Page 18 of Known By You
My eyes widened at the thought, and I dropped my gaze to my feet in hopes he hadn’t seen the thought broadcast across my face.
Yes, Kenny was attractive. He was warm and fun and positive, but he’d also given me a hint of something more. A depth to him I wouldn’t have guessed at thanks to his Barbie persona and the cheery demeanor.
He was also not someone I was about to get involved with. My life was falling apart rapidly enough as it was—I didn’t need this Golden Retriever puppy stumbling around in it and letting me break his heart. Pile on top of that the fact that I didn’t actually know how long I’d be here and it simply didn’t make sense.
We arrived at doors side by side in a hallway on the eighth floor.
“Night. See you at zero-six?” he asked, his face looking tired and still yet tinged with that baseline kindness and positivity.
It honestly baffled me. His neutral face was basically a smile.
“See you then.”
We moved inside each of our rooms as though choreographed to do it in sync, and I made for the bed with a focus I hadn’t had for anything in… a long time. Maybe too long, considering I’d always been someone who liked to and could effectively zero my interest and productivity on work and stay there until I was forced to come up for air.
An hour after readying for bed and subsequently staring at the ceiling, I surrendered to my fate. I couldn’t sleep, and after sitting all day, despite feeling tired and desperate for the bliss of unconsciousness, I needed to move.
I’d noticed the signs in the elevator for the gym on the top floor of the hotel, so I took the stairs until I couldn’t anymore, and after swiping into a calming reception area void of any personnel, I entered the gym itself.
And promptly froze.
There was one other person in there, and I could sense him before I even saw him. He wore bright blue running shorts, bright blue sneakers, and a determined look reflecting in the window the likes of which I’d yet to witness on the man. The white T-shirt clinging to his back disappeared when he reached behind and stripped it off in one swift movement revealing…
Kenny.
But not the one I was familiar with.
Maybe this was why he’d been nicknamed Barbie—his abs looked sculpted by a mold. All of him did, really. He was slick with sweat and running at a clip I doubted I could maintain on my best day, and I was a practiced runner myself.
He was Workout Barbie. Runner Barbie.
Hot as all get out Barbie.
Also… Gorgeous tattoos I didnotanticipate Barbie. Like… the man had tattoos streaking from his shoulders and down his back. In the reflection showcasing his Lego-brick abs, I also saw hints of a design slipping down over his pecs.
This reality was far more than I could process right now.
I hesitated just inside the door, wondering if maybe I should just go walk the stairs a few times and call it good. There was a raw energy about him that tugged at me while also pushing me away. We’d spent the entire day together and he no doubt wanted space. Ineededit.
I should’ve left.
But I stepped farther inside, choosing a treadmill spaced two away from the one he used. Everything about my time since landing at Salt Lake City airport had felt otherworldly, and this gorgeous human being only heightened the sensation.
So me walking in and joining in for a jog? It wasn’t something Elizabeth Malcom would typically do, but neither was taking weeks or months off work. Neither was being investigated for potential corruption thanks to my trainee, despite a thorough report accounting for my integrity, and yet…
Pain lashed through me at that one, but I sniffed and started the machine at a walking pace.
Kenny punched a button and began to slow, his pounding footsteps spacing out.
“Liz, hey. I’m sorry I didn’t see you,” he said, pulling headphones from his ears.
Good grief, he wore a smile so casually. They just jumped right to his handsome face and made him look friendly and deadly at the same time.
I focused on the speed controls in front of me, nudging the incline higher and glueing my eyes there so I wouldn’t cave to the temptation of counting his abs or gobbling up the dark lines of his tattoos.
“No worries. You were in the zone.” I gave him a thumbs up.
Why? When was the last time I’d given anyone a thumbs up, and yet I’d done it now, with this man, in this state? There were some mysteries that would never be solved and this was one.
