Page 18 of I see you Beauty

I follow her outside with a water bottle and a small towel I found in my bag.

I pause at the railing and look down. You can see the entire lower floor from here. My gaze wanders over the people, mainly men, training here, and then I spot him. Ezra is standing in a miniature boxing ring and explaining something to two boys. He is light-footedly showing them evasive techniques and seems to enjoy it. Now I know how he got his muscular body; he trains here daily. It’s no wonder he is in top shape.

“That’s what I call eye candy.” Kelly pines from the side and snaps me out of my stupor.

I clear my throat and smile back at her. After all, I she’s the same old Kelly.

When we arrive downstairs, Ezra is getting out of the ring, giving the two boys instructions from the outside. They immediately get back to work, which seems to please Ezra. After another moment, he nods and then turns to us.

“There you are,” he greets us and glances over our workout clothes.

My cheeks are burning, and I want to hide behind something, but now is not the time to be shy. After all, I have no reason to. I’m happily married and have no interest in other men; therefore, I don’t have to worry about how others perceive me. Normally…

“Show us what we can learn from you,” Kelly states, highly motivated.

“Since you’ve already got a good view from upstairs…” Ezra begins, winking at me while putting on his typical smile again.

Oh, God! He must have seen me staring at him. This guy has his eyes and ears everywhere.

“…we can go straight to the workout,” he informs us and nods for us to follow him.

Kelly gives me a meaningful look because she hasn’t missed the wink, which was clearly aimed at me. I confidently ignore her and follow Ezra. What else am I supposed to do or say? I don’t even really want to be here.

Ezra leads us to the back of the club, to a corner covered with many mats. There are punching bags hanging on heavy chains from the high ceiling, and I can also see some training dummies that look straight out of the movies. I look around with interest because this world is entirely new to me. Before, I’ve never been interested in boxing, but right now, surrounded by all this stuff, it’s fascinating to see.

I let my gaze wander around the club while Kelly chews poor Ezra’s ear off and wants to know everything down to the smallest detail. Preferably about him, of course, but Kelly has been doing this for a while and knows how to approach men, especially a guy like Ezra. So I distance myself and step up to a ring near us to watch the two men fighting each other.

Bare-chested, barefoot, and dressed only in short gym shorts, the two men stand facing each other, fighting with their hands and feet. I’m fascinated by the force with which they hit each other and yet remain entirely focused. Their muscles dance and twitch under their skin, glistening with sweat, and I’m mesmerized by the sight.

“Looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” I hear an unexpectedly close—far too close—whisper from behind me.

Startled, I cringe, yet his deep voice and familiar smell send a pleasant shiver down my spine. I don’t turn to Ezra but stare at the two men before nodding gently.

I feel him move a little closer to me so that he is now touching my back. My entire body tingles, just like it did in my garden. It spreads like wildfire, and images flood my mind.

“Why did you leave the other night?” I whisper, closing my eyes as I feel his hot breath on the back of my neck.

“Wearing your hair in a ponytail suits you. I like it.”

I want to say something because Ezra avoids my question. But when he wraps my ponytail around his fist and gives it a little tug, stretching my neck, I feel his lips on my skin. I gasp softly and immediately bite down on my lower lip.

The tingling in my body has given way to a violent throbbing and is driving me more insane by the second. I’m on fire; this young, far too-young guy is my accelerant. I thought this fire was long extinguished in me. God!

Before I can get back to reality and regain control of my thoughts, Ezra has already let go of me, and I’m left breathless. The roaring in my ears is so loud that I can’t hear anything around me, and I can no longer ignore the throbbing between my thighs or the dampness, but I have to. I have to snap out of it and pretend that nothing is wrong, that I’m fine, and that I’m not losing my mind over a younger guy.

“Cora, are you coming?” Kelly’s muffled voice reaches my ears.

I take another deep breath, turn back to Kelly and Ezra, and walk with shaky legs toward the group of two—or, to my surprise, now three. Another guy is standing next to Kelly. I don’t know him, but he must work here. That explains how Ezra could slip away to me briefly—Kelly would never have let him out of her sight otherwise.

“You ready?” Ezra asks me with a mischievous grin that could make me weak again.

God, what am I doing here?

Chapter Thirteen

“Who’s that?” I ask Kelly, whispering in her ear as I reach her.

“A trainer. He works here and wants to do the trial training with us. You can train with Ezra and I can train with Tobi. Or do you want to swap? They’re both hot, don’t you think?” Kelly babbles on.

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