Zoe’s gaze had been drawn to the tall blond guy from the moment he’d come into her field of vision. Scratch that—her gaze had been dragged to him, like it was magnetized or something. Not that that was a bad thing—looking at him was certainly no hardship. Fortunately, she was good at watching people in her peripheral vision, so she was able to keep track of him without staring directly. Which was just as well, because before long he was staring directly at her. The sensation of his gaze on her made tingles erupt all over her skin, and it took some work to keep her concentration on what she was doing.

That became especially difficult when—still from the corner of her eye—she saw the lanky hunk collide with John Bates’ back. He’d been so intent on staring at her that he hadn’t noticed John stop walking to let someone pass—hence the crash. The two men exchanged a few words, then carried on into the gym room, meaning her smirk went unnoticed.

Unnoticed by the objects of her amusement, anyway. One of her more eagle-eyed—not to mention utterly nosey—students spoke as she approached her and her partner. “You noticed him too, huh, Zoe?”

“Noticed who?” she replied coolly, adopting her most wide-eyed, innocent expression.

Unfortunately, the student—a tall, slim brunette called Elaine—wasn’t buying it. She snorted and rolled her eyes, somehow still managing to keep a grip on the pad she held while her partner kickboxed seven bells of hell out of it. “Get real, Zoe. The bloody Viking. I saw you checking him out—not that I blame you. He’s lush. I’d climb him like a damn tree!”

She shrugged. “Oh, him.” She refused to rise to Elaine’s jibing—the woman had been coming to Zoe’s classes for long enough that she’d learned how to handle her and her busybody ways. Overreact, and she’d latch onto it and poke and prod relentlessly at a topic until she’d learned everything there was to know. She’d actually be very good at torturing prisoners and spies for information—she could probably break even the hardiest of spirits. The only way to go was nonchalance. “I wasn’t checking him out, actually. I was just laughing because he wasn’t looking where he was going and he slammed right into John’s back—a mistake that would have put a smaller bloke on his arse.”

Nodding, John replied, “Yep. Told you she’s an enigma. You wouldn’t really put those two things together, would you? But in her case, they’re two sides of the same coin. She’s multi-talented, is Zoe.”

“Hmm…” He inched closer to the open door to see if he could get another glimpse of her. “Two sides of the same coin…” he said thoughtfully. “A beauty and a badass. I think I might be in love!”

John chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Yeah, well, good luck with that one.”

Something in John’s tone struck a chord with Alexei. He frowned. “What do you mean? Oh God, please don’t tell me she’s married, or a lesbian.”

Wrinkling his nose, John shook his head. “Nope, not married. And nah, don’t think she’s into women, either. Though if she was, I wouldn’t mind watching. Lesbians are hot.”

“Agreed. But that didn’t answer my question.”

“You didn’t ask one.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you know what I mean!”

“All right, all right.” John held his hands up. “Keep your bloody hair on. No, she’s not married, or a lesbian. But I don’t think you’ve got a cat in hell’s chance, either. In all the time I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her with anyone, heard her talk about anyone, you get the picture. And it certainly isn’t because no one’s interested in her. I mean, look at her. So I reckon she’s just super-picky.”

Alexei glared. “What, and I look too much like Quasimodo, do I?”

Smirking, John replied, “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. You asked the question, I answered it. Looks and unusual mix of professions aside, she’s a really nice girl. Get talking to her, find out for yourself. Prove me wrong.”

Wondering why he was getting so defensive about a girl he’d never actually met or spoken to, Alexei gave a determined nod. “Oh, don’t worry, mate. I intend to.”