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I’ve been here one damn day and I’m already going to be fired, then how will I help my parents? I scour my closet for a yoga top, slip into the exercising shorts I bought before coming here, and throw my wild mane into a ponytail.
Everything is always better with a little yoga.
My yoga mat is sitting propped up in a corner of the room, so I grab it and hesitantly grab the second one in hopes that I can convince Ryker to join me.
I can’t believe he tried kissing me – and that I hesitated for the briefest moment before pushing him back.
Elias would have a fit if he heard what happened in the kitchen this morning, then would likely encourage me to get involved with someone completely off-limits. My brother has a thing for going against the rules, especially as a little kid – he’s the reason we would always get in trouble, because he insisted that we ride down the stairs on a skateboard and our parents said it was okay.
It was never okay.
When I get into the large back lawn, I stare out at the glistening water moving around the in-ground pool, then turn into a wide opening beneath an oak tree. Thank goodness there’s shade, nothing is worse than trying to get into my yoga poses with sun shining in my damn eyes. I drop my yoga mat onto the ground, then shake my backpack from my shoulder and lean it against the tree behind me.
A grunt has me snapping my attention to my left and I watch as Ryker lifts the weights from the ground, his face red with sweat dripping down it profusely. Before I can have a reaction that would get me in trouble, I look away from him – who needs two gyms anyway?
At least if he only had the one inside I wouldn’t have to worry about the temptation to look over at him. Thankfully, my head is screaming those boundaries at me and I manage to keep my eyes focused ahead rather than on him.
Ryker drops the weights, leans over to grab a clean towel for the sweat, and as if feeling my eyes on him he glares at me from a distance. He scowls and shakes his head before grabbing his bottle of water. I’m about to let him walk into his house, when I remember what I’m really here for – I’ve got to help him get over that anger.
Yoga is the perfect thing to get started.
“Ryker!” He doesn’t bother turning around and he’s about to open the back door just as I yell. “I can be gone faster if you answer me, you know?”
I watch his shoulders tense and fingers grip the doorknob a little tighter, then he takes a deep breath before turning around and storming over to me. “What do you have in mind for today?”
“Yoga.”
In silence, I grab the extra yoga mat and roll it out on the lawn next to mine with a bright smile. When I lean up and look at Ryker, he’s staring at the mat as if it’s a three-headed monster from a fantasy movie.
“Yeah,” he says, then shakes his head. “I’m not doing that, have fun.”
“Can you just give me a chance?” I ask softly. “I know this isn’t your thing and I understand that, but yoga has helped a lot of my previous clients, especially ones who’ve had trouble managing their emotions, and I think it would be extremely helpful for you to at least try.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, then open them to find that Ryker’s gaze has softened slightly.
He clenches his fists at his side, jaw following right along with them, and he nods curtly. “Let’s get it over with then.”
“Does this mean you’ll start cooperating?”
He narrows his eyes on me. “I wouldn’t go that far, you can either take what you get, or I can go inside like I planned.”
“Should we, um, talk about what happened?” I hate bringing up the kiss we almost shared, but I need to make sure we’re on the same page about it. It was a mistake that I can’t afford to let happen again, for the sake of my parents and my career.
“It won’t happen again, trust me.”
“Great,” I say quickly. “Glad we’re on the same page.”
He looks at me patiently and arches a brow. “So, we gonna get started or what, teach?”
“Right, sorry.” I shake my head and silently curse at myself for being off my game.
This doesn’t happen to me, ever. When I’m on the job, that’s my sole focus, but with this beautiful man sitting in front of me with his bare chest glistening from sweat, all I can seem to focus on is how good his muscles would feel beneath my fingertips.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, the voice in my head chants.
I listen to the voice and quickly turn my bluetooth speaker on, then find my yoga playlist.
The soft sounds of waves and nature echo through the air, then Ryker throws his head back with a loud groan. “This is what you use for yoga?”
