Tia rubbed her hands together practically gleeful. “Absolutely.”
He looked at me. “You planned this?”
I just laughed. "You scared now?" I teased.
He licked his lips, stroking his beard. "Never. I'm competitive by nature, beautiful."
"It's not a competition though." I tilted my head slightly to the side looking him up and down.
He shook his head. "I don’t believe you."
My brow rose and I placed my hands on my full hips. "Oh really?"
He stepped closer until he was standing right in front of me looking at me with eyes that made my breathing shallow.
"Really, beautiful. You made it one when you brought me here. So—" his voice dipped lower. "What do I win if I excel?"
"The satisfaction of knowing you've done a good job." I smiled.
Remy chuckled. "That's nice, but I would like something more tangible."
"Such as?"
His eyes held mine. "Dinner with me. Tonight."
"Tonight," I echoed with a small sigh. "I'm busy tonight."
"Okay…when aren't you busy? Pencil me in at your earliest availability. Hell, I'll take breakfast too."
Ugh! I could feel the heat flushing my cheeks as he stared at me. He was not going to make it easy to say no to him. I could feel Tia's eyes on us as she watched like this was a reality show.
Sighing again, I nodded. "Okay. Dinner it is. We can figure out a time later."
His smiled widened. "Shake on it." He held out his hand.
I placed my hand in his. He brought it up to his lips placing a soft kiss on top. My stomach fluttered again.
Letting it go he turned to Tia. "Let's do it."
Shit. He had flipped the script on me. I could keep it cute and ease up—let him win. Or… I could make it hard and kick his ass in circuit training. I rolled my shoulders. I may have beeneasygoing, but I wasn't aneasybitch. He was going to work for this dinner.
"I'm ready." I looked at Tia. She knew that look.
Tia’s grin spread slowly when she saw the look on my face. “Oh yeah,” she said, pointing between the two of us. “Now it’s personal.”
Remy rolled his shoulders and stepped toward the battle ropes like a man preparing for war.
“Let’s go then,” he said.
Tia set the timer. “Sixty seconds. Go!”
The ropes cracked against the floor as Remy started whipping them, muscles in his shoulders and arms tightening with each swing. The confidence he had earlier was still there,but now there was focus too. Sweat started rolling down his temples.
“Faster!” Tia called.
Remy gritted his teeth and pushed harder.
I was right there with him, pushing past the burn in my arms.
