Protecting Dallas

Jocelyn threw me her most seductive wink. “Then go have fun with him.”

Three

HOLLY

“C’mon, three more reps!”

I pushed hard, through the pain, feeling the burn in my thighs as the platform above me moved smoothly up and down. I always loved the leg press machine. The sheer amount of weight on each side made you feel like you could put up really big numbers.

“Two more…”

Except today, when I was doing it for the first time in months.

“Another two…”

“Hey!” I grunted. “You said that last rep!”

“Yeah, well you half-assed that one,” Donovan barked. “I don’t accept half-reps. If you followed through you’d be done by now.”

I reached down into my core and pushed, shoving the weights away and finishing out my set. My perfectly-sculpted trainer engaged the locking clamp just as my legs went limp.

“There you go,” he smirked back at me. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”

I gave Donovan my dirtiest playful look. “No. It was absolutely perfect.”

“Perfection is when I can bounce a quarter off your ass,” he shot back. His look went stern. “But you already know what I’m going to say next, don’t you?”

“Yeah yeah,” I acknowledged. “It wouldn’t hurt this bad if I came on a regular basis.”

He nodded as he threw me my towel. “Damn straight.”

I mopped my forehead as I looked Donovan up and down. As always he was flawless, from his square jaw and handsomely stubbled chin right down to his powerful biceps and rock-hard abs.

Jesus, did his arms get bigger?

It was the first time I’d actually seen him since my breakup. The first time I could really drink him in without feeling guilty, as if I were doing something wrong. Our playful banter was something I looked forward to during our sessions. It was cute and funny, and it also kept me in line.

“Fitness is like a relationship,” he finally winked. “You can’t cheat and expect it to work.”

In reality I wasn’t cheating. I’d been coming the last few weeks, I’d just been avoiding him.

“You avoiding me, Holly?” he squinted.

Shit, it was like he read my mind.

“No sir.”

“Then where have you been?”

“Around.”

“Not around here,” he said. “At least not while I’m in the gym.”

“Why?” I flirted playfully. “You been looking for me?”

Damn. That was bold! It also wasn’t like me at all.

“I look out for everybody,” he smiled. “But you especially.”