***
“I feel horrible about putting you out of your home. I never would’ve agreed to that.”
“Really, it’s fine. I spent years living out of gyms and suitcases. I can crash in a hotel for a couple months.”
“Why’d you live—” He stopped, wagging his finger in her face. “Oh, no. You’re not sidetracking me again. Though you’ll have to tell me that story sometime. Right now, we’re discussing you moving back into the cabin.”
Rayah blew out a breath. “You really will do better if you stay on the property, and the other rooms are taken for at least the next few weeks. The cabin also offers the most privacy, which you said was important to you.”
“I never said I was leaving.”
She frowned. “But you said—”
“I said you should move back in. That doesn’t mean I can’t stay. It’ll be one long sleepover.” His eyebrows wiggled. “I’ll even let you put panties on my pillow every night. If you can call a thong that tiny panties.”
“You would bring that up.” Embarrassment scorched her cheeks.
He laughed. “Come on, I’m kidding. We’re adults. There are two bedrooms. It’s no biggie. We did fine in Sedona, didn’t we? Besides, if today’s any indication, I’ll be too exhausted to do more than try to sneak in cheeseburgers and flirt with you. And you can’t blame me; that was some seriously sexy lingerie.”
“You’ll sneak cheeseburgers into that cabin over my dead body.”
“Has anyone ever told you how hot you are when you go all drill sergeant?”
“All the time,” she quipped, but she winced on the inside. Mostly, she’d been told she was too little to be such a bitch. Like short girls never get mad or something. Puh-lease. Her mom used to say the shorter the body, the shorter the fuse.
She realized she hadn’t hidden her grimace well when Jake nudged her face up with a knuckle under her chin. “Hey, I like to tease and flirt, but I’d never intentionally make you uncomfortable, and I certainly wouldn’t purposefully hurt your feelings.
“Pierce said my teasing wouldn’t bother you, and that if something did bother you, you’d hand me my ass—which, again, so hot. But, real talk? I’m counting on that, okay? If I cross a line, feel free to toss me back over it without fear of legal reprisal.” He frowned at her. “You seem weirdly focused on the potential of a lawsuit, but that’s not my style. Besides, imagine the headlines. ‘Hollywood Hunk Sues Polly Pocket for Assault.’”
“I only commit assault when the guy truly deserves it,” she said sweetly. “Well, assault and battery.” He laughed. She didn’t bother explaining that it wouldn’t be the first time she’d gotten blood on her hands. “And I’m really more of a gremlin.”
He nodded solemnly. “No cheeseburgers after midnight. Got it. And hey, we won’t even have to share the bathroom, you know, with the no water thing.”
“Nice try.” She chuckled, then grew serious. “Your teasing doesn’t bother me. Honestly, if I haven’t killed my team yet, you have nothing to worry about.”
She was used to it. That’s all she was to most men, the funny little sister they could torture or the friend they could use to fine-tune their flirting, because nothing would ever come of it. To them, she looked like a child, a twelve-year-old with big boobs. With one notable exception, and there’d been something insanely wrong with that man.
“Poor Blaine.” Jake sighed. “I’d feel bad for the dude if he hadn’t threatened to choke me with my own small intestines.”
She gasped. “He what?”
“In my sleep.”
“He did not!” Except that totally sounded like Blaine.
“’Fraid so, cupcake,” he replied calmly, as if they were discussing the chance of the Diamondbacks making the playoffs rather than his imminent disembowelment and asphyxiation. “But I’m not worried. You’ll be there to protect me, right?”
***
Especially his cute, sunshiny, and absolute hard-ass new trainer.
Former gymnast Rayah Summers has poured everything she has into her desert dream: a full-service resort that helps people transform their bodies and lifestyles. But a run of bad luck has her on the brink of bankruptcy —and the Hollywood hunk with insanely sexy dimples is all that’s standing between her and disaster.
Now everything depends on her success: her future, her roof over her head, and especially her trainers—who are more family than employees. Rayah can’t afford for anything to go wrong… and no one’s able to explain why Jake Newman keeps collapsing during even the lightest workouts.
Now it’s a balance beam nightmare, with Rayah trying to keep her business afloat—all while managing her staff’s drama, keeping her celebrity client a secret, and not falling for him or his devilishly sexy grin. And it’s just a matter of time before Jake’s secrets threaten not only her dreams, but the chosen family she’s found…
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