Three Little Words (Fool's Gold #12)

“And beyond.”


“Impressive.” She grinned. “Okay, let’s start with jump-squats.”

She demonstrated by squatting down, then jumping high in the air before landing and then repeating the procedure.

“Ready?” she asked.

He nodded and they did them together. By the tenth, he was feeling it in his thighs. By fifteen, he was breathing hard. By number twenty, he had a vision of himself limping like Leonard.

They moved on to other exercises, each more challenging than the one before. Consuelo gave instructions as she worked along with him, barely breaking a sweat. He was thinking that he needed to up his game when it came to his four-days-a-week run. And maybe add a little weight lifting to his regimen.

“How about the ropes?” she asked, pointing to the ropes hanging from a crossbar.

“Sure.” Something he could do better, he thought. Men had more upper body strength than women. At least, he hoped they did.

They jogged across the gym. She reached for a rope as he did, then started to shimmy up. She reached the crossbar before he’d climbed more than four feet. He dropped back to the mats and started to laugh.

She joined him. “What?” she asked.

“You’re incredible.”

“I do this for a living.”

“Still, you’re in great shape. I’m completely intimidated.”

She got them each a bottle of water from a refrigerator in the corner. “You’re not. If you were you wouldn’t have wanted to work out with me. You knew I’d be good.”

“True, but I underestimated your ability.” He took a long drink of water and studied her. “Men do that a lot, don’t they?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes.”

“All the time. Because of your face and your body, they assume you’re a piece of ass and don’t bother to get to know you. They don’t take the time to understand you and they don’t offer you respect.”

The reality of what he’d just said struck him. He stared at her, horrified. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s the truth.”

“It was rude.”

She drank more, her dark gaze never leaving his face. Her expression was unreadable. “You didn’t call me a piece of ass. You said others do.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Like I said, it’s the truth. Very few men take the time to find out who I am.”

He wanted to say he was willing, but was afraid he would sound like even more of a jerk.

“If nothing else, you now have proof that I haven’t dated much since my divorce,” he offered.

“You think I’m mad,” she said.

“Aren’t you?”

She lowered the bottle and smiled. “No.”

He waited, but that was all.

They finished their water and completed a few more exercises. He had a feeling he was going to be crippled in the morning. Something his students would find amusing.

“Are you limping?” she asked when he staggered to his feet after a rousing round of push-ups. She’d done more than him.

“No.” He straightened, ignoring the fiery pain searing his thighs and biceps. “How about a flashy finish?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Are you challenging me?”

“Sure.”

He knew he was going to regret the cocky attitude, but figured the low point of the workout had been the “piece of ass” comment.

She walked over to him and took his left arm in both her hands. Before he knew what was happening, she’d jerked him forward and then he was facing the ceiling and the floor came up very, very quickly.

He’d fallen out of a tree back when he’d been a kid. This was a lot like that, only without the broken arm. All the air rushed out of his body, and for a split second, he couldn’t draw it in.

Consuelo was on her knees at his side. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly, touching his face, then his arms. “Are you okay? That was so stupid of me. I was showing off. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Worry darkened her brown eyes. Her ponytail lightly brushed his cheek as she fussed over him. He opened his mouth and pretended to be unable to speak.

“What?” she demanded. “Are you hurt?”

He motioned her closer. “I can’t breathe,” he fake-gasped. “I think I need mouth-to-mouth.”

She sat back on her heels and shook her head. “You are such a guy.”

He sat up. “Is that a problem?”

“Not for me.”

He figured she would scramble to her feet, then pull him to his. Or laugh at him. Or walk away. Instead she leaned in and kissed him.

The touch of her mouth against his was light and brief, but the heat burned all the way down to his cock. He wanted to pull her close and let things get interesting. But they were at her place of work and she wouldn’t appreciate that.

She drew back. “I really am sorry about throwing you like that.”

“I’m not.” He grinned. “The kiss was worth it.”

“You’re easy.”

“As long as you consider that a good thing, I can live with that.” He gently touched her cheek. “Dinner? Just us?”