On My Knees (Bridge #1)(19)
Author: Meredith Wild

“Hey,” he said. “Raina, this is Maya.”

Her gaze shifted to me. “New member?”

“Actually, Maya’s an old friend. I was about to give her a tour.”

She gave me a tight smile and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Maya. Enjoy the class?”

“I did actually,” I admitted.

“I hope you’ll be back?”

I nodded wordlessly, not wanting to commit verbally.

“Cool. Well I’ll see you two later then. I have another class in a few.”

She took off, leaving Cameron and me alone again. Before I could come up with another excuse to get out of performing any kind of exercise in front of him, he took my hand and led me into the main area. The gesture seemed bold, but I appreciated the extra sense of security the connection gave me in light of my gym anxiety. I assessed the rows of fit, clearly habitual gym people, their presence somehow reinforcing how I was not supposed to be here.

We stopped in front of the free weights. “You okay with doing arms? After the planks and what not?”

He did a poor job of hiding his smirk, which stirred me enough to take the challenge.

“Bring it.”

He hit me with a mega-watt smile and picked out two dumbbells. They looked puny in his strong hands as he faced the mirror and started demonstrating the motions he wanted to me to make. He seemed to know what he was talking about, but I was too entranced with his body to really listen. I still couldn’t handle how changed he was. He’d always had a great body, tall and lean, but now with the massive amount of muscle tone that he’d gained, he was downright imposing. The front of his T-shirt lifted slightly every time his arms pulled up to touch the dumbbells together above his head. I caught a glimpse of his abs. I licked my lips, daring myself to look lower.

“Got it?”

My eyes shot up. “Yeah, sure.”

I took the dumbbells and tensed against the strain of lifting their weight as he’d so easily done.

“Keep your shoulders straight.”

His voice was low and even. He placed his hands on my shoulders, coaxing them back slightly with his fingertips. The simple contact shocked through me. In our reflection, I could see his eyes trained on my form. His hand slid down my back as he circled to the side.

“Hold it.”

I froze, my arms holding the weights above me.

“Step your legs apart a little.”

I sucked in a sharp breath at the quiet command.

“Good. If your posture is right, you’re going to feel it here too.” His hand brushed over my lower abdomen. The dull ache created from my earlier planks and holding these damn weights in the air transformed into a red hot energy pulsing through my core and between my legs from the contact that felt far too intimate.

Fuck, I didn’t sign on for this. I took a shaky breath and lowered the weights to my side and up again, slowly repeating the motion. I was pretty sure a few members would pay extra for this level of attention. Or maybe they didn’t need to. Maybe Cameron was hands-on like this with everyone. But I couldn’t drag my filthy mind out of the gutter long enough to believe he wasn’t touching me for the sheer, animal fun of it.

CAMERON. I’d never had to work so goddamn hard to focus on training someone. No shortage of attractive women had come through the gym, all too eager for the chance to train with Darren or me. But Maya was in a class of her own. Her body had changed since we’d known each other. Her clothes couldn’t hide the fullness of her breasts or how her hips curved out from her waist in a way I didn’t remember. At least blatant staring was justified under the circumstances.

She finished her set, breaking my steady survey of the intricacies of her body. We moved away from the free weights, and I set her up on the cables.

“I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,” she said.

“You’re doing really well.”

She blushed, reinforcing how uncomfortable I suspected she was. Half of my job was making people feel more comfortable in the gym. Though I had a few clients who basically paid me to watch them work out in one-hour increments. Business was business, so I didn’t argue. When they realized they weren’t getting anything more out of it, they typically moved on. Sometimes to Darren.

Maya had always been headstrong though. I knew she’d take the challenge, even if it meant spending time with me that she might not have wanted. After I’d nearly kissed her and she left me in front of her office, I’d had mixed feelings about the whole thing. We hadn’t exchanged contact information, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to keep stalking her at her office.

“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon,” I said, hoping to get her to open up.