* * *
THEY WERE KILLING THIS.
Together they were naturals at this couples yoga thing. They were moving through even the more challenging poses by working together and trusting in one another. Right now, Callum was balancing on Ellie’s thighs as she crouched in a chair pose and their extended arms were only connected by their fingertips, and he had complete trust. He’d never felt more relaxed and centered. Whole.
No wonder couples did this. If more couples did, the divorce rate in the country might not be so high.
Not only was it a way to reconnect spiritually, but it was also erotic as hell. Ellie’s short shorts and bra top had had him salivating from the moment they’d stepped onto their mats, but the more they’d balanced against one another, supported one another’s weight, joined their bodies together in the series of poses, the more turned on he was by her. Her soft, slightly sweaty skin against his was the most intoxicating experience he’d ever shared with a woman.
And now that she’d relaxed and gotten into it, she seemed to be enjoying it, as well.
Enjoying it and not wishing she was doing it with Brent?
He wasn’t sure, but maybe for right now she’d forgotten all about her ex, who was watching intently from across the yard...and about their mission this week.
“Okay, and relax and release,” Cheryl said as Mitch placed his feet back on the ground and she returned to a standing position.
The others did the same.
“Well, those were the poses. Well done, everyone,” Cheryl said, and Callum was slightly disappointed that it was over already.
Ellie sent him a sidelong look, and he could tell she felt the same way.
“Okay, now for the meditation part,” Cheryl said.
Meditation? That would be impossible with the semi-hard-on he was fighting to control the whole time.
“Everyone sit comfortably on your mats and face your partner,” Cheryl said, sitting and facing Mitch.
Ellie sat without hesitation and smiled at him when he sat across from her. He’d expected more reluctance from her, but when Cheryl reached for Mitch’s hands, she immediately reached for his again. The hope rising in his chest was going to hurt like a son of a bitch if she went back into “getting Brent back” mode as soon as this was over, but for now, he’d allow himself this time with her.
Their hands connected again and he stared across at her. She was so beautiful. Sweat pouring down the side of her face, tendrils of hair escaping the messy bun at the top of her head, her expression serene and peaceful.
What did he look like to her? Could he dare hope that she was seeing him in a different light?
“Deep breath in, deep breath out,” Cheryl said.
He watched as Ellie’s chest rose and fell in a deep, slow rhythm that was in perfect sync with his own. They were breathing as one.
“Keep staring into your partner’s eyes. Really look beyond the surface. Go deeper with your connection,” Cheryl said, her voice calm and steady, almost hypnotizing.
He continued to stare at Ellie and she didn’t look away. He felt her gazing straight into his soul, and he could stay here, sitting across from her, holding her hands this way forever. The moment couldn’t last long enough.
“Deep breath in, deep breath out.”
Inhale. Exhale.
“And namaste,” Cheryl said far too soon.
“Namaste,” they said together, and maybe it was his imagination, but Ellie held on to his hands longer than the other women held their partners’ hands.
* * *
WHAT THE HELL had just happened?
As Ellie showered for the third time that day, her mind reeled. That couples yoga was dangerous. They shouldn’t let just anyone do that shit together.
For an hour out there, she’d actually believed that she and Callum were connecting in some mystical way. Their bodies had been touching, but it had also felt as though their souls were one.
She didn’t really believe in all of that cosmic, karma stuff. Yet, moments before she’d felt closer to Callum than anyone else in her life. She’d actually completely forgotten about Brent and the reason she was here this week. She wasn’t sure she would have felt as relaxed and comfortable doing it with Brent. She would have been self-conscious and wondering what everyone else thought... But today, she’d almost forgotten anyone else was there as she’d breathed through the poses with Callum.
She took a deep breath as the cool water cascaded down her back.
It had to be just that they were friends—there was nothing more to their relationship than that. Of course she was comfortable and able to relax around Callum, there wasn’t any sexual tension between them.
Or she was lying to herself. He certainly seemed...aroused.
She sighed. No more couples yoga.
* * *
THE YOGA HAD DONE more than solidify his feelings for Ellie. All of a sudden, Callum’s muse was back.
Sitting on the deck of the cottage with his laptop, his fingers flew over the keyboard. The fresh air, the setting sun, the light breeze rustling through the trees all around them and the faraway sound of waves lapping against the lakeshore were all contributing to his best writing sprint in a long time.
The relaxation exercise had opened up his emotional side, allowing him to dig deeper than ever. Raw vulnerability spilled from his memories onto the pages. Even events he’d somewhat repressed because they were too painful to recall or write about were finding their way into the book. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.
Times of peace and calm when his father was away were stories he hadn’t even thought to include, but he realized they were essential to balancing the rest of the book. Highlighting the impact his father’s absence had on the family only further enhanced the damaging effects when he was there.
They would smile. His brother, his mother and he. That was the thing that struck him the most. Smiles were forced or held no real joy when Alan was home, but Callum remembered actually laughing around the table with his mom and brother whenever their father’s seat was empty.
