It’s overwhelming. I read it all three times, just to make sure I’m taking it in.
Lucas wasn’t trying to close me down. He does respect me and my business. He does care about what I’m trying to do. He cares about me. Putting together all this information just to prove that to me means so much. It’s another incredible gesture, another surprise. I’d thought he’d surprised me for the worse, but it looks like I was wrong.
I pick up the phone to call him but then pause. Calling doesn’t seem like a big enough response to something like this. I don’t want to just talk to him – I want to see him. He’s said he’s been spending most of his time at his first gym location, at least until the new one is built. I know that’s where his main office is, where he does his own personal workouts.
So, I decide to drive over and work out there as a grand gesture of my own. I tell Cheryl I’m headed out for the afternoon. She makes a face, like she knows something is up but doesn’t comment. I wonder if she’d seen Lucas bring the envelope with the plans in.
***
Invigoration is even bigger inside than I thought it would be. It’s bright and loud, with music pumping through the speakers and the low hum of machines working. I scan the room but don’t see Lucas, so I head for a treadmill that’s facing a hall I assume holds the offices and start to run.
I don’t really have a plan beyond this, working out at his gym until he sees me. It seems fitting somehow. He’d taken a yoga class to apologize to me weeks ago. I’ve told him so many times I’d never set foot in his gyms. I’m hoping that when he sees me, he’ll understand why I’m here, what it means, right away.
Hopefully, he’s even here today. For all I know, he’s been back in the neighborhood, at the new complex across the street from me the whole time. Still, this feels like the right plan. Running on the treadmill, I feel strangely like I’m running toward something. I’m not running in one place at all.
Ten minutes into my workout, just as I’m adjusting the settings to incline my run upwards, I see him. He’s coming out of the back hall with another man, talking about something. He’s dressed for a workout, a towel around his shoulders. I watch him but try not to stare. I’m not sure what I’ll do if he doesn’t notice me – if he just keeps walking.
Luckily, I don’t have to figure that out.
Lucas stops in what seems to be mid-sentence when he sees me. He and the man he’s talking to turn to face me, and Lucas’s face lights up. I know I was right – that he does understand right away the gesture I’m making here. He starts to walk toward me, and I stop the treadmill to walk toward him.
“Thought I’d never get you in here,” Lucas says, beaming at me like he can’t quite believe I’m here.
“Surprise,” I say, grinning back. I swallow and then add, “I got your plans.”
“What did you think?” Lucas asks, studying me. I’m so glad to see him. It’s only been a few days, but I’ve honestly missed him a great deal.
“I love it,” I say, stepping in even closer to him. Needing to be close to him.
“I don’t want to shut you down,” Lucas says, taking a step in toward me as well.
“I know that now,” I say. “Thank you.”
“I want you in my life, Samantha. I couldn’t just let you walk away, let you run out of my life like that,” Lucas says. He puts a hand on my face the way he did after our first date.
“I’m glad you didn’t,” I say. I step in again and slide a hand up his chest. Our eyes lock, and then I lean up as he bends his head. I kiss him, right there in the middle of the gym I said I’d never set foot in. He tugs me in even closer as we kiss.
I’m sure people are staring, but I don’t care. I want to kiss Lucas until I’ve forgotten how to think about anything else. I want the whole world to stop as we kiss each other. It already feels a little like it has.
“I missed you,” I say again in his mouth. “I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions.”
“In your place, I might have, too,” Lucas says, shaking his head softly, so close I can feel the motion. “I missed you.”
He moves back in to kiss me again, and I kiss back, feeling greedy for it. We only lost three days, but it feels like entirely too much time. It feels like so must wasted time that could have been spent together, that could have been spent like this, wrapped in each other, kissing, his hand threading through my hair.
It feels like we’re finally back where we belong.
Chapter Twenty-Five - Lucas
Samantha is in my apartment, sitting on my couch, grinning at me in a way that almost seems giddy. I know the feeling. I had hoped my plan would work. I’d hoped she’d read the plans and changed her mind. I’d hoped she would give me another chance. Seeing her in my gym, working out, waiting for me, had been the best surprise of my life so far.
I’ve never been on the receiving end of a romantic gesture before. I’ve gotten presents, of course, and girlfriends have celebrated birthdays with me, but no one has ever gone out of their way to let me know how they feel about me that way before. I don’t think I would have wanted any woman other than Samantha to try.
I needed to get her back to my apartment so we could be alone right away. Paul had mouthed get out of here and gave me a thumbs up before I’d even said anything to him. I’m sure he’ll have questions later, but for now, it’s just me and Samantha. That’s all I want to focus on.
“You’re not going to be in this apartment much longer, are you?” Samantha asks, looking at my apartment as I bring us both over some wine I’d had in the fridge. It feels like an occasion for a toast.
“About a month,” I say, following her gaze.
“Then we’ll really be neighbors,” Samantha says, taking her wine glass from me.
“We will,” I say, settling down close to her on the couch and reaching for her hand with my free one.
“Are we making a toast?” Samantha asks, lacing her fingers with mine. It feels so good to touch her again. We were only apart for a few days because of our miscommunication, but it felt like much longer.
