Page 36 of Stuck on the Slopes

And oh, am I a sucker for a good set of arms.

Of course, Juniper was working out now, with Sasquatch lying patiently in the corner. Since I’d never seen him at night, I should have expected him to be here right now with his thick black hair tied back in a messy bun and his large headphones holding his bangs back.

With a light sheen of sweat coating those toned arms.

God, help me.

He hadn’t seen me come in yet. As he wrapped up his set of lateral pull-downs, he wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt, showing off his abdomen. His stomach was soft, with the hint of a developing six-pack and a thin trail of hair beneath that brought my eye right to the waistband of his sweatpants.

I bit my tongue and pushed forward. New mission: don’t stare at Juniper.Just train legs and be done with it.I kept telling myself that as I moved through my workouts, eventually making my way to the Smith machine for squats.

As I re-racked my weights, I could have sworn I saw Juniper checking out my backside in the mirror. But it wouldn’t make sense for him to be looking at me like that; I wasn’t in his direct line of vision, but maybe he’d zoned out while exercising. I’d done that plenty of times.

Even though I would love for Juniper to look at me the way I looked at him, I doubted he ever would. I was his employee, after all, and he could have any woman or man he wanted. Him and his perfect bead of sweat dripping down his perfect face.

As I moved across the gym, I saw him drop his headphones around his neck between sets. I held an earphone out in offering to him.

“Did your headphones die?” I asked.

“Yeah, I meant to charge them last night but got sidetracked. What are you listening to?”

“Early and mid-2000s emo hits.”

“Okay, that wasnotwhat I expected you to say, but I’ll take it. Thanks.”

We continued to coexist as we worked out. Eventually, we both reached the two stair machines at the same time. To my surprise, it was Juniper who broke the ice.

“You do this on leg day? The hell are you, some kind of masochist?”

I nearly snorted. “Nah. I figure I’ll be sore tomorrow either way, so it’s easier to do now than when I feel like baby Bambi on ice.”

“Fair.”

He kept the machine at the first speed level, likely so he could reap the benefits without triggering a flare-up. I was up to the fourth setting, causing me to pant a bit as I climbed and talked. “I’m also really hoping this helps make hiking easier. Even those beginner ones we do together get to me sometimes.”

“That’s the altitude for ya. You’ll adjust, I’m sure.”

“It’s been months. You’d think I would have by now, but I guess that’s what happens when you come from the fucking swamps.”

He laughed. “Do you miss it at all? Your life there?”

“I’m trying to convince my family to move this way, but otherwise, no, not particularly. When the weather isn’t trying to kill you, the wildlife is. Have you always lived in Colorado? I don’t think I ever asked.”

“Born and raised. I grew up outside of Denver.” He paused for a sip of his water. “How long do you usually go for on this thing?”

“About half an hour. You?”

“Same. Did you know you dance along to the music between sets?”

“Oh, God, you saw that?”

As he laughed, he said, “Yeah, I did. You mouthed along to the lyrics, too.”

I hoped he could chalk my blush up to cardio. “At least I wasn’t singing.”

“So, would I be correct to say you’re the type who sings in the shower?”

“Close.” I shook the mental image of Juniper in the shower from my mind, finding it thought far too tempting. “Not a shower singer because my hair takes way too much work for me to do anything but focus, but I am a fantastic karaoke partner.”

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