Three
Cameo
I get myself into a new routine over the next few weeks.
Every morning, I make Alec’s breakfast and coffee before cleaning the house. Once he leaves for work, I change and get ready for the gym.
The first few days I thought that I was going to die after running on the treadmill for twenty minutes.
I’ve even run into Sager every morning, and the more I see him, the stronger the pull is. I don’t know what is happening to me, but every time I see him, I want to talk to him. No, I need to talk to him. It could just be ‘good morning’ or ‘hello,’ it doesn’t matter as long as I say something.
Last night when Alec was kissing my neck in bed, my mind imagined that it was Sager. Maybe the thought of being with someone other than Alec was what turned me on, but the sex was better than before.
Maybe it’s just some dumb infatuation that will disappear just as quickly as it came to be.
In a year, Alec and I are supposed to get married. The date’s been set, and the plans have already started, even if I really have no say in anything. I love Alec, I really do. He’s been so good to me over the years, and I don’t think that I will ever find someone as good as him.
Sager Stone.
I close my eyes for a second, putting my water bottle to my neck, hoping that it will cool me off. I haven’t even worked out yet, and I’m already hot.
Walking over to the same treadmill that I use every morning at the same time, I put my water in the cup holder along with my car keys and hit the start button. It doesn’t take me long to warm up, and soon I’m starting the same jog that I do day after day as well.
I get so far into the zone, that I don’t even notice Sager on the treadmill next to me running. When I look over at him, I lose my balance and almost fall off the damn thing. Looking at him, I see the smirk on his face, and I hit the stop button on the treadmill and punch him in the shoulder, which actually hurts me probably more than him.
His arms are hard, like rock hard, and I just want to touch them again.
“Try not to fall off the treadmill. I know I’m too irresistible for you to not stare at, but we don’t need to injure that pretty little ass of yours.”
He turns that sexy grin on me again, and I have a hard time breathing.
“Maybe if you didn’t scare the crap out of me, I wouldn’t have almost fallen,” I grumble, taking a sip of my water.
“Psh.” He grins again as he continues to run, not even looking like he’s breaking a sweat. He makes working out look effortless while I look like a barbequed, drowned rat. I look at the mirror in front of us, and yup it confirms it. My face is red as a tomato, and my hair is soaked already.
Looking around the gym, I take in some of the other women who are jogging on the treadmills, and they still look like a million bucks. Not one of them looks like me, and they all have their eyes on Sager. They all always have their eyes on him. It’s like they only come here to stare at him or try to flirt with him.
“Stop worrying what other people think about you. Your workout isn’t about them, it’s about you.”
His words bring me out of the slight jealous haze that was starting to take over my brain.
“I know, it’s just discouraging.” I stop the treadmill and start to collect my stuff which causes him to stop running.
“Come on.” He reaches over and grabs my water and keys out of my hand and starts walking toward the back office that I’ve only ever seen him go into.
“What? Where are you taking me?” I struggle to keep up with his long strides, but when he opens the door, I stop and stare into the space.
It’s neat as hell, and there is no way a man uses it as an office. It doesn’t even smell like sweat or dirty gym clothes.
“I promise I won’t bite. Come in and sit down.” He closes the door behind me, and I do as he says, taking a seat on the couch that is against the wall farthest from his desk.
“Why are we in here?” I ask after looking around the room once more.
“I wanted to talk to you without all the eyes that are constantly on us out there. Some of those women are like vultures, and it’s like they can smell fear.”
I swallow and shift uncomfortably, unsure of what he means.
The closer that Sager gets to me, the hotter the room gets. When he takes a seat on the couch beside me, I try to think of a million different things. Things that I hope make me stop thinking about the scent of his cologne or the lean, hard muscles that are close enough to touch.
“I find you sexy as fuck and having you in my office alone probably isn’t the best idea, but…” he trails off, eyes scanning over me.
My body heats at his words, but I don’t move from where I’m sitting. I’m getting married next year to a man that I’ve loved for years. I continue to repeat that in my head a few times before he starts to speak again.
“You’ve been coming in every day for weeks now. I see that you are determined, but I don’t know what your goal is.”
Staring at him in confusion, I don’t speak.
Running his hands through his hair, he shakes his head. “What I guess I want to know is why are you coming here? Is it because you want to get into shape or –” Realization hits me with where he is going with his next sentence.
“No, I’m not here to sleep with you, even if I’ve thought of it multiple times.”
I blurt the words out and then slap my hand over my mouth. Getting up from the couch, I make a beeline for the door and walk out of his office and the gym as fast as possible.
