Even in his awkwardness, Mac was eye candy delight for every woman in the room—including her. The sleeveless red workout shirt showed off his impressive tattoo and chiseled arms, hugged his broad chest and tight torso. Though he’d believed this was going to be a girly workout, sweat coated his skin—and increased his sex appeal. She would need a cold shower after all of this.
Thankfully, the class was almost over. All that was left was the hip-hop routine and the cooldown. Since the instructor was notorious for picking songs she was in the mood for, instead of following a pre-made track list, there was no telling which track she would use. Gayle was hoping for a really fun one. As the current song wound down, the instructor paused her iPod to allow everyone a second to grab a sip of water.
Mac ambled closer to Gayle. “Okay, I’ll admit it. This isn’t easy. My damn heart feels like it’s going to jackhammer out of my chest.” He patted his stomach. “And my abs are on fire. I will never speak ill of Zumba again. It’s a thorough workout.”
“For your first time, you’re doing pretty well.”
“Seriously?” Skepticism rang clear in his voice.
“No.” She shook her head, laughing at his mock-hurt expression. “You look like a deranged animal.”
A dimple dented his right cheek and her heart fluttered. How had she missed that yesterday? The dimple gave him a youthful appearance that showed a glimpse of the man he kept carefully hidden behind his tough exterior.
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah.” If possible his grin grew, making her knees weak. Good Lord, this man didn’t need to be a professional Latin dancer to make her want to melt to the floor. He just had to look at her with all his barriers down. The Mac she saw right this second was spellbinding.
Their eyes connected, and the air between them thickened. Mac’s throat worked on a swallow, but he didn’t look away. A first. Gayle made sure she wasn’t the one to break the connection.
The instructor did by starting the music. As the opening beat and an, “Oh! Oh! Oh!” of the best hip-hop Zumba routine ever filled the fitness room, Gayle couldn’t stop a little squeal of delight.
“What?” Mac asked, a suspicious frown marring his face.
“You’re in for a treat, handsome. Have you heard of The Wobble?”
His eyes widened and his head jerked back. Well, yes, he had. She grabbed his hand, faced the front of the room, and started wobbling her hips. The abject horror on Mac’s face had her sputtering out a laugh as she let go of his hand to clap to the beat and move from side to side, kicking out a leg with each shift. “It’s not hard. Just shake your hips. No different than what we’ve been doing.”
His gaze lowered to her gyrating booty, then jerked back up. “I completely disagree.”
Oh, he liked what he saw and didn’t want her to know it. Okay. She’d let him get an eyeful without worry. “Just watch me.”
She jumped in front of him just as the, “wobble, baby, wobble, baby, wobble, baby,” chorus started. She rotated her hips four times in a large circle, hopped back just inches from Mac’s body, and repeated the hip-wobble for another four count. He didn’t move a muscle. She shifted her body to the right, moving her shoulders just as vigorously as she moved her bottom, keeping the momentum as she shifted toward the left. She was pretty sure at this second Mac wouldn’t be able to decide between watching her breasts or her ass. She cha-cha’ed on her right foot and did a quick three step, cha-cha’ed on her left, then turned to face the left wall and did a pelvis thrust while pumping her fist at chest level for a very quick eight count. She chanced a glance at Mac.
Eyes locked on her ass. So, handsome liked the booty.
Might as well have fun with it.
She repeated the series of steps facing the left wall. Anticipation shivered through her. What would he do when the class turned in unison to face the back of the room? How would he react when he realized she was standing directly in front of him? She was about to find out.
She finished the second cha-cha, pivoted to the back of the room, inches from Mac—who didn’t seem to care he still hadn’t moved—and immediately went into the eight count pelvis thrust. The hop forward brought her so close to his thigh she might as well have been grinding on it through the four count gyration. As she jumped back for the next step, the abnormal redness of his face made her heart catch. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her body. So she squatted down just a little bit farther, gyrated her hips a little more provocatively. She pivoted to the left side of the room, and then he stunned the crap out of her.