Page 21 of You Know You Wanna

I did my best to pay equal attention to the other participants, but I knew I was paying a lot more attention to him than the others. The man drew me in with his own gravity. Even when I was nowhere near him, I couldn’t stop my eyes from roving his way, tracing the hard lines of his body.

I corrected others, walking up and down between them, and I demonstrated one pose after another. All the while, my eyes kept darting back to him like a hummingbird. By the end of the class, I dismissed everyone, but I’d already decided that I was going to try to spend some more time with him today.

“What are you up to now?” I asked as I rolled up my mat and watched him do the same. “I’m going to try to catch up with Jenna and the kids. She can always use an extra hand and I love hiking with them. Do you want to join me?”

“Sure,” he said, shrugging those broad shoulders before he wiped some sweat off his brow with the back of his strong forearm. “I just need to fill up my water bottle before we take off. That was a lot more taxing than I expected.”

“It’s a different kind of strength,” I said, picking up my own water bottle and motioning him toward the cooler in the corner. “You can fill up over there.”

He nodded, stowing his mat before refilling his bottle. Then he held out his hand for mine and filled it up for me. When he handed it back, those eyes roamed over my figure again but not like he was checking me out. More like he was inspecting me for something.

Even so, having that gaze studying me so intently made me shiver and I had to fight the urge to turn in a slow circle like a damn show pony displaying my powerful thighs. When his eyes came back up to mine, I arched an amused eyebrow at him.

“Find whatever it was you were looking for?”

He didn’t even try to deny it, simply shrugging a shoulder as he started toward the door. “Actually no. You make it look so damn easy. I was just wondering where you hide your muscles.”

“Oh, they’re under a bit of padding,” I joked. “And it’s not all about bulging biceps and six packs, you know. Power comes from the breath.”

He chuckled dryly. “I think I’ve just learned that lesson.”

As we left the studio, the heat hit me like a plank over the head, but I embraced it, tipping my head back to catch some sunshine on my face and sighing happily. “Isn’t this just the best? Waking up to yoga and a hike, all while surrounded by some of the most beautiful nature on the planet?”

I glanced at him. He was watching me and he quickly turned toward the path, looking around at the canopy of branches overhead as he nodded. “It’s definitely growing on me, alright. I had forgotten how much time I used to spend outside as a kid. It’s nice. For a summer, anyway. I’m not sure I’d be able to live here permanently like you.”

I laughed, bumping my hip playfully against his as we reached the start of the trail. “You’re just jealous. Anyone could live here, or are you just missing the skyscrapers and the fumes in the air?”

He thought about it for a beat before he responded, looking at me but not nearly as playful in return. “I don’t miss those things in particular, but I do miss solid cell service. Have you ever considered⁠—”

“No,” I interrupted him, laughing. “We don’t want better service. We like it just the way it is. In case of emergency, it’s not like we don’t have service at all and our landlines work just fine, but we’re happy with not having technology distracting us all day long.”

“Do your guests not mind it?” he asked curiously. “Surely, I’m not the only person who’s ever wanted to get some work done while I’m here?”

“No, you’re not, but that’s what the business center is for and your reception should be strong enough in the suite?”

“Well, it’s better than it was at the cabin, but it’s definitely not what I’m used to back home,” he said, brow furrowing in thought. “I suppose you can’t miss something you’ve never had, which is probably why it doesn’t bother you so much. I envy you that, I think.”

“Maybe you should make this an annual thing,” I suggested. “Once a year, you and Laurene can come up here and switch off. Connect with nature and each other. Do some yoga. It could be just what she needs and I’m sure it’d help you as well. Your muscles are all knotted up like a pretzel.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” he mused, surprising me again today by how forthcoming he was being.

The fact of the matter was that he was still kind of a grouchy guy. He had that controlled personality type that made me wonder when the last time had been that he’d really just cut loose, but I appreciated his practicality, his honesty, and the dry sense of humor I’d caught glimpses of here and there.

“I’m not sure Laurene would enjoy it, though,” he said after a brief pause. “She seems to be quite unhappy with the choices I made in my life that brought us here.”

I chuckled. “From what I’ve seen, she’s having a good time. She just needs to get used to being here, is all. It must be very different than anything she’s known before, but she’ll settle soon enough and then she’s going to love it. Guaranteed.”

“You’re very confident about that,” he observed. “Experience or suspicion?”

“A little bit of both,” I admitted. “Between my siblings and helping out at the camp, I’ve learned that kids are capable of enjoying almost anything. Sometimes, they just need encouragement from the adults in their lives, and other times, it’s more about being shown everything they can do. It’s not like they instinctively know what all the different options are outdoors if they never spend much time there.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. “I think I forget sometimes that Laurene doesn’t have the same past experiences I do. As a kid, I spent most of my time outdoors, but she never really has. Jacqueline, her mother, thinks staying in a four-star hotel counts as roughing it and I doubt she’s ever even owned a pair of regular, practical sneakers.”

I glanced down at my feet, encased as they often were in a pair of black and pink sneakers I’d had since I’d started working here. “I’m confused. What kind of shoes does she wear then?”

“Heels, mostly.” He glanced down, then laughed when he looked back up into my eyes. “When she does wear sneakers, they’re the sparkly, fashionable type. I bought the shoes Laurene has been wearing when we passed through Gatlinburg. I figured she’d need something sturdier than she had for a summer in the mountains. It went over like I’d set her phone on fire.”

“She’ll settle,” I repeated calmly. “They always do. Just give her some more time. I’m actually really glad she went on this hike today. Maybe that’s a sign that she’s making some friends and starting to appreciate her surroundings. Plus, I bet it doesn’t hurt that she’s getting to spend some time with you.”