What the fuck had I been thinking?

Offering to take Augie to Dallas was the stupidest thing that had ever come out of my mouth. I was officially trying too hard to butt into business that was not my own while Augie was doing his best to make it clear my efforts were unwelcome.

So I’d nodded and left the shop with my tail between my legs. Unwilling to head back to the ranch with too much day left to think about my client, I took a detour to Twist to check in with Neckie. She’d called me earlier to ask if I could help cover some of her classes now that her pregnancy was taking its toll on her energy. I’d told her that wasn’t a problem, so I had a good excuse to stop by and find out if there was any way I could help her that afternoon and evening.

“Hey, Saint,” she said when I walked through the front doors of the studio. “I thought you weren’t coming till tomorrow morning’s stretching class?”

“I was free, so I thought I’d stop and see if you needed any help this evening.”

She studied me for a minute before surprising me. “How’s your sister?”

Her eyes were hard to read, but I noticed fine lines near her mouth.

“Which one?” I knew which one, but I wanted to be sure.

“MJ. I haven’t seen her since Hudson and Charlie’s pub opened. And I didn’t even get a chance to talk to her before she bugged out of there.”

I remembered MJ getting an emergency call from a client and having to head all the way back to Dallas late that night.

“She’s okay. Working too hard, as usual.”

“Oh.” Neckie looked down at her belly where her hands roamed affectionately over her pale pink sweater. “Is she… is she seeing anyone?”

My brain whirred in vain, trying to determine how to play this.

“Um… no? I mean… she’s…” I ran out of stupid words and just stared at her.

“Will you… ah, tell her I miss seeing her? I’d like to…” Her voice faded. “You know what? Never mind.” She took a deep breath and plastered on a fake smile, rubbing the giant belly in front of her. “I’d love for you to help in the weight room if you don’t mind. Several people have had dangerously bad form lately, and it’s getting harder for me to correct them myself.”

“Yeah, no worries,” I said quickly, taking the out she’d offered me. I wasn’t great at awkward conversations.

When I got back to the ranch much later that night, I told Doc and Grandpa that I suspected Neckie and MJ were star-crossed lovers. Doc’s eyes got hearts in them while Grandpa’s narrowed in concern.

“Don’t mess with your sister’s love life, Saint,” Grandpa warned. “Nothing good will come from that.”

“I disagree,” Doc said, reaching over from his spot on the sofa to squeeze Grandpa’s knee. “We should at least get them in a room together and see what happens.”

“Liam,” Grandpa groaned. “No one wants their grandfathers to set them up on a date.”

“Pfft, how would you know? And I’m not suggesting we set them up. I’m only suggesting we facilitate a conversation. Saint, get her on the phone.”

“Which one?” I asked.

“MJ. I’m going to tell her to come home.”

“Wait. How do we know Neckie’s available? She’s pregnant. Doesn’t that kind of imply she’s with someone?” I asked.

My grandfathers exchanged a look before turning to me.

“Saint,” Doc said. “It’s not her baby. She’s a gestational carrier for someone else.”

The information surprised me, but ultimately it seemed to be good news for MJ. “Okay. Why are you acting like it’s some big secret?”

Grandpa met my eye. “The secret is whose baby it is. We can’t tell you that. But Neckie is single as far as we know.”

That’s all I needed to hear. I picked up the phone and told my sister to get her ass to Hobie.

I spent the next day before Augie’s lesson helping Neckie as much as possible at Twist. Assisting with a yoga class was a harsh reminder of how little patience I had for meditation and calm stretching, so by the time Augie turned up that evening, I was wired for some true physical work. Anything to get out of neighborhood gossip and soccer moms doing downward dog. I wondered idly how to get more men to sign up for the yoga class.

When Augie entered the building, I was standing at the reception counter chatting with Leona, who was one of the personal trainers at Twist. She’d been telling me about her sister’s wedding that weekend and how she’d caught the bridal bouquet.

“Leona,” I said. “You’ll make a gorgeous bride.”

I heard a surprised sound and looked up to see the startled hazel eyes of my client. They were framed by inky smudges indicating poor sleep.

“Mr. Stiel,” I said with a nod. “Welcome back.”

Augie looked from me to Leona and back again. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said in his quiet voice. The sound of it set off little vibrations of interest in my gut, and I straightened up from where I’d been leaning on the counter.

“You’re not. Leona and I were just talking about tying the knot. Have you two met?” I asked.

Augie shifted a gym bag to his other hand before reaching out to shake Leona’s hand. I wondered if he found her attractive as another potential fake girlfriend. She was petite and elfin-cute with a tumble of dark curly hair. The two of them would make an attractive couple, but just picturing it irked the hell out of me the same way seeing him with Katrina Duvall had in all the photos online.

He’s gay, jackass. But you’re going to have to get it through your thick skull he doesn’t want someone with a thick skull.

