Page 33 of Some Like It Scandalous
“They told me I couldn’t go to the park.” She said it with straightforward calm. Maybe too much calm. “Or the beach. Or my own gym… So here I am…”
She walked steadily and he dropped his run back a notch. The burn in his lungs precluded talking, and he’d much rather talk.
Even if his body preferred other physical activities.Better to be patient…patient…Maybe if he chanted it, he could convince his libido to participate in the long-term plan rather than the short-term gains. Sex, however, had never been a problem for them. He missed the feeling of her loose and sated, sprawled against him, and the easy laughter that followed.
The intimacy of being together…
“At least the view here is good.” She wasn’t looking out the windows to the city below—in fact, she stared at him.
Is she flirting?God help him, he wasn’t certain. He slowed his pace down another half mile per hour as she began to pick hers up. His lungs expanded in relief, but his pulse continued erratically. Normal considering her nearness.
“It’s a good gym. The staff added some of the video game systems with aerobic workouts if you prefer.” Not that she ever liked those classes. She did the grunt work with him, running, lifting and stretching. Her form perfect.
“This is good.” Her cheeks pinked as she jogged. “You don’t listen to music anymore?”
“Too distracting.” Not that she wasn’t. For the first time he wished they faced a mirror rather than a window—at least he could watch her face without risking tripping by turning his head constantly.
“So what do you do? Run and plan how you will dominate the world?” The words were light and the tone teasing. His mouth curved upward automatically.
“Actually, I try not to think at all.” Truth resonated through the words. He tried diligently to block out all distractions—his schedule, his commitments, his loneliness—and just run.
She stumbled a step and put her hand on the bar to catch herself. “Do you want me to go?”
“No.” The swift reply left his lips before his brain fully processed her question. The last thing he wanted was for her to go.
“Okay.”
They ran in silence. He slowed down and she sped up until their feet hit in perfect rhythm.
“Anna—”
“Charlie—”
They spoke at the same time and laughed as they tripped over each other. “You called me Charlie.”
“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “You’re still Charlie.”
The fist locked around his heart loosened and he sucked in relief and hope with the next lungful of air. He missed his Anna. He missed beingherCharlie.
“I’ve missed you.”
The admission should have knocked him off his stride, but it only served to flood more adrenaline through his system. “I’ve missed you too.” And he wasn’t too proud to admit that.
They jogged silently again. The pleasant burn in his thighs ran down to his calves. The steady thump of her cadence next to him pushed him further.
“You were going to say something…” She panted between the words and he nudged the speed a little slower and waited for her to do the same.
“I wanted to say I liked having you here.”
“I didn’t think I would—like it.” Her brutal honesty made its appearance. “I kept thinking that you would hate me and I would be angry and it would—” She grimaced. “I’m oversharing, aren’t I?”
“Never.” He laughed. “It’s one of your more endearing qualities.”
“I don’t hate you.” The words were said so quietly that he actually hit the stop button on the machine and turned to look at her.
She continued to jog until he hit the button on her treadmill.
“Say that again.”
