Page 25 of Traitor

“Mi sirenita, let me stay over.”

Damn, I was on a roll tonight.

Emotional abuse with a healthy side of physical torture?

Check.

Little Ricky had been fun to be around, right up until the night we ran into Mike. After that episode, I realized that I wasn’t ready to date—not now and maybe not ever. Unfortunately, he came on stronger than ever and all but begged for a second date.

I tried dodging him at the range, but he never seemed to have a day off. I finally broke down and found a different place to shoot, but he was still texting me.

We’d shared one kiss. One lackluster, fireworks free, kiss. According to him though, we were about to embark on a magical journey.

No, seriously.

Those were his exact words. If I gave him one night in my bed, then I would never again want for another man.

Again, exact words.

Once I’d stopped laughing long enough to respond, I sent a polite,“Let’s just be friends,”text.

He hadn’t taken the hint and, judging by the latest text, still seemed to think that he had a chance.

“You almost done with this machine?”

I tilted my head back on the bench until my eyes met the giant of a man standing behind me. “Um, I just started. I still have two more sets.”

He nodded. “I’ll wait. You need a spotter?”

I frowned. “No, I’m good. See?” At that, the bar slipped from my grasp. I was bracing myself for the crushed collar bone that was undoubtedly coming my way when the giant swooped in and caught it.

“Yeah, you look like you’ve got this all under control here.” He bit down on his lower lip, fighting a smile, before putting the bar back onto the holder. “I’m Jimmy.”

He extended a hand and helped me up into a sitting position. “I’m Lauren,” I responded breathlessly from the head rush.

Jimmy was even taller than I initially imagined. The man towered over me and my eyes were drawn to the way his gray hoodie and black joggers clung to his frame. His chestnut brown hair was close cropped on the sides, but longer on top with the part cut into it. Obviously, it took time and good hair gel for it to look as perfect as it did.

His eyes were a deep shade of blue. Where Mike’s were more of an electric blue, Jimmy’s were darker, like a wolf’s. I couldn’t help but admire his chiseled jawbone lined with stubble and his full pouty lips.

Lips that a woman would kill to have.

Lips that were now turned up in an amused smirk.

My face flushed. I’d been shamelessly drinking him in for the past minute at least. “Okay,” I murmured. “Great to meet you. I’m going to go die now.”

He let out a deep chuckle. The vibrations of it were probably being felt throughout the entire gym. “No need for that. Look, I need a spotter and my buddy flaked out on me. Why don’t you stay? I could put you through my work-out.”

I nodded. “Okay, but I’m kind of on a mission to inflict as much pain as possible on my muscles.”

Jimmy pointed to several machines. “I think this place has everything we need to make that happen. So, you’re doing what? Chest and biceps? Chest and triceps?”

I shrugged. “I was sort of doing a mix of everything—legs, arms, chest…”

He let out something that sounded suspiciously like laughter, before composing his face back into a serious expression. “Okay then, let’s pick maybe two of those, yeah?”

“Fine. Let’s see what you got, Jimmy.”

He moved me through his chest and bicep workout with ease, while I worked valiantly to remain standing. Jimmy was a well-oiled machine, while I was somewhere in the vicinity of old toaster. I huffed right alongside him, refusing to admit defeat by throwing myself down onto the mats.

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