Michael takes a deep inhale, and an almost undetectable shudder runs over his skin. “That look in your eyes makes me want to find Jason and hurt him.”
His sweet caveman sentiment has me smiling against his chest. “I’ll text you his address later.” Michael lets out a humorless bark, giving me one last squeeze before resuming his seat, and I look at our almost clean plates. “We should probably start going on those runs.”
“Sure. Tomorrow morning?” Michael offers. “I usually prefer night runs, but since we’re both busy…”
“Yeah, sounds good. I actually prefer running in the morning.” I poke at what’s left of my chicken, and Michael grabs it off my plate, to which I scrunch my nose in disapproval, and he just shrugs with a grin while digging in.
“So, circling back to happier topics.” I lean my elbow on the breakfast counter and look at Michael as he scarfs down the extra portion of chicken, filled with pride and joy when watching how much he’s enjoying my cooking. “How many of the buffers did you sleep with?”
“Just two. One was actually the first I ever offered to be my plus one. She was a bartender at the hotel I was staying in and had no idea who I was. A late dinner at the bar led to a night in my room. She was great. In it for fun. You could tell she wasn’t the type to take it too seriously if she happened upon a guy she clicked with.” His smile is full of fondness and warmth. “Her dream was to open a nonprofit that operated dance schools in the lower-income neighborhoods. She said yes to my offer just for the heck of it and is now one of the most successful models and sought-after spokeswomen for children’s rights in the world.”
I gape at him, my jaw almost hitting the floor. “Are you talking about…?” He nods before I finish the question because, that woman? I knowexactlywho she is.Everyoneknows who she is. “Holy wowza.”
“Yeah, we’re still good friends. The gala we’re going to is a fundraiser for her foundation.”
“Really?” I squeal and bounce in my chair.
Michael sighs. “Get all the starstruck giggles out now, Rockstar.”
“Right. Sorry. Tell me about the other girl.”
Michael grimaces. “She was the last I was ever stupid enough to get into bed with. Told me she was fresh out of a breakup and wasn’t looking for anything serious. Apparently, she and her boyfriend were still together, and she convinced him she needed to do whatever it took to become famous. Only she developed feelings for me and actually broke it off with him, only to run back when I turned her down for a relationship and have him come at me.”
“No!”
“Yep. He barely got a swing in, though. His heart wasn’t in it. We ended up having a serious conversation over a pint. He went home, packed his stuff, and moved back north to his family’s vineyard, which he never wanted to leave in the first place. He rekindled the flame with his high school sweetheart and named his firstborn Michaela.”
“That’s so sweet.”And my ovaries may have exploded at the thought of a little baby girl version of Michael.
“Right?” Michael grins. “I get a photo and a bottle of wine every year on her birthday.”
“You really are one of the good ones, huh?”
Michael’s blush is fast and furious. “Not really. Just lucky enough to meet great people along the way.” He pauses then turns to me with a wink and a smile that have me biting back a girly giggle.Gawd. “Present company included.”
“Oh, stop.” I give him a playful shove, not even regretting the little squeeze of his bicep I sneak into the gesture. “But yes, I’m pretty fabulous.”
“You’re all kinds of fabulous, honey, and this chicken?” Michael leans in with a twinkle in his eyes. “You have officially rocked my world.”
And whether he meant to or not, I’m left a bit breathless when he stands and starts doing the dishes.
Chapter Five
Michael
“Yes!”I fist pump the rapidly warming 7:30 AM Santa Monica air before wiping sweat off my forehead with the hem of my shirt. Cutting off the boardwalk to the beach, I take in a lungful of salty morning air.
“Damn,” Lauren huffs, running a hand over her hair, somehow still in a seamless stretched ponytail after almost three-miles of non-stop jogging. “You’re in better shape than I gave you credit for.”
“I have a lot of energy to burn through. I run almost daily.”
“And here I was thinking you’re a flashy gym rat,” she sasses, turning to face the ocean and pressing her heel to her ass.
“Says the girl in the matching training set.” I nod, indicating her black and hot pink yoga pants and sports top, corresponding cellphone armband and running shoes included.
Lauren just shrugs and moves to pull her other leg, and I busy myself with loosening my own muscles to distract from the smooth skin of her taut stomach, another inch revealing itself when she stretches up high.
“Did you ever yoga, or should I go easy on you?” Lauren asks, before widening her stance and bending forward, perfect firm ass in the air.