The Determined Groom: Texas Titan Romances

by Checketts, Cami

  Emmett led Cambree through a quick warm-up of squats, inchworms, planks, and toy soldiers, then said, “Let’s start with burpees.”

  Cambree planted her hands on her hips. “You said I wouldn’t have any penalties, so no burpees.”

  “Rule number one: you do exactly what I say.” Emmett stepped closer, and suddenly she was surrounded by his musky smell, his strength, the sheer manliness of him. It wasn’t intimidating—it was inspiring.

  “I knew you were a bossy man.”

  He lifted an eyebrow and commanded, “Burpees.”

  Cambree groaned but complied.

  Emmett counted for her. “9 … 10 … 11 … No, no, no! You didn’t touch your chest to the ground.”

  Cambree jumped up and glared at him. “You’d better back up a step, sucker.”

  He chuckled. “You’d better get it right. Watch and learn.” He dropped into a squat, quickly kicked his legs out behind him, did a perfect push-up, then jumped his legs back in and leapt toward the air. “I want you jumping higher too. Now go.”

  Cambree folded her arms and glared at him. “The rules clearly state I only have to clear my feet off the ground. I’m not wasting precious energy jumping around like a bunny rabbit.” Her pride stung from him saying she didn’t touch her chest to the ground.

  Emmett stepped closer, and the intense look on his handsome face was a little intimidating this time. He wasn’t going to let her get away with anything. “I am training you to be the best and the toughest, and when you’re in an actual competition and the burpees feel easy, you can thank me then.” He arched an eyebrow and dared her to question him, which she wasn’t about to do. “Now go!”

  Cambree rolled her eyes but complied, dropping down into a burpee, exaggerating hitting her chest on the floor, then leaping into a squat position and using her powerful quad muscles to fly as high as she could jump.

  “Yes! That’s my girl. Keep going.”

  Cambree felt warmth rush through her. His girl. She wasn’t, not even close, but she loved the way he’d said that. Those three words gave her a burst of energy, and she pumped out thirty burpees without complaint, though her thighs were burning, before he yelled, “Now sprint!”

  Cambree took off running across the gym, passing Lucy and Mark. Lucy was still doing walking lunges.

  “Go, Cambree!” Lucy hollered. “Sheesh, she’s fast.”

  “Yeah,” Mark agreed.

  Their cheering helped also, and she upped her speed.

  “Ten lengths of the gym,” Emmett called.

  Cambree was feeling the burpees and the sprinting by her sixth length. She realized she should not have eaten quite so much at the delectable lunch spread. It wasn’t going to taste nearly as good coming back up.

  Emmett was suddenly by her side, and watching him run was a glorious thing. He was so long and well-built that he seemed to glide over the polished floor. “Come on, sweetie, you got this,” he encouraged her as they sprinted together.

  When she hit the wall at ten, she gasped for air and put her hands on her knees.

  “Nice!” Emmett said. “Now army crawl four lengths of the gym.”

  Cambree groaned but complied. She couldn’t help but wonder if he called all the girls he trained “my girl” and “sweetie,” but it definitely helped to motivated her. She was pretty sure she rubbed all the skin off her forearms by the time she finished the fourth length of army crawl, but she was used to that with the barbed wire crawl being a staple of most of her events, and that obstacle was through dirt, rocks, and sometimes muddy water.

  “Thirty burpees,” Emmett said.

  “What? I didn’t mess up.”

  Emmett simply raised an eyebrow at her. “Your race clock is ticking.”

  “Jerk,” she muttered, but she started the burpees.

  “Jump higher!” Emmett hollered.

  She finally reached thirty and could hardly breathe. Her legs were quivering.

  “Sprint,” Emmett commanded.

  Cambree took off. Part of her was hating her trainer, but another part of her was loving Emmett, loving this. It was why she’d raised the money and traveled to Texas: to be pushed harder than she could push herself. Even though it was excruciating and painful, it felt great, in a twisted psycho sort of way.

  On the eighth length, Emmett joined her again. She wondered how his knee was holding up, but she had no oxygen to ask.

