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“My body doesn’t move that way.” He stretched his arm over his head but could hardly bend.
“That’s because you haven’t developed any flexibility yet.” Lyric got on her knees and crawled onto his mat to press her hand against his arm. “I’ll assist you with this one. Just tell me if it hurts.”
“Oh, it hurts.” He winced. “But I guess it’s also a good stretch?”
“It’s a great stretch.” She pressed a little harder. “Especially for riding. Lateral flexion will be really good for you.”
Thatch merely whimpered in response.
She urged him a bit deeper into the stretch, and his shirt came up, revealing a set of toned abdominals.Don’t check out the client, she reminded herself. But it was hard to stop.
“If you’re wondering why I’m so tan, it’s because I was working with my shirt off last week at the request of the Ladies Aid Society.”
Busted. He’d totally caught her. “I wasn’t looking. Or wondering.” Lyric quickly scrambled back to her mat. “Let’s move on.”
“I could do yoga shirtless too, if you’d like.” The innocence in his voice was such an act.
The man knew he had a nice body.
“No thanks. You should save your abs for the old ladies. They appreciate them more than I do. How about we try crow pose?” She’d make him hold it for five minutes.
Maybe that would wipe the cocky smirk off his face and encourage him to stop teasing her. Because they both knew she wasn’t as immune to his magnetism as she pretended to be.
CHAPTER FIVE
Dear God.Perspiration dripped down Thatch’s temple. How was it possible to sweat this much whilestretching? A grunt threatened in his throat, but he couldn’t let it out. He couldn’t give Lyric the satisfaction of hearing him voice his discomfort and frustration. After progressing through the poses, he’d been holding warrior III for less than a minute—or thirteen years—and his standing leg had already started to cramp.
Who the hell knew yoga was so hard? He’d take riding a bronc over this shit any day.
“How’re we doing?”
Ha. That sugary tone didn’t fool him. Lyric was a sadist. He never should’ve teased her at the beginning of the session. He’d underestimated her penchant for torture.
“I’m great.” So great he could feel the vein in his forehead bulging. He gritted his teeth and swallowed a groan. “I could do this all day.”
“Oh, good,” she sang. “Because I think to get the full benefit, we should hold it for another three minutes.”
Three minutes? She might as well have said five hours. He wasn’t gonna make it.
Meanwhile, the woman standing next to him effortlessly held the pose, perched on one leg with her other leg outstretched behind her and her arms reaching out in front of her, somehow not trembling at all.
His body convulsed. Every muscle. Muscles he didn’t even know he had.Ahhh… he was losing it. Screw this. Thatch lowered to his knees on the mat. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lyric continued to hold her perfect warrior III pose.
Thatch shouldn’t have looked at her. Because now it was hard to look away. Those skintight yoga clothes kept snagging his focus. Lyric always dressed in leggings and formfitting tops, but he’d never seen her body work this way. She had such strength and control. Graceful but powerful. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen such an intoxicating combination.
“You won.” He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. “I’m done. I can’t move anymore.”
Laughing, the woman finally broke her pose to sit on her mat next to him. “It’s a common misconception to think that yoga is just a bunch of light stretching.”
“Trust me. I have a whole newfound respect for what you do.” He hadn’t counted on this session being such a workout. But he had to admit, his body felt good. Tired and worked over, but good. “I can see how this practice would help with staying on the back of a bronc.” Every sport he’d ever played before, football and lacrosse mainly, had beenabout powering through. But Lyric had told him yoga was about control—muscle control and mind control. Which was why he sucked at it.
“This practice will help your mind and body be more in sync when you’re riding.” Lyric lay down on her mat too. “It helps you stay in control in the midst of the chaos around you.” She raised a leg in the air and pulled on her calf with both hands. “In fact, I always like to end a session with the good stretch.” She turned her head and raised her eyebrows at him until he raised his leg too. “Yoga is very calming.”
“Mm-hmm.” He could barely grab the back of his leg. Seriously. His hamstring might rip. He might have found yoga calming if it didn’t hurt this much. If the woman lying next to him didn’t have such a direct impact on his pulse. But he planned to keep all the chaos inside his own head. “How’d you get into yoga anyway?”
Lyric pulled her knee nearly to her nose. “I went through some things that left me drifting and lost. I needed to feel centered in my life again, so I joined an online yoga community.” She released the stretch. “From there I traveled to do the trainings in Costa Rica and was eventually certified.”
