She’d been surprised when he’d come out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of long shorts and asked her to help him, but Janie had done as he’d asked. She’d never seen a half-naked man, at least not in person. They were on book covers and in magazines, but she’d never been close enough to touch one. And oddly she wanted to.

Her fingers ached to trace the lines of scars down his face and chest, to kiss away any ache that might be left. She blinked away the thought, wondering where it had come from, then she’d sat back, well, there was no back to the odd looking bench she’d found to sit on, but still, she’d sat there and watched as he hit the person-sized bag with a single-mindedness she’d only ever seen used for worship.

She considered opening her book again, a racy historical romance about an English lord who ran away from his family and lived as a pirate. She was a little surprised to think Alex had read it, but couldn’t help but be thrilled as it was here for her now. Another look at Alex made her have second thoughts about starting her book again, at the pace he was going she didn’t think he would be able to maintain it for more than ten or fifteen minutes.

Thirty minutes later he hadn’t even slowed. Janie sat watching him in wonder, the muscles of his back flexing with every movement. His skin glistened as sweat rolled off him in narrow streams. She didn’t know how he did it, or how often he did this, but he was just starting to breath heavy. To have that kind of endurance it must be something he did often. She was both wowed and scared. If he had this kind of aggression in him, what would keep him from turning it on her?

Wait. He’d said he’d never strike her in anger. She had to trust him until he’d given her reason not to. He was her husband, she owed him that much. At least give him a chance.

Janie didn’t know how much time had passed when the blows Alex rained down on the bag finally slowed. He stretched and turned to her.

“Just let me cool down for a few, then I’ll take a quick shower and we can go down to dinner.” He went to a treadmill in the corner that she hadn’t even noticed, her attention had been so focused on him. He set it on a walking speed and had no trouble keeping up as he stretched his arms around him and over his head as he walked. After a few minutes he shut it off, stepped off and headed for the door. As she followed him across the hall, she saw another benefit of the extra door in the back of the closet, they went in the back door, and Alex headed for the shower. “You’re welcome to join me if you want.”

Her face flamed. “I’ll just wait in the bedroom.” The only upside was that his back was too her and he couldn’t see how red she’d turned.

“Suit yourself.” He continued into the bathroom, dropping his shorts before he was through the door. Janie’s jaw dropped, and she tried to breathe, but it was like someone had knocked the wind from her. She hadn’t seen a male’s bare butt in years, and even then, it had only been a baby she was caring for. What had possessed him to do that? She blinked and was finally able to draw breath. When she could think again she went in the bedroom and sat on the sofa there. She couldn’t get the image of his buttocks out of her head, nor stop the warm fluttering sensation the memory caused low in her belly.