CHAPTER FOUR
MAYA. “Wake up.”
Eli nudged my shoulder, exacerbating the dull headache that surged upon waking. Vanessa and I had gone out for drinks after work to ring in the weekend. Too much champagne. Cheap champagne too, second only to boxed wine in the guaranteed terrible hangover department.
“Go to hell. It’s too early,” I groaned into my pillow, feebly shielding myself with another layer of blanket.
“It’s almost noon, Maya.”
I groaned again, a long sad moan that I hoped would inspire Eli to take pity on me.
“Come on. Get up. You’ve been bitching about going to the gym for weeks. I can’t take it anymore. We are going.”
I threw off the covers and glared at him. If he poked me one more time, I was going for blood. He reared back, hesitant, but determination glared in his eyes.
“Fine. Coffee first.”
“You want to put coffee on top of all that champagne you drank last night? How about some water?”
“I don’t care what the hell it is, as long as it buys me an extra fifteen minutes to wake up. Please go away.”
After a shower, I emerged from my bedroom. Eli shoved a warm cup of chamomile in front of me before I could start berating him again. I sulked into the couch. The warm tea was simultaneously easing my stomach and putting me back to sleep. Eli sat with me, and I debated telling him about my run-in with Cameron.
His eyes narrowed as if he were reading my mind. “You’re not telling me something.”
“How do you do that?”
“I told you.” He tapped his temple and grinned. “What’s up?”
“Cameron Bridge. That’s what’s up.”
“Shut up. You saw him? Last night?”
“No, at work the other day.”
He frowned. “Explain.”
“You could say we created a new memory.”
“Okay, that could be really bad or really, really good.”
I shook my head, unsure how to categorize our very unexpected and heated encounter. It couldn’t be only good or bad. Seeing him yesterday was in a confused category all its own. I ignored Eli’s question. He could decide after I told him about it.
“He found out where I worked from Olivia. When I left the office for lunch, he was downstairs waiting for me. Totally blindsided me but we had lunch, and… we talked.”
“What did you talk about?”
“Small talk mostly, but I mentioned something about closure that I think pissed him off, and somehow we ended up right where we left off. He basically implied that he couldn’t possibly imagine being married to me now.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. I didn’t really need to hear that.” The mere thought made me want to run back to bed and sleep until it didn’t hurt anymore. I would have if I’d had any faith that I would ever be rid of the pain that surrounded my relationship with Cameron. After yesterday, I was more convinced than ever that our breakup was a wound that simply wouldn’t heal, no matter how much time or distance we put between us.
“So he was a jerk, and then what? Did you just leave it like that?”
I finished my tea and set it on the table, not wanting to talk about what happened next.
“Spill it, Maya. For Christ’s sake. You’re killing me here.”
“He tried to kiss me.”
“Whoa. Okay, tried to kiss you?”
“I told him to stop, and he did. Then I left.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t going to let him kiss me out of nowhere. He walked out on me without a word five years ago, and I’m supposed to melt in his arms like a wilting fucking violet?”
“I don’t know.” Eli crossed his arms. “You might be right. Actually, yeah, fuck him. He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Or don’t fuck him,” I corrected.
He shrugged. “He may be a jerk, but he sounds like a hot jerk, and it’s never too late for breakup sex. One for the road, you know. Could be therapeutic.”
“I highly doubt it.” I rolled my eyes and hauled my ass off the sofa. Working out suddenly seemed better than spending another minute talking about Cameron. “Let’s do this.”
We headed out, and I was instantly freezing. Thankfully we weren’t trudging through snow, otherwise I would have definitely vetoed this excursion, again. After several blocks we were nearing the entrance of Cameron’s gym. I stopped short.
“Wait, I didn’t realize we were coming here.”
Eli frowned. “I’ve heard good things about it. It’s fairly new.”
“This is Cameron’s place.”
“What do you mean?”
“He owns this gym. Bridge Fitness… Cameron Bridge… Get it? I can’t go in there. What if he sees me?”
