Page 126 of In Love with a Cruel Billionaire

Mairi

Chapter 1

LITTLE LAKE, RHODEIsland

One week later

Winter had enveloped the world outside the quaint-looking cottage at the end of the road, its chilly winds forcing everyone to stay in. Within the cottage, however, was a young woman on the floor, her body bathed in sweat. She moaned.

The man observing her from the chair simply crossed his arms over his chest, unaffected. “Again.” It was just the two of them inside the room, which was bare except for the table and chair next to the window and the full-length mirror nailed to the wall across them.

Mairi Tanner couldn’t believe what she had just heard. They had been doing this forhours.She was so tired she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep. “Are you serious?”

Drake Morrison blinked innocently at her. Unlike Mairi, he looked completely relaxed, and no surprise there sinceshewas the one who did all the work. As always, he was dressed like a preppy trust fund millionaire, a poster boy for All-American gorgeousness with his collared shirt and corduroy pants. Next to him, she felt like a dirty rag.

Mairi glared up at Drake. “You look sonice, sogood,but I’m on to you now. You’re the devil in disguise!”

Drake raised a brow. “Why are you complaining about the workout? You chose this.”

“You told me you were going to help me forget! You didn’t tell me I was going to forget because you were out to kill me!”

The temptation to smile was incredible, but Drake managed to rein it in. “Then are you changing your mind about your choice of workouts?” he asked pleasantly. “The offer still stands about doing this in my bed.”

The look in Drake’s eyes made Mairi swallow. It totally unnerved her, the way Drake could be Mr. Sweet Boy Next Door one moment then turn into some mysterious and dangerous stranger the next. One moment, he’d be moving with lazy grace, a man used to a life of leisure, but the next time she blinked he had transformed into someone who seemed to have been born to move in the shadows – and a man who could make a woman cry in the dark for the most sensual reasons.

She said hastily, “You know what? I think I’m good, after all. I’m going to move again—-” She tried to get moving, but her body protested and she fell back to the floor. “—-in a minute.”

He stood up from his seat and nudged her bare leg twice with his foot until she was forced to turn over on her stomach. In an implacable voice, he said, “NOW.”

With a groan, Mairi forced her limbs to work, pushing herself up with a groan.

Arms stretched out, palms down, she slowly lowered herself down until her body was an inch from the floor. “One.” She raised herself up again, and her muscles protested anew at the effort she exerted. She lowered herself. “Two.”

“Good. Eighteen more to go.”

Without stopping her push-ups, Mairi said, “Shut up.”

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