12. Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Tres Amigos + Jake Chat Group
Gabe : Hey Max. Lina would like Eva's number. The gala is coming up and she and Vi want to plan something with your wife
Max : That's sweet. I will talk my wife into it. She's a bit reticent to such things, but I can talk her into most stuff
Gabe : lol I bet you can. I promise Lina and Vi are nice.
Max : I know they are. It's Eva who may be suspicious of such lovely and friendly folk. She was suspicious of me, remember?
Javier : This is how Eva will get a chance to know them. It'll be good
Max : In fact, we said we're going to the lake house after, didn't we? More bonding time is always good. Please confirm, we didn't quite set it in stone last time we talked about the gala
Gabe : I will need to double check Lina's and my calendar but we could probably go for the weekend
Javier : Jake, are you in?
Jake : Gala on Thursday, lake house on Friday to Sunday?
Max : that sounds excellent
Gabe : then you can help us plan my parents' party too
Javier : All right, we're on
Lina : Hey Eva! This is Lina and Vi. I think Max told you we wanted to connect?
Eva : He did. I also think he made it seem like I'm a bit of a hermit. I'm not, and I'm happy we're texting
Vi : The thing is, everyone looks a bit reserved compared to Max
Eva : I promise I'm not that bad
Vi : Oh, no! We know you're amazing. That's why we want to come up with a name for our chat group and invite you to go out with us when we meet for the gala
Lina : Do you have a dress? Vi and I want to go shopping together and thought you might join us
Eva : I would love that. Max was talking of going shopping with me but he can be in the dark this time. I'll go with you both
Vi : that's amazing! And are you coming to the lake house after the gala with the group? Lina just told me of the guys' plan
Eva : Max wouldn't miss it, and neither would I
Lina : I'm so excited for this
Vi : So am I
Jake
I entered the executive gym fully expecting for it to be empty. Workouts were a part of my daily routine, ever since my therapist had told me that moving my body would help with self-regulation. Even though Vi and I had ended up using the room at the same time a few weeks before, we hadn't crossed paths since.
My hand stayed on the handle, door open and me halfway in, when I came face-to-face with Vi. The way I froze, I would need every single grounding technique Vanessa had ever taught me. Vi used the mats by the entrance for some sort of slow routine; she currently stretched her arms high over her head, palms together, and her eyes were closed. A soft smile curled her lips.
A deep breath later, I entered the studio and closed the door quietly behind me. I didn't want to startle her.
As soon as her smile turned playful, thoughts of quiet and calm and giving her space disappeared. My eyes traveled down her body, catching details I rarely got to look at for too long— her full breasts, covered by a sports bra and a loose crop top; the curve of her waist and the full, soft rounds above her hips and down a generous curve to her thick thighs.
She snorted, smiled, and dropped her hands to her belly. With gentle pressure, she accommodated its volume to tuck it at the right place for a forward bend.
She let out a laugh. Whatever she was listening to, it wasn't the instructions for her movement flow or meditation music. My bet was that it was one of her books, with a narrator whispering things into her ear. While in a position that made me want to walk around her, admire the view from behind, and ask her if she'd like to reenact one of her favorite scenes.
"Holy shit," I breathed, and ran a hard hand down my face. It pulled down at my skin and beard, but it was all I could do to hold back a groan.
I shouldn't have stayed. There was no way I could announce my presence without causing—
"Ah!" Vi's gasp was loud enough to be halfway to a scream. She whipped up to standing and took a step back.
"I'm sorry." I took a step to her and offered a hand, but hers had gone to her chest. I pulled mine back. "I was trying to get myself to go away and give you privacy. I didn't mean to scare you."
She pulled her headphones out of her ears. "Oh my god! I saw your shoes and I—"
"I'm sorry. Do you want me to go?"
"What?" She frowned, her eyes roaming down my shirt and shorts, the gym and suit bags I still held in one hand. "No, it's fine. I just need a second to recover."
"Me too, to be honest." I hung the suit from a hook and left the bag on the floor. "That gasp was fit for a horror movie."
She chuckled before taking a deep breath. I smirked.
"Oh, please." She sat on the ground, one knee up and her hands around it. "I really didn't expect anyone to show up. I've been alone here for most of the last couple of weeks."
"Yeah, I've been coming in earlier, and getting a bit of extra time reviewing documents for the transition. There's this binder someone gave me that's like three hundred pages long."
She laughed, and I began a warm up routine with a pleased smile on my face.
"It's hardly three hundred pages long." She got on her hands and knees, and crawled to her gym bag at the edge of the wall.
It seemed like a spontaneous move on her part; I didn't think she planned to give me ideas upon seeing her move like that on the ground. And yet she made me weak, it seemed, because all I could think about was her doing the same toward me, while biting her lips, because I had bid her to.
If I didn't put my mind in the right place, I would have to find a way to hide an erection.
"Since you're here—" she dug her headphone case from a pocket and opened it, to put away the buds— "it would be rude if I keep listening to my audiobook."
"You can keep listening if you want to. I can be quiet."
She gave me a funny look. "No, it's fine. We can be casual. We can small talk."
I mildly stretched my shoulder, pulling at an arm across my chest. My eyes were on her, and I couldn't help the smile at the corner of my lips.
"Who was it? Tristan? Was he the one making you laugh just now?"
She crawled back to her original spot, a smirk on her face. "No. I finished that book a while ago. It was a different character this time."
I released a slow breath and changed arms; between the practiced movements and all her unwitting help, I was plenty warmed up.
