Concern etched her face in the form of a wrinkle on her forehead. “Are you sure you can do it with your back? I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“Yoga is good for my back. I was actually thinking of picking up a class schedule once it opened.”
“Oh, okay.” Audrey shifted from one foot to another and that’s when he noticed her reflection in the mirror she had her back to.
Fucking hell, her ass looked amazing in those yoga pants. They were scrunched in the center and he got a semi-chub just from a reflection. Beads of sweat broke out on the back of his neck. If she did downward dog in front of him he might cream his pants.
“Are you okay?” she asked as she tilted her head, her concern returning.
“Yep.” He diverted his eyes just as Viv rushed back inside and thrust a pair of sweats and a shirt at him.
“You can be my guinea pig and tell me if they’re comfortable.”
Josh looked down at the garments he was holding. “What are they?”
“They’re swag for singles week.”
Just as he was looking around for somewhere to change a woman walked out from the back. He recognized her as the owner, Tiana. She’d moved to town about a month ago and he hadn’t met her yet, but this was Hope Falls so, of course, he knew her name and most of her life story. She was going through a divorce with a high-profile athlete and had moved to Hope Falls for a new start.
When she saw him, she smiled, “Oh, hi. We’re actually not open yet.”
“Oh, no,” Viv interrupted her. “This is Josh. He’s going to be taking the class with Audrey.”
Tiana looked surprised but she rolled with it. “Oh, okay.”
“Do you have somewhere I could change?” Josh asked.
“Oh, yes, of course. Right down the hall, second door on the left.”
Josh walked past Audrey and as he caught a whiff of her sweet, floral shampoo he wondered what in the hell had he just gotten himself into? And, more importantly, how in the hell was he going to hide his reaction to Audrey while wearing gray sweats?
11
“Are you sure your back is going to be okay?” Audrey heard herself ask for probably the tenth time as she took a sip of water. As much as she was enjoying this, the one thing that was stopping her from completely allowing herself to fully bask in the glory of having Josh’s hands all over her was because she was so scared that she was hurting him.
The past hour had arguably been the best hour in her life. She and Josh’d had full body contact, but it was more than just the touching. They’d had to work together and use their body weight to balance each other. They’d managed to do every pose that Tiana had shown them and hold each one, which she was proud of considering the last time she’d worked out her age started with a two and not a three.
“I told you, yoga’s good for my back.”
It was the same answer he kept giving her, and she wanted to believe him, but she feared that he might just be white-knuckling through the pain for her. He seemed a little bit…tense.
“I know but this isn’t regular yoga. This is…I mean… all my body weight is on you.”
The look that flashed in Josh’s eyes heated Audrey from the inside out. But as fast as it flared, it was extinguished. It was replaced by a guarded look as he grabbed his own water bottle and took a sip. “You weigh a hundred pounds soaking wet.”
“Okay, next pose is supported back bow,” Tiana said, indicating their water break was over. “Josh you are going to be the base partner. I need you to lie down on the floor on your back and bend your knees in close to your ribs. And Audrey you are going back up to him and sit into the bottom of his feet, reach down and grip his ankles.”
Audrey moved into position and listened to the instructions as Tiana walked them through each step. When Josh straightened his legs Audrey’s feet lifted off the ground and she was in the air as Josh cradled her backside with his size fourteen feet. She’d never been so happy that he had big feet since she was packing a lot of junk in her trunk thanks to her mom. Just like the song, she got it from her mama.
“Okay, as soon as you feel steady, you can release Josh’s ankles and grab your own. Josh you can hold Audrey’s shoulders to help balance her.”
Before Tiana was able to finish getting the instruction out, Audrey felt Josh’s large hands on her shoulders. With his support she was able to release her left hand first and move it to her own ankle and then she repeated the same thing with her right.
“Breathe in and out.” Tiana demonstrated the breaths as Audrey held the pose. “Great job. And now Audrey, you can transition into dancer’s pose or backfly by releasing one of your legs and extending it in the air.”
Almost every time Tiana asked her to go into another pose it sounded impossible in Audrey’s mind, but Josh made it easy. He was the best base anyone could ever ask for. The second Audrey would start to feel shaky, or off balance, Josh would grip harder, change the position of his hands, or shift beneath her to steady her. If she hadn’t known any better, she’d be sure that he’d done this a million times before.
“Okay, breathe,” Tiana instructed when Audrey was in position. “And now we’re going to release the pose. Audrey you can lower your leg as Josh bends his knees lowering his legs and setting you gently on the ground.”
When her feet hit the mat, she grasped onto Josh’s ankles again for leverage so she could straighten to a standing position.
“Alright, guys we have one more pose to end class. This pose both of you will be standing so Josh if you can rise to your feet.”
Disappointment washed over Audrey that the class was over. She felt closer to Josh after this past hour than she had in the eight years they’d known each other as adults. It was amazing how much physical touch created bonding feelings between two people. Not just the touch, but also the breathing, the eye contact, it all worked together.
She would definitely be telling her sister that she should include this activity in the singles week itinerary. Although she wouldn’t personally feel comfortable doing this with a stranger, she could see how it would be a good experience to get to know someone, and at the very least see if there was chemistry in a safe environment.
Josh stood to his feet and Audrey looked up to check and make sure that there weren’t any hints of pain in his expression. As much as she wanted nothing more than for this class to never end, she would call it immediately if she saw any evidence that this was hurting Josh.
He grinned down at her, and she knew she’d been caught.
“I’m fine, worry wart.” He lifted his thumb and brushed it over the wrinkles that she hadn’t known had formed between her eyebrows.
A thrill chased down her spine. Josh’s hands weren’t just big and strong, they were also calloused thanks to his days spent doing manual labor. She loved the way the roughened pads of his fingers felt against her smooth skin. There was something innately sexy about his touch.
“Okay, we’re going to do a standing straddle bat. Josh, I’m going to need you to place your hands on Audrey’s hips.”
Josh stepped forward, closing the space between himself and Audrey and did as instructed. The second his hands gripped her sides, a tingle exploded between her legs.