by Virna DePaul
His mouth was so full, so perfect, she couldn’t think straight.
When he leaned in just the slightest amount, she kissed him.
Chapter 9
The kiss caught him by surprise. All he meant to do was show her a video but when he sat back, he found Zoe lounging on the sofa, a jaguar with dainty feet tucked underneath her, both hands cupping her glass of wine. A relaxed woman, if ever he saw one. One with clear desire in her eyes and an invitation on her pouty lips.
Though she initiated the kiss, he closed his eyes and dived right into it.
He tasted the sweet tanginess of the wine first, then felt the soft push of her body arching into his, wanting more. So, he gave her more, because he wanted it, too. Drank more of her in, slipping his hand behind her neck and kissing her deeply, feeling a current of energy vibrating between them like connective tissue.
Gabe loved the taste of her lips. He slid his tongue in search of hers, finding himself rewarded with a kiss more delicious than the last. He leaned in, beginning to pull her a little closer, feeling himself falling down the rabbit hole, when she suddenly stopped, as if the timer had run out on the quarter deposited into the carousel ride.
Zoe pulled away and stared at him with wide eyes.
“I’m so sorry. We can’t—”
Setting her empty wine glass on the coffee table, she quickly stood, bent to grab her sandals, and left a Zoe-shaped cloud where she’d been only a moment before. He didn’t bother calling after her, or trying to talk about it. He let her go—it was clear why she was upset: they’d crossed the boundary of client and trainer.
He listened to her footsteps disappearing down the hall before her door closed. Only then did Gabe lean back, set his feet up onto the table, and let out a sigh.
They’d gotten caught up in the moment, that was all. Hell, not only was she his trainer, but she was now living with him. He couldn't take advantage of that. There’d be no more kisses.
But damn, did he regret that. For a brief time, while they’d been talking and especially when they’d been kissing, Zoe had somehow managed to accomplish the impossible. She’d made him forget about football. Made him forget he’d lost his second family, his hometown, his sense of identity, which had always been tied to his performance as a football player.
For the first time in a long time, he’d felt like a whole person again. He’d felt happy.
Somehow, he had to get that feeling back without needing Zoe to get him there.
He locked up the house, left his sister a note telling her the rest of the sushi was hers if she wanted it, and headed upstairs. He walked right past her room, where the door was closed but the bedside lamp light shone underneath. For a brief moment, he considered saying a soft goodnight as he walked by, but decided against it. As he shuffled past, he heard the muted sounds of her talking. Maybe she had a best friend she was talking to on the phone, telling her she should move out. He didn’t want that—he’d really enjoyed her company today. But whatever happened, he’d accept it. Hell, maybe it would be better for both of them if Gabe found another trainer. She wouldn’t have to worry about crossing professional boundaries, and he wouldn't have to worry that Zoe would distract him from his priority—getting back in tip-top shape so he could dominate at football.
Gabe closed the door to his room, got ready for bed, and found his body ached. He rubbed his shoulder, willing the dull pain to go away. He took one of his prescribed pain medications, which took the throbbing away, but also made him quickly fall asleep.
The subconscious was a beautiful thing, because suddenly, he and Zoe were back on the couch but instead of pulling away this time, she wanted more, same as he did. She rose, stepped over his legs and straddled him. Facing him, she dropped that heated core between her legs onto his crotch and ground down onto him. Breasts pushed against his chest, as she leaned into him and kissed him, deep and full of tongue.
In the dream, she’d been wearing workout clothes, but a moment later, she wore nothing. He kissed his way down her neck, stopping to taste her collarbone, her heartbeat, latching onto one of her breasts. He squeezed them together, pushing her ripe pink nipples as close as he could to take turns drinking from each one.
He pushed his cock up and into her, all the way to the hilt, burying himself deep into that beautiful, sculpted body. And then she rode him, tiny hands gripping his shoulders, her long dark hair tickling his chest, as she worked and used his cock to bring herself higher and higher. Her eyes closed, and he could taste the salty sweat forming on her chest, his nose buried between her breasts. Zoe rode his cock faster, hurtling them both toward climax…
Gabe woke up in a flushed sweat, sitting up in the darkness, panting.
What the fuck? He’d dreamed about her over the past few nights, but none of the dreams had been so vivid. Obviously kissing her had fine-tuned his imagination. His cock was rock hard, so hard it fucking hurt.
And Zoe was right down the hall.
No.
Stay the fuck focused, asshole.
He got up and walked to the bathroom, stripped off his clothes, and turned on the cold shower. As he stepped inside and his erection subsided, Gabe let the water drip all over him, bringing him back to the shocking reality that whether she moved out or not, whether she trained him or not, Zoe had already shaken him to the core.
Chapter 10
The next morning, Zoe and Gabe did their first training session in his home gym. Just as had happened when she’d seen the gym the first time, Zoe practically had an orgasm seeing the beautiful space, especially when she gazed at the sophisticated TechnoGym cardio machines and kinesis equipment, which used cables to work different muscles simultaneously. It was exactly what one would expect an NFL MVP with a multi-million-dollar salary to have. It put Iron Maiden to shame, which only depressed her about her father’s situation even more. She reminded herself that her time in this gym would lead to the refurbishment of the other, if she played her cards right.
