Taking Back Beautiful

by Devon Hartford

  My eyes flash.

  I’m entirely certain this kind of talk is completely inappropriate for a personal trainer. But none of the other gym members lifting weights around us seem to care. I can’t say that I mind either.

  I squat down again and this time, instead of staring at my crotch, he stares at my ass.

  “Mmmm, just like that. Perfect.”

  I almost fall over laughing. That is most definitely not appropriate! But I’m all kinds of turned on. When I squat down yet again, the image of him lying naked on the floor beneath me with a rock hard cock explodes into my mind. My lady parts clench. I think it has something to do with the way the rest of me is clenching every time I do a squat. It’s working those muscles. Yes, there’s no doubt in my mind: doing squats is definitely scandalous.

  And I’m loving every second of it.

  I push up with my legs and start to wobble because my muscles are completely fatigued. “I’m gonna fall,” I mutter, starting to panic.

  “I’ll spot you,” he says. He comes up right behind me and squats down, matching my position. He is literally three inches behind me. I feel his body heat. “Two more.”

  “Are you sure?” I nearly gasp. His pelvis is right behind mine. If I were to suddenly sit down, I would sit right on his muscular lap. And we all know what’s in men’s laps.

  “Yeah. Two more. You’ve got this. And I’ve got you.”

  He can have me any way he wants. I squeeze my legs hard and start to rise.

  “That’s it,” he grunts. “One more. Go down.”

  I want him to go down. Maybe later. I bend my knees and my butt brushes across his black khakis.

  Gulp.

  He. Is. Hard.

  No, not muscular. I figured that out earlier when I first laid eyes on him. I mean cock hard. There’s a steel torpedo in his pants, or in this case, shorts. I would shoot straight up to standing because I’m so surprised, but my legs are too tired.

  “All the way down,” he grunts. “Go deep.”

  My knees buckle. There’s no way I’m standing up after hearing those words. “I’m gonna fall!”

  His arms come up from behind and hook under mine. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. Go all the way down.”

  Okay, this has gone well beyond inappropriate. Or even scandalous. This is X-rated. But I go down anyway. When I get to the bottom, my legs are done. “I can’t stand up,” I whimper.

  “I’ve got you.” Instead of lifting me up with his arms through my armpits like I would expect, he pushes up with his pelvis.

  Oh, that’s it. That hit the spot. Literally.

  All the strength goes out of my legs.

  But he lifts me up anyway, pushing with that pelvis of his. If I wasn’t so attracted to him, I would insist he stop. But I am, so I don’t. I would like to insist he never stop, but I’m not that brave. He pushes me up to standing.

  I gasp, breathless. “Was that one or two? I don’t think I can do another one.” I am really out of shape. Not that I ever was in shape.

  “Do one more for me, Daphne.”

  Our eyes meet in the mirror in front of us.

  Heat pours off him from behind me.

  His hardness presses against the crack of my ass.

  This is not only the sexiest thing I could possibly imagine, it’s the first time anything genuinely sexy has ever happened to me. Ever. I’ve never even been on a date. And I certainly skipped prom and all that other high school foolishness.

  “One more, Daphne. I’ll help you.”

  I sit down suddenly, wanting desperately to have him inside me. I may have no experience with men or dating, but I know what sex is. I have fingers. I nearly moan out loud when I feel his hard heat.

  We go down together.

  “Watch your form in the mirror,” he commands.

  Speechless, I nod, my eyes locked on his. Form? What’s he talking about? I can’t stop looking into his gorgeous sunshine eyes.

  We go down all the way to the bottom.

  I am wide open. My legs and the other part.

  He stares right at my center.

  I swear, his gaze makes it burn.

  “Do it,” he mutters in my ear. “Squeeze your thighs and take the weight. This time it’s all you.” His soft cello tones make these by far the sexiest words ever said by a man to a woman.

  “I can’t,” I wince. I really have no strength left. Whether because I’m so out of shape or because I’m overwhelmed by the sensuality of the moment, it doesn’t matter.

