Tempt The Playboy (Tempt 2)

When I close the door and walk past the locker rooms, I check into the yoga studio that’s on the other side. I open the door to see Stephanie is in the middle of her hot yoga session. The room is huge, with one wall being floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the garden I have outside. The natural light coming in bounces off the wall that has the mirror all across it. There are about twenty people in this class. Hot yoga is a vigorous form of yoga performed in a studio that’s heated to one hundred and five degrees and has a humidity of forty percent. The formal name for hot yoga is “Bikram yoga.” It’s the biggest craze right now. People usually just dress in sports bras and shorts. Anything else would be too much. On one wall hangs a picture that says, “You are one yoga class away from a good mood.” While on the wall where the door is hangs “Yoga Every Day.”

I know she’s at the end of her class since they’re doing the stretching part. I close the door, going back to the reception desk where Kathy is now sitting.

“Hey, girl,” she greets me with a smile.

“Hi there, sunshine. Can you add Mr. Bison to the same time next week?”

She takes care of everything that needs scheduling in here and also does the Pilates class we host on the weekends.

“You have a private group session starting in twenty minutes with three moms. Then I have to cancel the Pilates class on Saturday. My parents are coming in and I can’t get out of it.”

I look at the clothing rack we’ve set up, organizing it by color. “Don’t cancel it. I can do it.” I smile over at her. “I’ll bring Rachel in. She loves walking around shouting at people to just breathe.”

“Oh, that’s even better.” She continues posting about things on our Facebook page and putting a silly picture of me on the Instagram page. I run out of the studio at two-thirty, making it home at the same time as the bus pulls up.

Rachel is the first one to bounce off the bus. “You almost forgot us.” She skips over, her big backpack over her head. Her arms barely make it around my waist. My hand cups her head while I lean down to kiss her.

“I was waiting for you in the car.” I pretend.

“Sure, Aunt Kay.” Gabe, my nephew, comes up the driveway bouncing his soccer ball. “I saw you swerve in right before the bus stopped.”

“Hush it, kid, or I’ll make you eat tofu raw.” I dare him while he makes a grimace with his face. I’m a full-fledged Vegan. The kids, however, are not, and let’s not even start with Lauren.

“Why don’t we go in and wash our hands, grab a snack, and go do some poses in the backyard?” I lean down, picking up Rachel. “Whatcha say, Rachie, want to learn downward dog?”

She throws her hands up in the air. “Yes, I want to do the dog.”

I laugh at the same time that Gabe does. “Don’t say that out loud.”

We go inside where I make them wash their hands and cut up some apples and cheese. I tried to pass them the vegan cheese, but they caught on and made me cut the normal cheddar one.

“I think I’m going to try a new recipe for dinner tonight to surprise your mom.” I turn to the fridge where I spot the three bottles of wine I bought yesterday, and it’s a good thing I got a text from her today saying that she needed it. “So what do you guys think about cauliflower?” I turn, nodding my head. “Yum, right.”

Rachel holds her nose. “Yucky.”

I pull up my phone, taking out a recipe. “Go start your homework and when I finish we’ll go outside.”

They both push away from the counter, going to the kitchen table where they take out their stuff.

I take out the cauliflower, wash it, and cut it in little pieces, mixing some spices together and drizzling them with oil. I wash my hands and set the oven. “Okay, rugrats, we have thirty-five minutes before I have to take it out. Let’s go outside and soak up the sun.”

“I want to do the dog, please.” Rachel runs to me with her yoga mat.

“Let’s go do downward dog, okay?” I walk outside, closing the door behind us.

Gabe runs out with his soccer ball, throwing it on the grass and practicing with it.

“Okay, Rachel, let’s start.” I go through about five or six exercises, then we lie on the grass together while we watch the clouds float by, trying to decide what they look like.

“I’m going to get water,” Gabe says as he opens the door. “Auntie Kay, there’s something smoking,” he says with panic.