Page 31 of Becoming His Perfect Daddy
I didn’t miss the squeeze of hurt in his eyes as he jerked half a step back. “Oh . . . sorry. But no, I’m not. I swear I didn’t know you’d be here.” Sam crossed his arms over his chest and hunched his shoulders, folding in on himself.
The action was such a stark juxtaposition to how confident he’d been during the class that my chest ached at the sight. He lit up my entire world when he stood tall and strong, and his confidence was sexy as hell. And I’d stolen that from him for absolutely no reason.
But I couldn’t let my guard down. Even if some force was pushing us together, that didn’t mean I had to listen. I wasn’t ready for this. I couldn’t trust men, and I especially couldn’t trust Sam. Not when he commanded my attention by just being in his presence. Not when he kept showing up in my life like this looking so damn hot...
A shiver ran up my arm and down my spine. The man was goddamn strong, his arms and legs all lean muscle. Fuck, I wanted to run my tongue along them, taste his skin. Especially after the sweat we’d worked up in here.
I blinked at the thought. What the hell was happening? I’d never been into any of this before. Tasting a guy’s sweat? Normally, that would gross me out. But this Sam had somehow hypnotized me with his perfect yoga moves, sexy body, and eyes the color of chocolate.
That was it. I was hypnotized. That’s all. He was somehow working a dark voodoo magic on me, causing me to override my better judgment and give in to his charms.
He was a warlock. That had to be it.
“Was this your first time here?” he asked, clearly trying to be friendly when I clearly didn’t deserve it.
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry, so I put up a finger and bent over to pick up my water bottle. When I stood up more quickly than I probably should’ve, I noticed his eyes lingering on my ass. Holy shit—was he checking me out? Had I somehow overdosed on pheromones or something? Was I a walking aphrodisiac now?
After downing half my bottle, I glared at him. He didn’t deserve it, yet here we were. “Yes, but I’ve had a regular practice for years now. Not that my performance there at the end proved that or anything. I’m usually better than that.”
He just nodded, his arms still tight across his chest. But then he whispered, “I thought you were amazing,” and my heart broke. The accompanying blush on his cheeks was instantaneous, and I couldn’t look away.
He didn’t deserve me being a dick to him. He was a fan of my books, for fuck’s sake. I could at the very least be cordial. “Thanks for saying that.”
I bent over again to set down my bottle, tuck my phone into the pocket of my joggers, and roll up my mat. And maybe give him another look at the goods. Couldn’t hurt, right? Yoga kept my ass tight, and I’d never been more grateful for that than I was now. I’d have to send past me some flowers.
How the hell would that work?
Sam cleared his throat when I lingered just a little too long, so I reluctantly stood, tucking my mat under my arm.
Cordial. Right. “So is this your regular class? Or were you just helping Alex out?”
Sam nodded toward where Alex had apparently returned and was now cleaning up the room. “Actually, we’re both filling in for his brother, who owns the place. He had an emergency, so you got us.”
I nodded stupidly.
Sam took the few steps required to reach the front of the class, bent over to pick up his mat, tucked it and the rest of his things in his bag, and stood. I definitely did not check his ass out as he did. Definitely not.
I could feel our time together coming to an end, but my entire body felt like it was being pulled toward him like a magnet. Despite my brain’s insistence that I’d given up on love, my heart couldn’t deny that I wanted to know this man better. That I needed to explore who we could be to each other, as terrifying as it was. I’d missed my chance before, but now the universe had given me a chance to rectify the mistake I’d regretted since.
Tristan’s challenge to keep putting myself out there rang in my head. And for Sam, I wanted to try.
But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
So I took the easy way out and thumbed toward the door. “Hey, I’ve gotta get going.”
Sam’s shoulders dropped, and I wished I could wrap him in my arms and hold him close, tell him this wasn’t me, that I fuckingwantedhim, but I couldn’t open my heart yet another time only to get it handed back to me in shards. I justcouldn’t. “Yeah, okay.” He forced a smile. “It was good to see you again.”
I smiled back, tucking my mat under my arm and picking up my water bottle once again. “You as well. And who knows? Maybe I’ll be back.”
Then the most amazing thing happened. One I felt privileged to witness. Sam found his confidence, and it was unbelievably hot. He suddenly stood up straighter, forced his shoulders back, looked me dead in the eye, and said, “I would love that, Cameron.”
My heart started racing at the sheer deliciousness of his confidence, and my stomach was already tumbling at the prospect of seeing him again. Seriously—what hold did this guy have on me?
Without my permission, my mouth opened, and I confessed in a low voice, “I think I’d love that, too.”
At my words, he stood a little taller, catching my blue eyes with his deep brown ones. I felt smaller standing before him, but not weaker. Empowered, somehow. I knew without a single doubt that I was safe with him. “I’m very glad to hear that.” Then he stepped back and caught my gaze again. Goosebumps erupted across my skin. “Listen, I’ve gotta get going—Alex is waiting on me—but could I have your number?”
Without thinking about it, I reached for the phone I’d slid into my pocket. I unlocked it, tapped open my messages, and handed it to him. “Go ahead, put it in.”
