Page 153 of By His Rule

“I’m fine,” she huffs indignantly, her shoulders tightening.

“You know, it is okay to ask for help every now and then,” I say, stepping up beside her.

With the treadmill beneath her, it brings us to eye level.

“Do you have to look so smug?” she complains.

“I’m not smug.”

“My ass, yo?—”

“Looks amazing,” I interrupt.

Her cheeks blaze at my compliment. But it’s true. It really fucking does.

“On button is here,” I say, waking up the screen. “Then all the controls are here. Did you want to set a time limit or speed or?—”

“I’ve got it from here. You…go and do your thing.”

“What if my thing is watching you run?”

“I don’t believe you got those muscles from watching others work out, Callahan.”

“You’ve noticed my muscles, Temptress?”

“You’re an idiot, and you’re distracting me. Go away.”

“Sure, but only because the view is better from a distance.”

Pulling my cell from my pocket, I find my workout playlist, and after syncing it to the speakers, I take a seat on the weight bench.

Lorelei’s eyes follow me in the mirror, and with a smirk, I reach my arm behind my head and pull my shirt off.

She shakes her head, a tight smile playing on her lips, but she doesn’t take her eyes off me as I shift into position. And even after lying down and losing sight of her, I know she continues watching.

With most of my focus on my workout, I go through my usual routine, trying the best I can to ignore my partner.

But no matter how loud the music is, I still hear her heavy breathing as she continues to run.

I move away from the weights to the bar and begin counting my pull-ups.

“How many have you done?”

Lorelei’s voice startles me, and I drop to the ground.

“Twelve, before I was interrupted,” I mutter as I reach for a towel to wipe my head and chest.

“Still impressive. I’ve never had any upper body strength.”

“Surely you can do one,” I taunt. I let my eyes roam around her body. “You look in pretty good shape to me.”

“I’m glad you think so. But there’s no chance I could even pull myself up an inch.”

“Bet you can.”

She raises a brow.

“And what do I get when you lose?” Placing her hand on her waist, she pops a hip.

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