Page 18 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“Exercise is a five-mile run. Forty-five minutes in the weight room. This is stretching.”
Julie took a deep breath, pushing down the anger that was bubbling up inside her. “I’m sorry you feel that way. You can leave now, Captain Phillips.”
He rubbed a hand along his five o’clock shadow. Despite her increasing fury, she wanted to rub a hand across his new growth, too.
“I wish I could, but, uh…” He looked around. “I have orders to be here. I’m guessing everyone else in this room does, too. So I’m staying.”
Damn.“Then you’re participating or you won’t be counted as present. Spread your legs,” she ordered, raising her voice.
He gave her a long, hard look. She guessed few people ever ordered Lawson Phillips around. With a sigh, he mimicked her earlier pose. Julie placed her hands on his front hips, turning them outward as he bent his knee. She would’ve done that for any student, but he wasn’t just any student. The touch zinged through her. If she didn’t want to punch him right now, she might be tempted to continue running her hands over his taut, muscled body.
“There,” she said, pulling away. She walked back to the front of the class and led the group through the rest of the moves, ignoring Lawson’s mumbled jokes. It wasn’t funny to her. She was here, donating her time to help people. And she needed this trial program to be a success. If she had people like Lawson in the class making it look like a joke, her proposal wouldn’t go any further than this one-month trial.
As the hour passed, he halfheartedly copied her poses, but the others seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a relaxed look on their faces, which made Julie feel like she’d done something worthwhile.
“Namaste.” She placed her hands in a prayer position in front of her chest and bowed to the class. “All right, everyone. I hope to see you all on Wednesday night.”
People began to roll up their mats and collect their shoes. Julie tried not to, but she couldn’t help listening to Lawson talking to two of the guys he knew.
“I’m here because I was told to be here. Just following orders.” He laughed loudly.
The two men laughed along with him.
“Same here, Captain,” one said. “I’d rather be doing PT in the desert.”
Julie clenched her teeth tightly. She was never this tense after doing yoga.
“Thank you so much for this,” a woman’s voice said, tearing Julie from Lawson’s conversation in the back. It was Rose.
“I feel good.” Rose’s eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled. There was a healthy glow to her face.
“You’re welcome.” Just to help one person. That was the original goal in her proposal. She could help more, though, if Lawson would stop talking them out of it. Julie glanced toward him again.
“I read that yoga can help with insomnia,” Rose continued. “I’ve tried everything. Even sleeping pills. I can’t work with the pills, though.”
“This isn’t a magic fix, but your body will thank you if you keep doing it.” Julie forced herself to take a breath and focus on Rose.
“Well, I plan on being back on Wednesday,” Rose said with a wide smile.
“Good. I’ll see you then.” She watched Rose leave, following a few others out. She hoped they’d all be back, despite Lawson’s attitude. All except him. He could stay away.Far, far away.
—
Lawson rolled up the mat he’d borrowed from the corner and put it away, planning to go talk to Julie just as soon as the woman she was talking to left. When he turned around, though, Julie was gone. The look she’d given him at the end of the class hadn’t gone unnoticed. She was pissed.
Guilt gnawed at his gut. He was a Marine, though.Oo-rah!He didn’t wear tight clothes and do yoga on rectangular rubber mats. He didn’t do counseling either, but in order to please the higher-ups, and keep his job, he needed to.
He left the room and started walking. She couldn’t have gone too far. The least he could do was apologize, and hope she didn’t give him the boot and ban him from coming to the next class. Because he had no doubt Dr. Pierce would make good on her offer to give him less appealing orders. When he got to the end of the hallway, he looked in both directions. No sign of her. He made his way to the parking lot and looked for her old Honda Civic. It was gone. She must have gone home immediately after dismissing the class, which meant she’d had enough for one day. He’d hurt her feelings, and now she was going to go to bed thinking he was a big, fat jerk.
The idea of her going to bed with him on her mind was a good one. But not if she was envisioning beating him with her rolled-up yoga mat. He shook his head, heading for his truck. A soreness was already setting in along his inner calf muscle. He hadn’t even given the moves his full effort and he was sore. The music was peaceful, too. If he had given the exercise half a shot, he might be relaxed right about now. If nothing else, watching Julie in those tight, stretchy pants, contorting her body into positions that had his imagination running wild, was a good distraction.
“Lawson? Hey.” A woman’s voice sliced through the darkness and the building arousal in his pants. Shoot. Him. Now. He was in no mood for Melanie Harris.
The brunette giggled. “I saw your truck in the parking lot, so I pulled in. I wanted to thank you for the other night. You were a hero at the bar. Who knows what that creep would’ve done to me.” Mel stepped closer and before he knew what was happening, her hand was on his chest. He would’ve taken a step backward, but his truck was behind him.
“Just helping out a friend,” he said, his gaze still searching for Julie. He needed to find her.
“Friend. Right.” Mel winked.