Neither she nor Gabe mentioned the kiss the night before, and although there were some awkward pauses in their conversation at first (as well as a whole lot of lingering glances), as soon as they began their session they managed to act normal around one another. Mostly, Zoe kept him busy with mobility and strength exercises, which would have left anyone else gasping for breath. Given his superior stamina, Gabe was never too breathless to talk, but thankfully when he did talk he kept the conversation light, asking her what she liked most about Savannah and working at Iron Maiden. Still, guilt niggled at Zoe. After initially saying he didn’t want her in his house, Gabe had trusted her to come into his home and act professionally and what had she done? At the first opportunity, she’d kissed him, then run away from him, as if he’d done something wrong. Even though he was being kind by not mentioning it, she needed to face up to what had happened.
Last night, she’d talked with her brother, and told him she’d made a mistake moving in and that she was going to tell Gabe that, even if it meant losing the bonus Murph and Gabe had agreed to pay her. Pete had agreed with her decision. Why make things harder on herself, after all? Only her brother didn’t know the degree of debt Zoe was in. He helped with paying for their father’s memory care, but there were still the bills from Iron Maiden, and that was Zoe’s sole responsibility.
Too bad that even now, when she was supposed to be all about business and Gabe’s workout, all she could think about were Gabe’s wide hands on her hips, his lips giving her that sweet, warm kiss. A kiss was tell-all, and from their one brief one last night, she knew there’d be more deliciousness where that one had come from.
“Are we going to talk about it?” Gabe asked suddenly.
Zoe looked up and saw him standing, hands on hips, obviously having stopped in the middle of doing a mind-boggling amount of burpees.
Zoe sighed and swallowed hard. She’d been going to wait until they finished their session before saying something, but looked like now was the time. “I take full responsibi
lity for what happened last night, Gabe.”
“Full responsibility, Zoe? Really? Because I think it was my tongue in your mouth.”
She flushed. “Yes, well, I initiated the kiss and I hadn’t even been moved in for 24 hours.”
“You initiated it and I returned it whole heartedly. I’m damn glad you kissed me, Zoe. I’ve been wanting to kiss you since the moment I first saw you.”
His bold statement filled her with pleasure, but only momentarily. “Well, you didn’t and for good reason. Because we’re working together, and we really need to stay as professional as we can. That means as much as I appreciate your offer to let me stay—”
“Why?”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
“Why do we have to keep things completely professional when we’re obviously attracted to one another? There’s no official rule against a trainer and client hooking up, is there?”
“I have a rule against it. Because my career is important to me, this job is important to me, and if lines get blurred, things will be awkward at best–just think of how we started this session—or contentious at worst. I don’t want to take the chance that something goes wrong between us personally and you decide to let me go or worse, bad mouth me to the entire Savannah Bootleggers organization.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Gabe gritted out.
“I don’t think you would, but sex changes things, Gabe. You can’t deny that. There’s also the fact that I don’t have casual sex. And given you just moved here and your focus is obviously football, I’m assuming you’re not looking for any kind of commitment. Am I wrong?”
Gabe stared at her, looking like he wanted to continue arguing, but then the air seemed to go out of him. “You’re not wrong. Football is my priority. It has to be. More importantly, I will never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable, Zoe. So please, don’t move out because of what happened. You can trust me.”
But could she trust herself? She wasn’t sure. “Gabe…” she began, her indecision in her voice.
“We’ll keep things professional between us. Nothing more,” he said, his expression now blank, as if he was already compartmentalizing her into her proper place: trainer only, no kissing, no emotion, no anything. And even though she’d just been telling him that’s how it should be, she found she hated the idea.
Zoe bit her lip. “Well, it doesn’t just have to be completely professional between us. We can be friends, can’t we?”
He actually looked like that was the last thing he wanted, but he nodded gamely. “Of course.”
“Then why don’t you finish up that set of burpees and tell me what you think of your new teammates.” Gabe was so great, giving her another chance to prove that she could handle things the way she was supposed to without throwing herself at him. So things had gotten a little out of hand last night. So what? Maybe now that they’d cleared the air, talked about how things were going to be between them, things would be fine.
Gabe sighed, then started doing burpees again. He didn’t speak for a while, but eventually he said, “Most of the guys on the team seem decent. Kyle Young introduced himself.”
“Ooo, Kyle Young who married Princess Arabella of Salasia. That Kyle Young?”
Gabe snorted. “The man’s a GOAT and that’s what you focus on? As the daughter of Kip Reynolds, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
Zoe snorted. “As the daughter of Kip Reynolds, I know that Young is the Greatest Of All Time because last season he had 50 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns, and he was ranked first in total touchdowns for all players. He earned the MVP of the League in his second year and since he took over as starting quarterback the Bootleggers have made the playoffs for the past five years, and of those they won 2 Super Bowls. But knowing all that, I still think it’s pretty cool that he married a princess, mostly because I heard the odds were against them and to win her over he basically stormed a palace.”
