Page 65 of Crazy In Love
She giggles. Belly rolling, chest bouncing, shoulder trembling laughter that travels all the way to her eyes. “I was kidding. Geez. He’s at the hospital with Alana and Tommy and the baby.”
“He is?”
“Yeah, I picked him up at three, exactly like I was supposed to. We had ice cream, discussed school politics, seeing as how he’s headed for middle school next year. Then I offered to bring him to the bookstore or the hospital before training.”
“He chose the hospital?”
“Uh-huh.” She turns, forcing me to follow or remain left behind. So I dog her steps and go on a tour of my own gym through her eyes. “He misses his mom, which makes sense, seeing as this is literally the first time in his entire life he’s been without her. Aunty Fox and big brother Chris are fun and all, but there’s no one like Mom. So I took him there, stayed for ten minutes to hug my namesake.” She glances back and smirks. “Then I returned to the bookstore to finish out the day. I locked up at five and realized I had nowhere to be. So…” She wanders to a hanging bag and taps it with her knuckles, only for her smile to turn to a frown.Maybe she expected it to be soft.“I started walking down Main Street, then I turned left, and then I turned again. Next thing I knew, I walked in here and found you and that chick standing over Ollie. I’ll head out and grab Franky in an hour and bring him back here for class. Then…” She taps the bag again. “I guess we’ll figure out dinner and settle in for his last night without his mom.”
“She’s coming home tomorrow?”
She turns her back to the bag, resting against its hard leather, and places her hands on either side. Fuck if I don’t imagine binding her wrists and tying her to the bar above, all so I can fuck her in my own gym, knowing she’ll claim the mats as desperately as she claimed the apartment bathroom.
And me.
God, how she claimed me.
“Theysaid maybe Wednesday.Shesaid for sure tomorrow. Franky’s doing okay… barely,” she clarifies. “But he’s at the end of his tolerance. One more night, and he’s done. So if Alana isn’t a free woman by the school bell tomorrow, he’s gonna set some shit on fire.”
“And our job, I suppose, is to hide the matches and keep him calm.”
A soft, seductive smile crosses her lips and ends in her eyes.Her bedroom eyes. “Basically. Why don’t you go work out for a bit and let mewatch? I’d like to objectify you, but discreetly. The way you’re standing over me right now makes it hella obvious we have a secret we don’t want Alana to know about.”
“And we definitely don’t want Alana to know.” I take a step back. Just one, because she smells delicious, and testing boundaries can be fun. “Why don’t you get changed and pay me ten dollars? We can call it PT, and I’ll get to touch you in front of everyone.”
“Only ten dollars?” Her left brow slings high on her forehead. “You’re undercharging.”
“It’s usually a hundred an hour.” I look down at my hands—my palms literally itching to touch—and keep them exactly where they are.Not on her. “Figured giving you a first-class-is-cheap discount is the gentlemanly thing to do. That’s how we secure business, after all.”
“Makes complete sense.” She allows her eyes to slide along my torso and down to where my shorts sit low on my hips. “How many PT clients do you currently have? Five? Ten? Twenty?”
None. I run classes and get fighters ready for their titles.
“I have room for one more. And after tomorrow, when Franky’s back with Alana, we could even have the gym to ourselves after-hours.” I lean just a little closer, grinning when her pulse grows a little faster. “I’d hang you from the rack above your head?—”
She looks up.
“—and fuck you until I got the itch out of my system. Unlucky for you, I’m itching a lot lately, so your arms are probably gonna get sore.”
“Unluckyfor me?” She scoffs. “Christian, I think you misunderstand how pleasant I find those experiences. Though, now that I’m thinking about it… if I pay you, whether it’s ten dollars, or a hundred, that changes our dynamic. Makes you my purchased whore.”
I choke out a laugh and inch back again, since I’m still in her space. “So don’t pay me. Or do. Whatever gets me an hour of fucking you right here againstthisbag.”
“It’s a favorite of yours?” She pushes away, but only to circle the bag and drag her fingertips along the leather. “Looks just like all the others. What makes this one so special?”
“It’s the one you walked to when you could’ve picked any of them.” I settle onto my heels and place my hands on my hips. “You’re making it awfully hard for me to stand here. My shorts aren’t cut out for hiding a hard cock, and I’m already fucking you in my head. I’ve lost the battle against myself.”
“Poor, poor impulse control.” She wanders from this bag to the next,playing a game of peek-a-boo in the gaps between. “Are you capable of engaging with me now without making it sexual? Have we ruined our chances of being friends, too?”
“We were never friends.” I step left, following her. Then I step again. “You have two modes, Fox. Irritating me and bringing me immense pleasure until my head wants to explode and my balls bring me actual, physical pain.” I step again and pray the fighter on the bag at the end minds his own fucking business. “You’re not irritating me right now, which means…”
“Sex.” Faux disappointed, she shakes her head gently side-to-side. “Geez. That’s where men and women differ. I can be turned on, and irritated, and mentally preparing my yearly taxes, all at the same time.”
“You’re trying to challenge me.” I cast my eyes across the room and consider how far we have to run to get from where we are right now, to where we need to be—in my office, behind a locked door. “You say things like that to annoy me. Your taxes? Woman, when I’m with you, you can’t count to three.”
Her cheeks warm, and a soft blush spreads to her chest. It’s not entirely obvious to anyone else, but I make it a damn point to know her body as well as I know my own.
“Would you like to step into my office, Ms. Tatum?” I clear my throat and give her my professional voice. “We could get your paperwork started and your membership approved within the hour, I reckon. Just in time for you to collect Franky from the hospital.”
