Page 22 of Wine and Research
The smug expression remained on his handsome face as he stepped back.
She winked up at him. “And in yours, Officer Mercer.”
Smiling, Elle shut the door and drove away, but her triumph was short lived when she remembered she still had several more “cooped up in a squad car” days to go with the potent man.
Chapter Seven
It was Jeremy’s day off, several days later, and he had cause to celebrate. He’d made it through two more shifts of forced proximity with Elle without any incidents—physical, or mental. But if he thought spending over eight hours with the bewildering woman had been trying before their kiss—and it had—then the tension between them since the kiss had doubled. Tripled.
Exploded.
It was his own damn fault. He should’ve kept his mouth and hands off the woman, but the fire in her eyes and challenge on her lips had led to his undoing…and one hell of a kiss. Her response, her taste, and the way she melted into him were not things he was likely to forget.
But pushing that memory aside was a must. His only saving grace was his uniform. No matter how much he wanted another round with Elle, he would never cross that line while on duty.
Which meant he needed to make sure they didn’t run into each other when he was off duty, like today. Considering he’d barely run into her from last October to this week, Jeremy felt certain he could pull it off.
With that in mind, instead of jogging through town, he was jogging around the three-mile lake at the Wyne Resort with his running partner, sparring partner, and exercise buddy, Nico. Scott sometimes joined them too, but not today. The guy had to take his grandmother for a check-up after her knee surgery.
Jeremy was getting a good workout today, though. He could always count on it with Nico. Both needed to be in top shape for their jobs, plus they were good at pushing each other to their limits.
It’s why they’d turned one lap around the lake into two and were nearing the end. A third lap would be fantastic, but he didn’t have it in him. Before meeting Nico here, he’d already cut his sister’s grass and his own, and would’ve done his mother’s, but two years ago, she’d insisted on doing it herself…so he’d insisted on getting her a riding mower.
It didn’t sit right, letting his fifty-eight-year-old mother cut grass, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let her use a push mower, even though he knew she loved yard work.
Jeremy and Nico were three-quarters of the way around the lake when that limit of his was creeping up on him.
He wasn’t an exercise freak, but he understood the merits, so he jogged on his days off and hit the gym either before or after each shift. Given a choice though, Jeremy’s favorite form of exercise was when he was balls-deep in a woman, which had been way too long ago.
Not many women wanted a long-term relationship with a cop, and although he was fine with short-term, he wasn’t currently in one.
“Damn, do you see what I see?” Nico asked, nodding toward a group of women practicing yoga on individual mats in a large clearing in front of the dock. “Time to get a closer look at the scenery.”
With that, the guy took off in a sprint toward the women. Jeremy followed, but still at a jogger’s pace, telling himself the only reason he’d followed was because they left their backpacks on a bench by the dock with their shirts and water bottles inside.
It had nothing to do with the glimpse he’d caught of a familiar, gorgeous author, with her hair in a ponytail and body clad in black, cropped yoga pants and a black sports bra with an oversized, sleeveless gray sweatshirt over top.
Definitely had nothing to do with that, because that would be stupid. So was watching her while he drank his water.
He did it anyway. He couldn’t help himself.
She had her back to him and was posed as if sitting on an invisible chair, with an ankle resting on her other knee, while her hands were in a praying position. He had no idea how she or the others didn’t fall. As she straightened, she kept her hands in the same praying position, her ponytail swaying from the movement. Elle bent a knee and pressed the bottom of her bare foot to her upper thigh.
Damn, the woman had incredible balance. And form. Her shoulders were straight, body was lean and fit, and she had one hell of an amazing ass.
Granted, there were a lot of nice butts in front of him, but it was Elle’s that held his attention and had him half cocked, as she changed position to bend the other leg. But when she planted both feet on the mat then bent forward at the waist to place her palms flat on the mat in front of her feet, his half cocked status switched to fully loaded.
Nico’s muttered oath caught Jeremy’s attention, and he was oddly relieved to find the guy’s gaze glued to the cute butt next to Elle. The one belonging to Faith.
Those two had been circling each other since high school. Jeremy had no idea what was stopping Nico from making a move, because it was only a matter of time before Faith stopped waiting.
He returned his gaze back to Elle, mesmerized by the fluid movements of her sleek body. She eventually turned toward him, stretching one leg back and the opposite arm toward him. The only evidence that she’d spotted him was a slight widening of her eyes and a pretty blush creeping into her face. But she didn’t falter. She held her pose and his admiration.
A few seconds later, she bent over backward with her palms flat on the mat and raised a leg straight in the air, which Faithgrabbed with one hand, while lifting a leg up past her head and reached behind to grab with her other hand.
This time, Nico groaned. So did Jeremy.
Everything inside him tightened at once.