  “You got this. I love your speed,” Emmett said.

  Cambree took that as a huge compliment from the man who could do the forty-yard dash in barely over four seconds. They raced to the end of the gym, and Cambree slammed into the padded wall again.

  “Rope climb,” Emmett said, a little out of breath himself, gesturing toward the corner of the gym.

  Cambree loved this obstacle. She hurried to the rope and grasped it, scurrying up to the top, then sliding down.

  “That was impressive. Thirty burpees.”

  Cambree didn’t even groan, just complied. She’d never have this many burpees in an actual event, but if she kept this up, she’d be quicker than anybody at them.

  As she finished the last burpee, Emmett gestured to the rope. “Climb it again.”

  “Give me something hard, bossy man,” she threw at him.

  He looked surprised for half a second. Then he laughed. “You got this, sweetheart.”

  Cambree didn’t know if she should tell him the terms of endearment were a huge motivator for her, or if she should just keep her mouth shut. It was possible he didn’t realize he was using them, and she definitely didn’t want him to stop. She climbed quickly up the rope and slid down. Five feet from the ground she let go, but instead of catching her, her exhausted legs gave out. She hit the gym floor hard.

  Emmett was right there. He lifted her up, and Cambree should’ve cared that she probably reeked of sweat, but it was just too nice to be in his muscular arms. Sheesh, he smelled good and he felt good and she was so exhausted she wanted to lie against his chest and fall asleep. Well, there might not be any sleeping if she stayed in these arms. Too invigorating.

  “You okay, sweetheart?” His dark eyes were concerned, but they also burned with a “stay in these buff arms of mine” smolder.

  “Fabulous.” She forced herself to pull back, though it was tougher than anything he’d thrown at her today. “What’s next?”

  Emmett blinked and then whooped. “That’s my girl! You’re a beast.”

  Cambree knew being called a beast was a compliment in her brothers’ lingo, but she’d assumed a high-society guy like Emmett wouldn’t use the word. Football must’ve softened him up, and the way Emmett’s dark eyes were sparkling at her made her feel amazing and like she was his girl. It was so different from the way her ex, Nolan, had made her feel when he abruptly dumped her, that she wanted to savor it.

  There was no time for sappy thinking like that. Emmett grabbed a bucket and lifted it easily, making Cambree grit her teeth. He put the eighty-pound bucket in her hands and said, “As you pointed out, we don’t have any mountains in Texas, so we’ll have to use the stairs.” He inclined his chin. The gym was two stories high, but there were stairs on the edge that led to other workout rooms on the second level. “Two lengths of the gym, then ten flights of stairs. We’ll repeat it a few times.” It wasn’t a question, and she could already tell it would be more than a few.

  Cambree took off and tried to keep her chin up and her legs moving, even though they were quivering with exhaustion and the muscles in her neck and arms felt like they were seizing from the weight of the bucket. She wouldn’t quit, though; she wanted to keep hearing Emmett say, “That’s my girl, sweetheart, and you’re a beast.” The thought of disappointing him kept her pace up quicker than if she were in an official race.

  * * *

  Emmett could not believe how tough Cambree was. He put her through every event he’d ever seen done on a Warrior race, even having her use trees in the forest like a monkey to try to imitate the hanging Wa
rrior. He made her do a lot of burpees and sprints and she was probably cussing him in her head, but she just kept going and going. He started worrying whether he could help her improve when she was already at a fitness level that was close to a lot of the professional athletes he’d competed with.

  After they finished with the obstacles, he had her eat a protein bar and down a water bottle and a Gatorade. Then they took the workout into the weight room. He’d never been interested in a client like this and he hoped he wasn’t transparent to everyone, especially Cambree, but he couldn’t resist calling her “sweetheart” and “my girl.” It just came naturally, and her funny responses made the day even better.

  She was pulling a weighted rope against a cable machine, and he was in awe of the smooth muscle rippling in her arms.

  “Your muscle tone is impressive. Maybe you should take up modeling instead of schoolteaching,” he said.

  Cambree rolled her eyes. “No-o-o way! I couldn’t stand that fakey life.” She hit the end of the cable length and released it.

