What do you mean?”
Lucy rocks on her heels slightly. “Well, I’m used to the football field or the baseball field. I feel at home there, almost. The rink is relatively new to me, so I thought I could get some generic shots, get a better feel for the place, and my shots will come out even better.”
“Well, come on. Be careful or you’ll fall.” I start to skate backwards, away from her. “And yell if I get in your way.”
“Thanks, Grant.”
From the corner of my eye, I watch as she slowly walks along the boards to behind the net. She tilts her head as if thinking about what she wants to do. Lucy shuffles her way in front of the net. She squats down, and it looks like she’s taking a picture of the pole itself. I skate around this side of the rink, watching as she takes shot after shot.
“Grant,” she calls out when I’m standing in the middle of the ice. She’s crouched behind the net, her camera already in place. “Come this way, please. I’ll tell you when you’re out of the way.”
I start to skate towards her, and she calls out as promised. I keep going because this is a picture I want to see. She takes a bunch of different ones while I lean against the boards before she pulls away. Without paying me a lick of attention, she stands, reviewing what she took and nodding in approval as she turns to the left.
Lucy lifts her head and jumps when she sees me. She’s so startled that she loses her balance. I quickly reach for her elbow to steady her.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Her cheeks burn with embarrassment, so I decide to move on to why I was back here. “Can I see?” I remove my hand and point to the camera.
“Of course.” Lucy looks down at the camera, finds a shot she’s happy with, and I skate around to look over her shoulder. Wow. The outer edges is the netting, but the center of the shot is the other net across the rink. “It needs some editing,” she murmurs.
“That’s an awesome picture, Lucy.”
“Thanks. I’m going to get some of center ice, if that’s okay?” She turns her head to look up at me over her shoulder.
“Yeah, sure.”
She slowly makes her way over there. She's so absorbed by what she's doing that even though I can't take my eyes off of her, she doesn't notice me at all. I'm fascinated watching her. At one point, she lays on her stomach to get a better angle at whatever she’s wanting to take a picture of exactly.
“Hey, Grant?”
“Yeah?” I ask as I skate towards her.
“This was a bad idea.”
I glide to a stop in front of her and bend down. She’s resting on her elbows with her camera firmly in her grasp. “Why is that?” I ask, confused.
“How am I going to get up without messing up my camera?”
A laugh easily falls from my mouth. That was the last thing I was expecting. Lucy frowns at me. “Do you want me to hold the camera for you or just pick you up?”
“You can take the camera. Be careful with it, though.”
My fingers brush hers as I grab it with one hand and slide my other hand up the strap to lift it over her head. Damn, her hair is ridiculously soft. I clear my throat as my gaze drops to her revealing chest thanks to how she’s laying and her v-neck shirt. As she goes to stand, I do the same, tense and ready to spring in case she loses her footing again.
“Thanks,” she says, reaching for her camera. “I think I’m done for tonight. Laying on the ice before I was done wasn’t my best idea,” she mumbles, looking down at the wet spots on her clothes.
I chuckle. “Probably not.”
I follow her to the bench because I’m done for tonight too. Once I sit down to take off my skates, I realize that she’s waiting for me.