His back muscles were fatiguing as he fluidly pulled through rep after rep. Maybe she wouldn’t even notice. He should put his shirt back on and stop making a fool of himself. His sister would be on the floor laughing if she saw his juvenile move and knew how desperate he was to get any attention from this woman. He released the cables and his shoulders rounded. Time to admit defeat. She hadn’t noticed him, or if she had, it hadn’t made her want to approach him. With his track record so far with Rachel his stupid idea had probably backfired and she was less impressed than ever by him.
* * *
Rachel was almost finished with her plyometrics rounds and had convinced herself to stride into that weight room and lift some weights close to Abe. Maybe she’d pull her earbuds out and flirt with him a little. Maybe she’d see if he wanted to get breakfast together after their workout. She was dripping sweat from her last round of burpees and she noticed that the scars on her cheek were revealed and her flushed face made the white skin of the scars stand out more. Abe hadn’t seemed bothered by that at all and she’d really enjoyed their comfortable banter. She’d more than enjoyed being held close to his strong chest after she fell. There was something about him, something special.
She leapt out of her last burpee and immediately dropped into jump lunges. Glancing out the opening as she jumped and switched legs, she saw a bare, broad, muscular, tanned, beautiful back in the process of executing a perfect reverse fly. She barely caught herself from tripping and crashing to the floor like she had when she’d seen Abe in the doorway earlier. Maybe she should fall. Having him hold her close had been amazing, having him do it without a shirt on would be insane.
She stopped moving completely, stared in awe for a few seconds, and then she got mad. What was he playing at? He’d had a nicely fitted t-shirt on earlier. He’d looked fabulous. Why had he stripped? To impress her? To get a reaction out of her? A sickening thought rolled through her. What if another woman was in the weight room and he was trying to impress someone else?
She stormed across the hardwood floor and through the arched entry as he released the cables. Her eyes darted around, no one but them. A smug smile crossed her face as she realized he’d taken his shirt off for her. It was adorable that this impressively successful man was trying to get her attention.
She stormed up to him, pulling out her earbuds and shoving them in a pocket of her shorts. Abe spun around and every sane thought she’d had disappeared in a poof of desire. If she’d thought his back muscles looked good, it was nothing compared to the beauty of his chest, shoulders, and abdomen, combined with his handsome face and those dark eyes looking like … he needed her approval? How could he be humble and still look like Thor? It was the perfect combination for her.
So many things to say but she ended up sputtering. “Wh-what are you doing?”
He gave her a slow, appealing smile and folded his arms across that lovely chest. Whew! It was steamy hot in here. “Lifting. You?”
She rolled her eyes. “I was trying to have a nice little workout when I saw you all … hot and shirtless.”
His grin grew.
“And now I need to know the meaning of this. Why is your shirt off?”
He chuckled but looked a little embarrassed. Sweeping his shirt off the bench, he tugged it back on. She wanted to protest but she had already called him hot, that was more than enough. “Well, I was hoping to impress you.”
“Mission accomplished,” she muttered. Whirling, she stomped to the hand weights, picked up the fifteen-pound dumbbells and started a set of lateral raises.
Abe walked slowly to her. Even with his shirt on, his musculature was evident, and he was irresistible to her. He lifted a set of fifty-pound dumbbells off the rack and started slowly curling them. His bicep muscles popped so beautifully she could hardly concentrate.
“You remember in grade school when little boys used to pull your braid to get your attention?” he asked.
Rachel smiled. “Isthatwhat you were doing?”
“Yes,” he admitted. He kept curling but met her gaze in the mirror. “Forgive me for being immature. You do things to me.”
Things? What did that mean?
“Please spend the day with me,” he said in a low voice.
Rachel traded her weights for a set of twenty-pounders and did a few reps of upright rows, her stomach full of heat and anticipation at the thought of spending the day with him. The way he’d asked had been so appetizing she had no clue how to turn him down.
“Rachel?” he questioned, shelving his weights and turning to focus completely on her. “Please.”
She smiled at him in the mirror. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“I have a few conditions.”
“Such as?” A relieved smile covered his face and his dark eyes sparkled.
“Just the two of us.” She hated to be selfish and monopolize his time, but she wasn’t ready for a crowd.
“Of course. Anything else?”
She finished her set and put the weights down. Turning, she headed for the cable machine but said over her shoulder. “As often as possible I’d like to see that shirt off again.”
Abe’s deep chuckle came from behind her. “I’ll see what I can do.”
She winked and then tried to focus on her workout. With him working out nearby, and looking so good, it was rough.