Defying Desire. A.C. Arthur
could ask you the same thing,” he replied tartly.
“And the answer would be obvious.” She lifted a brow then nodded at Mr. Universe who again touched her arms as she pulled the weights inward.
This guy must have a death wish, Trent thought. That was perfectly fine with him, he hadn’t had good hand-to-hand combat in quite some time. Then it hit him that they were in a room full of other people trying to get their workout on. Trent, being one of the infamous Triple Threat Donovans, did not want any more attention than was absolutely necessary. So he reined in his temper as best as he could, and said, “I’d like to speak with you alone, Tia.”
Her arms jerked backward and the weights slammed down to the ground. Mr. Universe turned to him with a definite scowl.
“Look, man, she’s only got ten more reps to go then you can say whatever it is you need to say to her. But for right now you need to back off.”
Trent felt the tension and welcomed the rage, taking a step closer to Mr. Universe and grabbing him by the back of his muscled neck. “I’m not your man. And if anybody’s going to be backing off, for your sake and for the sake of the other people in this gym trying to go about their business, it better be you.”
Tia was trying to stand but her legs were tangled between the bench, Mr. Universe and now Trent, who were standing so close they could probably smell her. Instead she reached out grabbing Trent’s wrist that was squeezing the pulse out of Mr. Universe. The man had tilted his head back to lessen the grip but was unsuccessful. Trent was trained to kill even though he was only trying to intimidate this go-around.
“Let him go, Trent. We can go someplace quiet and talk,” she said desperately.
“I don’t see your trainer backing off,” Trent spat.
“It’s okay, Carlo. I’m just going to go and talk to him. I’ll finish my workout later.”
So Mr. Universe’s name was Carlo. Well, Trent didn’t give a damn. His name needed to be Mr. Two-Step because that’s what he needed to do to get the hell away from Tia, now!
Tia applied pressure to Trent’s wrist, trying to pull him off the trainer’s neck. “Trent. Stop it. You’re making a scene.”
“I told him to back off.”
“And he will once you let him go.”
There was logic to that, Trent thought, but there was also logic to breaking this fool in half for daring to touch Tia. But that was going too far, he knew. So with a deep breath he loosened his grip and took a step back.
Mr. Universe almost tripped over the weight bench trying to get away from him.
“Call another trainer when you’re ready, Tia,” he said and made a hasty retreat.
Trent couldn’t help but smile inwardly. If anybody was going to shape and mold Tia’s body it was going to be him.
“Wipe that satisfied smirk off your face. Your performance was juvenile and unnecessary.” Tia headed out of the room.
He followed her. “And so was your little exit this morning.”
“I don’t owe you any explanations,” she said over her shoulder, then pushed through the door marked “Stairs.”
Trent followed through the door, then reached out grabbing her and pushing her back against the wall. “You owed me at least a goodbye or good riddance. Let’s not forget you were the one who set the ball in motion last night. So don’t play the wounded victim now.”
Even sweating she smelled sexy, like wild berries and musk. It was scintillating, the scent reaching his nostrils then floating through his body like an aphrodisiac. They were alone in this stairwell but the building was full of people. Still he wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and take her right here, right now.
“Nobody said I was a victim,” she said pushing against his chest futilely. “I just had things to do.”
“And you couldn’t wake me up to tell me that. Why sneak out of your own apartment? If you didn’t want me there all you had to do was tell me to leave.”
She stared at him a moment as if she were going to say something, then she looked away.
“So that’s it? You’re just going to run away now? I thought you were better than that,” Trent said.
“You don’t know me,” she spat, then took advantage of his shock and twisted out of his reach.
Trent sighed, staring at her as she turned away from him. This was the other side of Tia St. Claire, the side that kept poking its way to the surface only to be pushed back by the wall she’d created around herself. The side that he warned himself to steer clear of.
Trent had never been one to listen, not even to himself.
“I’d like to get to know you,” he heard himself saying.
She was shaking her head when he approached her again. His hands instantly went around her waist because not touching her wasn’t an option. Pulling her back against him Trent nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck.
“We started backwards. I was supposed to take you to dinner and then seduce you.”
She chuckled and Trent felt a wave of relief wash over him.
“This isn’t a storybook romance,” she said finally.
“Who needs romance? I’m talking about eating. If you’re going to be the workout queen we have to keep you fed.”
She laughed again and Trent felt her relaxing in his arms. What was it that made her so tense and almost afraid at times?
“Look, Trent, we don’t have to do this. I’ll apologize for skipping out on you this morning. You can apologize for acting like a Neanderthal back there with Carlo and we can both go on about our business.”
She’d twisted in his embrace so that they now faced each other and Trent saw that the wall was back in place. She’d gathered her strength and was now facing him as she faced the rest of the world. Only, unlike the rest of the world, Trent knew it was an act. The question was why?
“I’m not apologizing to Mr. Universe. He should know where to put his hands. But I will accept your apology for this morning and offer dinner as a way of calling a truce. We always seem to be fighting each other when it’s obvious that’s not how we want to carry things.”
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