He was so caught up in the work that he didn’t hear Ellie exit the cottage. He jumped, noticing her reading over his shoulder. He quickly minimized the screen and turned to face her. “That’s not ready for your eyes yet,” he said. But damn, was she a sight for his.
Dressed in a light blue, ankle-length, bohemian-style sundress—flowy and loose but low-cut and sexy as hell—she made his mouth go dry. Her hair was loose and curled around her shoulders and her face was makeup-free, except for the most seductively shiny lip gloss that made her mouth more tempting than ever. “You look beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing down at the dress.
“I don’t think I’ve seen that dress before.” He would have remembered if he had.
“It’s new. I bought it for this trip.”
For Brent. Right. He nodded as he shut down his laptop. “Ready to meet up with the others?”
She hesitated, looking slightly apprehensive, and his heart fell. Their connection earlier that day was over. Either she hadn’t felt it too or she had and it had terrified her. Either way, she was pulling back from him again. Sticking to her goal. “I thought maybe I’d go up there alone... You know, start the whole ‘trouble in paradise’ phase...”
She didn’t sound very confident, but he couldn’t tell if it was because she was struggling with her decision or if she was just afraid of hurting his feelings. Did she want him to argue? Show that he too thought things were changing between them? She was impossible to read, so he nodded. “Yeah, okay. I could use the time to write, anyway.”
She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, making him immediately regret not insisting that he tag along. “Great,” she said as she descended the stairs, but then she stopped and turned back.
Had
she changed her mind? His hopes foolishly soared.
“And by the way, your time keeping that writing to yourself is running out.”
She headed up the trail and Callum watched her go.
Time was indeed running out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE SOUND OF her phone alarm playing a Spanish beat woke her at 2:30 a.m. and Ellie rushed to turn it off before it could wake Callum. He’d been passed out on the chaise lounge when she’d gotten back to the cottage just before midnight. His laptop had been on his lap, but unfortunately, the screen saver had blocked any peek she might have gotten of his writing as she put the laptop away and covered him with a blanket.
He continued to snore softly now as she quietly got out of bed and grabbed her own laptop. She tiptoed across the floor and turned the knob slowly. The door creaked a little as it opened and she glanced back over her shoulder. Still sleeping. One arm stretched overhead, the other dangling over the side of the chaise lounge, his long legs draped over the side. She really should let him sleep in the bed...but that day’s yoga had stirred some weird stuff inside of her that she hadn’t completely shaken off yet.
Best to keep their distance.
She went out onto the deck and closed the door behind her, then sitting on the swing, she logged into the online class site and dialed her student’s computer.
A second later Raquel appeared on the screen. “Hola!” Ellie said and forced any sign of tiredness from her expression and voice.
“Hello,” Raquel said, but it came out more of a sob.
“Everything okay?” Ellie asked.
“No...mi padre, my father, found out about Leo,” she said over a loud sniff.
Ellie wanted to feel bad for Raquel, but she was more relieved. The idea of the young woman moving around the world for a stranger she’d met online had been a little terrifying to her. And she’d always felt like an accomplice to Raquel’s plan. “Sorry to hear that,” she said.
Raquel blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “Sin preocupaciones,” she said, waving a hand. “I find new love in Italy.”
Italy?
“So...do you still want to learn English?”
“Oh yes. Mi amore in Italy is American.”
Phew! Thought she’d lost her client for a second there. But alas, Raquel’s attraction to Americans persisted. “Okay, let’s get started,” she said.
An hour later, she shut the laptop and yawned as she stood. “So the rule about i before e is actually kinda bullshit.” Callum’s voice made her jump, and her hand went to her heart as she turned to see him standing in the cottage doorway.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to learn a few choice words in Español,” he said with a wink.
Ellie laughed. “Raquel has quite a potty mouth and doesn’t love it when she’s not getting something right. Did I wake you?”
He shook his head. “My alarm did.”
She frowned. “You set your alarm for the middle of the night?”
“Only on the nights you teach,” he said, holding the door open for her to enter.
That was weird. He always texted her, but she’d thought he was up anyway on those nights. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess I can’t sleep knowing you’re awake. I feel guilty for sleeping.”
She laughed. “That’s ridiculous.” But it warmed her slightly. Enough that she avoided his gaze as she put her laptop away.
“You are a really great teacher,” he said. “Where did you learn how?”
“It’s not hard to get certified to teach English as a native English speaker. Just a few grammar tests and a two hundred–hour online course.”
“I think you’re underestimating how hard it is to actually teach. Especially in an online setting. Not a lot of people can do that,” he said.
She shrugged. “I guess it does take a natural ability to want to share knowledge, and I get off on seeing someone grasp a new skill or concept.”
“So you’ve always had that knack... I mean you used to tutor in high school, right? That’s how you and Brent got together.”
