Her eyebrows rose to nearly her hairline. ‘A scale? Uh-uh.’
He took a deep breath. He dealt with this kind of a reaction all the time, but it still tested his patience. ‘Roma, I told you that we need baseline measurements so we can watch your improvement over the weeks.’
Her ponytail swished as she shook her head. ‘Uh-uh.’
‘Come on,’ he said in his best soothing voice. ‘It’s not that big of a deal.’
‘For you, maybe. For me, it’s huge.’ She looked at the scale in distaste. ‘Just about as huge as the number that’s going to pop up if I step on that dang thing.’
Jake propped a hip on his desk and settled in for the battle. She was cute when she was stubborn, but he could outlast her. ‘I really don’t care what the actual number is. I only get concerned about weight when a client is obese, and you, sexy thing, are not obese.’
Her cheeks turned as pink as the flamingo on her shirt, and she folded her arms defensively. ‘If you don’t care, then you don’t need the number.’
Damn, she was quick. ‘OK, you’ve got me there. It’s the change in weight that we want to track, but I’m more concerned with your lean body mass and percentage of fat. The three are interconnected. I’ll need to track them all if I’m going to be of any help to you.’
She didn’t budge.
He sighed. She was beyond stubborn. Reasoning wasn’t going to work with her. He had to go for the jugular. ‘I thought you came here for a reason. Wasn’t there something about a reunion?’
Her mouth flattened into a straight line, and she glared at him. ‘That’s not fair.’
He recalled her saying the same thing outside, and he shifted uncomfortably on the desk. He was still half-hard from their little grope session. That tongue of hers was nimble. ‘Do you want to get in shape?’ he asked gruffly.
Her lips formed a pout that was more enticing than she knew. ‘Yes.’
‘Well, get your sweet tootsie up on that scale.’
Conflicting emotions crossed her face, but she wasn’t willing to crumple just yet. ‘Turn your back. I’ll do it myself.’
‘Fine,’ he conceded. He handed her the chart and turned his back. He heard her step onto the scale. She fiddled with the weights, and he heard a groan. There was the sound of pencil on paper and then she quickly covered her tracks by resetting the scale back to zero.
‘Here,’ she said belligerently. ‘Satisfied?’
He let her surly attitude bounce right off of him as he took the clipboard. In no rush, he flipped the pencil around and erased her handwriting.
‘What are you doing?’
She bounded over next to him and nervously peered over his shoulder as he wrote the correct weight in the box. He fought the smile that pulled at his lips.
‘How did you know that?’ she squealed.
He jerked his thumb towards the wall. ‘Mirror.’
She whirled around, and he used the distraction to whip a tape measure out of his back pocket. He could only imagine how much she was going to fight him on this.
It had the potential to be damn fun.
Unfortunately, she heard him when he tried to sneak up on her. She twirled around, and he held his hands up innocently.
‘What are you doing?’ she snapped.
She saw the tape measure before he could explain, and her eyes rounded as if it were a poisonous snake. Her hands came up to ward him off, and she began to retreat. ‘Get that thing away from me.’
This time, he couldn’t hide his smile. ‘It won’t bite – but I might.’
‘Oh, you’re a funny guy. So, so funny. Back off.’
He took a step towards her. He knew how to fight dirty. ‘Reunion.’
‘You…You…’
‘Reunion,’ he repeated. He took two steps towards her.
‘Stop it.’
‘Ree-ewe-nyun!’
‘Ah, crud.’ She stopped in place, and her shoulders sagged. ‘You are a mean, mean man.’
‘I like to think of it as being focused.’
She chewed on her lower lip. ‘Is this really necessary?’
‘Absolutely.’
Her fingers opened and closed as tension wove through her.
‘Oh, all right. Just make it snappy.’ She planted her fists on her hips, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. ‘But if I hear you breathe a word of this outside of this room…’
‘I know. My ability to have children will be severely limited.’
‘Just as long as we’re clear.’
