Page 11 of Between Commitment and Betrayal
“Are you even listening to me?” Piper stopped and crossed her arms over her blouse as I loosened my tie. This was where I normally changed, but when saw her eyes dip before a small smile played on her face, I halted.
Fuck.
Piper and I were over. I’d made it pretty clear to her once or twice. Or maybe three times. We’d been on and off for years, but only one girl consumed my mind these days and it wasn’t Piper. This girl had waves cascading down her small back, fire in her blue eyes, and a composure I was sure no one could crack, but I damn well wanted to try.
Even so, Piper stepped up with her expert hands and undid my tie before she started unbuttoning my shirt. “I see now why you’re not listening.”
“No.” I grabbed her hands and stopped her. “I’ve got a lot on my mind, Piper.”
“Okay,” she whispered, “let me clear it for a bit then.”
She’d get on her knees in a second, I knew that. But my dick didn’t even twitch at the thought. “Piper, I said last time was the last time. I meant it.”
She rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Fine. I’m confirming the sponsorship with the shoe company.” Back to business because the woman was better at her job than most, I’d give her that. “HEAT Resorts needs to push the Pacific Coast hotel soon too. You need to talk with your brother about it.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m late for a meeting, but if we’re not dating, you need to consider Anastasia because my bestie will be good for press.”
She left me more irritated than I’d been before, so I changed into gym shorts and T-shirt. Then my irritation turned to pure rage when I saw Everly across my damn gym bending over to adjust the height of the punching bag.
For Wes.
“Everly.” I tried to keep my voice calm, but I had just arranged schedules so she’d be up front permanently, aside from the children’s classes. She was great at greeting guests and that way guys wouldn’t be staring at her ass all the damn time like he was at that very second.
It was wrong, but I wasn’t above that shit. I saw the way every guy in my gym looked at her. She was in shape, had curves for days, and those fucking deep-blue eyes. So deep, they looked like sapphire sirens that mesmerized you before she pulled you in and devoured your soul.
Plus, she was my partner’s daughter. I was looking out for her. That’s what I’d keep telling myself. And what I told my brother Dom when he asked me what I was doing when he saw me switching the schedule the other day as we went over shareholder business.
No one needed to know about the night in the back of that SUV. Even though I couldn’t forget about it. I’d held her composure, her control, her damn undoing in my hands. She’d given it to me. And ever since, I wasn’t sure I could keep control of myself. I’d made her leave another man’s house. And she wasn’t even mine. Yet.
I could blame Carl for it. He’d called and practically designated me to be her guard dog, but she’d stirred something different in me the moment I’d met her. The girl was beautiful, nice, quiet, and had a take-no-shit attitude. Most of the men at my gym thought she was a catch. I heard the damn whispers.
But I couldn’t figure out if she was fucking with everyone’s minds or just mine. I was convinced that even if she was younger than me and half the guys in the gym, she was smarter than all of us combined.
“What do you need, Mr. Hardy?” She held a hand up to stop Wes from continuing to pummel the bag she was holding and then she wiped the sweat from her forehead, her breath coming fast.
My eyes flicked over her, lingering on the fact that she couldn’t for the life of her wear a T-shirt or a tank top to the gym. Instead, she was in tight yoga leggings and bright-red sports bra, her curves on display so perfectly that I couldn’t look away. At this point, I was considering a new employee dress policy expressly so others wouldn’t stare at her like I was.
Her dark wavy hair was up in a pony, ensuring everyone could admire the slope of her neck too. And I knew her hair was long, could imagine how it fell down her back or that it would have covered the way her chest rose and fell if it cascaded over and in front of her shoulders.
I hated that she did these classes at my gym for our business, showing these guys flexibility and strength when those fuckers weren’t even there for that. Noah didn’t need a damn yoga class for balance in the NHL. He only wanted to stare at her ass.
Much like I did.
Fuck.
And if it wasn’t me daydreaming about grabbing her hair or her ass, I imagined running my hands over her bare stomach… the one that currently glistened under the gym’s lighting, showing off her muscle tone, the small curve of her waist, and how her ass swelled perfectly from it.
“I thought I told you to assist at the front desk.”
“Right. I didn’t have a chance to tell you when you walked away with Piper.” Her cheeks were flushed, and she chewed her lip in an effort to not give anything else away. But I heard the dip in her voice when she mentioned our names, felt the tension like she might be jealous. She pointed to my front desk where I saw one of my seasoned employees. “Juna took over because Wes needed help sparring so…” She shrugged and smiled at Wes.
Big man that he was, he stepped in to defend her. “I just needed a little extra motivation today.” He winked at me like I would understand.
Oh, I understood his dumb ass all right. “Motivation?” I chuckled and rubbed my jaw, trying my best to temper my response. To see reason. To act composed like she did all the time.
Everly was an employee. She was my partner’s daughter. She should have been completely off-limits and not at all mine.
Yet, my dick responded every time she was in the room. My mind had started to scream that no one could look at her but me. And my body obviously didn’t react to anyone else at this point. It’d been two weeks since our time in the SUV, and I’d jacked off to her countless times since.
“Declan,” she whispered my first name like she knew something in me was brewing. When her hand grazed my bicep gently, she probably figured it would calm me.
