For 100 Reasons (100 3)

We exit the gym through the back door near the lockers and fully equipped fitness room. Heading up the corridor, I show her the center’s six-lane swimming pool and another room that will be used for aerobics and yoga classes.

She glances up at me as we move through one empty area to the next. “Are we the only ones here today? I don’t see any workers.”

I nod. “Finish construction wrapped up a few days ago. Except for one or two final punch list items, everything’s in place and waiting for the ribbon-cutting this week. Tomorrow there’ll be some folks from the media coming through for photos and press releases, but right now we have the whole place to ourselves.”

She smiles. “You mean we could skinny-dip in the pool and no one would be the wiser?”

My cock stirs to swift, full attention. “We might want to make sure the security cameras are turned off first.”

I indicate the small black devices mounted high in the corners of the corridor and the activity rooms. Avery laughs and waves at the one above our heads.

“Come on, I’ll show you the rest.” I place my free hand at the small of her back. Then I lean down until my lips brush her ear. “We’ll return to your very excellent idea about getting naked after the tour.”

We move on to the second floor, which houses a computer lab and library as well as study rooms where latchkey kids and other youth in need of somewhere to go will find comfortable chairs and quiet areas for homework or just a place to get away.

Avery soaks it all in, looking at me with wonderment in her soft gaze and her voice. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

She hasn’t hidden her enthusiasm at all since we began our tour, nor does she seem the least bit bored as I’ve pointed out the minutiae of various building details and the many activities the center will provide.

We’re paused in one of the cozy study rooms when she exhales a tender sigh and lays her hand against the side of my face. “Do you have any idea what a gift you’ve created for this community? You’ve done something truly remarkable here, Nick.”

Her approval touches me more deeply than I’m prepared for. Even though we weren’t together to share in the actual construction of the rec center, touring it with her now feels as though she is a part of it with me. It feels natural and right that she and I should share this together, just the two of us.

I kiss her, savoring her kindness and the sweet taste of her. How I managed to go the entire year without the feel of her lips against mine, I have no idea. It’s not easy to break the contact. Harder still to put the thought of making love to her out of my mind when all I want to do is drop the box in my hand and bury myself inside her right here where we stand.

But I wasn’t joking about the cameras. They’re installed for the safety of the center’s patrons as much as they’re in place for insurance requirements.

I groan and force myself to draw away from her delectable mouth.

“Do you want to see more?” My voice is gravel in my throat, all of my blood vacated from my head to the massive bulge straining the zipper of my suit pants.

“I want to see everything you’re prepared to show me, Mr. Baine.”

I chuckle and take her hand in mine. As we ride the elevator back down to the main floor, I try to distract myself with the tour guide spiel I’ll be reciting for the press tomorrow. “Beyond athletics and study, we’ll also have creative classes for the kids. Dance, drama, art.”

“Sounds great,” she says as we alight from the lift.

I nod. “We’ll also have a gourmet chef on hand to cook meals for the kids who need them and to instruct the ones who want to learn their way around a kitchen.”

Avery’s brows rise as I bring her to a pair of swinging doors and push them open. She stares for a moment, then on a gasp she walks past me into the industrial-size professional kitchen designed to my personal specifications.

“Holy shit.”

She strolls by the multitude of stainless steel gas ranges, grill tops, ovens, and prep counters that dominate one entire side of the kitchen. On another side of the massive room is a walk-in freezer with more square footage than most of the apartments in this neighborhood, and a wall of built-in refrigerators with food storage space ample enough to feed an army.

I set the box of hardware down on a nearby counter and follow behind her as she peruses every square inch of the place. “I thought all of this gleaming metal might seem cold and clinical to the kids who come in here, so I had a craftsman come out and build all of the teak cabinetry and pantry shelving.”

She walks over to it, running her fingers lightly over the clean lines of a cupboard. Then she lets out a soft exhalation and shakes her head. “There’s no way to open any of these cabinets or drawers.”

I lift my shoulder, my smile sardonic. “Do you know your way around a screwdriver?”

She grins back at me. “I think I can manage.”

“Good. You’re hired.”

I go and fetch a hand drill and the other things we’ll need from a toolbox stowed in the janitorial closet, then Avery and I set to work measuring and installing the hardware.

It feels good to have her next to me, completing something as a team. She’s careful and exacting, her eye for detail even more meticulous than mine. But it’s not just Avery’s nature that makes her treat this simple task as if it’s the most important thing in the world.