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Crossing my arms over my chest, I tried to fight the warring emotions behind my ribs.
Leave now was the thought battling for dominance, but my curiosity and the completely mesmerizing way she moved held my feet firm on the ground.
No. Not curiosity. Attraction disguised as something far more innocent.
My gaze caught the edge of her high cheekbones and the sculpted line of her jaw. Even from where I stood, I could see how tightly she clenched that jaw, and I wanted to lay my hands on her shoulders and tell her to relax and breathe.
If I tried hard enough, I knew exactly how it would feel if I did. If I drew my thumbs down the line of her neck to unlock the muscles she was holding so tense. She’d go pliant if I did that. If I treated her with softness.
But I didn’t want to see her melt. Didn’t want to see her go into some sweet, tender place.
The fire in her was palpable, and I knew I was about to walk into it.
It was that instinct that had me leaning down to snatch the focus mitts that laid on the ground next to the ring. The remote for the stereo was on the floor by her bag, and as much as I didn’t want to get a roundhouse kick to the face from Isabel Ward, my own seething anger at her leaving the door unlocked had me approaching from her blind spot.
Just to see what she’d do.
Just to see what would happen.
It was stupid. And nothing, not a single thing, had excited me this much in two years.
If this was my chance to see the real, unguarded version of her, I would not waste it. And later, I could curse myself for a moment of weakness.
I shoved my hand into one focus mitt and rolled my neck before sticking the second one on.
When she drew her leg back and kicked the bag with such force that my eyebrows popped up, I held one mitt up to protect my face and touched her shoulder with the other.
With a roar fit for an Amazon, she whirled, glove aimed right at my face. I yanked my hand to catch the right cross on the mitt.
“Not bad!” I shouted over the music. “But next time, go for an uppercut off your back leg.”
Her chest was heaving, her blue eyes wide, and she kept her gloved hands at guard.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” she yelled.
I gestured to the door. “Anyone could’ve walked in here.”
Her eyes narrowed in a vicious glare, and for just a moment, I couldn’t help but glory in how well she wore anger. Isabel tugged off a glove, then reached down and snatched the remote, turning the volume down to a more manageable level.
Neither one of us spoke, but Isabel was breathing heavily. Since I’d seen her earlier, she’d pulled off her gym T-shirt and stood in front of me in a sweat-soaked purple bra and black leggings. I hated that I noticed, and because I did, I kept my eyes firmly on her face.
This was, without a doubt, the absolute last fucking thing I needed.
And it was the only thing I wanted from her.
No more tiptoeing. No more leaving her be.
Isabel broke the stare first, setting her hands on her hips and letting out a weighty exhale. “This just … figures, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
“You!” she yelled, lifting her head, eyes blazing. “Of course you’d show up right now.”
I stepped around her, and she moved as I did, keeping her front foot centered toward me, just as she should have. “You got a problem with me showing up at my own gym?”
“At the moment? Yeah.”
I held up a glove. “Show me.”
