Chapter 7 #3
Brady’s eyes locked with mine, and that ever-present zing of awareness shot through me, turning my nipples to hard points against my thin top.
Okay, so this maybe wasn’t my best idea, but there was no way I was going to let him slack off at the back of the class.
Not with what I’d given up for this deal.
“Show us how it’s done, Sheriff!” Mabel called, her friends clapping their encouragement.
“I promise to only take video of you if it’s flattering.
But considering what you’re working with, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.
You know that video I made of you directing traffic with your derrière pointed my direction still holds the record for highest views, right?
Imagine what a video of you doing yoga will accomplish!
Probably, you should take your shirt off.
The classes will be booked out for months. ”
“That sounds like a very interesting video, Mabel,” I said. “I guess I know what I’ll be doing tonight.”
He shot me a look that said don’t you dare, and I just grinned in response, settling into place at the front even as the goats roamed around, eating grass—and hair—or burrowing in for cuddles. “Thanks for coming, everyone. How many of you have taken a yoga class before?”
Only one hand rose—Everly’s—though I wasn’t surprised.
I nodded and settled onto my mat in Sukhasana and gestured for everyone to do the same. “This class will be a fun one to start with. If you’re looking for something a bit more structured, be sure to stop by the main inn and grab a schedule from Addison for the standard classes I run.”
With that, I began the class, guiding them through their practice and walking around to help correct poses when needed. While older, Mabel and her friends were surprisingly limber and able to do most of the poses with little direction from me—because of all the sex, she’d stated with a wink.
Brady had just grunted at that—whether from Mabel’s statement or the goats that flocked to him, I wasn’t sure. He definitely needed the most help of this group. The guy was a mess, though that wasn’t a surprise, considering he looked more like an Avenger than he did a yogi.
I squatted next to him as he attempted a balancing table pose, and I tipped my head until I could meet his eyes. “Need some help, Sheriff?”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled, even as two goats pounced on his back, a third attempting to jump up as well.
“Actually, you’re getting a little droopy. Do you mind?” I held up my hands and gestured to his core.
He grunted. “Can’t get any worse.”
I wasn’t so sure about that, but I slid my hand between the goats to press a palm on his back, the other on his abs—abs I could’ve gone my whole life without knowing how hard and solid they were. How hot his skin was under my touch. Why the hell had I offered to help him hold this pose?
Right. Because it was my job. A job I needed to focus on.
“If these goats weren’t on me—”
“You’d still have this problem.” I smiled, though it died on my lips when he turned his face toward mine, our noses so close I could feel his breath sweep across my mouth.
When he was quiet like this, just his gorgeous green gaze boring into me and enough electricity between us to power a small country, it was easy to forget our differences and why I absolutely should not close the distance between us and remind myself what he tasted like.
Before I could do anything I’d regret, one of the baby goats burrowed her way between us, bopping me with her nose before she, too, tried to climb up on the Brady train, desperate for a ride on the sheriff.
Me too, girl. Me too.
Needing to avoid any further missteps, I made sure to pay extra attention to the rest of the ladies, even completing an impromptu Facebook Live interview courtesy of Mabel when class had wrapped up. Anything to keep busy and away from the grump who’d somehow snagged my—and my libido’s—attention.
I’d led hundreds of yoga classes, and I’d never—not once—been attracted to a client. Not like this. And certainly not to a man like Brady.
But I’d gotten myself into this because, as usual, I’d leaped before I looked. So not only was I going to have to do this all over again with him—and without the convenient interruption of the baby animals—but there was still the matter of that massage…
After all the other attendees left, Brady, for all his goat bluster and bad attitude, helped Jane load the animals back into the truck before sending her off with a double pat to the truck bed and a wave.
I squinted up at him when he stepped in front of me, the sun peeking out behind his tousled hair. “How was it?”
“Exactly as bad as I thought it’d be,” he said, reaching out to pluck something from my hair. He held the blade of grass up between us before releasing it into the breeze. “And not nearly as relaxing as you promised.”
His gaze dropped to my lips, and the heat between us ratcheted up another dozen or so notches, officially sending it into the stratosphere. There was no denying whatever I was feeling wasn’t one-sided.
I just didn’t know if that made this special hell we were in better or worse.