“To our new business venture,” I say, “and to us.”
“To the health of both,” Samantha says, grinning. She raises her cup to mine. We clink the rims together before sipping our wine.
“I really think we can make this work,” I say. I mean both the plans for our businesses working in tandem and our relationship. She nods.
“Me too,” Samantha says. “I really want us to.”
“I still can’t believe you came to my gym,” I say, putting my wine down on the coffee table and putting a hand on her knee.
“It seemed like the only fitting thing to do,” Samantha says. “After all, you did take yoga for me.”
“I did,” I say.
Samantha puts her wine down as well and looks at me with a serious expression. “You keep surprising me. So, I wanted to surprise you,” Samantha says.
“You surprise me all the time,” I say, leaning in to kiss her at that. She smiles against my mouth and scoots herself in closer to me, putting a hand on my neck.
“Good,” she says, pulling away, but not by much. I slide my hand up her thigh and she gasps out, one of those little breathy sounds I love to hear her make. She leans in to kiss me, angling herself to pull us even closer together. We’re both just in workout clothes, so the heat between us is already palpable. We already have so much skin touching, already can feel so much of each other.
I trace my hands up over her thighs and into her shirt. She runs her hand up my shirt on my back, fingers running over my spine. She’s so gorgeous like this, writhing under me, gasping my name when my hands find her perfect breasts. I’ve been thinking about her skin since last time we had sex. I’ve wanted her again, so badly, even more than I did before. Now that I know what it’s like to touch her, to see her come, it’s been even harder to not think about.
I pull the tank top and sports bra she’s wearing over her head, and she leans up so I can take them off c
ompletely. Her skin is flushed and smooth, like it’s begging me to touch it. I do, sliding my hands over her ribcage and then up to her breasts again, teasing her nipples with my fingers until they harden beneath me.
She tugs on the hem of my shirt, and I grin as I sit up to pull it off my head. Her hands move to my chest instantly and I hiss out at her touch. Her hands feel fucking incredible on me, driving me crazy.
I’m already hard, and I know she can tell through my gym shorts. I keep one hand on her breast, thumb on her nipple, making her cry out. I move my other hand down toward her leggings, tracing over her hips and thighs before moving in towards her clit. She bucks her hips again under me when I touch her – even through the layers of fabric. I run my fingers over her clit, over and over until she’s wet through the layers of her underwear and leggings. Until she’s gasping my name.
I want to touch her again. I want to lick her again and fuck her again. She slides a hand into my shorts and around my cock.
“Fuck,” I say. “Samantha.”
I hook my fingers in the waist of her leggings so I can pull them and her underwear off. She lifts her hips for me, nodding rapidly. I want her so badly, but I don’t think I want her on the couch. I pull back and put my hand on hers to still it in my shorts.
“Not here,” I say. Samantha nods, looking flushed, her eyes bright with arousal. I lead us up off the couch, stepping out of my shorts as I do, so we’re both naked. We head toward the bed, and I stop us, pressing Samantha against the wall and kissing her. I don’t think I want to do this in the bed, either.
I press her against the wall and run my hand down her body, sliding between her legs so I can feel how wet she is for me. She’s soaked, and the feeling makes me even harder – even more desperate for her. I put two fingers inside her, twisting them and fucking them in and out of her. She gasps and throws her head back against the wall, swallowing hard. She leans in to kiss me firmly even as she’s trembling against me.
I stroke my cock with my other hand, adding a third finger inside her as I prepare myself to fuck her. She puts her head down against my shoulder, biting into my neck as I fuck her with my fingers hard and fast. She’s so beautiful when she comes that I’m tempted to make her come like this before I fuck her. I’m tempted to see just how many times in a row I can make her come for me. I’m tempted to see just how long I could keep her like this, against the wall, gasping and rocking her hips into my fingers like she wants more.
“Fuck, fuck, that’s so incredible,” Samantha says into my shoulder. I take my hand off of my cock and trace my fingers over her clit, light and teasing. “Shit, I’m going to come like this. Shit, Lucas,” she says, gasping. “I’m already so close.”
“Good,” I say, picking up speed with my fingers. She’d seemed to really like it when I talked dirty last time. When I’d described what I wanted to do to her. It seems to turn her on more, which I think I can work with here. I’d felt her get wetter as I’d done it the last time, so if she likes it, I can say every filthy thought in my head out loud for her.
“Come for me like this now. Come around my fingers. I want it to last for when I fuck you,” I say. She gasps, clenching tighter around my fingers. I rock them into her even faster and put more pressure on her clit.
“Yes. Fuck, yes,” she says, pulling her head up from my neck to look at me. Her eyes are wide her skin is flushed.
“I’m going to make you come like this,” I say, making my voice as low and commanding as I can, “and then, before I fuck you, I want to see that pretty mouth of yours around my cock.”
“Shit,” she says, nodding rapidly and then coming around my fingers hard, gasping. “Lucas,” she bites out.
“You like the dirty talk?” I ask.
She huffs a little laugh as she comes down. “Apparently,” she says. “Although I didn’t know I did. I like it when you do it, though.”