  “You can. I’ve got you. Squeeze as hard as you can.”

  I would like nothing more than to squeeze him as hard as I can. With my insides.

  “Push, Daphne.”

  Oh, gawd. I clench my thighs as hard as I can. This time, everything inside me clenches too. I can barely do this. But I push and push and I start to rise.

  “That’s it. Push.” His hips and thighs brush mine. “Push as hard as you can, Daphne. Push for me.”

  I do. And that’s it. Warmth blooms through me and I have an orgasm. Not a huge one, but I know what one is and I just did. I came.

  “Do it,” he grunts softly in my ear. “Push hard.”

  Thank God I’m wearing these moisture wicking leggings and extra thick granny panties beneath because I’m soaked. I just hope it doesn’t show because Apollo is staring straight at it. “I can’t,” I moan. This time I really can’t. My legs are all out of gas.

  His hips thrust into me and his arms pull me against his hard chest and he stands us both up. I’m essentially sitting on his erection. I never want to stand up again. I’ll sit here forever while he fucks me through his khakis. I mean, if he’s okay with that.

  He lifts the bar up over my head, taking it from me. It’s easy for him to get the bar over my head because he’s so tall. He sets it on the metal rack in front of the mirror with a clang then immediately sits down on the edge of the rack, which is a waist-high horizontal metal beam.

  That was weird. Why did he sit down so fast?

  He folds his hands in his lap and smirks. “So, ahh… good job on those squats.”

  I stifle a giggle. How cute. He’s hiding his hard on. “I’ll say,” I grin. “Is that, um, normal? I mean, for you to, um, spot me like that?” By “spot” I mean fuck.

  He knows what I mean. He blushes. Yes, actually blushes. It’s hard to tell because he has tan skin, but he’s blushing. “Uh, yeah. Spotting is a safety precaution.”

  I almost say, If you were taking safety precautions just now, you would’ve worn a condom. But I don’t. I just smile and giggle. “What’s next?”

  “Uh, why don’t we take a minute to rest. You look like you need a minute to catch your breath.”

  “You look like you need a minute to—” jerk off while I watch. Or fuck me. I don’t say anything, but I think he can read my thoughts because his blush intensifies and we lock eyes.

  We both start snickering.

  “You’re dangerous,” he chuckles.

  “I’m dangerous?! You were the one who—!” I stop myself again. I can’t believe we’re having this moment.

  But we are.

  Like I said, heaven is a great place.

  There is no other rational explanation for the amazing time I’m having with Apollo. I mean, he is the god of the sun, so it’s only fitting that this is heaven.

  Or Mount Olympus at the very least.

  Chapter 5

  DAPHNE

  “Your seven o’clock is here,” Fashion Forty Fiona says after walking up to where Apollo is watching me use one of the lat pull-down machines. I swear, he had me use it just so he could stare at my boobs while my arms go up and down.

  I let the bar go all the way up and release it. The weights clank onto the stack. I fold my arms across my chest because I don’t like the way Fashion Forty’s eyes sweep over my body like she’s judging me.

  “Is it seven already?” Apollo asks, surprised.

  “Yes,” she says. “She’s waiting
downstairs.”

  “Oh, okay. Can you tell her I’ll be right down?”

  “Sure.” She smiles at him coquettishly, “Maybe when you finish up later you can give me a personal training session too.” She’s flirting. It’s obvious.

  Despite all the scandalous squatting Apollo and I did together, I can’t deny Fashion Forty’s beauty. I expect Apollo to suddenly say, Sure. I’ll give you a personal training session, Fiona. It’ll be better than the one I just gave this cow.

  He scratches the back of his head. “I think I’ve got appointments until late. I won’t have time. Maybe next week? No, wait. Next week I’m booked solid. Yeah, I really don’t think I’ll have time for anything. Maybe you can get one of the other trainers to help you out?” He winks at me so that Fiona can’t see it.

  Fiona’s eyes narrow. “I’ll do that,” she grumbles before walking away.

  When she’s gone, Apollo says, “Sorry about that.”

