That could be considered living in the moment, couldn’t it?
It only took her a few minutes to prepare the fruit and to get the juicer set up. Once that was done, she tossed everything inside, adding two scoops of protein powder and some orange juice, then set her glass in the designated spot and hit the power button.
“Yuck.” The kale caused it to turn green instantly, looking not at all appetizing.
Figuring she had come too far to turn back now, Mia flipped off the switch when it was finished and picked up the glass. She swirled the nasty-looking liquid around as she studied it.
“Now or never,” she said aloud.
Smiling to herself, Mia tipped the glass to her lips and took a drink, nearly spewing the juice through her nose when it proved to taste as disgusting as it looked. Her nostrils flared as the aftertaste lingered in her mouth. Lunging for the open carton of orange juice still sitting on the counter, she took a swig.
Okay, so maybe health drinks weren’t her thing. She probably looked ridiculous. Did people really drink that stuff?
Staring down at the green liquid, she scrunched up her nose at the memory of the taste. She was procrastinating; she knew that much. That was what she did. Especially when she was about to go do something she dreaded, like exercise.
Figuring she would never get it done if she didn’t just go, she grabbed her iPod, her headphones, and her house key before venturing out into the hall. Waiting for the elevator was an exercise in futility, and she was half tempted to go back to her condo rather than wait. But finally, it arrived on her floor, blessedly empty.
She hit the button for the second floor and waited, watching the countdown of numbers above the doors. When they finally opened, Mia stepped out into a plush entry that rivaled the lobby on the first floor, with its dark hardwood floors and soothing taupe walls with bright white, modern trim. There was even a vase of fresh flowers on a small table beside the keypad. Mia moved in that direction and punched in the four-digit code she’d selected when she had moved in. There was a click when the lock on the glass doors disengaged, allowing her entry. She walked in to find there were two people there, one older man on a treadmill and another guy in the corner with the free weights, his back to her so she couldn’t see his face. Neither of them were paying her any attention.
Mia didn’t really have a preference when it came to cardio equipment, usually favoring no equipment to any of the fancy machines in front of her. But she was there for a reason, so she opted to go with the treadmill because it seemed the least complicated to figure out.
It only took her a few minutes to hit the correct buttons, and then finally the machine came to life, and she began to walk. Well, stroll was more like it. Compared to the older guy running full out, she looked like a slacker, so she upped the numbers until she was moving at a brisk pace, but that was where she drew the line. She could easily do this for a little while.
Somehow she managed to put her headphones in and not fall on her ass, so she kept going. It wasn’t long before she realized the older guy had left, and she was alone in the gym with the man still working with the weights. She kept glancing over at him, trying to get a look at his face, but he was well hidden in an alcove lined with varying sizes of weights. Not wanting to get caught staring, Mia focused on the TV in front of her, the one attached to the machine. How did people watch these things? She felt as though she might get seasick trying to keep her eyes focused on the people talking on the screen. She considered stopping, because not wanting to get sick was a viable excuse if she’d ever heard one, but noticed only fifteen minutes had passed. Then again, that was fifteen more minutes than she’d gotten yesterday. And it wasn’t like anyone would know.
She was about to hit the stop button when she noticed movement in the mirror in front of her. She looked up into the reflective glass to see…
Oh, crap.
Phoenix was walking toward her, his head down, his headphones in his ears. She didn’t think he realized she was there until he got on one of the treadmills several machines down. Without preamble, he hit the buttons, and his machine started up.
Trying desperately not to stare, Mia knew she was failing miserably. And when Phoenix’s eyes met hers in the mirror, she knew her first attempt at working out might very well be her last.
To her surprise, Phoenix abruptly turned off the machine he was on and stepped down, then headed toward her. He climbed onto the one beside her, but his attention wasn’t on the machine.
Pulling her headphones from her ears, she forced a smile when she noticed he was still staring at her.
“Good morning,” he greeted.
“Hi,” she said, realizing she was breathless and she’d only been going … three miles an hour. God, she really was a slacker. But Phoenix didn’t know that, so maybe he would think that her rapid pulse and lack of oxygen was related to the exercise and not to the fact that she was once again thinking about that kiss they’d previously shared, or the dream that kiss had clearly morphed into. “I didn’t know you came here,” she blurted out when she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“I usually don’t. I prefer to run outside since it was the one thing I had to fight Tarik on and actually won. He prefers to keep an eye on me, as you very well know. But” — Phoenix nodded his head toward the windows — “it’s raining too hard.”
Now why hadn’t she thought about that? Thanks to the weather, he was forced inside to work out. If she’d known that, she would’ve stayed in bed.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe this was her subconscience’s way of making sure she saw him.
“Oh,” she said by way of response — articulate she was not, but she blamed the treadmill — glancing over her shoulder to look out the window only to notice that Tarik was standing behind her. She squeaked in surprise, grabbing for the rails on the treadmill to keep from going down head-first. Phoenix reached over and stabbed the emergency stop button, saving her from an embarrassing incident. Well, more embarrassing.