She nodded, but at the moment she wasn’t really in the mood to talk about Brent. “It probably started even before that,” she said as she zipped her laptop case. “I used to set up chairs in our basement and sit all my dolls on them, and then I’d stand at the front of the ‘class’ with an old chalkboard my mom found at a garage sale and I’d teach them stuff.” Her cheeks flushed. Why the hell was she telling him that? It was embarrassing.
But he smiled. “I can see little Ellie doing that.”
“Anyway, it’s just something I enjoy.”
“Have you thought more about going back to school to get a teaching degree?”
She shrugged as she climbed back into bed. “I don’t know. I’ll be thirty soon.” That ship was slowly sailing away each year. At first, she’d been motivated to keep saving for that possibility, but when the reality of how long it would take for her to pay off her parents’ medical bills set in, the dream had seemed too unreachable to keep her motivation strong enough.
“What does age have to do with anything?”
“Asks the twenty-five-year-old.”
He laughed as he tried to get comfortable on the chaise lounge. “Twenty-six and a half. Stop making it sound like there’s a huge gap between us. It’s only three years.”
Three long years. Ellie felt so much older than twenty-nine. Having had to grow up quickly and face the world on her own at a young age made her feel twice her age some days. She hadn’t had the chance to grow into herself, to take a year off after graduation and travel a little or spend time figuring out what she wanted for her future once going to university hadn’t been an option financially. She’d fallen into the routine of surviving day-to-day. Like most people.
“I’m just not sure going back to school is the best option,” she said with another yawn.
“You could complete the courses online.”
She’d thought of that several times over the years. Had even decided on the school she’d like to attend. But she’d always backed out at the last minute. “I don’t know. Financially, I’m not sure it really makes sense.” She’d saved money, but was it worth investing in a new career? That money could go toward her retirement plans instead. But it was kinda depressing to think she was closer to the end of her life than the beginning.
“I could loan you the money. Hell, I could give you the money.”
She laughed. “Not a chance.”
“Offer’s always on the table,” he said.
She’d never accept it. But it was so like him to not even think twice about helping her like that. His generosity was never in question. She saw him buy books for kids who came into the store without money all the time, and his “private” charitable donations helped support some organizations in Wild River.
She watched as he fluffed the pillow under his arm then tossed it on the floor instead.
He was really struggling. She sighed as she yanked back the bedsheets on the other side. “Get in.”
His eyes widened in surprise and he started to get up, then stopped. “Are you sure?”
“You don’t fit on that thing. You’re going to have neck cramps.”
He studied her for a long moment, then eyed the comfy-looking bed before shaking his head. “Nah, I’m good. The bed is yours.”
Her jaw gaped slightly. He was turning down the comfort of the bed? Because he knew she wasn’t comfortable with sharing it and because he was a really great guy.
Damn, now she kinda wanted him in the bed with her.
“Night, Ellie,” he said, tucking his arm under his head.
“Night, Callum,” she said, turning off the bedside lamp.
“And think about the online courses,” he said in the dark. �
��It’s never too late.”
At that moment, her dream of teaching was the farthest thing from Ellie’s mind.
* * *
CALLUM LAY AWAKE in the dark cottage, his gaze on Ellie in the queen-size bed only three feet away. She looked so small, lost in the mound of soft, oversize pillows and tangle of bedsheets. One leg had escaped the sheets, and the light from the window illuminated the shapely calf and thigh and delicate-looking ankle.
She’d invited him in and he’d basically panicked. In a span of ten seconds, he’d gone full circle between wanting to say yes and knowing he should say no. Lying in bed with her would feel too personal, too intimate, and while he craved that, he wasn’t sure he wanted the first time he slept next to Ellie to be just because she felt bad for him.
He sighed as he saw her roll onto her side. The bedsheet lifted, exposing her bare shoulders and upper back. Her skin looked like silk—and he knew from touching her today that it felt just as soft.
Maybe joining her wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
The yoga that day had definitely made the earth around them shift a little... And what if she mistook his refusal as rejection? As in, he didn’t want to sleep next to her? Wasn’t interested?
Shit. What if the invitation had been based on more than just sympathy for his uncomfortable sleeping situation? What if she’d been trying to hint at something? Not sex obviously, but maybe she’d wanted his body in bed with her?
He wasn’t sleeping tonight. Between the uncomfortable chaise lounge and overthinking, he’d be wide-awake until sunrise. Unless, he climbed into bed with her...
He sat up and threw off the blanket, then grabbing the pillow from the floor, he walked toward the bed. She must have heard him approach, as her eyes opened, and she looked at him with such a sexy sleepy expression it took all his strength not to dive onto the bed and take her into his arms.
“Callum?”
“I...uh...” His cell phone vibrating on the table interrupted him, and he sighed as he reached for it quickly. Sean’s number lit up the display and his gut turned. “I have to get this. I’ll take it outside,” he said, heading for the door. “Get a good sleep.”
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