I didn’t think it possible for Gabi’s eyebrows to lift any higher. They proved me wrong. “You mean…” A blush coloured her cheeks as she smiled, somewhere between amused and embarrassed.
“Exactly.” I nodded, not meeting her gaze. “Work was the first thing to come to mind.” Not Connor specifically, but work in general. Yeah, right.
Gabi lowered her face into her hands with a groan. “You definitely succeeded in killing the mood. I’ll give you that.”
“I didn’t mean to kill it quite so dead,” I told her, letting out a sigh. “But yeah, the danger has passed.” For now. But if I couldn’t get these thoughts about Connor under control, they were going to become a problem. “It’s getting late,” I said, holding my hand out as I rose. “I should get you home.”
Gabi didn’t hesitate to take my hand and we walked back the way we’d come for a few minutes before she asked, “You really think I should ask Connor to pose for me?”
“Sure.” I did think it was a good idea now it had occurred to me. “He’s worked really hard over the past six months and it shows. You haven’t noticed?”
She shrugged. “Not really. But I don’t spend as much time looking at him as you do.”
My feet turned to lead, and I had to force myself to keep moving. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Isn’t it part of the whole personal training thing?” Gabi said with a shrug. “It’s kind of your job to notice changes in his body shape, right?”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Right.” That’s exactly what I’d told myself when I began to realise how much time I spent watching Connor as he worked out. Taking note of his progress was part of my job. I wasn’t falling for him; I was observing him. When those observations started giving me erections, the fault in my logic became impossible to ignore.
“You’ve been really good for Connor,” Gabi said as we got into my car. “He’s never had much luck making friends at school. He needed someone like you to take an interest.” Buckling her seatbelt, she added, “He worships the ground you walk on. You know that, right?”
I knew. I’d seen the way he looked at me. Like I’d hung the moon. It was fucked up for me to enjoy it the way I did.
My intentions had been pure at the start. The day I’d found him on the ground, I’d been determined to do something to help. Going after the little pricks who were giving him hell wasn’t the answer. If anything, it would have put another nail in Connor’s coffin. But I could help him gain the strength to defend himself. That was the task I’d set myself, and slowly but surely Connor had lost that caged look. The extra height he’d gained in the past six months had come from the straightening of his shoulders as much as anything else. I was proud of how far he’d come. I was proud I’d helped him get there. And I was a fool for the way he looked at me.
“Do you think he’d be interested?”
“What?” My gaze jerked to Gabi.
“Connor,” she said. “Do you think he’d want to be my model?”
Starting the car, I shrugged as I pulled out into the street. “I have no idea. He’ll be back in the gym with me on Monday afternoon. Why don’t you stop by and ask him then? I can help you talk him into it.” Plus, knowing Gabi could show up at any minute would stop me from doing anything to fuck up my life. “I could even come with you when you take the photos. To carry your equipment and stuff. Then, all you have to think about is getting your winning shot.”
“You’d do that for me?” she said, her eyes as soft and warm as her smile.
The sick feeling in my stomach crushed any last shreds of doubt. I was a bug. An almost cheating, definitely lying, bastard of a bug. Still, I tugged my mouth upward at the corners and gave her the only truth I had left to offer. “I would do anything for you.”
THREE
______
GABI
Any reservations I had regarding Connor’s suitability for the kind of photo I wanted to take disappeared the second I walked into Law’s garage on Monday afternoon and caught sight of Connor doing bicep curls. The unexpected bulge of muscle in his arms alone made my jaw drop and all the pleasure centres in my brain light up. Oh yes, Connor would do fine.
My squeal of appreciation may have been a little too exuberant, considering the way he flinched and almost dropped the weight in his hand. “Sorry.” I cringed as I rushed over to him. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just so surprised. What the hell happened to you?”
His eyes widened and he glanced down at himself, as if expecting to find a body part out of place. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Nothing,” I said with a laugh. “I meant when did you get so hot? You’ve got so many muscles.”
“Oh.” With a relieved sigh, he put the weight down and stood to flex his arms for my benefit. “You like?”
“I love. You look fantastic.” I grinned and lifted my eyebrows at him. “Can I touch one?”
Beaming with pride, Connor lowered an arm in an over-the-top body building pose. “Be my guest.”
I wrapped my hands around his upper arm and gave it an assessing squeeze. As suspected, his arm was rock hard. “Holy crap,” I whispered, clutching on tighter. “Law’s right. You really have been working hard in here.”
