Chapter 5 LINGERIE

"Moving on to the most hated: hand stepping! Down, down...hands in position. Be sure your arms aren't locked , guys. Keep 'em soft. Don't want anyone leaving here injured...ready...now go!"

From person to person , I panted out corrections as we neared the end of my early morning Quicksand class. Katie had informed me yesterday that she'd added two new members to this class , but I'd recorded only one new face when I started.

As the exercises grew more rigorous , I'd stopped searching for the second new face , assuming they'd backed out.

"Up! Toss those steps aside and let's conquer our last sixty seconds by sending those heartbeats into a frenzy with my favorite 100-meter sprints...Nuh uh , no groaning , guys. I hate groaners! Groaners are quitters and quitters are freakin' losers. You want that dream body? Then you should be doing these workouts with an earsplitting grin on your face. Keep your eyes on your goal , and that grin will never fade. Never groan in my class!"

I waited for everyone to put their steps to the side as they huffed and panted, sweating buckets , but never throwing in the towel. In these classes , everyone tried to impress , even when it was obvious they were spent.

They've learned that going further and digging deeper during exercises was what really gave that desired body. And I was , indeed , impressed.

"On your marks...Get set...Go , go , go!!"

The room pumped with energy as they all sprinted as if their life depended on it-well, their bodies did.

At thirty seconds , I yelled, "Impressive! Again , on your marks...get set...go!...This is your last thirty seconds , people, put all you got into it! Your body will be thanking you , believe me!"

It was then that I spotted the second new face , because he'd thrown in the towel and was propped up against the back wall guzzling hard at his water bottle. When the bottle was finally empty , he scowled at it as if cursing it for not having held more water and then tossed it to the side.

How dare that water finish on him, I sarcastically mused. Bending at the waist, he rested his hands on his knees , his chest heaving as he hustled for air. As if sensing my stare , he glanced up and narrowed his eyes at me.

With a smirk , I yelled , "Eight seconds, people....seven...six...five...four...three...two...one! Whooo! Well done! Now grab that water bottle, rejuvenate and come back in position for a rewarding cool down."

As I instructed the class into relaxing stretches , the wonder of what he was doing here lingered in my mind. Why? I was sure he had his own in-house gym. Also , had he lent Katie his ear? I hoped so.

Since yesterday's encounter , I hadn't heard from her and she hadn't returned my calls or text messages , so I held the assumption that she was still pissed at me and decided to give her some time to cool. And now he was here...

Once the class was dismissed , I sat cross-legged on the floor with my back against the all-mirror wall and sipped at my water , waiting for everyone to clear out.

But this morning it was a slow process due to the attention that Pretty Boy Black garnered. The women gawked at him as if they'd never seen a man before and I felt like puking. Everyone soon exited the room except him , and when he forwarded his steps in my direction , I knew I was in for annoyance.

His tall, chiseled frame that dripped with sweat was clothed in red basketball shorts and a black , sleeveless tank that exposed the mature brawn of his long arms. He tossed his white towel around his neck and used one end to dry the sweat from his face.

"Please, I beg you, keep your distance," I said with mild irritation.

Leering at me as if I were some conquest, he continued until he halted right before me, looking down at me through beguiling slate-gray eyes and revealing a white smile, framed by his perfect peach-colored lips.

A light tingle shot around my diaphragm area and I frowned, telling myself that it was just an after-effect of an intense workout, because I did not like this man, I did not want to like him, and I'd shoot myself if that tingle was on account of seeing him so marvelously sexy before me. Not acceptable.

"How rude. That's how you treat newcomers?" he asked , towering above me while I sat below.

The position made me feel inferior to him , so I scrambled to my feet and picked up my water bottle and towel, looked him dead in the eye and said, "Your membership is not needed here."

As I stepped around him, he caught my wrist and asked, "They fit perfectly, didn't they?" His eyes lowered to my breasts-which were , once again , covered in just a pink tube top-and they turned a molten gray.

Disgusted, I wrenched my hand away from his grasp. "What?"

"The lingerie. I picked them out myself."

My eyes expanded. "What? How did you-"

"I'm Ethan Black ," he shrugged. "Obtaining information about anything is no mean feat."

Fuming at the fact that he thought I could be bought with a goody basket, I stepped directly up to him and his eyebrows wiggled in a licentious manner as he , crude as he was , misunderstood my intentions.

Unfazed by the fact that he was around six inches taller than me, I tilted my head to meet his eyes. "Whatever your intentions are , you arrogant pig, you won't succeed with me. So you might as well give it up. As for the lingerie , enjoyed ripping them to pieces with his teeth. Don't send me anymore shit and don't come back to my class. Or I promise I'll throw you out on your head myself. And don't doubt for one minute that I can't."

Pretty Boy Black took on an expression of mild amusement , but then he frowned and asked, "Reed? Is that your guy?"

My lips twisted in a smirk. "Yep. That's my guy."

Looking a tad disappointed , he nodded and walked off. When he reached the door , he stopped and flashed me a smile over his shoulder.

"I'm looking forward to being thrown out on my head, because I'm not quitting your class. It kicked my ass. And I never quit at anything until I've conquered and mastered it. You said it , 'groaners are quitters and quitters are losers'. I'm neither. I'm more of a growler... and always , always a winner."

Before I could reply he turned and sauntered through the door