Every Love, page 8
Heading into the locker room, I change into a blue pair of basketball shorts and check the time on the wall; it’s 6:13. Fuck, maybe she’s not coming. Maybe I got stressed over nothing, seeing how at this point she’s almost 15 minutes late and seems to take punctuality crazy serious. So far, I haven’t heard a word from her. I go back into the office and check my phone…still nothing. I’m not going to text her. If she forgot, or better yet, blew me off, then fuck her. It might actually help me out.
“Hey, Nate.” Ryan, one of the girls from the front desk, comes into the office and interrupts my mindfuck.
“What’s up?” I ask her, trying to hide the annoyance to my tone.
“Can I get some ones for the front register?”
“Is it out?”
“Almost,” she responds. Just as I bend down to open the safe. My heart stops. There she is. Jesus Christ, there she is. Half dressed, looking hot as fuck, long brown hair pulled up on her head, showing every part of her body, and in my gym.
“I’ll bring ’em right out,” I tell her, not able to look her in the eye as mine are glued to Elania’s body.
I can see she’s looking for me, glancing around, fidgeting with her car key and hasn’t spotted me yet.
“Okay, thanks,” Ryan says and leaves the office. I do my best to not gawk over Elania, in fear that she will catch me. But it’s damn near impossible. Jesus, her body is amazing. It’s everything I imagined it would be under those damn dresses that she wears.
Knowing I need to get to her, I open the safe and snatch a stack of ones. Then I stand and take a deep breath. Here goes nothing. As I leave the office, with my eyes focused only on her, she is buying a tank top at the counter, and I curse myself under my breath for coming up with the idea to have custom tanks in the first place.
I pass the money to Ryan and watch in slow motion as Elania pulls her new purchase over her head. Damn, she’s sexy. She turns and we lock eyes, both of us frozen as if it’s the first time we’ve seen each other. Her eyes never leave mine and don’t even hint at a glance towards my leg.
“Hi,” she says.
“Hey,” I respond, no longer gawking at her beauty. I’m respectful – I want her to feel comfortable here, with me, any time.
“Sorry I’m late,” she says as I lean down to hug her and gently kiss her cheek.
“Don’t be,” I tell her, pulling us apart, hiding that I’d started to stress and worry that she wasn’t going to show up.
“Thanks.”
“So…are you ready?”
“If you are.”
I smile and place my hand on the small of her back, glancing at Amanda for a brief second. She’s got the biggest smile on her face and winks at me.
“Do you want to set your stuff in the office?” I ask her.
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
I direct us that way and immediately imagine closing the door and doing very bad things to her. On my desk. Against the wall. In my chair.
I change the subject in hopes that it will clear my mind. “Good choice on the shirt you bought. It’s the one I designed.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, it looks good on you.”
“Thanks. This place is really nice, even better than what I saw online. Very impressive.”
I take her phone, wallet, and car key, placing them in the desk drawer.
“So you looked us up online?”
“Yeah, I told you that a while ago. I was considering coming here, but the drive is just too far.”
“Oh yeah. Well, don’t worry, I’m gonna open something just for you.”
“Just for me?” She asks smiling at me as we leave the office.
“So what’s tonight gonna involve?”
Her question completely catches me off guard. My filthy mind wants to do so much with her, to her, that I’ve totally spaced on the fact that she’s here to actually exercise. I pull myself back. I can’t make her feel uncomfortable, or jeopardize our professional relationship. Right?
Fuck, she’s staring at me. I’m not sure if it’s because she wants me as well, or she simply wants an answer. “Let’s start with some cardio,” I tell her and we head upstairs to the indoor cardio track that wraps the inside of the gym.
We begin to walk and things are quiet. My head is in the gutter, and dammit, I’m not sure where hers is.
“So do you do this often?” she asks me.
I look at her blazing light eyes trying to figure out what she is asking. “What do you mean?”
“Give private lessons?”
For fuck’s sake, I really need to keep my shit together when I am with her. She makes me forget about everything else except what I want to do with her. I haven’t even stressed about my leg and that’s a rarity.
“Nope, I told you I don’t.”
“Really? I must’ve forgot,” she asks, almost stopping us on the track.
“Yeah, I handle more of the management side of the gym and overseeing that everything runs smoothly. Lessons aren’t my…” I don’t bother finishing my sentence. The truth is, lessons aren’t my thing. But, any time with Elania is worthwhile in my opinion. “Wanna run?”
She nods her head and we pick up our pace. We are no longer walking quickly, now both of us are moving our bodies in line together. Thankfully, my leg feels good today, so it doesn’t hinder my speed at all, because Elania’s idea of running is damn near marathon racing. I can tell she likes to run.
After two laps, I slow the pace. Her lungs heave in her chest and I can tell this got her warmed up enough. “Ready to lift some weights?”
She shrugs her shoulders and in this moment, I love the look of hesitation that is written all over her face. It’s not something that she shows often, but it shows how real she is.
Heading to the free weights, I explain everything in detail so she knows exactly what we are going to be doing. To my surprise, she is interested and doesn’t seem one bit scared.
