Page 26 of 7 Days and 7 Nights

Now he was the one taking a step back, carefully separating his front from Olivia’s behind before she encountered the evidence of what touching her did to him. It would never do to let her hold it against him the way he’d been planning to hold it against her.

He turned Olivia around to face him and saw her eyes narrow with suspicion. “What are you doing?”

“Just trying to help you relax.”

“You want to help me relax?”

“Um-hmm.”Relaxed and sloppy and no longer in control would be just about perfect. As long as he didn’t find himself in the same condition.He nodded toward the couch. “Of course, it’s easier to do that horizontally than vertically… and with less clothes.”

“Gee, how tempting. I’ve always dreamed of performing nude before a national audience.”

“I’m here, Livvy. Willing and able to make that dream come true.”

“An incredibly generous offer, Matt. But I don’t think I need to be quite that relaxed. Any other ideas?”

“Feel like hitting something?”

She tilted her head at him and cocked an eyebrow. “Absolutely. Are you volunteering?”

“In a way.” He pulled the punching bag away from the wall and dragged it to the patch of space between the dining and living areas. “It’s not quite as effective as sex, but it will release some of the same, er, energy.”

The caricature of his face stared out at them from the side of the bag. Beneath it and the sponsor logo were the words PLACE FIST HERE.

Olivia smiled. “Great target. Very motivating.”

Matt worked the gloves onto her hands, careful to keep his distance as he laced them up.

“Right.” He aimed her at the bag and pulled the gloves up in front of her face, the right slightly above the left, in the classic fighter’s stance. “I hope this won’t be too complicated for you.”

“Why don’t you use really small words like you do on your show while I listen real carefully? Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

‘Touché.’’ He moved beside her and raised her gloves. “Okay. First you’re going to jab with your right hand, but you want to keep your left up in a defensive position.”

Olivia put her right arm out and connected with the bag.

“Not bad. But you need to do it like you mean it. A real quick extension and a hard jab before you pull back.”

She jabbed harder, making solid contact with the picture of his face.

“Ouch. Very impressive.”

She smiled and took a bow.

“Okay, champ. Why don’t you try that with your left, now? Take it across your body at an angle, like this,” he pulled her glove forward, “and jab hard.”

Olivia followed his instructions and clipped the side of his caricature’s face.

He knew he should move around behind her to better help guide her punches but was reluctant to get too close to the delicious backside. It would be a hell of a lot easier to use his body to unsettle her if his own weren’t so obviously eager.

Matt stayed where he was as she began to dance around on the balls of her feet. Something about the way she held her body gave him the sense that she’d done this before.

“How’s this?” She jabbed harder, pummeling the bag with both gloves, working into a barrage of blows. Right after left, then two quick lefts and another right.

“I feel like we’re makingRocky 12right now.” He hummed the movie’s theme music as he directed her attack on the bag and earned an unguarded flash of white teeth.

Her arms were tanned and gently muscled, and her full breasts rose and fell beneath the sleeveless T-shirt that had come untucked at the waist. He liked watching her body move. Whether pacing or punching, she had a natural grace that drew his eye and definitely held his attention.

Matt stepped in closer and crouched over a bit, intrigued by the rotation of her hips as she moved from foot to foot. Her belly was flat, and there was an occasional flash of smooth skin as her T-shirt rose with her movements. The way she bobbed and weaved struck a chord in the back of his mind.

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