Lucie felt herself nod even though her body was giving the order to pounce. “You’re right, we have…uh, things, like…”
The corner of his mouth hitched up. “Exercises, training, boring stuff like that.”
“Right, yes, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Why don’t you go do whatever you do in the mornings and you can meet me in the workout room when you’re done.”
She wasn’t entirely sure she was retaining everything he said. She still felt like she was coming down from an incredible high, but she figured it was probably safe to agree with whatever he suggested. “Excellent idea. I’ll just go do…that.”
He chuckled low in his chest—his wonderfully bare, ridged with muscles chest—and turned her toward her bedroom. Then with a light slap on her ass, he ordered her to get a move on.
Somehow they managed to keep from groping each other while they finished his PT exercises and their regular workouts. Then they spent the rest of the day figuring out how to alter Reid’s normal strenuous training exercises to accommodate his healing injury so he could stay in fighting shape.
After taking her shower, she sat on the couch waiting for him to finish his so they could relax together and watch a movie after a long day. She’d intended on reading, but the only thing in her mind at the moment was a splendidly naked Reid Andrews with water sluicing over his body. As her body heat shot through the roof, she turned her book sideways and turned it into a fan. At least I’m using it for something.
When she heard the bathroom door open she quickly put the book back in front of her face and pretended to look for all the world that she hadn’t just been on the path to imagining doing wicked things to him under the hot spray of water. Nope, nothing lewd going on in her brain. She was simply doing some light reading. Totally. Innocent.
“Whoa. That book must have some pretty hot scenes in it.”
Her eyes flew up to his as he took his seat next to her on the couch. “What makes you say that?”
“Because your cheeks are flushed and you have a crease in your lower lip from biting it.” He cupped her chin in his hand and used the pad of his thumb to drag it across her swollen lip. “Which I now know is something you do when you’re incredibly turned on. Are you turned on, Lucie?”
So much for totally innocent.
…
“I’ve been wanting to see Warrior.”
Reid dropped his hand and smiled at her abrupt change in topic. He couldn’t help it. One night of curl-your-toes sex and an orgasm in her living room later and she was still shy with him.
She put her book on the end table and fidgeted with a couch pillow. “It’s about two brothers who enter the same MMA competition and have to fight each other.”
“I know. I’ve seen it.”
“Oh,” she said, frowning.
“But I’d like to see it again. I watched it with several of the guys from the gym and they were pretty obnoxious, so I missed a lot of it.” That wasn’t actually true, but a small lie to smooth the crease in her brow was worth it. Her smile was a bonus.
“Great. Okay, you cue it up and I’ll make the popcorn.”
She practically bounced off the couch with excitement. One second she was crossing in front of him on her way to the kitchen, and the next he heard a thump and oof as she crumpled to the ground at his feet.
“Whoa there, Lubert.” He picked her up and sat her next to him with her legs over his lap. “You didn’t notice that coffee table, or what?”
She glared at him as she sucked in air through a clenched jaw and fisted her hands in front of her. “Oh, man, why does stubbing your toes hurt so bad? Owie, owie, owie.”
“Here, let me hold it for you.” He carefully placed the toes of her right foot between his palms and pressed to keep a light pressure on them. When he realized they’d been sitting like that for quite some time, he raised his head to find her studying his hands, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Hey,” he said softly, cupping her cheek. “Does it hurt that badly? Maybe you broke something.”
Lucie gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. “That’s what my mom always said when we banged ourselves up. ‘Hold it.’ I always thought it was a silly thing to say, but it always helped.”
“Are you kidding? It was a brilliant thing to say. You know how many times I’ve ‘held it’ after getting knocked around in grappling exercises? Hundreds, if not thousands. And it always helps.” With a half grin he added, “Either that or an ice bath. It’s a toss-up, really. Comes down to how much time I have.”
She snorted at the ridiculous statement and followed it with a nervous laugh and her hand clapped over her face. Reid pulled her hand down. “I like it when you snort.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said with a playful shove before swinging her feet to the floor. “I don’t mean to do it, you know.”
“I know, that’s why it’s so damn adorable.”