  “Oh, no. It’s okay.”

  “I didn’t mean her. I meant, sorry for losing track of time. I really should’ve paid closer attention to the clock.”

  “Oh, right.” Why do I feel disappointed again?

  “Next time, I’ll make sure I do.”

  “Next time?”

  He smiles sunshine, “Yeah. Next session. You get ten free training sessions. I mean, that is, if you want me as your trainer again?” He looks… bashful and uncertain of himself.

  How in the world could he possibly think I would not want to do that again? I will go to the gym every day until forever if he’s my spot-squatting trainer. “Of course! I mean, yes. That would be great. How do I make sure I’m on the schedule for next time? I mean, in case I miss the confirmation email?”

  He smirks, “I’ll remember.”

  “Great. Um, what day should we meet up?”

  His eyes circle thoughtfully, “How about…”

  I want to say, How about tomorrow! How about in an hour when you finish with your next client? How about you forget your next client and we go back and do more squats?

  He pins me with his eyes. “I’m thinking you probably need a recovery day. We went at it pretty hard today.”

  I can go hard at it right now if you can. “Um, okay. So, Friday?”

  “Let me check my schedule.” He pulls his smart phone out of his pocket and thumbs the screen.

  I notice the sun has gone down. The wall of windows in the gym is now a dark mirror reflecting the people on the machines inside. Despite the fact that I need to get home and eat and shower and get ready for bed before work tomorrow, I feel energized. Like I could do spot-squats all night long. Allllll night.

  “Let’s see… I’m booked from four until eight.” He looks disappointed. “That’s pretty late. I’m sure by eight you’ll be out on a date with someone.”

  Okay, that’s ridiculous because:

  a) I’ve never been on a date, and

  b) Is he serious?

  After the squat fucking he gave me, how can he possibly think I would go out on a date with anyone other than him?

  “Actually,” I chuckle, “it just so happens I don’t have any plans Friday night.”

  “Really,” he says thoughtfully. His face lights up with his sunshine smile and it brightens the entire gym like the sun is still up.

  Something about that smile sets me at ease. It’s… comforting. I love that feeling. For once, I’m relaxed around a man I’m desperately attracted to. It makes me feel like…myself. Like I don’t have to second guess everything I’m saying. It’s wonderful. “Yeah,” I laugh, “every other day except Friday I’m out on dates with tons of different guys. Friday is my rest day.”

  He frowns, looking confused. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “I’m kidding.” I touch his wrist briefly.

  Wow. I’m flirting. I can’t believe I’m actually flirting. I don’t think I’ve ever flirted before. Well, I flirt with the male patients at work all the time, but only the ones over sixty. And that’s just friendly flirting. This is sexy flirting and it’s the real thing.

  “Good,” he says.

  “Good what?”

  “Good that you were kidding.”

  “About what?”

  “All those dates.” His eyes are suddenly dark. “With other dudes.” He sounds almost… angry.

  A thrill sweeps through me. What is happening? Is he going caveman on me? I’m going to faint again. “Actually, I don’t really date much. I mean, hardly at all.” In other words, never.

  His sunshine returns like a summer morning. “Then I’ll see you Friday at eight.”

  “At eight.” I giggle.

  “It’s a date.”

  Chapter 6

  APOLLO

  After I finish with my last client that night, I head to the locker room to grab my gym bag.

  Fiona passes me on the way. “Hey, Apollo! You done for the night?”

  “Yeah. Gonna head home. It’s been a long day.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I bet.”

  What’s that supposed to mean? She doesn’t know I was at the cemetery. She didn’t mean Daphne, did she? I don’t want to know.

  She smiles, “I’m going out with some girlfriends later to get drinks and listen to music at Piano Bar. Do you want to meet us there?” She curls her lush lips and lowers her eyelids seductively.

  There’s no doubt that Fiona is gorgeous. She’s my usual type: total knockout. We’ve had this flirtation thing going since the day I started working here a few months ago. I would’ve asked her out already, but then my dad died.