They shook hands and Leona seemed to pop a few candy hearts out of her eyes when she noticed him smile at her.

Shit.

“Well,” I said a little too loudly, “let’s get changed.”

Augie looked over at me, revealing the quotation mark divots in his forehead above the dark frames of his sexy glasses. Was he confused or worried? Either way, I hated seeing them and had the now-familiar sensation of itching to press them away with my fingers.

Instead, I shoved my hands in the pockets of my pants and tried to maintain some professionalism.

We walked to the locker room, and I held the door open for him but didn’t follow him in this time. “I’ll wait for you here,” I said. As much as I’d have loved to watch him change, I didn’t think it was acceptable for me to sit and drool as a client revealed his hot little bod to me in the Twist locker room. I still hadn’t forgotten what his naked ass looked like or the smooth stretch of back muscle leading down to it. Not to mention his shapely calves and the soft slender curve of his hamstrings. Did he run? He looked like he ran. I wondered if—

“Dude, what are you standing in the hallway for?” I turned to see one of my coworkers from Landen in Dallas.

“Rex, what are you doing here?”

“Lanny sent me up here to upgrade the security system. I think it’s part of how he’s paying Twist for use of the space. The receptionist said I could take advantage of the facilities while I was here.”

“Oh,” I said, still thinking about Augie.

“Dude, you look like you’re daydreaming about Chris Hemsworth,” he said with a laugh.

“Caught me,” I said. “Totally daydreaming about a hot piece of—”

Just then the locker room door opened and Augie walked out. He was wearing well-fitted gray trainer pants and a black tank top that revealed small but muscled rounded shoulders and shapely biceps.

“Ready?” he asked, before noticing Rex. “Oh, hi. Sorry.”

Rex’s smile turned predatory as he glanced over at me. “Well, hello,” he said in his sultry Rexian way.

Fuck.

“We’ve got to get started,” I said quickly, grabbing Augie’s wrist and pulling him toward the training room. Augie almost tripped before catching his balance and falling against me. He craned his head back around to make eye contact with Rex.

“Sorry. Ah, it was nice to meet you,” he said.

“Likewise, Chris. Hope to see you around much more in the future.”

Goddamned jackass. I was going to challenge him to a shooting contest later just so I could beat him at something.

Augie followed me through the doorway to the room with the training mats, and we found ourselves blessedly alone like the last time. I realized I was still holding his wrist and dropped it like a hot potato.

I let out a breath and ran my hands through my hair. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

“What for? He seemed nice. Although maybe not so good with names.”

“Who, Rex? Nice? Nah. Not really,” I said.

Augie coughed out a laugh. “Really? It looked like you two were friends.”

“We are. Well, more like brothers, really. We served in the navy together. Several of us did. We came to work for Lanny’s security company at the same time. As a team.”

“That’s cool. It must be fun to work together with your friends,” he offered with a raised eyebrow.

I felt myself relax. “It is. Unless one or more of them are on a dangerous assignment, and then it’s just as stressful as it was in the service.”

“I can’t imagine. They’re all bodyguards? Is that hard for you?” Augie asked.

“What do you mean?”

He looked down and brushed a wrinkle out of his shirt. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel weird about it.”

“Weird about what?” I asked, feeling confused about what he was getting at.

“The fact that your friends all work in the field and you’re stuck doing fitness classes.”

I stood there and just stared at him while I tried reworking his words in my head to make sense.

“What… what do you mean fitness classes?”

His cheeks bloomed a deep red, and he kept his face down. Fuck, he was cute as hell.

“Sorry, self-defense.”

“I’m a personal security specialist,” I corrected.

“Landen lets you have that title?”

“Augie, what are you saying?”

He looked up at me, the divots on his forehead again. “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just wondered if it was hard for you to be stuck teaching civilians like me while your teammates are out on security details or whatever. Especially since you seem to have the same background.”

“I’m only ‘stuck teaching civilians,’ as you put it, for a few weeks as punishment for something stupid I did. I’m normally out there with my guys in the field.”

Augie looked up at me, eyes widening. “Really? They let you go on missions?”

“Why wouldn’t they?” I asked.

“Oh my god. Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything. I feel like an idiot. Forget it.”

The red splotches on Augie’s cheeks moved down to his throat.

“Are you saying I wouldn’t make a good security specialist out in the field for some reason? Why?”

“Because you’re not very threatening. I thought maybe you weren’t intimidating enough for that kind of work,” he said, lifting a brow up.

I couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “The kitten thing again? You really don’t think I’m intimidating enough to be someone’s bodyguard? Seriously?”

“Sorry. Like I said, I didn’t mean any offense.”

“Augie, I’m six foot five and can bench-press any one of my teammates. I was a navy SEAL for god’s sake, and I carry a weapon most of the time. If I’m not intimidating enough to protect a celebrity from a few rabid fans, you have pretty damned high expectations,” I said. “Or you’ve seen way too many movies.”