I was talking fast, the sudden prospect of seeing Cameron again so soon sending me into a mini meltdown. Eli rolled his eyes and hooked his arm in mine.
“Let’s go.”
I didn’t budge. “No,” I said through clenched teeth, in disbelief that he wasn’t sympathizing with me. “I told you, I’m not going in there.”
Eli pulled away and put his hands on his hips. “Maya Jacobs, grow up. We’ve braved five city blocks in the freezing cold. Let’s go.”
I shook my head again, and he left me in a huff, disappearing through the entrance.
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe he would ditch me like this when I was clearly freaking out. I yanked the braided strings of my winter hat down farther, hoping it would disguise me if I ran into Cameron. I took a deep breath and entered.
The gym was surprisingly inviting, with muted cool tones. Gyms freaked me out. Or maybe just the people who frequented them did. I always felt out of place, like everyone knew I had no idea what I was doing there. Today was no exception, but something about the place had an unusually calming effect. I scanned the reception area and the rooms I could see into. I released a sigh of relief that Cameron was nowhere in sight.
Eli was at the counter, getting details for the yoga class, when I joined him. He glanced back at me and took my hand in his. I followed him down the hall. We entered a spacious room with mirrored walls, light wood floors, and some new age soundscapes drifting over us from the surround sound. We grabbed mats and found two spaces. Eli strategically positioned himself next to another young guy, a blond slice of heaven who was chatting with him in no time. The only other spots open were in the very front. My anxiety immediately kicked in, but I couldn’t bail now.
I got situated and lay back on my mat, waiting for the class to start. Between being horizontal again and the music, I was nearly asleep again when the instructor spoke up, asking us to take a seated position. I rolled up, wishing I’d had an extra five minutes for a power nap.
The instructor introduced herself. Raina was a petite girl about my age, thin and toned with pixie cut brown hair. She pretzeled her legs into a comfortable lotus. I looked down at my crossed legs. No. That won’t be happening.
The rest of the class went better than expected. Raina had realistic expectations and gave us enough options so no one felt left out. I left the class both exhausted and rejuvenated. I waited for Eli to finish chatting with his new friend, and we walked out together. Still no sign of Cameron, but I pulled on my hat just in case.
“So that was good,” I said, my voice markedly peppier than it had been an hour ago.
Eli cocked his head. “See, aren’t you glad you came? You were being such a baby about seeing Cameron, I thought I was going to have drag you in there.”
“Maya?”
I jumped back at the sound. Cameron emerged through an adjacent doorway. In front of us now, in a gym T-shirt and mesh shorts, he was impossible to ignore. I gave him an involuntary once over, swallowing hard.
“Hi,” I mumbled.
A broad smile crept over Eli’s face as he held out his hand. “I’m Eli, Maya’s roommate.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Cameron shook Eli’s hand. “You guys come to work out, or…?”
“Yoga,” I replied.
He cocked an eyebrow. “You always wear a hat to yoga?”
I frowned and pulled it off, my hair instantly going in every direction from the static. I nervously tried to tame it when Cameron continued.
“Let me give you guys a tour. I could even do a quick training session if you’re interested. I don’t have an appointment for another thirty minutes.”
“Awesome. I’ll leave you two to it. I think I see someone I know at the treadmills.” Eli winked at me and waved goodbye.
I followed his retreat with a glare, my zen waning at a rapid rate.
“So what’ll it be?” Cameron crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, his powerful legs on display. I thought he’d come back changed after boot camp, but this was a whole new level. I tore my gaze away and forced myself to meet his eyes.
“I don’t know. I’m not really up for a work out. I’m kind of wiped out.”
“From yoga?”
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to explain that I also happened to be epically hung over. “Listen, I did a lot of planks in there. She’s intense.”
“Oh, Raina?” He laughed a little and he shifted his gaze past me. “Speak of the devil.”