“Mornin’,” Tarik greeted in that rough tone she’d gotten so familiar with.
“Good morning,” she whispered, looking back and forth between the two men. They were both standing on the treadmills on each side of her, sandwiching her between them.
Her heart began a rapid thump against her ribs, and she briefly wondered whether or not they could hear it.
“I didn’t know you worked out here,” Mia told Tarik, realizing it was the same thing she’d said to Phoenix.
“Every day,” Tarik answered, leaning back against the rail of the treadmill and crossing his massive arms over his enormous chest.
Someone seriously needed to turn on the air conditioner.
“I usually don’t come here,” she said, realizing they probably already knew that, but she couldn’t stop herself from nervously rambling. Neither man said anything. Clearly they were already aware of her lack of exercise.
“No classes today?” Phoenix asked casually, mirroring Tarik’s stance by leaning against the rail on the other treadmill, his body facing her.
“Nope,” she said, looking straight ahead at the small TV screen, doing her best to appear unaffected by their nearness. It wasn’t nearly as easy as she’d thought it would be. “I suppose you both have to work?”
“Depends,” Phoenix answered with a mischievous grin.
“On?” Mia asked, knowing full well she should ignore him, but she couldn’t.
“On whether or not you want to do something today.”
“Like? It’s raining,” she said, stating the obvious. “So that eliminates anything outdoors.”
Okay, so evidently this working out thing was affecting her brain. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen that was making her ask stupid things. She should not be encouraging this man. Especially not after the dream she’d had … the one that, in her opinion, had depicted what her future would hold if she did.
“There are plenty of things to do indoors,” Tarik stated, and Mia felt her f
ace flame.
Phoenix chuckled, his eyes pinning her in place when he followed with, “Get your mind out of the gutter, little girl. He wasn’t talking about that.”
Mia’s face felt like it was on fire, and she couldn’t take any more. Grabbing her condo key from the small ledge on the machine, she turned away from them both, unable to hide her embarrassment, nor could she keep from laughing.
The next thing she knew, Phoenix’s warm hands were on her bare shoulders, turning her to face him. When she looked up into those glittering green eyes, she had expected to see heat, but what she hadn’t expected to see was the amount of pure, unadulterated, unprohibited desire reflecting back at her.
No man had ever looked at her the way Phoenix was looking at her now.
Except…
Oh, God. Mia’s heart kicked into high gear as she looked up into Tarik’s golden eyes as he stood beside Phoenix, looking down at her as though he was waiting for her to say something.
“What do you say? Want to have some indoor fun? And seriously, I’m talking about something away from your place. And mine.”
Mia swallowed hard and found herself nodding. “Don’t you need to finish your workout?” She looked at Tarik and then Phoenix.
“I’m done,” Tarik told her, his eyes lingering on her lips.
“I’m good,” Phoenix said quickly. “How long will it take you to get ready?”
Glancing down at her iPod, she noted the time. “An hour?”
Phoenix smirked at her. “Just out of curiosity, do you measure in regular time? Or do you use football minutes?”
Mia laughed, understanding what he meant. “When I say an hour, I’ll be ready in an hour,” she said lightly. “Not an hour and a half. I promise.”
“Then we’ll be at your door in an hour. Wear something casual.”
“We?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes, ‘we,’” Tarik said. “It’s time the three of us do something together.”
Her mind once again barreled right into the gutter, and the thoughts she had weren’t related to anything they could possibly do outdoors. Her face flamed once again, and she fought the urge to fan herself as she said, “Okay,” in an incredibly shaky voice.
And just like that, Mia found herself giving in to something she wasn’t sure she could handle. As she walked out of the gym to the elevator, alone, she realized one very important thing.
She didn’t think she was capable of telling these men no.
Ever.
Chapter Seventeen
PHOENIX PURPOSELY ALLOWED Mia to leave before him. As much as he wanted to be around her, he didn’t quite trust himself to be alone in an elevator with her and Tarik. Not just yet. Not after all the scenarios he’d played over and over in his head for the past couple of weeks. He’d been so busy that he hadn’t had time to do much of anything except work. That hadn’t stopped his brain from working double time. He had used the work excuse to keep his distance from Tarik, as well, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to keep away from him for too much longer, either.
Hell, had he known Mia and Tarik would be in the gym that morning, he wasn’t sure he would have come. He would’ve preferred to battle the elements outside than to have to face them, knowing that he couldn’t touch them the way he’d been envisioning for the last fucking month. As it was, he was having a damn hard time keeping his hands to himself.
And he was pretty sure they both knew that.
Not that he was going to let that keep him from seeing Mia today. He was glad to see that things hadn’t fizzled out between them even though quite a bit of time had passed since he’d done anything more than walk her to school. They seemed to still be making progress, and he damn sure wasn’t going into a downhill slide because he couldn’t seem to control himself when he was around her.
He’d seen the heat generating in her blue eyes when she’d noticed him, the same heat that had flowed like lava when she had realized Tarik was there, as well. He got the strange suspicion that she wanted to see where this might lead as much as they did, although she probably had no idea what that entailed.
