Page 11 of Too Much In Common
The woman shook her head. “No, usually I’m alone up here. By the way, I’m Dana.”
“I’m Tian. I moved in yesterday.”
“Welcome to the Tower.” Dana lifted her water bottle in a type of salute. “I’d stay and enjoy the view, but I need to go to work. See you around.”
“Bye.” Tian slipped her ear bud back in. Her twenty-minute run program entered the cool-down phase. The swimmer also seemed to slow and switched to a backstroke. The treadmill signaled the end of her workout. Next time, she’d try something more challenging. If she woke up a half hour earlier tomorrow, she could fit in a workout before leaving for her morning flight.
She stretched out in the mat area to her right. From her mountain pose, she watched the man push up out of the pool. Good thing she had both feet firmly planted on the ground. Each clearly defined muscle moved smoothly along his backside as he crossed to his towel and pulled off his swim cap. The purpose of yoga wasn’t to speed up the heart. Tian moved her focus to the clear glass in front of her and lifted her foot for the tree pose.
She closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose. Someone knocked on the glass. She opened her eyes to see Chris’s smiling face from the poolside. Up close, his pectoral muscles were—
Tian lost her balance, falling out of her pose.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Chris entered the gym from a glass door she hadn’t noticed, a towel over his shoulder and another around his waist.
“I didn’t mean to stare.” Lie. Yes, she did. “I mean—Hi, How are you?”
“Fine. I rarely have the pool to myself. It’s nice not having to worry about splashing anyone.” The twinkle in his eye let her know he knew she’d watched him swim.
Tian reached for her water bottle. Anything to keep her from rudely staring at him. “It is a great gym.”
“Yup, and I am dripping... See you later.” Chris entered the dressing room, and Tian let out a breath before returning to her yoga pose. Her heart and mind refused to join her body in finding a peaceful balance after watching him swim and seeing the muscles when he moved her nightstand last night. Tian moved into the last of her relaxing poses. The Savasana put her laying on her back, eyes closed. As she heard someone enter the room, she rolled up into a sitting position. As she’d hoped, it was Chris.
“Do you have a minute?” Tian stood.
He checked his watch. “Yes.”
“Last night in your apartment. You could have hurt me, but you didn’t.” Tian held up her unbruised wrists. “How? Why?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I was only trying to stop you from hurting me, not capture a felon. I only used the force necessary. It was pretty subconscious, I think.”
“So you don’t have an explanation?”
“Training maybe? Either that or Javier’s laughing.”
“Last night you said I could have easily gotten out of the hold. How?”
Chris looked around. “I’ll show you. We can use that bench. I’ll be you.”
He sat on the bench and crossed his arms over his chest the way her arms had been when she was pinned. “Pretend you’re me and grab my wrists.”
Tian leaned over him and grabbed his wrists.
“A little closer. I promise not to hurt you.”
Not physically, but their position had her insides bouncing around as if they had never heard of being calm.
“Move your hands a little lower.”
She did.
“See how my arms are crossed? It wasn’t the most ideal grip for me. I’ll show you why. I’m going to move my arms slowly. Let go when you feel the pressure.” Chris rotated his arms down as he did, his arms uncrossed and hers crossed and rotated.
Her grip became hard to hold and with her arms crossed in this position, her arms pressed against each other. Tian let go. “Easy enough for you. My muscles don’t compare.”
Chris shook his head. “You don’t need to be stronger than me. Just fast. The faster you do it, the more I am caught off guard. Let’s switch and I’ll prove it.”
Tian sat where Chris had and crossed her arms.
