YOGA WITH A VIKING HAD never been on her to-do list, but as it turned out, that’s what Andy had been doing for the past two mornings. After the first morning when Liam had ended up on his butt in the grass, she thought that would be the end of it. He’d caught her off guard, showing up when she thought she was alone. Her first instinct had been to knock him on his ass herself, but the ease with which he’d slipped into the pose stopped her. It helped that he’d kept his mouth shut and seemed to know what he was doing—at least until he ended up in the wet grass.
When she’d come outside the following morning, she hadn’t been sure what she’d been hoping for—for Liam to be there or for him to give up and leave her alone. She should have known he wouldn’t give up. She doubted it was even in his nature. She certainly hadn’t seen any evidence of it. He tackled any task he was given with the same kind of determination she imagined he’d used on his missions. He showed up in the morning to do yoga with her and then worked with Jake after breakfast, filling in with the others occasionally when Jake was busy on the tractor.
He and Jake had also spent a fair bit of time talking or at least alone together; she didn’t know which. She didn’t need to know. The only thing that mattered to her was that having Liam around seemed to help the younger man. Which meant despite the fact that the hulking brute seemed to go out of his way to yank her chain, she couldn’t bring herself to hope he’d leave, not when Jake still needed him. But she didn’t need him in her hair, distracting her and making her think about things she’d rather not consider. Like the way his shoulders bunched when he held plank or the fact that his thighs were practically as big around as tree trunks. Or the fact that when his friend called, he’d dropped everything and then came all the way to the farm to help. None of those thoughts helped her get anywhere she wanted to be and try as she might, when he was around, she couldn’t seem to discipline her mind.
Maybe he wouldn’t show up today, she thought, closing the front door behind her and stepping out into the gray dawn light.Maybe he’d sleep in and let her work out in peace. She could have insisted he leave her alone or even easier, she could have changed her workout time. But she loved meeting the morning with yoga. It centered her and BL—before Liam—helped her find a calm place to start her day from. She wasn’t willing to look at the rest of it too closely. She kept showing up every morning, and she didn’t ask him to stop.
She came around the corner of the barn, not certain what to hope for, and stopped in her tracks when she saw him waiting for her. After the jeans and work boots debacle of the first day, he’d started wearing sweatpants that hung low on his hips and tight, long-sleeved nylon T-shirts that showed off every line of definition on his chest. There were more than enough lines and ridges to make up some kind of Viking hulk Rorschach test. Not that she paid any attention to that kind of thing, but God bless, she was only human. While she watched, he stretched his arms over his head, reaching toward the sky in mountain pose. He held his body in tension as he pushed the energy through his fingertips. She could almost feel the coiled strength of his biceps and thighs from where she stood.
After a few seconds, he relaxed and let go, bending at the waist and reaching toward the ground. His fingertips barely brushed the grass and for a second she wondered if it was his strength that limited his flexibility or an old injury. She knew for lots of big guys toe touching was a no go, but that didn’t feel right for Liam. He didn’t have trouble with the other poses. It was just the long muscles on the back of his legs that seemed tight. She was still contemplating his possible injuries when he rolled up to standing and turned to catch her watching him.
His grin lit up his face and despite the heat flushing her cheeks, she couldn’t help but smile back. He seemed genuinely happy to see her in the morning and then gave her all kinds of grief every time their paths crossed throughout the rest of the day. It made it hard for her to get her bearings. She had a feeling that was part of his plan, but she couldn’t begin to figure out what he hoped to gain.
“Nice of you to finally show up, sleepyhead,” he said, pressing his palms together in front of him.
The position felt completely at odds with everything else she thought she knew about him. If he Namaste’d her, she was going to knock him over.
“Feel free to go on without me. No one said you had to be here.”Or that you were welcome, she thought but didn’t say.