  “Do it again,” Emmett said. “Watch your posture, keep that back straight and your shoulders down.” She obeyed quickly. This girl was a perfect student.

  “What’s wrong with my ‘fakey life’?” Britney asked.

  Emmett looked to Tracy, who lifted her shoulders. They must’ve just come around from the free weight area. Emmett hadn’t realized they were close enough to hear them. Britney was covered in sweat, her makeup running down her face and her blonde hair in a haphazard ponytail.

  “Looks like you’ve been working hard,” Emmett tried to deflect.

  “Tracy’s amazing,” Britney said. “There won’t be an ounce of fat on me after this week.”

  Cambree stood. “I don’t think there’s an ounce of fat on you right now.”

  “Ah, you’re sweet.” Britney’s blue eyes gleamed. “Why wouldn’t you want to be a model?”

  Cambree shrugged. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I’m from a really humble background. I wouldn’t fit in with people who are classy and wealthy. You’re so polished and beautiful. I’m sure everyone loves you.”

  Emmett wanted to protest that Cambree had no clue how beautiful and confident she was. She could fit in with any group. No, not fit in. Shine above anyone. Her lingo might shock some people, but not the people that mattered.

  Britney’s eyes went from shrewd to happy. “You’re pretty enough to model, but I understand if you haven’t been raised to associate with high rollers.”

  Cambree smiled. “It’s really impressive to me, what you do.”

  “Thank you, love.” Britney blew her a kiss.

  “Let’s grab a drink, then head back to the free weights,” Tracy said.

  Britney gave them a jaunty wave and Emmett a seductive wink before strutting off. Emmett turned to face Cambree, not wanting an eyeful of Britney’s cheeks. “You sell yourself short,” he said.

  Cambree shook her head. “No. I would never fit in with wealth and prestige.” She dropped down to a seated position and grabbed the rope. “Again?”

  Emmett nodded, but his head was swirling. He was impressed with how Cambree had handled Britney with poise and kindness, but he didn’t like that she thought she wouldn’t fit in with the wealthy elite. He didn’t think of himself as a high roller, but he and his brothers were high-profile billionaires and he was a well-known athlete. He’d dated some actresses and models but never gotten serious with any of them. Did Cambree think that was his crowd? He wasn’t sure how to ask without showing how interested he was in her. He shouldn’t be considering dating Cambree. He could just imagine the field day the media would have about him falling for a fitness camp participant, especially if her background was really as humble as she seemed to think it was. He watched Cambree pull on the rope. She bit at her lip, and she was so cute—no, beautiful. Who could blame him for wanting to fall?

  Chapter Four

  Cambree worked hard through the first day of torture, not sure how she would do it again tomorrow. Emmett was fun and he really knew his stuff.

  As she pulled through a set of seated rows on the cable machine, she felt his hand on her upper back. She gulped, feeling much warmer than she should be from the workout. His large palm pressing against her thin shirt was intoxicating.

  “Keep that back straight, and I want you to concentrate on squeezing your shoulder blades together.”

  “Got it,” she muttered, unable to think of an intelligent response with him touching her like that. She had to remind herself he was simply instructing her, not trying some romantic move, but it was hard to remember that.

  They moved slowly through the exercises. He really concentrated on building strength and power by focusing on the eccentric or lowering phase of each lift. She was lowering into a dead lift when he touched her hamstring muscle.

  Cambree jumped and straightened quickly, whirling to face him. “Those are my legs!” she cried out.

  Emmett’s eyes were wide and he backed up, lifting his hands up. “I … it’s part of me training you. I have to make sure you’re doing the exercise right.”

  “What on the green earth would make you need to touch my thigh like that?” It had felt so stinking good that she could hardly talk straight right now.

  “I was checking how your hamstring was responding, and it isn’t as tight as I’d like it. You’re cheating and not keeping your back flat enough, so your hamstring isn’t getting as intense of a workout.” He shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to touch you inappropriately.”

  She swallowed hard, her face flaming red. “I’m sure you didn’t mean nothing by it, it’s just … your hands, whew! They’re smokin’, you know?”

