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eyes, now shining dangerously bright, flashing in challenge even as her full lips curved into a sultry smile of welcome for Aleksei, much as a spider probably welcomed a fly. With a casualness she didn’t feel, she slowly made her way down the staircase, her eyes never leaving Aleksei’s face and smiled to herself when she saw him sweep his tongue over suddenly dry lips.
    Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she accepted a crewman’s helping hand to escort her to the love seat. Glancing uncertainly at the small amount of room Aleksei had left for her, she carefully seated herself on the low arm. Aleksei watched in amusement, having given great thought as to how much room to leave her. He had to give her credit for having courage. He’d figured she would have just squished into the remaining corner and disappeared. But surprisingly, she’d just seated herself like a queen on her throne on the arm of the love seat; her long legs crossed elegantly; innocently seductive. Jordan Jamison had certainly earned the title of ‘Ice Queen’.
    The interview began easily enough.
    “Aleksei, what made you decide to leave singles competition?” a reporter inquired.
    “The decision was made based on a number of things; primarily though, on my ability to physically maintain the high level rigors of singles competition. At this point, the doctors are uncertain if there will be any limitations I may experience in regard to my jumps, they just aren’t certain how my leg will hold up. In pairs, I’ll be the strength behind Jordan. It will be my job to present Jordan to the world. If I do my job right, the audience will barely notice me.”
    Murmurs about the impossibility of Aleksei ever being invisible were whispered, notes were scribbled down rapidly.
    “Jordan, are you concerned with the difference in your sizes. Didn’t you have difficulty with that point with Bob Hanks? And, unless looks are deceiving, Aleksei’s larger than Hanks was.”
    Jordan looked at Aleksei and smiled warily. “As you all know, my ex-partner had a tendency to misjudge his power and I spent more time than I would have chosen checking out the boards on an up-close and personal basis. I can only hope that experience won’t be repeated.”
    “How do you know it won’t?”
    “Until we actually skate together and become accustomed to the feel of each other, I won’t know. However, I have every confidence in Aleksei and look forward to going back to sheer tights for competitions.”
    Aleksei’s eyes clouded briefly at the cryptic statement, reminding himself to ask her about the comment later, but his attention was pulled back to the interview on the next question.
    And so it went on for the next hour, question after question, cautious answers from Jordan, generic answers from Aleksei. Finally the interview was over, until one of the reporters asked for a picture of them together. Their first official photograph as a pair.
    Aleksei watched as Jordan nervously tried to escape the request. Despite her womanly appearance, she was still just a sixteen year old all dressed up, even if she did look twenty-two. Knowing how reporters could be, he cautiously lowered his cast leg to the ground and stood, reached for her hand and effortlessly pulled her to her feet and against his chest. Even with her hair fluffed and piled high, and the ridiculously high heels, the top of her head didn’t reach his shoulder.
    Camera’s clicked, and whirred, flashes of light from the reflectors causing streaks of white to blur Jordan’s vision and make her dizzy. Feeling herself start to tilt, she reached for Aleksei to steady herself and found herself suddenly swept into his arms and cradled gently. Jordan shook her head slightly, trying to clear the bright spots that still flashed before her eyes and turned her head toward Aleksei’s softly voiced “close your eyes and count to ten slowly.”
    Obediently she complied and when she re-opened them, the spots were gone and Aleksei