AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Adjusting the cushion covering the middle of the bar, she moved to hold her thrusts a second longer.
One and pause.
Two and pause.
Three and pause.
A slight noise had her glancing at the mirror in front of her instead of the ceiling. The door was open and Archie was walking towards the stair climber. She quickly diverted her eyes and finished the last set.
As she moved the plates back to the rack, her eyes couldn’t help but wander to where he’d started his cardio warmup. Everything in her screamed to look away as he lifted the bottom of his shirt to wipe away the sweat forming on his face.
Abs for fucking days.
Tree trunk legs and an ass being hugged in gray joggers.
Holy fuck!
She practically had to wipe away the drool before shaking her head and moving back to the mat to stretch her muscles. The sooner she cooled down, the sooner she could get out of this room. With every second she was in the room with him, she grew more wired than before. As she stretched, her eyes should’ve stayed on the floor, but they continued to find their way across the small room. It was the last move when she glanced up and found him staring right back at her that caused a hitch in her breath.
Tabitha stood and walked over to him. They needed to get past this awkwardness. They needed to get back to being friends. She needed to ignore the urges she was having and think of him as nothing more than her old friend and her bodyguard.
His eyes stayed on her as she approached.
“I’ve got a last-minute trip coming up the day after tomorrow.” Her hands rested on her hips. “We’re flying a few states over. One of the companies I work with is arranging a meetup with a few other cosplayers so we can promote the launch of a new show. They know you’re with me, so flight and hotel rooms are covered by them.”
“Okay. Just forward the details to my email and I’ll work on requesting more security.” His brows pushed together.
“No extra security, just you. I don’t want to draw even more attention.” She crossed her arms in front of her.
His eyes glanced to her chest then back up to her eyes. “But your ex.”
“Will be several states away and I’ve already announced that I’ll be in a different state during this. The agency suggested, with everything going on, that my arrival be a surprise.”
“A decoy?” He smirked, then nodded.
“Yeah.” She paused. “Okay.” She tried not to make a face. “I’m done with my workout.” She shook her head, turned, and walked out of the gym.
There was a possibility that he called after her when the door closed, but she chose to ignore it and pretend it was all in her head.
She had enough to focus on right now.
CHAPTER12
ARCHIE
There was something about being up in the clouds that eased his soul. He loved flying. Today, even the window seat wouldn’t calm his nerves. There was a difference when he was in control behind the yoke, and being on a commercial flight with over one hundred strangers for passengers. It was fine until it wasn’t.
Until her suitcase was lost.
Another reason he packed light and carried his shit on. Less hassle. Everything had been fine before. They had priority boarding and were even upgraded to first class. That was an experience he’d never had before. The small meal was a step up from the bag of peanuts he was used to. He still requested the peanuts.
Then they got to the hotel to find out they only had one room.
Not a big deal. They could make it work. Until they got up there and realized they’d been given a king bed instead of two queens.
It was good.
A short call down to the front desk and they found out there weren’t any other rooms available.