‘As a bell. Remember that filing cabinet? This will all be locked up right over there.’
She looked at the cabinet as if trying to see how secure it was.
He took a cautious step towards her. ‘I’ll make it fast. Just lift your arms.’
He stared at her almost dumbfounded as her arms came up obediently from her sides.
Well, that was almost too easy.
Before she could react, he grabbed the tent with both hands. The flamingo crumpled as he whipped it up over her head and tossed it behind him.
‘There,’ he said. ‘That’s better.’
He let his gaze run down her body as she sputtered and, for a moment, forgot to breathe.
This was much better.
She wore a jog bra that put Victoria’s Secrets frilly confections to shame. The thing was an absolute engineering wonder. It lifted, bunched, and propped things up in a way that made his mouth go dry. Her breasts jutted outwards from her chest like twin soldiers leading the charge.
And as he watched, her nipples poked out to salute.
‘Hel-lo,’ he said slowly.
He had more than one idea on how to salute back.
Roma crossed her arms over her chest. She’d been right about nipping out. Even the super structure of her sports bra couldn’t contain her perky nipples. This was yet another reason why she’d worn that T-shirt.
She leant to look around him for her flamingo. Maybe if she faked him out…
‘You’re not getting it back,’ he said, squashing that idea. His gaze had yet to leave her chest. ‘Come on, now. Arms up.’
‘You gotta be kidding me.’
‘The sooner you let me take these measurements, the sooner it will be over.’
She wasn’t going to fall for that trick. Having him know her weight was bad enough.
He ran his finger over his bruised cheekbone, silently manipulating her. ‘Do it for me?’
Damn the man! Roma felt herself waver. In this light, the purple of his eyelid looked nearly neon blue.
‘The longer we stand here, the longer I’m going to stare at your boobs.’
Her spine stiffened.
‘Unless you like having me stare at your boobs.’
Her arms whipped out to the sides. ‘You are a fiend.’
‘I’ve been called worse.’
She bit her lip and looked blindly over his shoulder as he came close. This was just awful. A virtual Adonis was analysing her doughboy form. Darn it, she shouldn’t have had that piece of cheesecake last night. It had just looked so good at the grocery store, and she’d been embarrassed about yesterday, nervous about today…
He slipped the tape measure under her arms and around her back. Her wandering thoughts snapped back to the here and now when his hands brushed her chest.
What the –
He was measuring her bust line! Her breath caught on a sharp inhale.
‘Stop trying to impress me,’ he muttered. ‘Exhale normally.’
‘Hey!’ she snapped as the back of his fingers rubbed her left breast. ‘Hey, now!’
‘Stop fidgeting.’ He pulled the tape measure so it was snug across her bust.
‘I…I…Oh!’
His fingers traced the line of her bra where her breasts plumped out over the top, and heat spread out along her skin. As if they hadn’t felt huge before, her breasts suddenly felt heavy and all tingly. They were swelling to his touch.
He paused, and her eyes flashed t
o his face. The sharp interest in his blue stare nearly brought her to her knees.
‘I hear that when you lose weight, that’s the first place it goes.’
‘I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about being flatchested.’
‘Oh.’ He was still staring, and zaps of energy centred in her sensitive nipples. ‘Well, that’s good. I think.’
‘Definitely good,’ he muttered. He inhaled as if he were having trouble with his oxygen supply.
He seemed to summon his professionalism and lowered the tape measure to her waist. Roma stood still. She wanted to chew up that tape measure and spit it out, but at the same time, he was touching her.
It felt too good to stop him.
Without her T-shirt, she was naked from her ribcage to her shorts. His fingers caressed her waist, and she sucked in her tummy sharply.
Skin to skin. The intimacy was shocking.
He took his time as he wrapped the tape measure about her. ‘See?’ he murmured into her ear. ‘This isn’t so bad, is it?’
Bad, no. Dangerous, yes.
‘Just hurry it up, OK?’