Embarrassment floods my body as I reach my car and hit the unlock button. Just as I get in and I’m about to shut my door, it is yanked back. Looking up, I see Sager standing there with a confused look on his face.
“You’ve thought of fucking me?”
Looking away, I shake my head and chastise myself for saying that out loud. I’m a moron.
“I’m engaged to be married,” I state with little conviction.
“I don’t care.”
He kneels down so that we are at the same height and he waits. I don’t know what to do or say now. I’ve never been in this type of predicament and even though I know I should stay far away from him, I can’t.
“Cameo, I don’t give a shit about the guy you’re going to marry. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
My mouth drops open, and I try to process what he just admitted to. He thinks about me too. Just as I’m about to say something, one of his hands brushes against my leg, and a thousand little sparks flit across my skin just like every other time he’s touched me.
One touch from Alec doesn’t do that to me, and I don’t know what it means. My engagement is safe. It is going to be the best thing for me, or at least that is what I continue to tell myself as I stare at Sager. I can’t be that woman, the one that cheats on her husband. It’s not in my nature. It goes against everything I believe in, but every second that passes I’m being pulled in further by his stare.
“I can’t.” The words burn my lips as they are spoken. “I can’t be that woman. I love him.”
He grins and shakes his head as he closes his eyes.
“I get it. Just know that you are the only thing I can think about. I want you, Cameo, and I won’t give up.” With that, he leans forward, pressing his mouth to mine shocking the hell out of me.
The kiss is quick, but it steals my breath away.
His rough fingers graze softly against my jaw as he pulls away. As he sits back on his heels, I feel my eyes widen. I bite my bottom lip out of nervousness. I don’t even know how to process what just happened.
His fingers go to my lips and he pulls it from my teeth like he did the first time I came to the gym.
“You don’t know how badly I want to be the one biting that lip of yours.”
I suck in a harsh breath, and that smirk plasters itself to his mouth. “I bet you don’t even know how fucking beautiful you are.”
I swallow around the lump forming in my throat and just as he’s about to say something else, someone calls out his name.
“Sager! Sweetheart, I need some pointers on how to do a few workouts.” He looks over his shoulder at the woman who is waving her hand in the air like he can’t see her and her neon orange workout number.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Just when I think he’s going to kiss me again, he thinks better of it and shakes his head before standing up and moving far enough away to shut my car door. I watch him as he walks over to the neon orange woman who is now talking to him animatedly, arms waving in the arm as she, I assume is describing the workout.
Once I get my racing heart back under control, I start my car. Grabbing my phone from the center console, I check it and see a new message from Alec.
Alec: Darling, I had to go out of town for business. I’ll be home in a few days.
Reading the text over and over again, I try to make sense of it. Alec has never worked out of town before. Maybe things at the company are changing, or maybe there is something else going on that I am too oblivious to.
Could he be cheating?
I mentally scan over all the people in his office again and the only one I’d ever think he’d want to be with is his new assistant, but then again there is no proof.
I need to get a grip. Just because I’ve been thinking about Sager in a way that I shouldn’t be thinking of anyone but Alec, doesn’t mean that Alec is cheating.
I’m the one who thought about cheating, the one who just let another man kiss me.
Instead of continuing thinking about Alec and I cheating on each other, I put my car in reverse and back out of the parking spot before taking off toward home.
As soon as I walk through the garage door, my phone dings with a new message and when I look at the screen, my breath catches.
Unknown: I don’t regret kissing you. I might have to make it a new habit.
My phone falls out of my hand, hitting the tile floor with a loud crack. “Shoot,” I mutter under my breath as I bend down to pick it up.
How did he get my number?
Just as another message comes through, I remember the paperwork I had to fill out for the membership to his gym.
Unknown: Let me be your trainer.
You would think that his message jumped out of the phone and bit me with the way I was staring at it right now. I heard what he said; he fucks the women he trains.
Me: I remember the rumors about you and training women.
I set my phone on the counter and make my way toward the fridge to grab some lemons. Putting the water pitcher on the counter, I set the lemon next to it before reaching over to grab the cutting board and a knife.
As I’m about to start cutting the fruit, a new message comes through.
Unknown: I already said the rumors were true.
I roll my eyes at my phone and don’t bother replying, instead cutting the lemon into slices and dropping them into the pitcher. After I’m done with that, I rinse off the knife and the cutting board.
My eyes keep trailing over to my phone, but I refuse to answer him. I don’t know what he wants from me. Okay, maybe I do, but I can’t be that kind of person. I can’t cheat on someone I love, can I?
The sound of another text message comes through, and I ignore it the best I can. Grabbing the water pitcher, I stick it under the water dispenser in the fridge, filling it back to the top before sticking it back into the fridge.