Raina bounded beside us, her eyes locked on Cameron. “Hey, Cam.” She lifted up on the toes of her sneakers and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
A pang of jealousy hit me, and then I remembered that he hadn’t exactly made it clear that he wasn’t seeing anyone. Even if he weren’t, someone as good-looking as Cameron wouldn’t stay on the market for long, as evidenced by Raina casually rubbing her sports-bra harnessed tit on his arm.
“Hey,” he said. “Raina, this is Maya.”
Her gaze shifted to me. “New member?”
“Actually, Maya’s an old friend. I was about to give her a tour.”
She gave me a tight smile and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Maya. Enjoy the class?”
“I did actually,” I admitted.
“I hope you’ll be back?”
I nodded wordlessly, not wanting to commit verbally.
“Cool. Well I’ll see you two later then. I have another class in a few.”
She took off, leaving Cameron and me alone again. Before I could come up with another excuse to get out of performing any kind of exercise in front of him, he took my hand and led me into the main area. The gesture seemed bold, but I appreciated the extra sense of security the connection gave me in light of my gym anxiety. I assessed the rows of fit, clearly habitual gym people, their presence somehow reinforcing how I was not supposed to be here.
We stopped in front of the free weights. “You okay with doing arms? After the planks and what not?”
He did a poor job of hiding his smirk, which stirred me enough to take the challenge.
“Bring it.”
He hit me with a mega-watt smile and picked out two dumbbells. They looked puny in his strong hands as he faced the mirror and started demonstrating the motions he wanted to me to make. He seemed to know what he was talking about, but I was too entranced with his body to really listen. I still couldn’t handle how changed he was. He’d always had a great body, tall and lean, but now with the massive amount of muscle tone that he’d gained, he was downright imposing. The front of his T-shirt lifted slightly every time his arms pulled up to touch the dumbbells together above his head. I caught a glimpse of his abs. I licked my lips, daring myself to look lower.
“Got it?”
My eyes shot up. “Yeah, sure.”
I took the dumbbells and tensed against the strain of lifting their weight as he’d so easily done.
“Keep your shoulders straight.”
His voice was low and even. He placed his hands on my shoulders, coaxing them back slightly with his fingertips. The simple contact shocked through me. In our reflection, I could see his eyes trained on my form. His hand slid down my back as he circled to the side.
“Hold it.”
I froze, my arms holding the weights above me.
“Step your legs apart a little.”
I sucked in a sharp breath at the quiet command.
“Good. If your posture is right, you’re going to feel it here too.” His hand brushed over my lower abdomen. The dull ache created from my earlier planks and holding these damn weights in the air transformed into a red hot energy pulsing through my core and between my legs from the contact that felt far too intimate.
Fuck, I didn’t sign on for this. I took a shaky breath and lowered the weights to my side and up again, slowly repeating the motion. I was pretty sure a few members would pay extra for this level of attention. Or maybe they didn’t need to. Maybe Cameron was hands-on like this with everyone. But I couldn’t drag my filthy mind out of the gutter long enough to believe he wasn’t touching me for the sheer, animal fun of it.
CAMERON. I’d never had to work so goddamn hard to focus on training someone. No shortage of attractive women had come through the gym, all too eager for the chance to train with Darren or me. But Maya was in a class of her own. Her body had changed since we’d known each other. Her clothes couldn’t hide the fullness of her breasts or how her hips curved out from her waist in a way I didn’t remember. At least blatant staring was justified under the circumstances.
She finished her set, breaking my steady survey of the intricacies of her body. We moved away from the free weights, and I set her up on the cables.
“I’m not sure I’m cut out for this,” she said.
“You’re doing really well.”
She blushed, reinforcing how uncomfortable I suspected she was. Half of my job was making people feel more comfortable in the gym. Though I had a few clients who basically paid me to watch them work out in one-hour increments. Business was business, so I didn’t argue. When they realized they weren’t getting anything more out of it, they typically moved on. Sometimes to Darren.
Maya had always been headstrong though. I knew she’d take the challenge, even if it meant spending time with me that she might not have wanted. After I’d nearly kissed her and she left me in front of her office, I’d had mixed feelings about the whole thing. We hadn’t exchanged contact information, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to keep stalking her at her office.