Mia had some hurdles to overcome; even he realized that. She’d recently gone through a divorce, and she hadn’t been all that keen on giving him the time of day a few weeks ago. Hence, the reason he had managed to put some space between them. He wanted Mia to have time to think, to ensure that she knew what she was getting herself into. Granted, he hadn’t expected her to figure it out quite so quickly, but the way she’d been looking at him and Tarik, Phoenix had to believe she was at least entertaining the same things they were.
Not that he should’ve been entertaining those ideas. He was supposed to be transforming his life, bypassing those desires that would ultimately get him in the hot seat where the press was concerned.
Too bad he couldn’t bring himself to care.
At this point, he only wanted to spend some time with both of them, something that didn’t involve work. Even if it meant they would all have their clothes on the entire time.
After another session with his hand last night, when he had fought the urge to go to Tarik’s condo, to indulge in him the way he’d fantasized about more often than not over the course of the last month, Phoenix had been left still aching for something more, but he knew that they would both be so worth the wait. He had to believe that, because he’d finally resigned himself to seeing where things went … with both of them. Together.
That was, if Mia agreed.
He’d felt her passion in the way she had kissed him, how pliant she’d become, how easily she’d given herself completely to him, and he wondered what she’d be like pressed between him and Tarik, naked and writhing…
The blood once again rushed from his brain to his dick, and Phoenix wished like hell there was a way to alleviate the throb, but in the same sense, he wanted it there as a reminder of what was to come. Pun intended.
Phoenix followed Tarik out of the workout room without either of them saying a word. They got to the elevator, and Phoenix managed to push the button, still completely silent. He wondered if Tarik was thinking the same things he was.
When he stepped into the elevator, Phoenix prayed that his mother wasn’t upstairs waiting for him.
“I’m gonna take a shower,” Tarik imparted, stabbing the button for his floor before entering the code for the penthouse.
“Me, too.”
The way Tarik’s eyes darkened told Phoenix he had indeed been thinking the same thing. As tempted as he was to pull Tarik into his shower and lose himself for a little while, he knew they didn’t have time. He would not keep Mia waiting.
“What are your plans for today? I take it you want me to clear your entire schedule.” Tarik leaned against the elevator wall and crossed his arms over his chest, staring back at Phoenix.
“Clear it completely. I’ll be done in a few.” Unsure how long he’d be able to resist Tarik, Phoenix knew he needed to get away from him.
“Don’t touch yourself while you’re in there,” Tarik said, his eyes focused on Phoenix’s face, his voice low, commanding.
An insistent throb started in Phoenix’s cock, causing it to thicken. “And if I do?” he countered.
“Don’t. It’s not an option.” Tarik’s no-nonsense tone did something strange to Phoenix, leaving him feeling a little more desperate than he had been five minutes ago. And he didn’t know what the hell to do about that.
“Meet me upstairs when you’re done,” he told Tarik when the elevator stopped on the thirty-third floor, needing to maintain some semblance of control.
As always, once Phoenix reached his condo, his routine only took him twenty minutes — and he had managed to keep from jacking off, although he had wanted to do it merely to defy Tarik — and when he emerged from his bedroom wearing jeans and a T-shirt, Tarik was already there, looking at him with that same heat flaring in his eyes.
“Get me a list of things to do indoors,” Phoenix told him, ignoring the urge to s
lam Tarik against the wall and have his wicked way with the man. It was getting so much harder to resist. Ever since he’d given in to the desire and done to Tarik what he’d never done to another man, Phoenix had wanted more. But he wanted Mia, and since he didn’t think it would sit well with her that he was spending his time fucking someone else — man or woman — he’d had to refrain.
“Things? Like what? Active things? Or are you wanting movies and shit?”
“Yes. Physically active stuff,” Phoenix replied, noticing Tarik had put Phoenix’s coffee mug on the bar behind him. “And movies for later tonight, just in case. At that place in the Domain.” Phoenix retrieved the cup and headed for the living room, taking a minute to stare out the window. The Austin skyline was layered with dark clouds, and rain was coming down in sheets, making it difficult to make out the cars passing on the street far below.
The sound of Tarik’s fingers flying over the keyboard and the gentle hum of the heater were the only sounds in the room, but the noise in Phoenix’s head managed to drown them both out. He’d slept like shit for the past few weeks with all of the jumbled thoughts he was having. First, there was the stupid fucking lawsuit, which, after he’d clearly told Damien Landry to drop it, he wasn’t giving up. Phoenix had received an update on the situation from his lawyers yesterday, but there was nothing really to tell. They were riding it out, waiting for Landry to make the next move.
And of course, there was the emotional whirlwind he was on. It wasn’t normal for him to get involved with anyone for longer than a one-night stand, so this thing with Tarik was weighing on his mind heavily. On top of that, he couldn’t get Mia out of his head, which only doubled the confusion.
He hoped like hell that today he could get some clarity on the direction he was supposed to go from here, because he was beginning to get irritated with the complications. It didn’t matter that he was the one making things exceedingly difficult.
A Million Tiny Pieces Page 17
