Chapter Four
Abe didn’t sleep well and woke early to the twittering of birds and softly rolling waves outside his open windows. His first thought was of Rachel just as it had been when he fell asleep. He groaned, rolled over, and punched the pillow. He’d messed up royally. Why had he been so stupid and attempted to brush her hair away from her scars? He’d pretended to himself that she already knew and trusted him. He’d moved too fast and damaged whatever trust she might have had for him. He knew from vicious experience how hard trust was to build, but he’d instinctively trusted Rachel.
He should’ve given her a tender, pure kiss, walked her back to her door, and made plans to spend today with her. Instead, he’d screwed it all up by moving too fast. He’d wanted to reveal her scars and tell her how beautiful she was to him, all of her. Obviously, he was thinking like a guy, not a girl whose perfect face had been hurt.
He honestly wondered what his motives were. He’d been attracted by her beautiful face and shape, and for him the fact that she had scars made her that much more intriguing and appealing. Spending the short amount of time he had with her had taken that attraction to the next level. She was fun, refreshing, smart, and had a sweet humility about her he’d never seen in a woman as beautiful and accomplished as she was. He hadn’t had much desire to date since Angel betrayed him and here he finally found a woman worth pursuing and he messed it up by moving too fast. Dang his natural instincts to always go hard and strong for what he wanted.
He pushed himself out of bed, dressed quickly, brushed his teeth, and grabbed a water bottle. It was five a.m. Hopefully the gym wouldn’t be crowded because he really needed to pound through some weights. He drank the water as he walked along the tree-lined path to the main building. The larger bungalows, like the one he was in, were the farthest from the main area but still not too far, maybe an eighth of a mile. Preston had told him some of the guests requested shuttle service back and forth. He smiled, imagining how pampered some of those guests might be. The people he’d brought here, team leaders who’d earned the trip, were ecstatic and grateful and had literally gushed at dinner last night about how amazing the accommodations and the entire island were. His group was either getting spa treatments this morning or sleeping in and he was supposed to meet them at ten for a scuba dive. After lunch they were all doing the adventure course, ziplines, and a hike together. He’d hoped to bring Rachel. Fat lot of chance of her spending the day with him now. Would she avoid him? Should he try again to connect with her or give her some time? How much time? He was only here for a week.
He walked through the open-air main area, admiring the smooth hardwood flooring, colorful flowerpots, and numerous water features. He found the gym connected to the spa and pushed through the glass door into an air-conditioned lobby. A young lady greeted him and offered him a towel and a water bottle. He thanked her and went through the doors to the left to the spacious, and nicely supplied gym. The wall space that wasn’t windows looking out at the beautiful bay or lush jungle was mirrors. On his left were numerous cardio machines, straight in front of him various weight machines, cable machines, and racks of hand weights, on his right there was a separate room with an arched doorway and more mirrors and windows. He could see spin bikes, yoga mats, exercise balls, hand weights, and the most beautiful woman he’d ever encountered.
“Rachel,” he breathed.
She had earbuds in so she must not have heard him enter. She was probably so upset about last night or so uncomfortable with him now that she was ignoring him. Her dark hair was in a long braid over her left shoulder. She squatted down low then leapt onto a box and back off. Her hair shifted and in the mirror he saw the scars on the bottom of her left cheek and her chin. She jumped back off the box and he admired the lean muscles in her legs, revealed in the mid-thigh shorts she wore.
He wanted to just stand there and watch her, admire how fit and athletic she was, but he wasn’t that guy. He stepped into the arched entryway to the room and leaned against the door, hoping that was nonthreatening, but would let her know he wanted to talk if she was willing.
She was mid-jump as he moved. She stumbled, knocking her shin against the box and falling to the floor on her knees.
“Rachel!”
Abe forgot all his ideas about being relaxed and not pressuring her to talk to him as he rushed across the room and lifted her off the floor and into his arms. For one beautiful moment she sighed and leaned against him, making him feel like he was a superhero who was worthy to comfort and protect this amazing woman, but then she stiffened, pulled back, and yanked her earbuds out, tugging her braid in front of her face and neck.
He wanted to beg her to let him hold her, but he exercised the self-control that had been strengthened by his resolve to work hard. His self-control enabled him to play college sports while maintaining a four-point-oh, which was harder than he’d ever dreamt it could be. That self-control had been strengthened to nearly unbreakable in his short prison stint.