“Good,” I say, pulling my fingers out of her and putting them up against her lips. “In that case, I want you to lick your come off my fingers. Taste yourself on my hands.”
“Oh, fuck,” she gasps before opening her mouth to do just that.
“You should see yourself like this. So hot,” I tell her. “I can’t wait to see your mouth around my cock.”
“Please,” she says around my fingers. I pull them out and drag the wetness of them over her nipples, making her shudder. “Wanted to do it so badly last time.”
I put my hand on her shoulder and meet her eyes. She nods and then sinks down in front of me, on her knees.
“I want to watch you do this,” I say. She takes a big breath and then puts her hands on my hips and moves her head in, licking the head of my cock before taking me in her mouth.
“Yes,” I groan, resisting the urge to rock my hips into her gorgeous mouth already. “Fuck, Samantha. That’s incredible.”
She starts to move, hands on my hip bones as she sucks my cock. I can’t stop watching her, can’t stop looking at how her lips look, all stretched out around me.
“Look at you,” I say, “getting me ready to fuck you. It’s even prettier than I thought it would be.”
Samantha takes me in deep, making me groan and her gag a little. I slide a hand down into her hair, groaning when she takes me deeply again.
“I’m going to make you come so many times today,” I say, biting back curses at the amazing feeling of her mouth on my cock. “How many times do you think you could come for me?”
“Shit,” she says around me. Her breath on my cock as she speaks feels incredible. I could watch her like this all day. I want to come in her mouth, want her to swallow it down. Later, I think. There’s time for all that. I’m not planning on doing anything but this for the rest of the day.
I put a hand on her shoulder. “Get back up here,” I say. She licks one last long line down my cock and stands back up. I reach between her legs again when she does, feeling how slick and wet she is.
“Got even wetter doing that,” Samantha says. I groan again at her words.
“I’ll remember that,” I say. I slide my hands around to her ass and move her back against the wall even more. We’re both so strong, so in shape, that there is something I’ve been thinking about for weeks. Something I’ve never been able to do with anyone, but I think with Samantha, it might work.
“I’m going to pick you up,” I say, “and I want you to put your legs around me. I want to fuck you standing up, right against the wall.”
“Always wanted to try that,” Samantha says, gasping again, and I grin.
“Something else we have in common,” I say, and I can’t help but finish that with so we must be perfect for each other in my head. I know it’s too early to think that, but it’s how Samantha makes me feel.
I pick her up, and she braces herself against the wall and wraps her legs around me. Tight. I guide myself into her and put one hand on the wall to steady us more.
“Yes,” Samantha breathes out once I’m inside her.
It’s better than I thought it would be. The angle is incredible and she looks so good like this, wrapped around me like this. I start to rock my hips into her, fucking her in a deep, hard rhythm.
“You feel so good around my cock,” I say.
She cries out when I do and wraps her legs around me even tighter. “You feel so fucking good inside me,” she says, answering my dirty talk with some of her own. It’s so hot – everything about Samantha is so hot, so sexy, so perfect.
We’re both already so turned on that we’re gasping and swearing right away as I fuck her. I’ve never been with a woman who was strong like this, who could keep up with me athletically. It definitely comes in handy for more than jogging. She’s so wet and warm around me. She feels so good, and I want more and more of it.
I fuck her until my legs are shaking until she’s screaming out my name. I rock my hips into hers until I’m coming inside her, biting out her name as I do.
She comes around me a minute later on my final strokes
without me even touching her clit. Her orgasm clenches around mine, making the sensation of my own even greater. I put her down gently, and she grins at me and then sinks to the floor.
“I think I need to sit after that,” she says. I join her, kissing her as we both come down.
“Does that count as a workout?” I ask.
“Maybe if we do it often enough,” she says, making me laugh. I think I could do that all day. I think I could do just about anything with Samantha all day. “That was even better than I always imagined it being.”
“For me, too,” I say. “You’re incredible.”
“You are,” she says, leaning in and kissing me. I pull her close.
I want to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring her body, touching her, making her gasp and come for me again and again.
For right this moment, though, I just want to hold her close to me, to feel her. Now that I have her back, I plan to keep her here. I don’t want to let her go ever again.
Epilogue – Samantha
The new Lakeview Fitness Complex, as people are unofficially calling the partnership between Invigoration Club Blue and my fitness center, is a smashing success. I’ve never been so busy, and the third location is the most popular of all Lucas’s gyms.
My classes are so full that I’ve had to start offering more. Instead of having to lay off staff, it looks like I’m going to have to hire more people, and not just to cover Julia’s maternity leave. We can hardly keep up with the demand, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. My rent went up a few months ago, but I haven’t even noticed the difference. We are offering extra services like we’d planned to. Lucas’s clients are using those too. There have been birthday parties and corporate events. We’ve even hosted a few private dance lessons for people getting ready for their weddings. It’s been a lot of fun for both my staff and our customers.
It’s been such a huge success that I’m considering hiring a part-time event coordinator in addition to another teacher or two. We’ve been written up in all the local newspapers and magazines. People are calling the partnership the most exciting and innovative thing to hit the city this year. One column called it the ideal marriage of old and new. It’s exciting to be a part of, and I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done.
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