“Flex those feet, really press into the heel to get maximum length. You want to feel that energy pumping through your body and out that limb,” Grace calls out. “Now flip your dog!” she says excitedly, and I about lose it, fumbling and swaying precariously close to eating my yoga mat.
Before I smash into said mat, Nick has jumped up and is holding me aloft, helping me twist my body the appropriate way. He grasps my hips, making sure I don’t reach the ground or hurt myself.
“When you flip, you use the foot in the air as your momentum to turn over. Then both feet are on the ground, and the opposite arm goes up toward the sky.”
He positions me the way he wants, putting his hands all over my body. It’s the most I’ve been touched by another human in as long as I can remember. Everywhere he touches becomes hot, like he’s branding me as his.
Grace takes us through so many positions I lose count and focus, only capable of moving alongside Nick, parroting each pose to the best of my ability.
Eventually, she brings us back down to the mat to lie flat on our backs for Savasana. I crinkle my nose and look around at the other students all happily lying down and closing their eyes.
“Pssstttt. Nick,” I whisper, not wanting to bother the other patrons.
He opens his eyes, and I lose myself in them. They are so pretty, like the infinity pools at one of my parents’ five-star resorts.
“What is it, Dove?”
“I don’t know what this is?”
He grins. “Deep relaxation. We did it in aerial, but you had a…moment and didn’t get into enough of it. This time, you lie flat on your back and allow yourself to drift off. It’s awesome. I promise. Trust me.”
“I trust you, Nick,” I say, not believing I just admitted giving someone else my trust. But as Dr. Hart says, I have to let people in. I have to give of myself if I want to get in return.
“Then lie back and enjoy the ride.”
Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and let Grace’s sweet voice lull me into a state of mental bliss. When she brings us back out of it, the rest of the class quickly wraps up their stuff, rolls their mats, and skedaddles. It’s like ants scurrying away from a glob of candy melting on the ground. They’ve gotten their fill, and they need to take their piece back to the colony.
Me, I’m sluggish, the class having put me through my paces, proving I need far more exercise than once a week—more like three or four days. Mentally, it relaxed me. Put me in a state of ease and, dare I say, serenity.
Nick comes up behind me and places a hand on my shoulder. “You blissed out?”
I offer a small smile. His easygoing personality is infectious and his need to touch disarming.
“Yeah. Really good class.”
He jerks his head back. “Better than mine?”
This time I give him a full grin. “Different.”
“I like different,” he quips.
“Do you really?” I ask, needing to hear from his lips that he’s not like other men, although I don’t think he could ever be. Nick seems to have such a sense of confidence and self-worth. It oozes from every pore in his beautiful body.
Nick tugs up his track pants. “Yeah, I do. You’re different, Dove. And I like it.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“Your body language speaks for itself. Besides, that’s why we’re going out on Friday after class,” he declares as if I’ve already acquiesced.
Zipping up my hoodie, I look down at my pale-pink painted toenails. “As in a date among friends?”
He comes closer, invading my space with his large frame and magnetic warmth. “Do I look like the type of man who takes a beautiful woman out on a date as a friend?”
I lick my lips and focus on his face. His jaw is firm and curved with a dark goatee and mustache, both perfectly matching the hair on his head. His facial hair is trimmed close and looks more like the heavy growth after a weeklong absence from shaving. On a scale of one to ten, his sexiness is a hundred and five. For a second, I lose my head and imagine what it might feel like to have that hair rubbing against softer and more sensitive places, like my neck, between my breasts…my thighs.
Nick offers the most sultry grin I’ve seen on him yet. “Where did you just go while staring at me and ignoring my question?”
Ignoring his question. What was it? Oh yeah, about dating a friend.
“Um…I don’t know what you do with your friends.”
“Doesn’t matter, because you are not my friend. You are the beautiful woman I’m taking on a date Friday night. A date between a man and a woman. A man who’s interested in talking, touching, and kissing the woman standing in front of him.”
Sweet heavens! His words slam into me like a punch of lust to the chest. “My, you’re forward.” I gasp and widen my eyes, realizing what I just blurted.
He grins. “Get used to it, babe. There’s a lot more where that came from. I say what’s on my mind. I don’t believe in lies or bullshitting. I like you. You’re fucking beautiful. I want to take you out. Break bread. Nothing more to say to that other than yes.”
“Yes?” I question, but he doesn’t take it that way.
“Great. See you Friday for aerial. We can freshen up here and get ready. Bring a jacket. You’ll need it.”
“Uh, okay, but I didn’t mean to say…”
He pulls on his tank, covering his succulent body. Shame.
“You didn’t mean to say what? Yes? Too bad. I can see you’re into me, Dove. Not gonna let you fly away this time.”
“But…”
“Speaking of, give me your phone.”
I blink a few times, having no idea where he’s
