Chapter 7

Vivian drove away from Rock’s house, her mind in turmoil. On one hand, her attraction to him was keeping her hot and bothered. On the other, his arrogance irritated the heck out of her.

The presumptuous smirk on his face when he’d insinuated she couldn’t handle a bit of exercise. Gosh, how she’d wanted to wipe it off his face – with a kiss. No, kissing him was the last thing on her mind. Yes, his full lips with the sexy pit in the middle looked inviting. But no, she had not wanted to find out if he tasted as virile as he smelled.

She knew rich and famous people like Rock Martens. And she didn’t like them. Entitled. Yes, that described him very well. He thought he owned the world, just because he’d won some stupid triathlon races many years back.

Yet another self-centered celebrity too caught up in his own importance to be concerned with anyone else. That’s not true, she corrected herself. He founded a charity to help those less fortunate. And by the enthusiasm in his voice, it wasn’t just some publicity stunt. He really lived for his foundation.

Rock Solid. See, he even used his own name to celebrate his importance. No, apart from his unarguably hot body, he didn’t have anything else going for him. I’m doing this only because I feel bad about the accident. Not because I like him.

Vivian arrived at her apartment completely worked up over the sexy man she’d crashed into the day before and was actually grateful for the exercise she was supposed to do. It would help keep her mind off wandering over his body parts. She hadn’t missed his lustful stare, nor the bulge beneath his zipper. If she hadn’t fled his place, she’d be lying naked beneath him by now. Zings of lust coiled through her body and pooled deep down between her thighs.

She unlocked the door to her apartment and sighed. The biking and swimming portions she looked forward to, but running? It came next to a root canal on her list of favorite occupations. What on earth had possessed her to offer to run that stupid race?

Vivian flopped onto her bed and eyed the training app in her phone with suspicion. Three miles running leisurely. Three miles? And whoever thought the words running and leisurely worked well in one sentence?

She groaned, tempted to forego the training. But the memory of his smug grin as he said the words, “If you can’t handle it…” attacked her. She rampaged her closet for workout clothes and tennis shoes when she heard steps in the living room.

“Who’s there?” she called out and darted into the other room, where a handsome man with dark, cropped short hair and the same blue eyes as hers stood legs hip wide apart in the middle of the room.

 “Tyler! How many times have I told you to ring the bell?” she screamed at her older brother.

“Hey, sis! And how many times have I told you to bolt the door? I could be a burglar or worse.” He stared at her with the bossy look only older brothers quite managed to do. The same one Rock had used on her.

Oh no, I’m not thinking about him again.

“Well, usually burglars don’t have a key to my apartment,” she said with a poignant look to the key in his hand.

“Yeah right, sis. But this is L.A. You really have to lock the door behind you.” Tyler grinned and wrapped his thick arms around her. When he let her go, he noticed she was holding a pair of tennis shoes in her hand. “What’s that?”

“What does it look like?” Vivian looked down her body clad in exercise gear and then raised a brow in his direction.

He gave her a cheesy grin and then pointed at her attire and shoes. “Well, if I were a smart man, I’d deduce you were getting ready to go running. But then, my smart brain tells me that this is my sister wearing those clothes and shoes, and I’m reminded that there’s nothing my sister hates more than running.”

Vivian tossed one of the throw pillows off the couch at him, but he caught it with one hand. “Well?”

“As a matter of fact, I am going running. I’m in training.” She rose to her full height of five feet five, which didn’t make much of a difference against her brother’s six feet three.

“Training? You? For what?” Tyler asked, apparently intrigued.

“You’re not the only one who can train for a race,” she quipped and bent down to put on her shoes, which had the welcome side effect that he couldn’t see her eyes.

“A race?”

Vivian nodded and busied herself tying her shoes while she answered him. “Yeah, I’m participating in the Rock Solid Triathlon.”

“You? No way!” Tyler burst out laughing.

“Yes. Me. What? Did you think you’re the only one who can train and workout?” Her eyes were glaring daggers at him, although his reaction had to be expected. Everyone in the family knew Viv’s dislike for running.

“I’m in the fire department. It’s part of my job description to stay in shape,” Tyler said on a deep chuckle.

Vivian shrugged her shoulders. While all her brothers kept in shape, Tyler and her youngest brother River, who owned a scuba diving company, thrived on any kind of exercise – and the attention their well-sculpted muscles attracted from women.

“So what started your newly found love for exercise?” Tyler teased.

 “It’s for a good cause.” Vivian chose not to mention the accident she had caused.

“Yeah. Rock Marten’s foundation for veterans and victims of amputation. That man’s a hero.”

“You know him?” Vivian looked at him quizzically.

“Not personally, but last year one of my colleagues lost both legs in that awful fire when a burning beam crashed on him. The Rock Solid foundation paid for all the extra medical bills that weren’t covered by the insurance and even equipped him with two high-tech sports leg prostheses. So yeah, he’s pretty fantastic.”

“His public image might be fantastic, but the Rock Martens I met is a total asshole.” Vivian shook her head. Why was everyone gushing about that guy? He was so not worth it.

“If you think the guy is so bad, why are you running in a race he’s sponsoring? Especially, since you don’t even run.” Tyler narrowed his eyes at her.

Vivian squirmed beneath her brother’s gaze, finally looking away and muttering, “Because I kind of ran over his ankle with my bike and broke it.”

Tyler stared at her with a look of horror on his face.

“What? It was an accident,” she quipped.

“How many times have I told you to stop speeding and watch where you’re going?”

