Page 25 of The Hacker
She must have been staring because when she glanced at his face, his eyes burned hot. She quickly turned to put away the BOSU ball he’d been using. “If you’re not swimming, I really need to stretch you,” she said. It was her job and she had to do it.
He draped his towel around his neck and grabbed his water bottle. “Anything to lie down and rest.” Tilting his head back, he lifted the bottle to his lips, drawing Dawn’s eyes to the movement of muscles and tendons in his throat as he swallowed. He had a slight scruff of whiskers at this hour, and she longed to run her fingertips over it to test the texture of skin and hair.
“I wasn’t that hard on you,” she scoffed before she spread out a gym towel on the mat.
“It’s cumulative,” he said, lowering the bottle. “I was stiffer this morning than any one before.”
“The second day is always the worst. You’ll be better tomorrow, I promise.” She waved him down onto the mat, enjoying the fluid way he crossed his ankles, bent his knees, and lowered himself onto his butt. No balance issues there. He lay back and she let her gaze skim over the full length of him. He’d stripped to his shorts for this session so she could see the way his skin outlined the powerful muscles of his thighs and calves. “For a computer geek, you’re in surprisingly good shape.”
He chuckled, a deep, rich baritone sound. “I learned early that if you want your mind to function at peak efficiency, you have to make sure its container is also in good shape.”
“The mind-body connection.” She nodded.
He ensnared her gaze with his. “It’s key for multiple objectives.”
There was no mistaking the undercurrent in that statement. “Bend your right knee,” she said, pretending she hadn’t noticed.
He moaned and closed his eyes when she pressed against his leg to deepen the stretch. “Heaven and hell all in one,” he said. “More.”
“Breathe in and then let it out.” As he exhaled, she pushed, feeling his body relax enough to stretch that little bit farther.
He moaned again, a melodious rasp, and she couldn’t help speculating how he would sound in the throes of something more than a stretch.
“Okay, straighten now.” She shifted her weight off his shin and wished she had a sweat towel to wipe off the perspiration she could feel popping out on her skin, perspiration that was brought on by nothing more than her indecent imagination.
Yup, her job was sheer torture.
After she’d showered and changed, Dawn walked into the gym lobby. Leland was there, chatting with Chad again. Dawn’s eyebrows rose because Chad didn’t generally train late on Friday or Saturday. Since most of his clients were sports crazy, they spent their weekends at games or at bars watching games.
“Dawn, honey,” Chad said, making her teeth grit at the patronizing endearment. “Lee and I were just talking about what a tough workout you gave him. I told him, ‘No pain, no gain.’”
Dawn stopped herself from rolling her eyes but she couldn’t resist saying, “He gave one hundred and ten percent.”
Chad slapped Leland on the shoulder. “That’s what I’m talking about, man. Hey, you two want to go have a beer at Arthur’s? The Jets are playing tonight and the screen there is ginormous. You almost feel like you’re at the game.”
“Thanks, but I’ve got to get home,” she said without offering a further excuse.
“I have to get back to my office,” Leland said, his smile regretful. “Big project due next week. But let me take a rain check, if I could.”
“You got it, buddy.” Chad gave his shoulder another slap.
“It’s dark so I’ll walk you to your car,” Leland said to Dawn.
“No car,” she said. “I live close by so I’m good.”
“I’d be glad to walk you home then,” he said.
“Thanks but no.” She didn’t want Chad to wonder if they were anything more than trainer and client. And she would never allow a client to come with her to her apartment building. “See you tomorrow.”
Leland accompanied her to the door and held it for her. “Till tomorrow.”
She turned toward her apartment because she figured Chad might remember which way she usually went. Leland took the hint and turned in the opposite direction.
A moment later, a text pinged into her phone:Wait just around the corner two blocks from the gym and I’ll pick you up.
She texted back a brief agreement and slowed her pace so she wouldn’t have to loiter for too long. She preferred to keep moving when outside alone, even in a safe neighborhood like this one. She knew how quickly a peaceful situation could turn ugly. The sun had dropped behind the brick buildings that lined the street, casting shadows on the sidewalk while the sky turned deep blue.
Reaching the corner, she sauntered slowly down the cross street and stopped to admire the flowers in the window of a closed florist’s shop. A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she turned to see Chad striding across the street she’d just come from. If he was planning to go to Arthur’s, he should be headed for the gym’s staff parking lot to get his car. He was going in the opposite direction. She frowned and moved into the shadow of a sidewalk tree as she watched him until he walked out of her view.