“I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon,” I said, hoping to get her to open up.
“Me neither.”
“Why is that?”
She winced, straining against a motion, her biceps flexing with the effort. “Eli dragged me out for the yoga class. I had no idea we were coming here.”
She stepped back and took a breath between sets. Her face was flushed from exertion. Time was ticking down. I couldn’t push her hard just to spend more time with her.
“I didn’t know you had a roommate.”
“Yeah, well there are a lot of things you don’t know about me.” She shook out her arms.
“Maybe we can change that.”
Her calm expression didn’t change. “Oh?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged, trying to sound casual. “I’d like to be friends, I guess, if you think we can.”
She looked down at her feet, toeing the floor beneath her, a chink in her otherwise cool demeanor. “I don’t know.”
“What don’t you know?”
She huffed. “How are we supposed to be friends when you’re… You know, you kind of blindsided me yesterday.”
“I know. I didn’t plan that. I’m sorry.”
“We have too much history, Cam.”
“Mostly good history, don’t you think?” I leaned against the machine, crossing my arms.
Her eyes went soft for a moment. Her throat worked on a swallow before her features hardened, an impassive blanket washing away any emotion I might have recognized moments ago.
“What’s next?” she asked, her voice clipped.
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Are we almost done or what? I’m dying here.”
“One more,” I muttered, straightening again.
I switched out the hardware and demonstrated the motion for her. I adjusted the weight again when I finished. When I stepped away, she’d launched right into the first set of curls with fevered determination. With every motion her cleavage pushed up out of her tank top. I blew out a slow breath and tried to look anywhere else. I caught her reflection in the mirror and studied her ass in her skin-tight yoga pants. Christ. I’d have no chance of hiding a hard on in my gym shorts.
“Take a break after this. Then do two more sets. I’ll be right back,” I said brusquely.
I left her there without making eye contact. I needed water. What I really needed was a cold shower, because I was losing my damn mind reliving the memory of her body. I grabbed a couple waters from behind the front desk. I chugged the first one, stopping to take a few more steadying breaths. I needed to get her out of my head. She didn’t want this trip down memory lane either. What the hell was I doing?
“Everything okay?”
Darren strolled up to the counter, his eyes narrowed. Fuck, he could read me like a book. Unlike Maya. Her thoughts were still a mystery. I’d been able to read her so well, once upon a time.
“Yeah, just grabbing a water for a client.”
Maya walked up with Eli at her side, her eyes as cool and calm as they had been earlier. “Okay, I think you’ve tortured me enough. I’m heading out.”
Darren swiveled to face her, his face lighting up when he sized her up. I tensed.
“Hi, I’m Darren,” he said, holding out his hand.
She shook his hand and her eyes brightened. “You must be Cam’s brother? I’m Maya.”
Darren’s smile slipped for a second. They’d never met, but they sure as hell knew of each other. He flashed me a look before returning to her. “Yeah. You’re the Maya?”
“I guess,” she muttered, almost too quietly to hear, as she put on her coat and tugged her hat back on. She looked to Eli and turned to leave.
“So, Maya. You interested in coming out with us for drinks later? Old man Cam is going to tie one on. You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you?”
“Darren—”
He lifted his hand to silence me. “No, no. I’d love to get to know the infamous Maya who I’ve heard so much about.”
“Maya never misses a happy hour,” Eli chimed in, lifting his shoulders to his ears.
She glared at him and he recoiled slightly, giving her a frozen smile. “That’s not true.”
“Judgment free zone, hon,” Darren said. “Let’s hit the bar down the street around seven. What do you think?”
She stared hard at him. Between Eli’s comment and Darren’s impossible grin, I wasn’t sure how she’d be able to shoot him down. I almost felt bad for her.
“Fine.” She grabbed the second water from my hand, turned, and hooked arms with Eli.
He smiled back at us as she pulled him out the door. Through the glass, I could see her mouth moving at a rapid rate the second the doors closed. She was pissed.
I suppressed a smile.