Page 35 of The Devil's Detail
And stops dead when he sees me in my shorts.
His face flushes with colour. Well at least we know he isn’t that depressed.
“Hey, hope you don’t mind me joining. Ash looks as fit as a butcher's dog. And to be honest, I’m jealous. I can’t let him be fitter than me.” I look Carter up and down in a very obvious way. “I have to say you’re looking pretty buff.” The red heat on his cheeks could power an Alaskan town in mid winter. I hear Ash splutter out a laugh behind me.
“Well, honey, feel free.” His cool southern drawl is in full effect. “My new body is the talk of the town.” And there he is. He’s preening and posing, with me grinning like a fool at him. He sees me smiling and laps it up even more.
“Yeah, whoever gets the benefit of that will be a lucky man, Carter. Are you going out tonight?” His face changes, like he’s in shock that I’ve complimented him, mentioned how great his body looks. But credit where credit is due.
We bend and stretch our way through the warm up exercises before Ash gets into their full circuit. And by the end, I am dying. Meanwhile, these two look like they could go again. I certainly need to join more often.
“Have you heard that John is trying to take the credit?” Ash says as we pull our chairs up to the table and take a drink. The full session ended, Carter’s gone to get showered and changed.
“What? For Carter's body? No fucking way. It’s yours and his work. That is hard graft, my friend. Just because he’s a fitness instructor, he thinks he can claim it’s his work.” I shake my head at Ash. These celebrity fitness people, always trying to cash in. “He can say what he wants, but won’t people question why he looks like that now? He’s been training him for what, a couple of years?”
“Four years. John hasn’t been happy these last few weeks. Especially when I joined in and then took over some sessions and increased others on days he wasn’t here,” Ash confirms.
“He’s the guy who’s all over Carter, right? The good looking, tight shorts, and a squeaky voiced one.” I grin at my bitchy assessment. “Yeah, I remember one of the sessions was like an A to Z of innuendos and sexual references. Annoying as hell. I only managed half of one and left.” I grimace at that, reliving how John was lapping up all the chat, both of them encouraging each other. I know that if Carter would have crooked his little finger at him he would have followed like a lap dog.
“You know, the weird thing is, Carter never went there with him. And it was obvious John would have. Well, he never whilst I was here.” I’m surprised, and my face must show it. “I know.” He nods at me. “But he was trying to get us to go to his new studio. So he’d be able to take more credit for his body.” He thumbs towards the house.
“And a celebrity endorsement for his studio work.” I give Ash a knowing smile. “Not bad for free.”
Ash snorts. “Free for who? He was badgering Carter to invest in his studio. In fact, I think he’s coming over today with the contracts for Carter to sign.”
My eyes widen in horror. “Who’s looked at the contracts?”
Ash shakes his head. “Only John’s lawyers. Carter keeps saying they’re friends, and it’s not that much money. I told him to get a quick once over on it, but you know what he’s like.” Ash waves his hands towards the house.
We curtail our chat as Carter pokes his head around the patio doors. “Showers are free boys, I don’t charge. Jackson, if you want to use the guest room one, you’re welcome to it. Ash, the cleaners are gone, so yours is clean.” Carter comes out and sniffs us both. “You know I love the smell of a man, but you two stink. Get in there, and I’ll set up some coffee and snacks. I’ve earned it, sugar. That was brutal today, Ash.”
He’s resting his hand on my shoulder, but I don’t brush it off. As I smile up at him, I can see his eyes dilating. Maybe he’s not as depressed or down as I thought he was.
“Be five. Don’t let Ash eat all the cake.”
I strut off and I can feel Carter's eyes on my arse. The man is irrepressible.
I hearvoices as I emerge, clean and spruced up from the shower. I’ve borrowed some of Carter’s sweats, and a T-shirtthat is slightly tight, but will do. His eyes widen as he takes in the sweats. Clearly they are showcasing my best assets. Ash is grinning at him like a little kid in a candy store. These two need to get a grip.
John is presiding over the table, and Carter introduces us. “You remember Jackson, the head of my security.” Carter motions to me and smiles at John.
John's eyes tighten slightly. It’s the first sense of unease that he gives me.
“Ah, yes. Did you do the workout I designed?” He points to my sweatpants and freshly showered hair.
Ash’s face blanks out, and I do nothing to hide the confusion on mine. Carter looks embarrassed.
“Yours?” I ask, looking from him to Ash and then Carter. I’m not playing his pathetic game. “I guess.” I shrug my disinterest and sit down. It’s then I notice Carter is holding a pen, and has paperwork in front of him. “What’s this?” I ask casually, spinning the paperwork round to face me.
John nearly jumps across the table to stop me. But I gaze up slowly at him from under my lashes and he stops, the threat evident.
“It’s private business between Carter and me,” he states, trying as casually as he can to remove the paperwork from my eyes.
It’s his fatal mistake. I can feel the desperation and nefarious intent. This is going to go very badly for him if he thinks I will be intimidated.
“Great, what business?” I sit back and relax, picking up the paperwork as if he hasn’t spoken.
“Private business,” he grits out, his jaw clenched so tightly, I think he’s going to grind his veneers to dust. He tries to pluck the papers from my hands, which only encourages me to hold it further away.