  Emmett’s eyes got even wider. “Oh.”

  Man, she’d made this awkward. She tried to fix it. “I mean, I’ve worked with other trainers, but they never made me go hot and cold all over when they touched me.”

  Emmett pushed a hand through his hair. “Okay.”

  She closed her eyes and wanted to crawl in a hole.

  “Are you okay with me touching you … if it helps with your training?”

  Cambree nodded, not able to look at him. Keep your fat mouth shut and work, she told herself.

  They went through some more lifts and she was able to stay quiet and not embarrass herself. When she was doing pull-ups, she made it to fifteen before her grip started giving out. Emmett wrapped his arms around her thighs and said, “Let’s go, sweetheart. You got this.”

  He’d just said “sweetheart” again. Oh, my, he was much too cute. And now he was touching her again. She was sweaty and gross and needed to keep her head focused on the workout, but his hands touching her legs made her stomach swirl and her mouth go dry, and she about lost her grip on the bar. She kept going because he was cheering her on. “You got this.”

  Cambree made it through twenty more assisted pull-ups before he let her go and she dropped to her feet. Emmett high-fived her, but instead of letting go, he wrapped his hand around hers. “You rocked that. That’s my girl.”

  Butterflies swirled in Cambree’s stomach as his large hand surrounded hers and she stared into his handsome face. She licked her lips and his eyes dropped to her lips, then met hers again.

  “Where did you get your blue eyes?” he asked.

  “My daddy.”

  He nodded, then whispered so quietly she barely heard it, “Beautiful.”

  Neither of them moved. The way he stared at her made her stomach smolder and made her feel like she was beautiful to him. Cambree had never felt such sparks, desire, or pull to a man before, including her ex-fiancé.

  A movement at the gym door broke them apart. Cambree should’ve been grateful. Emmett was an amazing trainer, but she could never allow herself to fall for a richie man again and wasn’t sure how she was going to make it out of this camp with her heart intact. Especially if he kept giving her those lingering looks.

  Emmett cleared his throat. “Ready for more obstacles?”
/>   “Point me the way to torture, bossy man.”

  Emmett chuckled and grabbed the weighted bucket. They went through a lot of the Warrior obstacles again. Of course, he kept throwing burpees and sprints in there. To cool down before dinner, he took her on another six-mile run.

  Cambree smiled. She hurt, but she loved being pushed to her limit and she really loved being around Emmett. He didn’t act like any of the upper-class people she’d met before. Granted, the only ones she’d met before were Nolan and his snooty crowd. Part of the reason she talked the way she did was because of how much Nolan had hated it and how she’d tried to change for him when they dated. He’d treated her like a princess in some ways but expected her to be something she wasn’t. Then he’d dumped her and broken her heart regardless of how hard she tried. She shook it off, telling herself she was over it and she would stay true to herself and her upbringing no matter how impressive a man was.

  She showered quick, put on minimal makeup and a comfortable T-shirt dress, and went to meet everyone for dinner. The dinner was delicious with salmon, chicken breast, and a huge variety of veggies and salads. Everyone got their food and Cambree found herself seated between Britney and Lucy.

  “Why don’t you eat some real food, you rabbit?” Lucy asked.

  Cambree looked down. Her plate was filled with a huge variety and she’d just taken a bite of sweet potato that was delicious.

  “Not you. Her.” Lucy pointed at Britney.

  Britney sucked in a breath and bit at her lip, pushing some of the dry salad around on her plate. “You don’t understand how it is. If I gain a pound, I could lose everything.”

  Cambree remembered her own comment earlier about not wanting a model’s lifestyle, and it was dead-on for more reasons than having to act perfect all the time. “You really need some protein, though, to maintain the muscle and help you work hard again tomorrow,” Cambree said gently, and her heart went out to Britney.

  “I’ll try a little chicken.” Britney stood, and Cambree noticed the three male trainers and Troy watching as she walked over to the food. Her skirt wasn’t quite as short as her shorts had been earlier, but Cambree still dreaded the thought of her leaning forward.