Chapter 2 #2
“I love nature. I love yoga. Best of all, I love that I can be myself here.”
Cam loved that, too. Especially this morning.
He mentally cringed at his own thoughts. Dirty locker-room talk was taking over his common sense. “Your boyfriend doesn’t mind you doing yoga naked in front of”—he glanced around—“I don’t know…a couple hundred guests?” While eating breakfast, too.
Her brow furrowed. “Boyfriend?”
“Before you were officially hired, it was mentioned you had a boyfriend.”
“Well, I did. Until he had an issue with me working here. He said if I took the job he was leaving.”
Damn. “I’m going to take an educated guess that you chose this job over him.”
Her lips curled up on the ends. “Didn’t I say I loved yoga?”
His lips mirrored the motion of hers. “More than him, apparently.”
“He was fun. For a little while, anyway.”
Ouch.
“Like a lot of Fisher Falls’ residents, Darren was super conservative and uptight.” She shrugged again. “I’m far from that. Our ideologies clashed.”
“I thought opposites attract?”
“They can. But then it’s all downhill from there. Too many personality conflicts. I consider myself an independent free-spirit. I don’t like someone giving me an ultimatum or trying to tell me what I can and cannot do. I’m an adult woman who can make my own decisions.”
“And you don’t need a man telling you what to do or how to think,” Cam concluded, because he’d heard this more than once before from women.
“Bingo.”
“I assume that means you’d probably never get involved in a Dom/sub relationship.” Oh, good going, genius. Just drop that like a hot potato.
“Depends on what role I’m asked to take.”
His interest in Hope piqued even more after that answer. “And what role would you prefer to take?”
He was bold asking that, but he was truly curious. However, he wouldn’t pester her for an answer if it made her uncomfortable.
“That also depends.”
“On?”
“On the person I’m with. Sometimes I’m in the mood to give the orders, sometimes I’m in the mood to take them. Of course, I’m speaking strictly sexually and not in everyday life. Like I said, I can make my own decisions.”
Cam was the same way. The sexual dynamics could change depending on who he was with and their experience.
He was fine with either implementing the whip or feeling its bite.
If he was with a submissive, he had no problem stepping into the dominant role. And vice versa.
But after twenty-five years of giving orders to others, sometimes it was nice to hand that control over to someone else. And if they were experienced enough to take him into a deep subspace, even better.
Plus, he always looked forward to the aftercare, whether giving or receiving it.
“Have you ever done yoga?”
“No,” he answered.
“Well, if you ever want to give it a try, come join my morning class. When the weather is nice, I hold it outside where there’s plenty of room for drop-ins.”
Yoga? Him? “Is being naked a requirement?”
She laughed softly. “No, not at all. Although, I might have to put another class specifically for that on the schedule.”
“Good, because in the position you were in when we made awkward eye contact—”
“It might have been awkward for you, but it wasn’t for me.”
“Good to know. But my fear is, I might knock myself out in that position, if things get to swinging,” he teased.
The corners of her eyes crinkled and she shook her head. “Now, getting slapped in the face with your own equipment while in Downward Facing Dog could be awkward.”
“Downward Facing Dog?”
“That’s the name of the pose. Anyway, if you don’t already know, yoga has a lot of health benefits. You could come to one of my classes and see if you like it. Of course, it’s free of charge.” She added a wink.
Only if she taught it naked.
He squeezed his eyes shut. He was insufferable. He was riding a fine line of what could be considered sexual harassment.
Something he’d normally be the one investigating.
But it also proved he needed to get laid. And soon. If he had to think long and hard about when the last time he’d hooked up, that meant it had been far too long.
Earlier this morning, he was telling himself that his next sexual encounter needed to be with a man.
Hope was far from that. He’d seen the actual proof. “I’ll think about it.”
She smiled and rose to her feet. “I hope you do. I guess I should go get ready for my class.”
He wasn’t ready to end this conversation, especially now he knew she was single.
He pointed at her full sleeve. “Those are some tattoos you have.” Then he spotted another one he hadn’t noticed at first. When she got close, he nabbed her right arm and turned it until he could read the tattoo on her inner wrist. He read the quote out loud, “I am the one thing in life I can control.”
Damn. He liked that.
“It’s from Hamilton. Have you seen it?”
He huffed. “The musical? No.” While she didn’t try to pull away when he brushed his thumb over the black lettering, he reluctantly released her arm.
“You should. It’s great.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“If you don’t watch awesome performances with catchy tunes, what do you do for fun, Cameron Cook?”
“Not watch musicals. I prefer horror flicks.”
“Blood and gore, huh? As a former cop, you’d think you would’ve seen enough of that while on the job.”
“It was one way of desensitizing yourself to it. Otherwise, sometimes those situations could become overwhelming. Especially when it comes to children.”
Her brow dropped low. “I can imagine. That had to be rough.”
It sure was. And he preferred not to discuss it. He wanted to forget all the real-life horror he’d seen.
He didn’t realize how much hate humans could have for each other until after he graduated from the state police academy in Hershey.
She tipped her head toward his left arm. “Your tattoos are something, too.”
“Making an appointment was one of the first things I did after handing in my uniform.”
“The powers that be didn’t want you to have tattoos?”
“Not visible, so I decided to refrain until I retired and go hog wild afterward.”
“One sleeve is not hog wild. Unless the rest are hidden under your clothes?”
“If I ever join your naked yoga class, you can find out then.”
“Oh, something to look forward to. Both seeing you try yoga for the first time and your tattoos. But you might want to strap your massive cock to your thigh if you’re worried about knocking yourself out. Or, at minimum, poking out an eye.”
Cam laugh-groaned. “Now if you ever see me naked, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”
A single eyebrow rose. “You’re not hung like a horse?”
“Not even close.”
“Damn. Well, that’s disappointing.”
“For me as well.” He couldn’t stop smiling. That was so unlike him.
“All right. I really need to go get dressed and teach my first class.”
“Do you normally do yoga more than once a day?”
She pointed to the dock. “This session was for me. The class is for the students. I only show them the pose, then I walk around and check or correct everyone else’s.”
“Are you usually very hands-on?”
“I always ask my students first if they mind me touching them. Consent and all that. I want my students to feel completely comfortable.”
Ah fuck. It just dawned on him that he had touched her without asking first when he grabbed her wrist. He should’ve known better.
“And do any of them mind you touching them?” He’d be surprised if she said yes when it came to this particular resort.
“I haven’t had anyone yet. Anyway, it was nice speaking with you.”
As she headed down the dock, he realized no clothes were piled nearby. She had walked to the dock completely naked.
She waved a hand over her bare shoulder and called out, “Have a great rest of the day, Cameron Cook! I look forward to seeing you in a future class.”
“Don’t bet on it,” he whispered, watching her stroll naked up the grassy knoll.
Completely confident about her body.
And what a body it was.