Page 10 of My Trainer Neighbor
That little shiver when I'd touched her back had been like a sucker punch to the gut.Nicole Delaney, ice queen extraordinaire, had been affected by my touch.More than affected.Aroused.
And now I was supposed to train her again without thinking about what other sounds I could make her make.
This was going to be a disaster.
I checked the clock on my phone for the fifth time in ten minutes.She'd agreed to another session, scheduled for this gray December Monday evening, but that had been four days ago.Plenty of time for her to come to her senses and decide that working out with her neighbor was a complication she didn't need.
Part of me hoped she'd bail.The smart part that remembered how badly things had ended with Sarah, my ex-fiancée who'd decided that loving a soldier meant too much uncertainty and not enough stability.Nicole was the same type: driven, ambitious, with her whole life mapped out in detail.The type who didn't have room for a guy who lived out of duffle bags and didn't know where he'd be in four months.
But a bigger part of me, the part that had been counting down the hours until I saw her again, hoped she'd show up.Hoped I'd get another chance to put my hands on her and watch her lose that iron control she wore like armor.
She knocked right on time.
I opened the door to find Nicole in different workout clothes this time.Black leggings that looked painted on and a fitted tank top that revealed more skin than I'd ever seen her show.Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and she wasn't wearing makeup.She looked younger.Softer.And nervous as hell.
"You came," I said, stepping back to let her in.
"You sound surprised."
"A little."I closed the door behind her, trying not to stare at how her top hugged her breasts."Thought you might change your mind."
"I considered it."She set her water bottle on the counter and turned to face me."But my doctor was very specific about the exercise requirement."
Right.The doctor.This was about her health, not about how she'd looked at my mouth during our last session.
"How are you feeling?Any soreness from Friday?"
"Some."She rolled her shoulders, and I watched the movement with more interest than was strictly professional."My legs were a little stiff the next day."
Good.That meant we'd actually worked her muscles instead of just going through the motions.It also meant she was going to feel everything we did today twice as much.
"We'll start with some stretching," I said, moving toward the yoga mat I'd laid out in the living room."Work out some of that tightness."
She followed me, and I tried not to notice how she moved.More relaxed than last time, but still carrying herself like she expected an attack from any direction.
"Lie down on your back," I instructed, kneeling beside the mat."We're going to stretch your hip flexors."
She hesitated for a moment, then settled onto the mat.Lying there in those tight leggings with her hair spread out around her head, she looked like every fantasy I'd had since Friday night.
This was going to be a problem.
"Bring your right knee up to your chest," I said, keeping my voice steady."Hold it there."
She pulled her knee up, and I moved closer."I'm going to help you get a deeper stretch.Is that okay?"
She nodded, but I could see the tension in her shoulders.
I placed one hand on her thigh, just above her knee, and the other on her ankle.Her skin was soft and hot through the thin fabric, and I had to concentrate to keep my touch clinical.
"Breathe," I reminded her, applying gentle pressure to bring her knee closer to her chest."Let your hip relax."
She let out a shaky exhale, and I felt some of the tension leave her leg.
"Better?"
"Yeah."Her voice was barely above a whisper.
I held the stretch for thirty seconds, hyperaware of every point of contact between us.Her leg was lean but soft, and I could feel the slight tremor in her muscles as she tried to relax.