He looked her over, noting the red mark on her shin but luckily no blood. “Sorry to surprise you. Are you okay?”
She nodded stiffly, giving him a forced smile. “A little shocked to see a hulking body in the doorway.”
“Hulking?” He smiled and flexed one arm, happy when his bicep popped nicely. “Like I’m the Hulk?” He lowered his voice. Maybe he could be her superhero.
She laughed and it filled up empty spaces inside of him that he hadn’t fully admitted he had. He laughed with her for a few blissful seconds. When they sobered, they stood there smiling at each other.
She shifted back slightly from him, pressing her leg against the box. He took it as a bad sign but was far from admitting defeat. He’d worked hard for what he wanted; some might say pushed. The only time it had backfired was when he’d foolishly imagined he’d secured Angel’s love and then she’d betrayed him and he’d ended up in prison. Eighteen months to three years in the Federal Correctional Facility in Cumberland, Maryland was looked upon as an easy stint as far as crime convictions went. He’d been released after only three months when Angel had disappeared with millions more than it was claimed Abe ever stole and their ex-boss had finally pointed the finger in the right direction and dropped charges against Abe.
Three months. In a minimum security, white-collar crime prison. Abe knew most prisoners had it much worse but those long weeks had been purgatory. The look on his mom, dad, and sister’s faces when he was arrested and each time they visited ripped the wound of misery and humiliation back open. His pastor’s visits and nonstop remonstrances to “repent” for something Abe had never done. The lack of something productive to do, of a goal to achieve, of a way to improve himself. He had read hundreds of self-help and business books and been ready to start his own business the day he walked out of Hades, cursing Angel’s traitorous name and planning to never trust a boss or anyone but his family again.
He shook it off and asked, “You always work out this early?”
She shrugged. “I wanted the place to myself.”
“Sorry.” But he wasn’t sorry, not at all. He’d messed up last night. Was this his chance at redemption? Somehow he knew he could trust Rachel. She had loyalty written in her bright blue eyes. He loved that he could see the scarring on her cheek with her hair braided the way it was. He loved the way she looked in the fitted t-shirt and shorts. She was so beautiful to him. He’d heard it said, “Chicks dig scars”. He didn’t know about that, but he thought he dug scars, at least on her. They gave her otherwise perfect face more character and strength than even her alluring full lips and blue eyes could do.
She backed up again. “I’d better get back to my workout.”
Dang. “Okay.” He pointed back to the weight room. “I’ll just be in there; in case you want to say hi.”
She smiled as if he were cute. It wasn’t all he’d hoped but better than her shutting the door on him last night, claiming she was tired and “fine”.
“I’ll remember that,” she said.
He smiled, wanting to say so much more. Wanting to put his arms around her again and feel like he could conquer the world. Wanting to make her laugh again and see if it was the magic elixir he’d experienced earlier. Was it possible he’d found a woman who could help him heal and move past the pain and anger over Angel’s betrayal? It scared him, but what was scarier was she didn’t seem to feel the same. Was she shutting herself off from him because of her obvious discomfort with her burn scars, or was she simply not interested in him?
She put her earbuds back in and he took that as his sign to go. He walked to the weight room and started warming up with the cable machine, mostly because it had the best view of the aerobics room. He caught glimpses of her doing box jumps, burpees, walking lunges, and squats as he went through different back, shoulder, biceps, and triceps exercises on the cable machine and with free weights. What could he do to get her to come in here and talk to him again? Luckily, nobody else had shown up to use the facility but it was still shy of six a.m.
He smiled to himself, thinking of the mocking he’d receive from his sister, as he peeled off his t-shirt and dropped it on the weight bench next to him. He felt a little immature, which made him laugh as he was thirty-two, an ultra-successful businessman, and couldn’t think of the last time he’d acted like an adolescent punk, but this move had worked for him and Preston in college. He justified that he had to at least try to get a reaction out of Rachel and he thought this might do it. Plus, maybe she’d be impressed by how hard he’d worked on his physique. A guy could hope.
He turned his back to the arched opening between the rooms, piled plenty of weight on the cable machine, and executed a reverse fly. He knew the muscles in his back were popping and hoped she’d notice. He’d sensed a fire in her, maybe his silly move would tick her off, but at this point he simply wanted a reaction from her.