‘You don’t hurry this sort of thing. In fact, you do it twice to make sure you’ve got it right.’
Oh, he was a naughty one.
His hands slid down the sides of her hips and over her backside. He crouched down before her in what could have been a tantalising position, but Roma’s knees buckled when his fingers stroked against what she affectionately referred to as her Thunder Thighs.
‘Whoa!’ she said as she gripped his shoulders for support. His hands caught her hips to help her regain her balance, and the embrace nearly put his face in her crotch. She quickly tried to step back, but he stopped her with a tiny flex of the muscles in those sexy arms.
‘Just a few more measurements,’ he said with a knowing smile on his lips.
‘Do you have to measure me there?’
‘Oh, yeah. Right there.’
His gaze locked on hers as he slowly slid the tape measure between her legs. His palm cupped her inner thigh, and her air began thundering in her lungs. Just a slight turn of the wrist and he’d be cupping her mound. She stood there quivering with his hand pressed high between her legs as he measured her thigh.
Twice.
‘Maybe I should take one more just to be sure,’ he said.
Lord help her.
When he finished, his hand slid slowly down her leg. His fingertips glided over the back of her thigh, her knee and the curve of her calf until finally circling her ankle. Roma couldn’t help but stare as his big hand gently cupped her ankle bone. She’d never felt so feminine in her life.
He cleared his throat and stood. ‘Almost done.’
She tried to get herself to relax, but twittery feelings were coursing through her veins and converging low in her belly. She looked up at him, considering how he’d react if she gave in to the impulse to jump him, but the idea vaporised when she saw him coming at her with what appeared to be pinchers in his hand. ‘What’s that?’ she asked slowly.
‘It’s a fat caliper. It’s the last set of data I’ll need. I swear.’
Fat caliper? She didn’t think so!
Her fluttery feelings took a quick back seat, and she stepped away from him. ‘Don’t you even dare!’
‘Relax,’ he said. ‘It’s not going to hurt. It helps me calculate your body fat percentage.’
She hadn’t expected it to hurt. She’d expected it to be embarrassing. And she’d been right.
She spun around. He’d left her T-shirt unguarded!
He caught her about the waist so quickly from behind that her toes left the ground. Roma let out a strangled yelp. With him holding her as he was, her backside was pressed firmly against his front side. And a very big and excited front side it was.
‘You’re not making this easy,’ he growled.
She hadn’t pegged him as the easy sort.
Roma Grace! her good side chastised. Shame on you!
What? He’s a hot guy.
She groaned. He was hot all right. Her butt felt like it was on fire.
His hold shifted, but he didn’t let her go. ‘Are you going to fight me like this on everything I tell you to do?’
She felt a nip from the pinchers at the back of her arm. ‘Depends on what you tell me to do.’
He let out a low chuckle. ‘Now you’re giving me ideas.’
Ideas that didn’t take a genius to figure out. The bulge was rubbing against her butt ever more insistently.
‘Two more,’ he grunted.
He pulled her back so she was flush against him from her head to the backs of her tennis shoes. Heat flooded her system as his other arm came around her down low. She caught a moan at the back of her throat when he pinched the front of her thigh with the devious device.
‘You didn’t need to make this so hard,’ he said raspily into her ear.
But hard had never felt so good. His cock felt like it was made of steel.
His arms tightened around her, and Roma watched as the hand with the caliper rose to her waist. Her lungs expanded and contracted with every breath. One more. Just one more. She jolted when he suddenly tugged on her shorts. The elastic waistband stretched wide as he pulled one side down to nearly her hip.
She grabbed for the other side as she felt her shorts start to slide down over her butt. ‘Jake!’
He’d pulled them down so far, her panties were showing. She sucked in her belly sharply. The pinchers felt like a makeshift sex toy as he slid them across her skin.
‘Lavender today, huh?’ he said as he looked down at what he’d uncovered. ‘Nice, but I think I liked the pink better.’
Her mouth gaped open. How had he known the colour of the panties she’d worn yesterday?