“Can we just get started?” he asked, turning his back to me to do some stretching.

“Sure. But just so we’re clear, no one has ever in my life made me feel so much like a child as you did right now. I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. Part of me wants to laugh, but the other part wants to apologize for some reason,” I admitted with a chuckle.

“No need to apologize to me. It’s not like I need your protection. Hopefully if and when the time comes, I can protect myself.”

I suddenly realized he was putting up a front. He was trying to act tough when in reality, he was scared.

“Augie, do you think someone is going to confront you? Do you know what this is about?”

The man turned back to look at me and I could see the truth in his stormy eyes. “Do you mind if we skip this part and go right to learning the moves?”

Oookay then. Less talk, more action. Action, I can do.

I stepped closer to him to begin the move I wanted to teach first. His eyes locked on mine as I moved into his personal space, and I realized it was probably a good thing he didn’t find me intimidating. That day’s session involved me throwing him around a bit, and I didn’t want it to freak him out.

After reaching one of my hands to his shoulder, I noticed his lips part. His eyes flared to life, and their color deepened. The skin of his shoulder was warm, and I felt my fingers tighten on it. A sudden flash image of throwing him down on his back on the mats raced through my mind and a sharp pang went from my belly to my groin in response.

“I’m going to throw you down on your back and lie on top of you,” I said in a voice too rough for a professional setting. “And you’re going to learn what to do to get out from under me or at least flip me over and get into the dominant position.”

I saw his Adam’s apple bob, and I wondered what he was thinking. Was he intimidated now? Surely it wasn’t attraction… was it?

“Okay,” Augie said in a noticeably squeaky voice. Shit. Maybe it was attraction. That would suck. It was bad enough for me to fantasize about my client but would be ten times worse if the client was actually interested in return. The last thing I needed was to get in trouble with Lanny again. “How? How can I defend myself against you?”

“I’m going to show you some moves, but remember one of the biggest rules: do whatever it takes to get away. Whatever it takes to catch them off guard. In general, you don’t want to ever end up on the ground, right?” I asked.

“Obviously.”

“What would you normally do to defend against me trying to put you down?”

I placed my hand on his shoulder while I spoke, facing him, and I moved my right foot around behind his right leg. After I began pressing his shoulder, he pushed back and fought to remain standing. Since I was larger and stronger, it was easy to overpower him and force him back over my leg and off balance. I reached out with my free arm to cradle him around the back as he fell.

“Dammit,” he breathed, still trying to scramble against me and right himself. Once I had him on the ground, I lay over him, gently but firmly pinning his wrists to the mat beside his head and his legs to the mat with my legs and feet.

“’S’okay,” I said softly. “Stop fighting it.” After he forced himself to stop struggling against me, I continued. I couldn’t deny enjoying the feeling of lying on top of him and looking down at him beneath me. Just the thought of getting him beneath me in bed made my cock fill.

When I spoke, my voice sounded foreign and rocky to my ears.

“The best thing to do when you feel like you’re going to go down is to go down, but do it under your own power so you control the outcome. Remember what I said about using the element of surprise. Instead of fighting, pull the attacker toward you, and then roll when you drop. He will go over your head and lose his grip on you while you get some much-needed distance and pop back up.”

I locked eyes with him and belatedly noticed my libido getting into a fistfight with my desire to stay gainfully employed. A part of me truly wondered which one would win if I stayed almost hip-to-hip with August Stiel on the mat.

He was still breathing heavy as he peered up at me with dark pupils. His chest brushed against mine on the inhale, and a sweet puff of air caressed my neck on the exhale. My eyes fell to his lips before I forced myself to look away and let him go.

I cleared my throat. “Just remember, flip your attacker and roll through the fall. Let’s try it again,” I said, standing up and reaching out a hand to pull him up. I must have pulled a little too forcefully because he came slamming into my chest with a grunt.

“Jesus, Saint,” Augie said against my shirt before pushing off me. “Did you double dose on the steroids today?”

“For your information, this is 100 percent natural, Mr. Stiel. Determination and hard work,” I corrected with a small grin.

He let out a reluctant laugh. “Duly noted.”

This time when I tried to topple Augie, he immediately yanked my arm forward and dropped his weight down, creating a little speed bump of sorts that rammed into my shins. I went tumbling over him onto the mat. By the time I jumped back up, he was in a defensive stance backing well away from me.

“Much better,” I said. “How did that feel?”

“Pretty awesome,” he said with a giant grin. I felt my mouth turn up in a similar smile. It was the first time he looked proud of himself, and my heart leapt. I knew that feeling well. Accomplishing something you set out to do was invigorating.

“Try again. This time I’m not going to go easy on you,” I said, assessing him as I stalked closer.