“Why don’t you try those?” I say and point to a set of dumbbells.
She looks at the ten-pound ones and tilts her head, then she steps to the right and grips the fifteen-pounders. I can see two guys watching her and instinctively it makes me jealous. Even though she’s not mine, the guys don’t need to gawk at her. Then she lifts the weights and looks me in the eye. Right away I forget about everything else. “How do those feel?” I ask her.
“Good.”
I take one from her, the tiny bar in my hand looking so small. “Why don’t you place one knee on the bench while you curl the weight for twelve reps?” I demonstrate what I want her to do and she nods her head getting into the position. The entire time my eyes are locked on the weight, making sure that it doesn’t become too heavy for her.
As she begins to pump it up and down, her form is almost perfect. Moving behind her, I straddle the bench and place my hands on her shoulders. “Up a little higher,” I tell her.
She straightens her body and I watch the way her little bicep flexes and how the muscles in her back move. Christ, she’s hot. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, with my body behind hers, my mind drifts. Pulling myself back to reality, we catch eyes and she stops moving. My chest is heavy, my breathing is quick, and I’m not sure what to do next.
“That was twelve,” she says.
“Right. You can do the other arm now.”
She smirks at me, clearly reading that I am flustered. While she does the other arm, I fully realize that asking her to work out with me was a bad idea. My cock is throbbing, and she’s got to recognize what she does to me, and there is nothing I can do. After she’s done, I grab a fifty-pound dumbbell to take out some of my pent up aggression.
“Excuse me,” I tell her, as she sits on the bench I need to kneel on. She smiles and stands back up. I lay down fifteen reps like nothing and pray that this work out will be over quickly. My insides might explode with the tension that is now between us.
“So when are we working out again?” Nate asks me.
My face is bright red. After the back and forth last night, the undercurrent obviously flowing between us, I’m not sure working out together is a good idea. I about gave into him, and for me…I can’t do that. Not after what Alex did to me.
“Oh, there won’t be a next time.”
He smirks and holds the door open for me. I get behind the wheel of my Escalade and check the time. Today we are on schedule, which is good considering I got a call early this morning about this property that I can’t wait to show Nate.
“El, there will be a next time. Don’t kid yourself. So where is this place?” he asks me.
I drop the subject and stick to getting to this next house. “It’s in the same neighborhood as the one you made an offer on. It’s not even on the market yet so we have a good chance at getting it.” I correct myself. “I mean, you have a good chance at getting it.”
“Do you have the printout with the details?” he asks me.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have anything, I literally left the house and headed straight to you.”
“Elania, unprepared…I’m shocked,” he teases me.
“You are such an ass. Remember I’m doing this for you.”
“Just teasing, El.”
His mood today seems different. He is in shorts again, like yesterday, which I take as a sign he’s becoming comfortable with me and I love it. Driving together while we are both dressed so casually around town really does something to me. I just love how relaxed we both are. That professional barrier seems to have slipped, and somehow I don’t mind.
He’s restless in his seat though and I sense that something is bothering him, and not two seconds later, he blurts, “So are you really not gonna ask me about my leg?”
Whoa, that’s way out of left field.
“What’s to ask?” I question him point blank.
“Maybe what happened?”
“Nate, it’s none of my business.”
“True…but aren’t you curious?”
I shake my head, “No, not in the slightest.”
He frowns and shakes his head. Deep down, I do wonder what happened, but I read on the gym’s website where it said he’s a military vet, that that’s how he and Nash met, so I’m assuming that’s how he hurt his leg.
His knee is bouncing, clearly agitated.
“Does it bother you?” I ask him.
He looks at me and for the first time since I’ve met Nate, I see uncertainty on his face.
“No.”
I glance at him, he’s staring out the window.
“What’s that matter? Spill it, Nate,” I demand.
“Nothing. Really, nothing. It was dumb of me to ask you.”
“No, it wasn’t. I obviously can’t relate to your situation, however, if I had to, I couldn’t imagine the feelings and the emotions that would flood through me. I’m sure one of them would be self-consciousness. But just because you have a prosthetic leg doesn’t change who you are on the inside, and yesterday, I saw what you are capable of on the outside, so please know that your leg is not a concern for me at all.”
He smirks at me again and takes his hat off, running his fingers through his messy hair.
“Well, here we are,” I tell him, parking in front of the condo. It looks almost identical to the last one. I grab my phone and open my email to retrieve the lockbox code. Walking up to the door, I glance at Nate and watch him looking all around with his hands in his pockets. I punch the code in and grab the key. Opening the front door, we walk inside and it is literally the same as the first place.
“I cannot believe it’s actually identical!” he exclaims.
“Right? The only difference, I’d say, would be there’s more natural light in here, which is not a bad thing.”
I take my time showing Nate around for two reasons. This is the house for Nate and I want him to see that, but also this will be the last time that we get to do this together. However, the smile that is on his face tells me that he loves it and that is ultimately why I do what I do.
