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Evie smiled warmly. Their reunion, as brief as it had been and given Imogen understood so little, had been the most uplifting experience she could have imagined.
‘Just as we suspected, her tummy woke her in the night and she had a good feed and a little play. So she’ll probably sleep longer than usual this morning.’
‘Oh, right.’
She wanted her daughter to rest, but she was longing to cuddle the little girl again.
And as for Max—did it make things better or worse that it was just overtiredness keeping him awake? For one brief moment she had allowed herself to think it might be the same sexual frustration that she’d been feeling, that maybe last night hadn’t been as easy for him as she’d believed. But she’d only been fooling herself.
Stepping onto the treadmill, Evie started off her mid-speed walk and tried to concentrate on the low-level music.
Don’t look.
At least she was getting fitter and stronger every day.
Think of anything else but the fact that he doesn’t even have a shirt on.
And soon she would be back to normal.
And what else?
Then she could take Imogen back to Annie’s.
Nope, it was an exercise in futility.
Her eyes snapped inexorably back to Max. She hungrily drank in the sight of his body rippling and pumping oh-so-deliciously as his muscles worked in exquisite harmony. She had no idea she’d been effectively ogling for a good twenty minutes until he wound up his reps and she glanced at the screen on the treadmill.
‘So, how are you going?’ he asked, sauntering casually over once he’d cleared his weights away.
She was only grateful she hadn’t chosen to wear a heart monitor. It would be bleeping like crazy right about now, and it had nothing to do with how hard she was pushing herself in an attempt to drown out her lamenting libido.
‘Not too bad.’ She breathed out hard.
Max frowned.
‘Are you sure that isn’t too fast?’
‘Brisk,’ she countered. ‘That’s the key. Once I’ve got over the first few weeks, I can probably start on a bike, or the cross trainer.’
‘Fine, I’ll show you how to use that one over there when you’re ready. It’s not the most user-friendly model I could have chosen.’ Max slotted his water bottle into the holder on her machine. ‘Here, drink this.’
Evie didn’t answer. Did he really expect her to still be here in a few weeks’ time? Wouldn’t he be expecting her to leave soon?
‘Okay, I’m going to leave you to it. Imogen will be waking soon and I wouldn’t mind a shower before the nappy changes and feeding begin.’ He chuckled.
He was trying, but they were both aware how stilted the conversation was.
‘Good idea.’
‘Everything okay?’
How was it he could read her so easily?
‘I’m just a bit tired, that’s all,’ she lied, hating the fact that she was using the transplant as an excuse but not wanting him to guess at the real reason for her distraction.
Evie waited, only releasing her breath as he dipped his head in a curt nod, then left the room. She threw herself into her walking for the next twenty minutes, but once the timer ended she still wasn’t ready to return upstairs. Everywhere she went in this house had X-rated memories haunting every inch of her brain. Selecting a harder, longer, uphill programme, Evie was determined to clear her mind of everything but getting better.
By the time she finished the second exercise programme and left the home gym to climb the first set of stairs from the basement, she already knew she’d pushed too hard. Every muscle ached. The last thing she needed was to collide with the rock-solid, Max-shaped wall with an undignified oomph.
