Page 15 of Not Part of the Plan
“As a gesture of my goodwill toward our fledgling friendship, I’m going to ignore the fact that you just admitted to being physically attracted to me.” He gave her a wolfish look. “I want points for that, by the way.”
“Fine. Five points,pal. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to work out.” She ducked under his arm and made a show of shoving her ear buds in place as she strode over to the rowers. Niko could say the “f” word as often as he wanted, but that didn’t make her body stop reacting so strongly to his presence. She needed some space.
She climbed on the rower, set the damper, and tightened the straps around her feet. And frowned.
Even with ’90s pop blaring in her ears, Emma knew exactly where Niko was in the gym. She’d never met anyone so magnetic, not even Troy, the player who’d played with her heart, and the fact that she was so aware of Nikolai annoyed her. She had made a deal with herself years ago that she’d never again be that girl, falling for a handsome face and pleasure-promising lips that said all the right words.
She reached for the grip and noted the goose bumps that dotted her arms. “Seriously?” She yanked an ear bud out of her ear.
Niko was straddling the rower next to her. “What? We’re friends, and now we’re in the same boat.”
“Cute,” she said dryly, fiddling with the digital screen readout.
“Your sarcasm is one of the many reasons I treasure our friendship,” Niko said conversationally.
She laughed. She couldn’t help it.
“Friends work out together, you know,” Niko explained.
“Whatever,” Emma sighed and shoved her ear bud back in. The first few pulls served to wake up her arms and legs. Over her music, she could hear the steady whoosh of air being forced through the rower’s fan.
She hit her stride with deep, steady strokes and felt her muscles warm. She tried to focus on the digital readout, not the virile sex god pumping his steel hard legs on the rower next to her.
His pace was faster than hers, which Emma took as a direct challenge.
Together, they stroked side by side, their skin sweat-drenched and flushed with exertion. Next to her ivory paleness, his skin was a dusky gold courtesy of ancestry and recent tropical sun, she guessed.
She couldn’t hear his breathing over her music—now a Joan Jett anthem. But she could watch him out of the corner of her eye. He wasn’t slowing his pace, so she refused to also.
Her breath was coming in ragged but measured gasps as the meters ticked up. Pulling, pushing, reaching. She dug deep until finally, finally she coasted over the two thousand-meter mark.Damn. She’d bested her PR by a full eleven seconds.Maybe Nikolai Vulkov was worth knowing platonically after all?
She glanced over at Niko who looked as if he’d just finished a leisurely walk around the town square.Bastard.He swiped a eucalyptus scented gym towel over his face. “What’s next?” he asked.
“Look, I know we’re BFFs now, but I really do prefer to work out alone,” Emma said.
He paid no attention to her complaint and followed her to the weight rack where she chose a set of dumbbells. It was high-intensity interval night, and she really wasn’t thrilled about having an audience.
Niko grabbed a pair of dumbbells double the weight of hers. “So what are we doing, buddy?”
She crossed her eyes at him in the mirror. “Squat press burpees, pal.”
Emma had to hand it to him. Niko hung with her through burpees, squats, and press jacks. He used the plank intervals to fire questions at her.
“Did you get Reva to take the food last night?” he asked.
Emma tried to keep her voice steady even though her body was trembling in the plank. “She was reluctant until I told her it was a to-go order that no one showed up for. I asked Beckett about her since he knows everyone. He said in his diplomatic, mayoral voice that the mother is ‘troubled’—alcohol and generally poor life choices—and there’s a younger brother,” she told him, her abs vibrating as the seconds ticked down on her phone’s screen.
“I’m glad Joey gave her a job at the stables,” Niko admitted. He didn’t even sound out of breath, and that annoyed her.
“If she hadn’t, I was going to offer up a hostess job that we didn’t have,” Emma admitted.
“Softy.”
“Don’t let it get back to my staff. They’re all appropriately terrified of me.”
“As well they should be,” he laughed. “Did Sunny and Rupert make up?”
“Caught them making out in the walk-in cooler when they were supposed to be doing side work. So, yes for now.”