He gave her a cocky grin that made her think he’d heard her anyway. Without bothering to ask if he was ready, she stepped into mountain pose, feet planted flat on the ground shoulder width apart and arms above her head. She took a slow, deep breath, feeling the earth below her and the sky above, for a moment perfectly balanced between the two. On her exhale, she bent at the waist, keeping her back flat as she stretched her fingers out in front of her, elongating her spine. She shifted her weight, opening her hips and feeling the stretch start in her hamstrings. Taking another breath, she let it out and dropped, bending completely at the waist and letting her fingertips skim the grass before sinking deeper into the stretch.
She pressed her palms flat to the ground and heard Liam’s breath go out on a groan. Worried he might have hurt himself by trying to keep up and stretching too far, she raised her head just enough to glance back at him. Instead of seeing his face contorted in pain the way she’d expected, she caught him staring at her butt.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she said, rolling up to standing. “Stop looking at my butt!”
She ought to be incensed. She probably was and just didn’t know it. But there was something about the naked appreciation in his gaze that made the breath catch in her throat and turned her core molten. It had been a long time since anyone looked at her like that—like he couldn’t stop himself.
“I was trying, baby, honest I was,” he said, pinning her with a gaze that said he wasn’t all that concerned she’d caught him.
She wasn’t even sure he realized he’d let the term of endearment slip, but it worked its way like an earworm into her brain to be played over and over throughout the rest of her day. She didn’t know what he meant by it or how she felt about it, but that wouldn’t stop her subconscious from repeating it on a loop.
“But then you stuck your ass in the air in front of me and I sufferedtemporaryblood loss.” He emphasized the word temporary, and she resisted the urge to punch him. Barely.
“Shut up.” She shook her head, hitting him with her bestyou disgust melook. He grinned back, unfazed. “Move. Up here.” She changed positions with him so they were side by side and then took an extra step back for good measure.
Arching an eyebrow, he glanced at her over his shoulder and then moved from mountain into table before dropping to let his fingers skim the grass. She followed his movements, glancing up just in time to realize her mistake. He might not be able to ogle her in this position, but it put his perfectly bitable ass in line with her teeth. She knew the expressionout of the frying pan and into the fire, but she’d never felt it so acutely.
“Are you doing okay?” he asked, peering around his legs to meet her gaze.
She realized she must have made some kind of noise to tip him off to her predicament, but instead of being offended, he appeared entirely too pleased with himself. The jerk had the nerve to wink at her.
“Shut up and stretch,” she said, forcing herself to forget about everything but the grass in front of her.
They made it through a half hour of yoga, during which she managed not to bite him, knock him over, or let him catch her looking at his ass. Not looking was beyond the limits of her self-control. It was a near thing but by the time they finished with the warrior series, she’d found a modicum of peace.
He trailed behind her into the kitchen like a sexy irritating shadow who she decided to ignore until she had a cup of coffee in her hands. Millie was bent over the stove, pulling two trays of biscuits out of the oven and when she straightened, she smiled, turning her attention past Andy to the hulk hovering behind her. It didn’t matter. Millie could fawn all she wanted as long as no one got between her and the coffee.
“Millie, darling, how are you this morning?” Liam scooted past her, moving fast for a big man, and took the potholder and one of the trays of biscuits from the older woman.
For a moment, Andy felt guilty for not jumping in to help too. Then she remembered help from her in the kitchen was likely to be met with Millie whining about being treated like she was helpless or admonitions not to get in her way. She didn’t seem to have the same qualms about Liam.
“I’m vertical. I don’t suppose I have a right to expect much more than that.” The older woman smiled when she spoke, taking some of the edge off her words. “How about you? Did you have fun trying to twist yourself into a pretzel? I swear, one of these days you’re going to get stuck that way.”
With rare exceptions, Andy had been doing yoga every morning since she moved into the farmhouse and Millie teased her about the pretzel thing every time. Her lips curved against the rim of her coffee mug as she breathed in the deep, rich aroma, enjoying the fact that Millie was giving Liam grief for a change. He laughed, a low, throaty sound that she knew would only encourage the older woman.
“The morning has been pretty good so far. I didn’t get stuck,” he said.
Millie made a tsking noise before turning back to the cast-iron skillets—one full of sausage and another of scrambled eggs—she had cooking on the stove.
