by Alicia Banks
“Snapdragons?” He laughed.
“What is so funny?”
“Nothing, I find snapdragons funny. They’re funny looking flowers and a strange choice for a wedding flower, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I don’t judge. If the bride wants snapdragons, then I order snapdragons. The bride wanted snapdragons, orchids, and daisies.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, so we’ve got to order more orchids, because we ran out. Pink and white orchids with pink snapdragons. It should be a beautiful bouquet.”
“Well, yeah, because you’ll put your magic touch on it.” He smiled. She smiled back. She was so beautiful when she smiled. Sweat started to bead on her flesh and that reminded him again of their night together. He wondered if she thought of it, too. He could feel himself stirring again and he cleared his throat, trying to focus on something other than her body. “Why don’t you give it a bump; you look pretty comfortable at that pace and this is supposed to be a workout,” he instructed. She gave the machine a tap and it began to pick up pace. “Good, yeah, go for five more minutes, then wipe it down and I’ll stretch with you. I’m going to go find my balls.”
She raised her eyebrow at him, and he smiled. “Exercise balls.”
“Right.” She giggled as he hurried away.
Chapter 9
Sarai
Sarai finished her five minutes, got off the treadmill, and wiped it down. She had a look around and was amazed by the people around her, all working out. Some had other personal trainers. There were male and female trainers and all kinds of machines. Alistair hadn’t showed her all of them. She noticed one that looked like an escalator. No one seemed to be using it. She walked towards it.
“Not allowed on it without Alistair's permission.” One of the other trainers said. “Try something else.”
“How come?” she asked, curious.
“It’s brand new and he’s the only one who knows how to use it.”
“What is it? Cause it looks like an escalator.”
“Yeah, I have no idea. You got to ask Alistair. He’s the only one who really knows the equipment around here. He’s the boss, you know.”
“Right. Thanks.”
There were a couple of people doing jumping jacks, a couple were jumping rope. There were weight machines, cardio machines, stretch bars, and, of course, in the other room were punching bags and a boxing ring. Alistair came back with two exercise balls.
“Ready to sit on my balls?” He winked and she laughed. “I’ll show you the best exercises to do on them.” He took them to the center of the room where the mats covered the floor. He set them up and sat on one. Sarai sat on the other one. “So, how are you?” He asked looking her over. “You look good. I understand work’s been busy.
“Oh, we’re just going to sit and chat?”
“Why not?” He shrugged. “I figured we have some catching up to do, and you didn’t really come here to work out, did you?”
“Yeah, I kind of did.” She laughed.
“Well you can work out after we catch up. I told you I’d keep it open late for you. So, how are you? Any regrets?”
“I’m good, and no, no regrets. You?”
“I’m good as well, no regrets.” He rolled his ball closer to her.
She laughed, taken by surprise. She didn’t know what she had been expecting when she returned, but she hadn’t expected this open flirting he was doing. Had he dealt with his complication? She tried to read him, but once again he was unreadable. He wore a smile, and his eyes twinkled when he looked at her, but she couldn’t tell anything else.
He reached for her hand. “I’ve been missing you, a lot. Can’t get you off my mind. The way you smell, the way you felt, the way you look. I’ve been smitten. Cupid shot his arrow right into my heart.
Sarai, before you, I didn’t think romance and love was in my cards. I thought I would end up like my father, miserable, in a loveless marriage. Now I’m not trying to rush things, or anything, but I feel like you should know how I feel. I know I'm guarded, and I still have the complication I’m working out. If you were to give me a chance, I promise never to hurt you. You’re an amazing woman, Sarai, incredible in so many ways.”
