Chapter Nine
I was barely awake as I took the elevator to the bottom floor. Last night I’d tossed and turned until I was certain I wouldn’t sleep. Around three in the morning, I decided to release some tension, so I pulled out some heavy artillery.
There I was, having a nice old time with myself, picturing God knows what, when Noah’s face suddenly popped into my head. He was looking down at me, eyes heavy, mouth crooked in a half grin, strong hands touching my breasts, pinching me, pinning me, and then I was coming.
Not what I had in mind.
I passed out for a couple hours until my alarm went off at dawn and now I was zombie-walking my exhausted ass to the gym. Damn Noah. He wasn’t supposed to be in my head and he certainly wasn’t supposed to be in my fantasies. He was ruining everything.
From now on, I was not going to think about him. If I saw him, fine, I’d be polite. But there would be no down time Noah thoughts. I should have never let him touch me last night.
Swiping my card through the keypad, I pushed into the gym and froze. Was someone here? No one ever used the gym this early besides me. Great. I hated working out around other people and I didn’t bring anything to cover up. Hopefully, it was a woman, because my sports bra and bootie shorts weren’t exactly concealing and I wasn’t going back upstairs.
Heavy footfalls pounded as the motor of a treadmill hummed. I turned the corner and came up short.
Him.
“Morning, neighbor,” he shouted, face all chipper like he’d already gotten in his Wheaties and knocked out a decent warm up.
“What are you doing here?”
“Girl, last night I killed half a bottle of wine and, after my company left, I annihilated an entire pizza. From lips to hips, I swear.”
He was making fun of me and I sort of liked it. Hiding a smile, I climbed onto the other treadmill.
The gym was nothing fancy, but it was private, for residents only, and had all the basic necessities. Two treadmills, a step machine, free weights, mats, yoga balls, and a few press machines. Except now, there was a wolf in my den.
I adjusted the incline and set my track for eight miles. My gaze skittered to his settings and saw he’d already been at it for thirty minutes. It didn’t matter. This wasn’t Noah time. It was me time. I plugged my headphones into my ears and hit play.
Florence + the Machine’s Shake It Out came on and my body fell into a steady rhythm as I shut out everything else. The drums kicked in and she sang about burying regrets and pushing through challenges and my heart rate picked up the pace. By the time her voice careened into the first climax, my speed was up and I was going full throttle.
I loved to run, the freedom of it, the results, the endorphins. It was exhilarating and it was mine. Faster, I raced to a goal I couldn’t see but felt deep in my bones. There was a better me out there and if I ran hard enough I’d eventually find her.
All of my issues peeled away as sweat broke over my skin and my mind cleared. The chorus kicked in and I was lost, going hard and fast toward everything I wanted and—
My steps faltered as my earbud was yanked out and Florence cut off.
Noah ran at a rapid pace, his head angled in my direction. “Hey.”
I quickly dropped my speed and scowled at him. “Do you mind?”
“No, not at all. What are you listening to?”
He was like a child that needed constant attention. Adorable, but draining. “Music.” I plugged my ear bud back in only to have it yanked out again. “Hey!”
“Talk to me.”
It was too early for conversation. “I don’t talk when I work out. I think and listen to music.”
He pursed his lips. A second later he was off his machine and fiddling with his phone and the sound system by the door. I wasn’t sure if we were allowed to touch that. I always brought my own music.
“I think that belongs to someone.”
“Yeah, me.” He plugged his phone into the AUX outlet. “Now, we can both listen.”
I had a rapid two-second guessing game of what song he might choose. I wasn’t even close.
The quick bass came on and Robin Thicke’s sexy voice filled the gym, talking about good girls getting nasty and wanting dirty sex with blurred lines. Noah bounced back to his machine, cranked up the pace, and tossed me a defiant smile.
Oh, was this some sort of challenge? Okay. I increased my stride and ran full speed ahead. Impressively, he kept pace. His longer legs meant he wasn’t working as hard as me, but whatever. I’d outrun him any day.
I was in a full body sweat when Rhianna yelled Na, na, na, na, come on and started singing about whips and chains in S&M. His music wasn’t my type, but I was picking up on a theme in his playlist. When the chorus belted about the scent of sex in the air, my body started to stir.
At seven miles my heart was thundering and my legs were throbbing. The music dropped to a thrumming pulse as Nine Inch Nails’ Closer echoed through the gym and I laughed. The guy truly had a one-track mind.
I dropped my speed and he dropped his, but we didn’t talk. We dialed back and glanced at each other every two and a half seconds as we cooled down for the last mile.
But I didn’t feel cool. I felt tight and burning hot and ready to launch myself at him. This was absolutely not how my morning was supposed to go.
I clicked off my machine, more concerned about getting a head start to safety than conquering that last tenth of a mile.
“You quitting?” He punched his speed down to a slow crawl.
“I’m done. See you later.”
He frowned, but I pretended not to notice as I wiped off my machine and made a quick escape.
The elevator was busy during this time of the morning, so I impatiently poked the button like a Morse code, as if that might get it here sooner. My gaze shot to the stairs and I debated.
A fight or flight sense of urgency was suffocating me from all angles, yet I was alone in the hall. I heard the door open behind me just as the elevator arrived.
I stepped in and turned. Noah paused at the door to the gym, breathing heavily, gaze fastened to mine. Sweat marked every muscle under his fitted T, delineating his six-pack and pecs. His arms were swollen and his fists were clenched.
Close the door… Close! No matter how much I willed the elevator to shut, time seemed to stand still. The door finally started to move, but Noah crossed the distance in two strides, pivoting and sliding in at the last second.
I didn’t hit the floor button and we didn’t move. We stared at each other in the cramped space, smelling like sweat and lust and sucking all the oxygen out of the air as we panted.
The damp hair at the back of my neck prickled. He wasn’t blinking and he wasn’t giving me room to press the button. I was cornered.
“Noah—”
“Shut up.” He ducked down and caught my bare hips, lifting my back against the wall as he slammed his mouth over mine, his tongue plunging deep and demanding I kiss him back.