This was too personal. Way too personal. She squirmed to try to get away.
She gasped when she felt the true strength in those arms clamp down. He held her still as he slid the waistband of her panties down to give him better access. Her face flamed when her blonde curls were revealed.
The caliper slid to a spot a few inches above her hip bone. Her lungs heaved as she watched it pinch her skin. It was only after he was done that she realised that he’d taken the measurement nowhere close to her panty line.
‘You sleaze!’ She kicked back at him with her heel, and he let her go. She darted away, yanking her clothes up as she went. ‘You didn’t need to nearly strip me for that.’
He threw her a wink. ‘For that? No.’
She let out a sound that was nearly a growl and dived for her T-shirt.
He chuckled as he wrote down the measurement on his clipboard. ‘If I’d known you were going to like it so much, I would have started with the pinchers.’
Roma pulled the T-shirt over her head and felt her face flush. ‘Are we finished?’
‘Oh, baby. We’re just getting started.’
She stomped towards the door, but he moved fast. He straight-armed it shut before she could open it. She could feel his body heat as he hovered close behind her.
‘If I’m going to train you, we’re going to do it right,’ he said into her ear. ‘You should know right now that I’m going to work you hard.’
‘Just wait until I start drilling you on your financials,’ she fired back.
She turned around and found herself trapped. He ran a finger along her chin.
‘No more fighting me,’ he warned. ‘If I tell you to do something, you need to do it. That is, if you want to do some ass kicking at that reunion.’
He didn’t scare her. ‘Ever heard of the Internal Revenue Service? I can sic them on you.’
He pulled back.
‘Fair enough, Goldie. Here’s the deal. I’m in charge when we’re in the gym. You can have your way when you’re sitting behind that desk. All right?’
She sniffed and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘All right,’ she finally agreed.
The move brought his attention back to the pink flamingo, and he s
cowled. ‘Good. Now take off that ugly T-shirt. I want to see you sweat.’
Chapter Three
‘Excuse me?’ Roma said in disbelief.
‘Take it off.’
‘You can’t be serious.’ She understood – sort of – why he’d needed access underneath her shirt for the measurements. Bunched-up clothes added to the numbers, and she wanted those puppies as tiny as they could possibly be. This, though, was totally different. ‘I can’t go out there in just my jogging bra and shorts.’
‘Why not?’
‘Why not?’ she snapped. ‘I can think of two pretty good reasons.’
‘Ah, the headlight problem.’
Her jaw dropped. ‘I was counting that as one.’
Flustered, she wiped a hand across her face. If only the red colour would be so easily removed. ‘I’m not exactly in strip-down shape.’
‘Bullshit.’
She was not about to be sweet-talked.
They stood in a silent stand-off until he finally cocked his head and looked at her speculatively. ‘Would it help if I joined you?’
Before she could answer, he reached for the bottom of his sweatshirt. Without an ounce of shyness, he pulled it over his head and tossed it back on his desk. The T-shirt he was wearing underneath was a pale reminder of what it once might have been. The material was so threadbare she could see through it and the sleeves had been ripped off – or maybe torn off by his teeth.
Now there was a picture…
‘No,’ she sputtered, trying to get her thoughts back on track. ‘That doesn’t help at all.’
She was gaping, she knew. She couldn’t help it. There were only so many things a girl could control at once, and drooling was currently at the top of her list. Darn him, he wasn’t playing fair!
‘Your turn.’
‘No way.’
‘Backing out of our agreement already?’
Her eyes narrowed. Oh, she was going to get him for this. Just wait until it was her turn to play boss.
‘Fine.’ Jerkily, she pulled the flamingo over her head. Honestly, it was like giving up a security blanket. She crumpled the material up in her hands and, before she could back down, held it out to him.
Wordlessly, he took it and draped it over the chair. He knew better than to smile. ‘I can see your muscle tone better this way,’ he explained.
High School Reunion Page 4