  Tony, the manager, walks up right then. “Hey, Apollo. Fiona, can I talk to you in my office for a second?”

  She smiles at him, “Sure.” Then turns to me, “We’ll be at Piano Bar. Come join us!”

  I can’t help but stare at her ass as she walks away. It’s perfect and she knows it. You can tell from the way she bounces it on purpose.

  I could go to Piano Bar and drink there instead of go home and drink by myself. That doesn’t sound like fun. Maybe I’ll head over to the bar. It’s only a few blocks from here. And you never know who you’re gonna see play at Piano Bar. I heard Katy Perry got started there.

  When I walk into the locker room, I pull my gym bag out of my locker and the SMIRNOFF bottle clunks against the metal doorframe. I unzip the bag and pull it out.

  I toss it in my hand and watch the vodka slosh around inside.

  I smile to myself and shake my head.

  Some old guy in a white gym towel walks by. “You put that in all the sports drinks you sell out front and you’ll sell a lot more sports drinks.” He grins.

  “True that,” I chuckle.

  I walk into one of the bathroom stalls and pour the booze down the toilet. Flush.

  After I walk out of the gym and take the stairs up to the roof of the parking garage, I stop and stare at the moon glowing overhead. I think about what that kid Owen said at the cemetery today.

  I tip my head up to the stars and say, “You were listening to me bitch and moan at the cemetery today, weren’t you? Did you send her?”

  No answer.

  I whisper, “Thanks, Dad.”

  #b#b#b#

  DAPHNE

  The next day.

  “That is scandalous, Daphne!” my work friend Lynn gasps.

  “I know, right?” I laugh.

  “I’m sure he’s not allowed to do that to the clients.”

  “That’s what I said!”

  We both laugh and nibble on our sandwiches.

  We’re having lunch in the courtyard outside the building where we both work in the Valley. Lynn is the receptionist slash administrative assistant for the chiropractor across the hall from the dentist’s office where I work. We eat out here together every day it isn’t raining, which in LA is nearly year round.

  “I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten fired with behavior like that,” Lynn says.

  “I certainly won’t turn him in,” I blush.
>
  “You dirty girl! Do you think he does that with all the women?”

  “I hope not!”

  We both laugh like high school.

  After we catch our breath, Lynn sighs, “Ooooh, Daphne, I wish I had your life. That is the steamiest story I think I’ve ever heard.”

  “Are you telling me Matt has never done anything that hot?”

  Lynn levels a look at me and smirks. “Please. We’ve been married ten years. Matt has never squat fucked me. Not that I can remember.”

  “I think you’d remember.” I giggle again. “Maybe you can convince him to try it sometime.”

  “With Dylan and Nicholas yammering away in the apartment? Uh-uh. Not gonna happen. There’s no place for Matt and I to do it.”

  “Maybe you should join a gym and get your own hunky personal trainer,” I say coyly.

  She smirks, “Can I have yours?”

  “No! No sharing!” I laugh. “Join another gym.”

  “I’m kidding. I don’t think Matt would like the idea of me spending so much time up close and personal with a certified hunk.” She swoons, “Oh, to be single again. Sometimes I miss all that wild and crazy fun. When do you see your hunk next?”

  “Friday. I think we have a date.”

  Her eyes explode. “What?! Are you serious?”

  “I think so.”

  “I guess he wasn’t done squat fucking you!” She guffaws.

  “Lynn! Shush!” I start to blush and glance around to make sure no one is close enough in the courtyard to listen in. Nope, the few people outside are busy chatting or reading.

  Lynn wipes her fingers with a paper napkin. “Do you want to walk over to Starbucks? They have a new chocolate chip cookie dough cake pop I’ve been dying to try.”

  “Hmmm. I don’t think so.”

  “Did your hunky personal trainer put you on a diet?”

  “No, I did,” I smile.

  “Good for you, girl!” she cheers. “In that case, let’s both go on a diet. I could stand to lose a few pounds myself. Ever since Nicholas started the first grade, I haven’t had anyone to chase around.”