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“Oh stop it, it’s not a big deal. Look, I’m gonna go put our food stuff away. You gonna be up for a while?” he asked, staying in the doorway. Paige looked back at him.
“Nah, I’ll probably just hit the sack. You?” she asked back.
“I might stay up for a cigarette or two. Come get me if you need anything, I’m just next door,” he instructed, backing up. She smiled at him.
“Thanks. Good night, Parker,” she said, realizing it was the first time she'd ever done so.
~6~
“... nobody was that naturally toned ...”
Paige woke up abruptlythe next morning, sitting upright in her massive bed. A strong wind was blowing outside and the sky was completely gray. She glanced around, trying to get her bearings and look for Parker. It took her a second to remember he was in a separate room. She pulled herself out of bed and walked up to the windows. It looked stormy outside, and opening the sliding door let in a gust of wind that proved her right.
She pulled her leggings on and wandered out into the hallway. Parker’s bedroom door was wide open and his bed empty. Her watch said it was a little after ten and her stomach growled, suggesting she search for food, but a curious rhythmic thumping noise from down the hall was drawing her attention. She padded towards the master bedroom. One of the double doors was wide open. She leaned against the shut door, peering inside.
Parker was pounding away at a treadmill. Paige stared, her eyes as big as saucers. Not only had she not known that he liked to run, but until now, she'd never seen him with his shirt off. Not once while in their motel rooms, or in any of their near misses in bathrooms, had she seen him shirtless. She was pretty sure he'd accidentally seen her more than half naked, but he was surprisingly careful about showing his own body.
Now she wondered why. From the back, he looked like he had anamazingbody. He should be walking around shirtless all the time, in her opinion. He was wearing a loose pair of basketball shorts – the same ones she'd woken up wearing so many weeks ago in Mississippi – and a pair of expensive looking running shoes, and that was it.
She was surprised he hadn’t asked to stop at nicer hotels, ones with gyms. Nobody was that naturally toned. She may have a fast metabolism which helped keep her lean without much effort, but she didn’t look like him – Parker was built like a Greek god, all clearly defined muscles and delicious tan skin. He made her mouth go dry. She was already finding it difficult to keep her feelings towards him strictly friendly, this new image of him definitely wasn't going to help.
She wondered how long he'd been running. The treadmill was facing a wall of windows that looked out over the bay, and he was looking straight ahead. Because of the stormy weather, he looked like he was running towards floor-to-ceiling grayness. He wasn’t even wearing any headphones, the only sound in the room – in the whole house – was the treadmill belt going around and his feet hitting the belt. He was running along at a pretty good pace and sweat was pouring over his body.
Paige frowned. Something seemed wrong, this all just didn't seem like him. She pushed through the doorway and slowly walked into the room.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He didn’t seem to hear her and as she approached him, she noticed that his brows were furrowed together in much the same way they'd been when he'd been sleeping in the car. It looked like he was thinking hard, and wasn’t too particularly happy about it. When she was almost next to the treadmill, she loudly cleared her throat. He whipped his head around, trying to look around the room.
“Shit, you scared me,” he swore. She chuckled, walking up to him.
“I said something, but you didn’t hear me,” she told him. He kept running, looking down at her.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought. I thought you would sleep longer, normally you’re dead to the world till eleven. I can almost set an alarm by you,” he joked. She glared at him.
“Shut up. What are you doing? I didn’t know you liked to run,” she said, gripping the sidearm of the treadmill and peering at the screen. He shrugged.