As we come back to the front door to exit, something is telling me not to leave, but Nate opens the door and I walk out, ignoring my gut. He follows and I lock up.
“So, what do you think? Are you ready to make this your home?”
He nods his head. “Yeah, definitely. I can’t wait to tell my mom. She’s going to be so happy.”
We both get into my car and I reach for my work bag, but it’s not in here. “Do you have time to stop by my office? I don’t have a contract on me.”
“Yeah, of course,” he responds. “If you have time, maybe we could grab a bite to eat, too?”
My stomach tightens from his offer. As much as I try and fight it because of my own insecurities, I can’t. All I really want to do is spend time with him.
My insides are gnawing at me. I find myself wanting to keep looking over at Nate as we drive to my office, wondering if I should tell him what I’m feeling. I’ve tried fighting it and it’s not going away. Maybe honesty is what both of us need.
“You okay?” he asks, as if sensing my inner turmoil.
“Yeah. Yeah, why?”
“You’ve gone quiet on me.”
“I’m good, I promise. I’m just thinking about a lot of things and let my mind slip away.” So maybe I’m not as ready for that honesty as I thought I was.
“Okay, you know I’m here if you want to talk about anything.”
“Thank you, and believe me, I appreciate that. We do need to talk about your offer on this place.” Chickenshit that I am, of course I deflect to the safe subjects.
We discuss the details for the condo and what he’s willing to pay on the drive. Then turning into my office, I park and just before we get out, anxiety hits me full speed. Jaquelle and Alex exit, all lovey with each other.
Without even thinking, I place my hand on Nate’s arm to stop him. He looks down at my hand first, then at me. “Wha…?”
But I cut him off, not letting him get any further. My lips crash hard against his, and right away, he accepts me, kissing me back.
His hand moves to the back of my head, if only to bring us closer. Leaning over the center console of my car, I hold on to his bicep, and he kisses me with so much passion that I know I am no longer controlling what I started, and I give in to him, forgetting that Alex and that whore could be watching us right now. Because being in this moment with Nate is so much more than I expected. His lips are so soft yet dominating. He knows what he wants and I like that. His scent, being this close to him, drives me mad. I’d take off all my clothes right here if he wanted me to. That’s the power he has over me. It’s both exhilarating and terrifying.
As he slows the kiss, I am dazed and under his spell. We rest our foreheads against each other and he rubs my bottom lip with his thumb. “What took you so long?” he asks.
I can’t help but give him his trademark smirk. How do I say why I kissed him without hurting his feelings? I don’t think there is a way, so it’s probably going to be better left unsaid. But deep down, I’d only be bullshitting myself. I’ve been wrestling with my feelings for Nate, and seeing my ex just pushed me. It pushed me to make a move, a move that he clearly accepted and liked. There’s no harm in that…is there?
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I didn’t want to jeopardize our professional relationship.”
“I respect that.” Looking around, Alex and Jaquelle are gone. “Clearly, we have a lot to talk about. Let’s go make an offer on your new home and then lunch?”
“Can I offer either of you any dessert?” the waitress asks us.
I shake my head and Nate answers her, “No, thanks.”
“So you were gone for almost a year?” I ask him, stunned by the harrowing details of him being a POW.
“Yeah.”
“I bet you were so happy to get home,” I tell him.
“Not really, but that’s a story for another day. My road hasn’t been easy and coming home was…well, let’s just say when I got the news that my fiancé had moved on and wasn’t waiting for me, I almost lost my mind.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. On one hand, I’d been given a second chance, the gift of life…but on the other, my partner wasn’t going to be there to share it all with me.”
“Why would she do that?” I’m completely floored.
“She thought I was dead, like my whole family did. The military made a huge mistake and they know that. I can’t really blame her.”
“Were your captors ever caught?”
“I’m told they were. Their other hideout was hit hard with airstrikes, but I do still wonder if somehow they survived and are out there.”
“What if they are?”
“I’ve kept my return very quiet. Sometimes I see people who I knew years ago and the news hadn’t even gotten back to them.”
I put my chin in my hands and gaze at Nate. Who knew he was such a fascinating person. I was drawn to him before, but even more so now. Then you add that kiss and I can see myself falling very fast for him. “Enough about me. Tell me about Elania.”
“Oh, God, I hate talking about myself.”
“Stop it. I’ve been dying to know more about you.”
“All right, let’s see…I’m from California, moved here four years ago with a guy who got a dream job and promised me the world.”
“I take it that didn’t happen?”
“No, it didn’t. He cheated on me recently and the rest is history.”
“Wow, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“I understand. Do you have any siblings?”
“No. It’s just me. My parents both work in the school system back where I’m from.”
“Which is?”
“Tulare, California. It’s a small quiet town with a lot of farming, about an hour from the ocean. Great weather.”
“It sounds like you miss home?”
“I do, but I miss my parents more than anything.”
“Why don’t you go back?”
“Work,” I blurt out. “It’s clients like you that keep me busy. I always promise my parents after this deal, I’ll come home, but then there’s more and more work to do. The market is just crazy right now and I love the money.”