“Thanks!” she blushed. “Yeah, I’ve missed you too. Sorry, it’s been crazy at the shop. We have another wedding, and this one is a very tall order. We have special flowers flying in from Europe, almost daily. Someone has to be there to sign for them and make sure that they are put away so customers don’t try to buy them out from under us. If we have leftovers, we’ll put them on the floor. Like I said, it’s a big wedding, and we have so many bouquets to do; so many boutonnieres, corsages, and table arrangements. Then, on top of all that, they have these huge gold urns that are like six feet tall. A person could easily fit in one of them standing up.” With the mention of the urns, Alistair seemed to get shifty, fidgety. He had nearly lost his balance on his ball.
“We should get back to your training,” he said, standing up. “Ok, this is the way to exercise on these, because they are called exercise balls.” He showed her a few stretches and she caught the look on his face as she stretched over the ball. It a lustful, hungry look. She wondered if the only thing stopping him from taking advantage of the situation was that there were still plenty of people around.
“Right.” He showed her a few more exercises, and then they moved back to the machines. The rowing machine was next, but he thought she’d rather get the leg press out of the way, so he had her do the leg press. While she pushed her legs out, she continued to talk about the urns. “We’re supposed to fill them with water and then top them off with a wreath with hanging ivy vines, snapdragons, thistles, and heather. It’s going to be a breathtaking display. I guess the wedding is outside at someone’s fancy estate. There’s going to be a floral arch, which I have to special order, and then arrange the flowers on it and the tulle. I just love doing wedding flowers. I’m such a hopeless romantic. I believe in fairytales and happy ever after.”
Alistair laughed and she blushed.
“Have I told you how much I hate this machine?”
“It’s good for your legs, keep it up. If it helps, you look super sexy on it.”
“Yeah, no, I don’t, but you’re adorable for saying so.”
He laughed.
“So, other than this hellish wedding you must prepare for, how are things going? How’s your car, did you get that fixed?”
“Yeah. yeah. It got fixed. I’m going to make sure I have a spare at all at times, though. I guess the fact that I didn’t worked out to my benefit. Well, to our benefit.” She smiled.
“Yeah, I’d say it did.” He winked.
“How much longer? I want to do the rowing machine.”
“Give me five more reps and really put power into each press.” He paused. “How open-minded are you?”
“Open-minded? What do you have in mind?”
“Well, like do you get scared easy?”
“No, not very easily.”
“Good.”
“Why?” He didn’t answer, just smiled at her.
Sarai gave it five more reps and then pulled her feet away. She wiped down the machine, stretched her legs, and then sat on the rowing machine and worked it out. She loved that machine so much. To her, it was relaxing and a good workout. “Bend further,” he instructed, “really stretch your back. There you go. Now lean back when you pull back. Good.”
She took notice of his outfit. He was wearing sweats today and a tight black fitted shirt, with fighting dragons. There’s a green one and a red one. The green one had its claws in the neck of the red dragon, holding it pinned beneath its foot. She couldn’t help but notice the green one was a European style dragon and the red one was a Chinese luck dragon. The green one had yellow eyes, and that made her remember how his eyes had glowed the night they had made love.
“Interesting shirt,” she commented.
“Thanks.”
“Your European dragon is
conquering your Chinese dragon. Is there meaning behind that?”
“It’s just a shirt. It’s just a picture of dragons; it doesn’t have a double meaning.”
“Oh.”
“Five more reps, then wipe it down and stretch.”
“Ten more!”
He laughed and shook his head. “Fine, ten more.”
As she continued to row, she took him in. His hair was up. She smiled at the thought of the rock-hard body hiding beneath his clothes. Suddenly all she wanted to do was tear off his clothes. The mats in the center of the room would be a great place to have sex. She blushed.
“What dirty thoughts are on your mind?” he whispered with a wink.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Yes, yes I would.” He smiled.
“Well you’ll have to use your imagination, because I’m not telling you.” She stuck her tongue out and watched something shift in his pants. “Oops.” She giggled. She did her last reps and got off the machine. As she bent to wipe it down, he swatted her behind. She playfully kicked at him and nearly lost her balance.
