Page 63 of Locke

Oh, fuck no.

“He can absolutely make a move on you in broad daylight,” I growl.

She glances at me over her shoulder.“I’m not going to live in fear, Locke.”

“I’m not asking you to live in fear.I’m asking you to run on a fucking treadmill for one morning.”

She frowns at me.“You can’t order me around.”

“You were shaking like a leaf last night.Terrified.Remember that feeling?”

I watch that hit her hard and she inhales a sharp breath of remembrance.She seems to consider the danger, but then straightens, turning to me with her shirt in hand.

“True,” she says with a bright smile.“But that was last night.This is this morning.”

“Absolutely not,” I say, scrambling out of bed and coming toe to toe with her.

Her eyes travel down the length of my body and had I not just had the mother lode of all orgasms a minute ago, I might try to fuck some sense into her.

Her gaze lifts to meet mine and she tilts her head.“If you’re so worried about it, come with me.”

My eyebrows shoot up.“Run with you?”

“Yeah… it’s only five miles,” she says.“It won’t wreck your legs for the game.”

This is the moment.

It’s where I can take a step back and put space between us.It shouldn’t matter to me that she wants to go running, potentially facing a dangerous stalker who could be lurking out on the sidewalk even as we fight about this.

I could let her go and put that wall back firmly in place.

But yeah… it fucking matters.“Give me five minutes to get my gear on.”

Admittedly, the run was nice and there was no stalker ex-boyfriend waiting to jump her.Or maybe there was and I just didn’t see him.I was on high alert as we ran along the city blocks around the hotel and I never fully relaxed into it.

Even as we walk to cool down, my eyes shift left and right.

“Want a juice?”she asks, veering into one of those health food stores that serve quinoa bowls and wellness shots.

I follow her inside, studying the seventeen options on a chalkboard, all of them with names like Morning Clarity and Green Reset.They all sound horrible.

“Get the one with ginger and turmeric,” Livia says from beside me.

“Sounds disgusting,” I say truthfully.

She smiles up at me.“It’s good for inflammation.”

Well, she is the director of Human Performance and who am I to argue, so I order the one with ginger and turmeric.

“I’ll have the same,” she says.

I lean forward to pay and Livia tries to object to me buying hers but I ignore her and tap my phone on the terminal, the chime indicating the payment was successful.We take our drinks outside and find a table with an umbrella to shield us from the LA sun.

Livia puts the straw in her drink and I note the run has her color up.She looks even more vibrantly beautiful.

I take a drink of the juice and… it’s actually good, but I don’t tell her that.

“What are you going to do about Grant?”I ask.