Page 19 of The Hacker
“I’ll have to resort to different methods, then.” His voice dropped to a rough purr that rippled over her skin.
“Okay, where’s my next victim?” Chad’s booming voice ripped through the delicious cocoon that seemed to envelop Dawn and Leland.
She squeezed her eyes shut briefly in disgust before she remembered that Leland needed to talk to the other trainer. Her eyelids snapped open and she moved close to Leland to murmur. “The blond guy who just walked up to the reception desk is Chad.”
The fun vanished from Leland’s eyes as he cast a sharp glance in Chad’s direction. “Got it.”
“You can ask Gina at the desk about that,” Dawn said, raising her voice and hoping Leland could come up with a plausible question. After all, he was a genius. “I have to check on one thing before we get going. I’ll see you at the treadmill.”
Leland smiled and nodded to Dawn. “Thanks. I’ll get a good sweat going before you arrive.”
She could see his brain shifting into high gear as he started toward the unsuspecting Chad. She wished she could stay to eavesdrop on the conversation. Watching Leland use his impressive brain to run circles around the annoying trainer would be a treat and a half. However, she didn’t want to screw up the investigation, so she strode toward the door to the locker rooms as though she had a real purpose.
Several minutes later, she found Leland running at a brisk pace on one of the treadmills. “Don’t overdo it,” she said, enjoying the way the muscles in his calves flexed with each stride. “I have big plans for you.”
He stumbled slightly and muttered something under his breath.
“I missed that. What did you say?” Dawn asked.
“For my ears only.” Leland slowed the treadmill. “I’m trying to loosen up all the stiff spots you left me with.”
Dawn waited until he was looking her way before she scanned down his body. “Your stride looks pretty fluid to me.”
“If only you knew,” he said, dropping his speed to a walk. “Let’s get this over with.” He sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth.
He’d been happy to flirt before. Why was he suddenly in a rush? Maybe she should drop the intensity a little. “You know I was kidding about the extra weights, right?”
“Do your worst,” he challenged.
After a quick warm-up, she moved into the strength section of the day’s program. She could use spotting him as a way to hold a private conversation.
As he stretched out on the weight bench, she picked up two twenty-five-pound dumbbells from the rack and moved to the end of the bench where his head lay. When she looked down at him, he smiled, his eyes gleaming behind the lenses of his glasses and deep creases bracketing the corners of his mouth. “You’re going easy on me, aren’t you?” he asked, holding up his hands for the weights.
That smile hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. “I ... what? No.” Except the heat it brought spread through in a delicious wave. “Maybe.”
“Don’t go easy. I like a hard workout.” He took the weights and held them up straight-armed, his lips still curled into that teasing smile. “What next?”
She had to pull together her scattered thoughts. Were they back to flirting? “Skull crushers. Bring the weights down beside your ears and then back up, elbows in tight. Don’t straighten your arms all the way at the top, to get the maximum benefit. Okay, start.” She knelt in spotting position, which brought her down almost to the level of his head. “What did you think of Chad?”
“Aha! That’s why you’re getting up close and personal.” He bent his elbows and she held her hands under the weights. Sweat sheened his forehead and his sexy scent tantalized her nostrils again. She resisted the urge to breathe him in.
“Is Chad a criminal mastermind?” she asked more sharply than she meant to.
“He’s not a computer expert, unless he’s very good at playing dumb. But I wouldn’t count him out. There’s a certain shrewdness behind those sports clichés. By the way, he told me I was training with the best in the gym.” Leland’s gaze locked on hers as he pushed the weights upward. “You.”
“Chad said that?” Dawn was stunned. “He generally tries to lure my clients away from me. Maybe he’s using some kind of reverse psychology on you.”
“Which could support my theory that he’s not as unsophisticated as he lets on. I told you I was always right.”
“I was kidding. Watch the elbows there. You’re flaring out slightly.” Dawn put her hands against the outside of his elbows as he bent them again since he didn’t really need spotting with twenty-five-pound weights. The feel of his skin sliding against hers sent a tingle racing up her arms, but she didn’t pull away. “So you think Chad could be involved in some aspect of this dark web thing?”
“I don’t know,” Leland said, his voice tight with effort. “The timing is suspicious. But we’re still looking for a computer expert.”
“I’m going to talk to my friend Natalie. You might remember her from Alice and Derek’s engagement party.”
“Blonde, well groomed,” Leland huffed out.
“You got her.” There was a little twinge of pique that he’d noticed Natalie’s grooming.
