Her Heart's Desire

She looked surprised. “Oh, sure.”

He stood up, tapped her door, and then moved back. Tiffany waved and drove away.

She decided to take the long way home to give herself some time to process what had happened after their exercise class. Out of the blue, their light, jovial manner had changed to something thick, tangible and most definitely sexual.

Recalling their conversation sent tingles throughout her body. She had never been that suggestive before, but being alone with Ivan after such a hands-on type of class made the nerve endings in her body go supercharged. She could feel an undercurrent. His amber eyes reminded her of a tiger’s, making her wonder if there were a few seconds before being devoured that the jungle cat’s prey stood mesmerized by the sheer hypnotic effect of its golden gaze.

The feeling was similar to observing one of her favorite paintings. The longer she stared at it, the more she wanted to stare.

When she was wrapped in Ivan’s ironclad embrace, the only thing on her mind was that she wanted him to kiss her. Not the quick peck on the lips, but the most thorough, deep, erotic kiss she’d ever had in her life.

*

As Ivan drove home, he thought about his evening. He had enjoyed teaching the seniors’ class—and spending time with Tiffany.

Who are you kidding? It’s the most fun you’ve had in a while.

He thought about the gleam in Tiffany’s eyes when she took him down for the first time. There was such a sense of accomplishment and confidence in her expression that he had to chuckle. Before she got back to business, she took a victory lap around the class that reminded him of Sylvester Stallone jumping up and down in triumph in the movie Rocky. She was something else.

He also recounted their playful banter and how, seconds later, it took everything in him not to grab her and claim her sexy mouth for a searing kiss. His body reacted instantly to the memory of how good she looked. Suddenly uncomfortable at the tightness below his waist, Ivan shifted a few times in his seat.

His cell phone rang. Thankful for the distraction, Ivan answered. “Hey, Cole. What’s up?”

“You done with class?”

“Yeah, why?”

“How about dinner at Giordano’s?”

“Sure. I’ll get us a table.”

Ivan arrived and ordered a beer. As he sipped it, he thought about his social life. GiGi was right. It was pretty boring. It was all work and family obligations. Not that he would ever shirk one of his responsibilities. Ivan was overzealous when it came to doing what was expected of him. The army had amplified that mantra. Still, there was more out there, and it was passing him by.

His thoughts strayed to Debra. Pain and remorse wrapped themselves around his heart like a vise grip.

“You’re scaring potential dates off,” Cole greeted him, sitting down.

Ivan pushed away the melancholy. “I’ll do my best.”

Since they already knew the menu, they ordered a deep-dish pizza with everything on it.

“So how was class?” Cole asked after their server left.

“Good. Tiffany was a fantastic assistant,” he said proudly. “You should’ve seen her.”

“Tiffany helped teach your class? As in, ‘she’s my client,’ Tiffany?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to that whole rule thing?”

“Technically, she’s not my client anymore,” Ivan pointed out.

“Great. Does that mean you’re going to ask her out?”

Ivan was silent.

“Don’t even try to convince me that you don’t want to. You should’ve seen your face when you described your evening. I thought you were going to need a towel to wipe the drool.”