He caught her, pulling her up and held her against him. She could hear the thumping of his heart in his chest, or was that hers? He turned her around. They stood there staring at each other, their hearts racing. She looked into his mesmerizing eyes. She studied them, searching for any sign of how they had looked the other night, but they looked normal.
“Looking for something?”
“The other night, your eyes, they seemed to change, I think the light of the moon hit them at a certain angle and made them glow.”
“Really?”
It must have been the angle of the moon, what else could it have been.”
He smiled a secret smile. “What else indeed. Now are you going to kiss me, or just stare in my eyes? I’m good either way,” he purred.
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Not now, later. You still have to work out, and I don’t think you’d be able to concentrate after we talked.”
“Ok, later.” Neither moved, neither wanted to. They just kept looking into each other’s eyes. He leaned toward her, their lips about to touch, and then she heard a woman’s voice call to him.
“Alistair!” He turned and released her. A beautiful blonde dressed in heels and a pretty pink slim fit dress walked toward them with a purpose. She waved. Sarai noticed diamonds adorned her neck and ears. Sister. Please tell me she is his sister.
“Phoebe!” He seemed surprised to see her. “What are you doing here? Sarai, I’ll be right back. Get on the bike, don’t forget to stretch first.” he walked toward the girl. “What brings you here?”
“I wanted to talk to you about the wedding, out of earshot of our parents.”
Sarai overheard and her mouth dropped in shock. Wedding? He was engaged. Getting married. He slept with me. How could he! She stood there in complete shock, mouth open, eyes glaring.
“Yeah, I’ve been wanting to talk to you too. We can go to my office.” Alistair didn’t even acknowledge Sarai, as if she no longer mattered.
Everyone was staring, including Sarai, who got a first look at the girl who was supposed to compete with her for Alistair’s affection. She couldn’t help the pang of jealousy as the blond planted a kiss on Alistair’s cheek. This must be the woman the bouquet was for. Somehow, she had assumed she was out of the picture. “Wait a minute, wedding?”
The blonde caught her watching them and Sara swore her blue eyes flashed like Alistair’s had that night when she blinked. Alistair and the woman were headed to Alistair’s office. Instead of getting on the machine, Sarai dropped the towel in her hand and marched for the door. She made a beeline for the bathroom and hid in the stall to call Mickey.
“He’s engaged to be married, and I slept with him!” she said when Mickey picked up.
“What?”
“Alistair, Mr. Dreamy, he’s engaged to be married. His fiancée came by. What do I do now?”
“Leave or wait. How do you know it’s the fiancée?”
“Because she said ‘I want to talk about the wedding, away from our parents’.”
“Oh!”
“I’m such a fool, I can’t believe I gave myself to him. He’s such an ass.”
“Leave, come to the shop, we’ll go out for a drink.”
“I don’t think I can drive. I’m so angry, I just see red.”
“Do you want me to come gets you?”
“No, I’m hiding in the bathroom. I’ll calm down and drive away when I’m ready.”
“Don’t engage him, he’s not worth your time.”
“I won’t.” Sarai hung up. She paced the bathroom trying to calm herself down.
Chapter 10
Alistair
Phoebe and Alistair entered his office. “It’s safe to talk here.”
She glanced around. The office was spacious. He had a standing desk in one corner and a regular mahogany desk. There was a comfy looking couch across from the mahogany desk. There were personal pictures on the wall, pictures of Alistair and his friends on a yacht, Alistair and his buddy climbing Mount Everest, he and his friend on their adventure in Antarctica, playing with penguins, as well as pictures of dragons. There was a large black marble dragon on his desk. There was a dragon print ashtray he used when he felt like smoking a cigar, which wasn’t very often. She noticed everything was fireproof. That made her smile.
“So, this is where you spend all your time?”
“Yes. This is my gym. Come back by tomorrow, I’ll give you a tour, but I’m about to close up for the night.”
