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‘Me?’ He grinned wickedly. ‘No way. You issued me with a challenge, remember? You’re going to make me sweat.’
Images of what else she could do to make Mark sweat danced through her brain, but she managed a laugh, pleased that he seemed to have cheered up since their conversation earlier in the day.
Making a supreme effort, she tried to ignore the solid lump of misery that had settled in her guts.
She’d never really given any thought to the possibility that Mark would actually fall in love at some point. All the girlfriends he’d had had never bothered her, probably because Mark had always made it brutally clear that his interest in them was purely physical. But now—now there was someone that he loved...
Forcing the thought of him with another woman aside, she walked back into his room and started stuffing things into her gym bag, stopping dead as Mark followed her into the room, slowly undoing the buttons of his shirt.
‘I can’t believe the poor chap has had another infarct,’ he said, chatting casually as he undid the last of the buttons and opened his shirt to reveal a broad, muscular chest covered in curling dark hairs. ‘Talk about unlucky. And he was trying so hard to stop smoking.’
Holly’s mouth dried as he let the shirt slip off his powerful shoulders and then tossed it on the bed.
‘I...er...’ She cleared her throat hastily. ‘Yes, it is a shame. Poor man.’
And poor her, having to stand here pretending to be immune to Mark’s physique. She tried not to look at the width and strength of his shoulders, or the tantalising expanse of dark hair which trailed downwards into the waistband of his trousers.
‘I saw his wife while I was there,’ Mark continued, his hand moving to the button of his fly. ‘Fortunately they’ve got daughters living in the village so there’s plenty of family support.’
He slid his trousers down strong, muscular thighs and stepped out of them, standing relaxed and confident in nothing but a pair of black silk boxer shorts as he continued to talk.
‘It’ll be a blow to the rest of the group, of course,’ he said thoughtfully, frowning slightly as he hung the trousers in his wardrobe, seemingly unaware that her eyes were glued to his body.
‘Yes.’ She could do little more than nod, wondering what he would do if he knew what she was thinking. If he knew that she was imagining that body in close contact with hers.
Still talking to Holly, Mark reached into the cupboard for a dry towel and slung it carelessly over his shoulder before strolling into his bathroom and pulling the door to behind him.
Holly swallowed hard and sank onto his bed, trying to erase the images of a near naked Mark from her mind. If he’d guessed how she really felt he would be running a mile.
Forcing her numb brain to work, she glanced towards the bathroom, giving a low whimper as sh
e realised that he hadn’t closed the door properly and that she could see clearly through the Perspex door of the shower cubicle.
He had his back to her and he soaped himself slowly, running a hand over the smooth swell of muscle at his shoulders and down to his hip and firm thighs. Unable to drag her eyes away, Holly stared at his strong physique, her heart thudding painfully as she visually explored every inch of his fantastic body. Well, not quite every inch—thank goodness he had his back to her. But if he turned...
With a gasp of panic she scrambled off the bed and fled to her room, her hands shaking and her breathing shallow. Thank goodness he hadn’t seen her staring!
Dragging a deep breath into her starving lungs, she walked downstairs on trembling legs and sat outside on the deck, enjoying the peaceful calm of the late afternoon.
By the time Mark emerged, his hair still damp from the shower, she’d managed to salvage some of her composure and stood up quickly.
‘Ready to go?’
‘Of course.’ If he noticed the croak in her voice he didn’t comment, calmly ushering her down the stairs towards the front door.
‘We’ll take my car.’ Mark unlocked the door for her and Holly slid into the passenger seat, careful to sit as far away from the driver’s seat as possible so that she reduced the risk of physical contact with his solid thigh which rested only inches from hers. She had an all-too-vivid picture of how those legs of his looked underneath the loose tracksuit bottoms that he’d pulled on after his shower. Strong, hard with muscle and covered in dark hairs...
Oh, help!
Once inside the leisure centre she forced herself to forget about Mark and concentrated instead on making the people in her class feel confident about the exercise she had planned for them.
‘I’ll be showing you different levels for each movement,’ she told them, adjusting her microphone carefully so that her instructions were clear. ‘Just do what you feel comfortable with.’
The class was a resounding success, and as everyone was leaving Holly suddenly noticed Greg standing in the doorway, watching her.
‘Were you planning to join my class?’ She gave him a cheerful smile which faded as she noticed his glum expression. ‘Greg? What’s wrong?’
‘I’ve had a slight crisis.’ He glanced over her shoulder. ‘I need to see Mark.’