Pausing again, Gabe put his hands on his hips and grinned. “Ah, so what you’re saying then is that you, Zoe Reynolds, a woman who almost made me cry after our first workout, are a romantic at heart?”
“I almost made you cry?”
He held up his index finger and thumb to show a small space between them. “This close.”
She laughed. “Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet, Murphy. And yes, I suppose I am a romantic when it comes to the idea that a man would be willing not just to climb mountains but even fight an unbeatable fight to win the woman he loves.”
“Huh.” Gabe tilted his head and stared at her with assessing eyes. “Have you ever felt that way about anyone? That you were willing to fight an unbeatable fight for the one you love?”
Zoe thought of the three serious boyfriends she’d had, and while she’d cared for them, she hadn’t ever told them she loved them. “I hope to have it one day. After I’ve got my life sorted out. Have you ever felt that way?”
He shrugged. “I was only ever serious about one person, and it turned out Renee liked the money that came with being an NFL player, but not the sacrifices that went with it. It was all for the best, though.”
“Right. Because football is your priority,” she said, no judgment in her voice. Everyone had their priorities and falling in love wasn’t always one of them. It wasn’t for her, either. She had to fix her financial situation. Spend as much time with her father as possible. Get Iron Maiden back on track. It was no different than Gabe’s career goals. “It won’t be long before you’re established here.”
“I hope not. Either way, I’m not sure a love like you’re talking about actually exists. But I do know I’d die for my sister. That if I could have saved my parents, I would have died to do so. So maybe it does.”
Staring at him, Zoe saw once again how his eyes darkened with grief when he talked about his parents. She felt that same grief over the slow loss of her father, a man who had loved her but who had always seen his own family, Zoe, her mother, and her brother included, as second best to football. He’d never said it, but it was apparent in the family celebrations and school functions he’d missed. While they’d started to get closer as adults after he’d retired, Zoe had been busy building her own life, and then her father’s illness had begun.
Her heart ached with regret, both for Gabe and Murph’s loss of their parents, what she’d never have with her father again, and also for what she’d never even have the chance of having with Gabe.
He deserved the kind of love they’d been talking about and maybe one day he really would find it.
It just wouldn’t be with her.
She cleared her throat. “Well, why don’t we cool down and then I’ll let you get on your way.”
After their shaky start, Zoe and Gabe settled into a routine. She trained him six days a week, doubling up on two days, and often stopped by his practices to see him play. In their first week alone, he made visible improvement to his range of motion and response time, which caused him to high-five her one day and dub her the GOAT of physical trainers. In turn, she continued to push him plenty, but sometimes he wanted to push even more and she had to rein him in.
Zoe made a point of buying her own groceries, and even picked up some for Gabe and Murph, too. She’d also asked Gabe to deduct some of her training fee to help defray the costs of her staying with them, but Gabe had flatly refused. (“What cost? The bedroom was empty and we’d still be running the A/C, so forget it”). She was incredibly touched by both his and his sister’s generosity.
When they weren’t training, their friendship progressed, as well. Zoe had never grown so comfortable with someone so quick, but it was easy given that Gabe was funny, easy to talk to, and except when it came to his football career, extremely easygoing. They’d often hang out together, eating meals, watching movies, even taking walks around his beautiful neighborhood. Sometimes Murph joined them, but mostly she was gone, doing her sports agent-y things and only showing up to pick up items of clothing, shoes, and other personal items, wave to
them, and take off again.
Of course, Gabe was insanely busy with practice, and Zoe had a busy schedule herself, what with helping out at Iron Maiden, visiting her father, and seeing her brother, but she enjoyed her time with Gabe immensely. Sometimes, however, it was a curse, because the more time she spent with him, the more she liked him.
And the more she liked him as a person, the more attracted she was to him as a man.
At first, she’d found herself avoiding touching him as much as possible during their sessions, but when she realized what she was doing she was ashamed of herself. She needed to touch Gabe in order to correct his positioning or to provide resistance during proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation stretching, which helped create more flexibility in a variety of muscles. So she’d forced herself to stop holding back, and if it meant the two of them sometimes stared at each other a little more longingly than they should, then that was just tough luck. They never addressed their continuing attraction out loud, however, almost as if doing so would open a Pandora’s box of lust, and when they hung out together in their off time, she made it a point to keep a slight distance between them. No more snuggling too close on sofas—she always sat at least a cushion away or even better in his huge armchair while he sat on the couch.
“Opening Day is in a couple of weeks, and that means Cut Day’s coming, as well,” Gabe said one day after they’d just finished up a training session.
She was surprised by the hint of tension she’d heard in his voice.
Cut Day was when every team’s general manager, head coach, assistants and scouts reviewed the team’s roster, reducing the number of players to fifty-three. Every guy on the team anxiously awaited this day to see if they still had a job or if they had to go looking for work somewhere else. But Gabe had just been picked up by the Bootleggers and he was one of the best players in the NFL, even with his injured shoulder. Surely, he wasn’t worried about being cut, was he?