She crossed her legs and did a few twists to stretch her torso; I went to the barbell rack and chose one slightly above my usual. Some strenuous training might help curb the blood wanting to rush south, rather than to my limbs.
I sat at the bench. "What's happening in your book?"
Her eyes whipped to mine. "Do you really want to know?"
I nodded. "Small talk, right? I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. You scoffed there for a second, which surprised me."
"It wasn't smut." She bit her lip. "Not this section. But he was doing something extremely cute and those scenes just…"
I started a few curls with both arms. She shrugged and lay fully back on the floor, legs to me.
She sighed. "They make me want to giggle and kick my feet."
She pulled a knee up and to the side, twisting and stretching her lower back. Also giving me a nice view of her ass.
"What did he do? The guy in your book. What's his name?"
"Earlier in the book, she made a casual comment that she wanted a guy to do something special for her and, when he pressed her for an example, she said it could be something as simple as a bubble bath after a hard day of work. So what does he do, many chapters later?"
I smirked. "He drew her a bath after a long day of work."
"Not only that." She did the same motion as before, but with her other leg. "He put essential oils and salts in the bath, rose petals, of course, and her favorite white wine in a large glass. He put on music she liked— and all of this while he made her dinner."
The muscles on my arms burned with the weight of the barbell, but I kept at it. "Is that what you want? Someone to do those things for you?"
"Someone to pay attention." She let her leg come to the floor again, and put her hands on her belly. Like she might try for a nap. But her eyes were wistful and on the ceiling. "Someone who knows me and loves me and wants to be with me, for me. Someone I can love just like that, back."
That could be me. In many ways, that was me, already. I wanted to be that person for Vi. Instead, all I was was jealous of a fictional character.
"What's his name? The guy in your book." Green tinted the words, deep and growly in my tone.
Her laugh surprised me.
"No." She sat up and crossed her legs again. "I mean, it's Eddie."
I squinted at her. "Suspicious. What's the name of the book?"
"Why? Are you going to read it?"
I took a break and left the barbell on the floor. "Sure. I've been curious about your books."
"I'll text it to you later."
"You don't know the name of the book?"
She shrugged and got up. "I read so many, the title is the least of my concerns."
She took her bags and aimed for the showers. My eyes narrowed. The way she moved was a little too casual— she hid something.
A flare went off in my belly. Her avoidance challenged me. Some ancestral instinct clicked in, where chasing the truth was all that I cared about.
I blocked her path and cocked my head. "Too suspicious, Vi. Even if you don't remember the book title, you have to remember the guy's name. You're hearing it every other paragraph. And I don't buy Eddie for a second."
"I don't want to tell you, okay?" She tried to walk around me.
"Why?" I asked. "What is it about the name that you want to keep secret?"
She shook her head.
My nostrils flared. "I could steal your phone— right now. But I would rather you told me."
"Would you wrestle me for it? Is this how you break?" Heat shone in her eyes. "How badly do you want it?"
Her question punched me in the gut, leaving a hot coil in its wake. The defiance in her voice pulled me closer, and I had to grit my teeth not to pin her against the wall.
"Violeta. That was a dangerous question."
"You're pushing me. What did you expect? Your question was dangerous, too."
"Are you always this… willful?"
"Are you asking if I'm a brat? Then ask me again when you're a VP, and maybe you'll get to find out."
My jaw clenched. I shouldn't want to know, but every synapsis in my brain fired in search of the answer.
"Is it… Jake?" The word ground between my teeth.
She made to walk past me again, and this time I couldn't help it. I caged her against the wall.
"Jake!" She gasped.
Desire bloomed on her face, her lips open and soft, and her eyes glued to mine.
"Fuck. You like this, don't you?" I asked.
"As much as you like being challenged."
"You know there's a point where I break," I growled. "And it feels like you're trying to find it."
"I didn't mean to… but I can see it's working."
Her voice sounded breathless. She licked her lips. I got a bit closer, enjoying the way she seemed to melt against the wall.
"Is the guy's name Jake?" It sounded more like an order than a question.
"Jacob. But they use Jake sometimes."
My chuckle was humorless. "What a coincidence. You have a fake guy named Jake whispering sexy things to you."
"And cute things, too."
"Meanwhile, I can't do either."
"You're doing quite well right now."
"Do you like him telling you things and hearing my name?"
Her hands were busy with her bags. She didn't touch me, and she didn't respond. I could make a move, but I didn't.
Her eyes did the touching, the weight of her sight heavy on my face, my lips, tracking my tongue as I licked my bottom lip. I had to clench my hands not to grab her neck, and feel her pulse on my thumb as I kissed her.
I could take her right there. Push my body onto hers and keep going until I was in her. Until I finally knew what moving in her felt like. Everything else be damned.
I leaned on my arm above her head, and the one by her shoulder kept me away.
"Set me straight, Vi. Tell me to stop, or I don't know that I can."
She blinked several times, her breathing fast. "Stop. Jake. Stop. We can't."
It was what I had asked for, yet her words fell on me like a bucket of ice water. I was a reckless man, a dog on the scent of what it searched, being hosed away from its prey.
"Fuck," I muttered, and pushed myself off the wall. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry," she said, her voice deep and heavy. "Please. It makes it worse."
I turned away to make room for her. To give her space to do as she needed to. So she wouldn't see the despair on my face.
She stopped halfway into the bathroom. Her voice came to me in a yearning whisper. "I will ask you once, after you become a VP. Just once. I hope you don't turn me down, but I will respect it if you do."
The door closed with a dooming click.
"Fuck," I said again.
I grabbed my bags and ran to the bathroom, too.