“I wasn’t speeding.” Well, maybe a little. But she’d rather die than admit this to her overprotective brother. In any case, she steeled her resolve for the lecture.

“Were you even wearing a helmet, Viv?” Tyler widened his stance, as if he wanted to keep her from rushing out the door.

Vivian rolled her eyes. “Of course I was wearing a helmet. Never leave home without it, Officer.”

“Don’t be cute. I can’t believe you ran over Rock Martens.” Her brother ran a hand through his super short hair. A sign he was becoming exasperated.

“I told you it was an accident,” Vivian said, softening her voice.

“An accident caused by your irresponsible behavior. Don’t even try to deny it. This has your proprietary stamp of causing trouble written all over it.” He sighed and walked around her, his eyes steely as they inspected her for trauma. “Are you okay? Nothing happened to you? Should I take you to the hospital?”

If it weren’t so annoying, Vivian would have laughed at the speed he’d gone from scolding her to worrying about her wellbeing. She was twenty-six and her brothers still treated her like a child.

“I’m fine, Ty. Really. And I have to go running now…”

“Oh, yes.” He grinned at her. “That’s my sis. Causing all kinds of trouble and then getting in deeper with every attempt to sort it out. Let me guess…you ran over the guy, and now he can’t run in his own race so you volunteered to take his place?”

“Yes. It was the right thing to do.” She nodded, a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Now that her idea had been articulated aloud to Gwen and Tyler, it didn’t sound so logical. Or sane.

“Maybe it was. But do you have any idea of what you’re signing up for?” Tyler said, frowning.

Vivian nodded.

“This is ludicrous. You know that, right?”

“Not at all. I’ve got two months to train. And you can’t tell anyone,” she demanded, shaking a finger in his face.

“Crossing my lips and throwing away the key,” he told her, mimicking the actions and then bursting into laughter. Out of all of the Armstrong siblings and cousins, Tyler was the blabbermouth of the bunch. A secret with him could as well be posted on the next billboard.

“Why don’t I run with you?” Tyler offered, sobering for the moment.

Vivian shook her head. “No thanks.” The last thing I need is a witness to my shame. I’ll be lucky to run the first mile without dying, and the schedule says I need to run three.

“Are you sure, sis?”

“Positive. May I leave now, Officer?” Vivian asked.

“Okay, then. If you change your mind in a few days, just let me know. You can always count on me to help. You know that?”

“I do. Thanks, bro. I’ll keep that in mind. Now, if you don’t need anything else, skedaddle so I can get this over with.” Vivian gave him a one-armed hug.

“Sounds like you’re really looking forward to the exercise. Don’t forget to stretch before and after and breathe while you’re running.” Tyler chuckled and turned to leave.

“Ty? Next time ring the bell first, okay?” Her brother lived nearby and she’d given him the keys to her apartment after locking herself out for the second time and having to spend a fortune for a lock and key service.

“Sure thing, Viv,” he said and was gone.

Vivian inhaled deeply and walked the few hundred yards to the same concrete path where she’d crashed into Rock the day before. Rock! Thinking of him caused a surge of adrenaline in her body, just enough to get her running.

She started out slow, but before she’d even completed the first mile, she remembered why she hated running so much. The arch of her foot cramped and every step was killing her. Drenched in sweat, panting like a steam engine, and awful stitches splitting her side, she slowed to a leisurely walk.

“Damn you, Rock! And damn myself for speaking before thinking things through.”

The pain in her side and foot subsided and she begrudgingly took on speed again. Over the course of the next two miles she was at the point of giving up at least a dozen times. But the memory of the arrogant look he’d cast her when he’d suggested she couldn’t handle it, did its job and caused her to continue. Cursing, whining, hating it, but not giving up.

About an hour later she returned home, with the single wish to fall into her bed and die.

She stripped off her clothing as she made her way to the bathroom, putting her phone on a stool besides the tub. Once she was neck-deep in the tub filled with hot water, she closed her eyes and tried to dismiss the fact that Rock expected her to repeat today’s exercise again…and again.

After a while her aching muscles relaxed and some of her anger dissipated. Vivian wiped her hands with a towel and grabbed the phone, pulling up the training regimen. A deep sigh escaped her.

On tomorrow’s schedule, swimming. A sport she enjoyed. Although she suspected Rock’s plan for her included hard work instead of floundering about in the water.

Vivian struggled to make sense of what exactly she was supposed to do, when a new text arrived.

Rock: How’d today’s run go?

Vivian: Just finished. It went great! A little white lie wasn’t any big deal.

Rock: Glad to hear. Was worried about you.

Her heart leapt. He could be so sweet.

Vivian: I’m fine. No need to worry.

Rock: Want 2 use my pool tomorrow?

For a moment Vivian grinned like a fool at the prospect of seeing him. That was until she remembered that she’d decided not to like him. He might be scorching hot, but bossy. And she hated bossy.

Vivian: Sure. I have to work though.

Rock: Come by before work. I have a guest shower.

Vivian wrinkled her nose. Did she really want to go through with this? Stubbornness won out. She’d run that stupid triathlon, even if it was the last thing she’d do in her life.

Rock: Wanna quit on me?

Hell no! She’d show him that she was no quitter.

Vivian: No way. Am having fun. What time? Work at 9.

Rock: Make it seven.

Vivian groaned. Seven? That meant she’d have to get up at five thirty. Quitting just became a lot more attractive.

Vivian: 7 is perfect. See you.

Rock: Get some rest and sweet dreams tonight.

She tossed her phone to the bath mat and leaned back once more. She had no idea what to make of Rock. Sweet one second, arrogant the next.