“Oh, that’s alright. I have no reason to come here on my own, or ever again. I just needed to speak with you. So, I couldn’t help but notice you were getting pretty cozy with that pixy.”
“What do you want, Phoebe?” he asked curtly. He crossed his arms. “I don’t need to talk about the wedding. My parents are making all the plans, I just have to show up.”
“Is she in love with you? Are you in love with her?” Phoebe fiddled with her diamonds nervously.
“There was mutual flirtation. Does that make you jealous?” Alistair asked, trying to read her facial expressions. Except for nervous fiddling, he couldn’t read anything off her.
“Shouldn’t it?” she said half-heartedly. After a long pause, she added, “After all, I’m your bride to be.” As if it were an afterthought. Phoebe took a seat on the couch across from his desk. She smoothed out her pretty skirt and fiddled with her diamonds some more.
Feeling annoyed and eager to get back to Sarai, he crossed the room to lean against his desk. He crossed his arms and glared at her. “What do you want, Phoebe? I’m working here.”
“I only wanted a minute of your time. I know you’re busy.” She paused and audibly swallowed. “I had to talk to you, I didn’t want to wait any longer.”
“Then talk.”
“Oh, this is just so--”
“Phoebe, spit it out, or get out, I’m busy.”
“That pixy, out there. You were about to kiss her. When I walked in, you were about to kiss her.”
“Yes. Yes, I was. Are we done here?”
“If she’s your girlfriend, you can say so.”
“No. she’s not my girlfriend. Maybe a lover, but not a girlfriend.”
“A recent lover?”
“If you must know, yes.”
“Do you know Teagan Walker?”
“Yeah I know her. She’s one of my shifter clients. She works out here all the time. Why?”
“Well, Teagan is my lover.”
“Really?” Alistair ran his hands through his hair and laughed. He’d never even considered the possibility that Phoebe had her eye on another shifter. “Her?” He smiled again, relief coursing through him. “Why Phoebe, I had no idea. Well, that’s wonderful. I hereby call this marriage off. Now if you’ll excuse me, my lover is waiting for me to come back and kiss her.”
“It’s not that simple, Alistair. There will
be consequences, serious consequences, if we don’t follow through with this wedding.”
“Consequences be damned.” Alistair shrugged. “Our parents’ ways are outdated and it’s time we stood up to them. Don’t worry about our parents. I’ll deal with them. I’m the stronger of the two of us, I can handle it. You do what your heart desires. I’ll do what mine desires and we’ll end this show once and for all.”
“What are you going to say?” she asked, getting to her feet to allow him to hug her.
“That it’s archaic and it’s time to join the new century. That just because we mate with humans or another breed of shifter doesn’t mean we’re going to go extinct, or be tainted. There will always be dragons. How do the wolves feel?”
“I don’t know yet. I think she was waiting for my answer.”
“Well, if it counts or matters, you have my blessing.”
“And you have mine, if you and the pixy take it further.”
“Human.”
“What?”
“Sarai is a human. At least as far as I know she is.”
Phoebe giggled. “Oh, I thought she was a pixy. They live amongst us too.”
“Yes, I knew that. What were you going to do if I wasn’t interested in a human?”
“Take your wrath.” She smiled. “Leave you at the altar.” She shrugged. “Probably get killed by one of our fathers. Which would leave Teagan heart-broken.”
“I will protect you from them,” he promised. She smiled gratefully. He stroked his goatee.
“So, the wedding is off?”
“The wedding is off.” He took her into his arms and hugged her again. “Now we just have to tell the folks.”
“And our lovers.”
‘And our lovers.” He smiled. “You’ll be happy?” He asked holding her at arm’s length.
“Yes.” She said she as she put a hand to his face. “Will you?”
“Yes,” he smiled. “I believe I have found my mate.”
“I believe I have found mine, too. And I am so grateful that I was betrothed to you.”
“I’m grateful as well. Anyone else would have forced me to marry them, even though Sarai has my heart.”
