“I need to maintain my weight class to fight Rodriguez.”
“The caloric intake won’t create a deficit and you can increase the calories if you need to. You will not starve on a plant-based diet. I’ve already worked it out, Luke. All you need to do is follow my lead.”
His eyes narrowed and my stomach flip-flopped.
For the smallest instant my thoughts wavered from the topic of the conversation at hand, when I caught sight of the tattoo peeking out from underneath his V-neck. From memory, I knew the rest of the tattoo was of a dragon breathing fire out of its mouth. That reminded me of all his other tattoos. The ones that only when I was alone at night before falling asleep, I’d admit to memorizing their exact location on his body.
The dragon on the left side of his chest was interesting. However, it was the tattoo of a wrecked car that spelled out the words ‘Asshole 4 Lyfe’ I found most compelling. There was also a particular tattoo on his back that ran down the length and got lost underneath the waistband of whatever pants or shorts he wore. I often wondered if that tattoo extended as far down the length of the backside of his body as my imagination carried it.
Slowly, I let my eyes drift upward to connect with his dark brown orbs. This time, unlike so many others, Luke didn’t cut off eye contact with me. Since I’d been training him, it seemed like he went out of his way to ensure we never stared eye to eye for too long.
As I wondered why that was, I felt my breathing hitch. Blinking, I realized Luke was no longer standing across the kitchen, leaning against the sink. Instead, he was standing over me. He lifted his hand to the sterling silver boxing glove pendant I always wore. My heart thumped against my chest as he eyed the glove, as if searching for its meaning.
After a few heartbeats of silence, he raised those dark brown orbs to meet mine again. He hovered over me wordlessly. It felt like we stood there for minutes, possibly hours, trapped inside something that was beyond my vocabulary.
“You need to leave,” he said in a husky voice. He dropped his hand, took a step back and blinked before turning his head. “It’s late and I have a pain in the ass trainer who gets on my case whenever I show up even a few minutes late.”
The comment was meant to insert some sort of levity into the moment. To wash away the electric current that’d sparked between the two of us. I knew it and so did he. Though, I was too much of a coward to say it.
I nodded. “Wouldn’t want to get on your trainer’s bad side.”
He dipped his head and turned, exiting the kitchen without another word. He was such a strange man. As much as I hated it, I found it intriguing nonetheless.
Chapter 9
Green Juice
Syd
As I walked around the gym, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of my high heels against the linoleum floor. While lining up the pads I would have Luke working on that morning, a buzzing from the pocket of my pants interrupted me.
Pulling out my phone, I noticed it was a call from the office.
“Vince?”
“No, sorry, Ms. Quinn, it’s not Vince. It’s Melody.”
I wrinkled my face, confused. “Melody, is everything okay?” Melody was one of our part-time ‘medics at ParaSquad. She’d been with the company for a little over a year now.
“Yes, fine but I came in early to see if I could have my shift rescheduled but you weren’t in, so I’m calling from the office. I’m supposed to be working the half-marathon tomorrow, but I just got a call from my sister. She fell and severely sprained her ankle and she’s going to need some help over the next couple of weeks. I have to go out of town.”
“Of course, Mel. Go help your sister. I’ll find someone to cover the half-marathon. Even if I have to do it myself.” I bit my lip as soon as the words were out of my mouth. I began wracking my brain for who I could call on, on such short notice. Tanisha was out of town with a few of our other paramedics working a three-day biking race. That left us short-staffed already. Surely, with Melody out of the picture, I was going to have to don my ParaSquad shirt and get to work in the trenches.
“Are you sure? I know Tanisha and the others are out of town.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mel. Go take care of your family. We’ll be fine, and right here when you get back.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Syd. You’re the best.”
“I am,” I teased before hanging up the phone, already reworking my schedule in my head.
“Taking personal calls on my dime?”
Startled, I turned to find Luke staring me down with pinched eyebrows.
“That was work.”
He spread his arms out wide, glancing around. “This is work.”
