"I will talk." He met her gaze. "After you run with me."
She looked away from him, trying to find the patience to deal with him. "Fine."
He motioned her to come next to him. "Run as fast as you can."
"I haven't run since I was in high school."
"Last year?"
"Funny." She sighed. "I'm twenty-six years old if you're guessing."
"Well, I've got sixteen years and a hundred pounds on you. You should kick my ass." He cocked his brow. "Ready?"
She groaned, hating that she could fall for him when he teased her. "Whatever."
"Set." He paused. "Go."
She jogged, feeling him beside her. Already her feet hurt, pounding on the hardwood of the floor. He stayed with her. Because he'd already irritated her, she dug in and went faster.
Keenan matched her step for step. Glancing at him, she pumped her arms and gave it all she had. Halfway to the wall, and every time she sped up, he had, too.
She held her hands up and bounced off the wall, changing direction. A flashback of gym class when she had to do fitness tests boosted her. She ran as fast as she could, unable to shake him. Halfway back to the starting line, she sucked air into her lungs, and Keenan shot ahead of her. Furious, she ignored her bare feet, her boobs hurting with each bounce, and gave it her all.
Keenan reached the other wall before her and kept going. He ran past her with little effort. She stopped, bending at the waist and bracing her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
She saw no purpose in running. Keenan could exercise if he wanted.
Straightening, she looked at him, running full out and reaching her again before turning and going another turn. She leaned against the wall. He had a beautiful body. Spectacular for a man in his forties. With his new haircut and trimmed beard, she would've looked twice and drooled if she would've met him in a club or at the beach.
He headed toward her. Thinking he was going to stop, she stepped forward. But, he turned and kept running.
The speed at which he moved seemed faster. She studied his legs and arms. They worked in perfect harmony like a well-oiled machine. Caught staring at him, she blinked when he completed two more laps inside the building.
He was getting a little ridiculous now. He was fast. He won.
When he showed no signs of stopping, she stood at the wall and watched. He caught her gaze before he turned.
She started counting, timing how long it took him to get from one end to the other. Then, started over, knowing it was impossible to make it in three seconds.
Wiping the perspiration off her forehead, she frowned. Keenan hadn't broken a sweat. His face wasn't flushed, and he kept going faster and faster.
She stood, perplexed at his ability to run that distance and at that speed.
Keenan came to an abrupt halt in front of her. He picked up her hand and placed it on his chest. She looked up at him, not understanding what he wanted her to do.
"Do you feel my heartbeat?" he asked.
She moved closer, leaving her hand on him. It took her a moment, but then she felt the soft thump, thump. She jerked her hand back and then placed it again on his chest, higher than the first time. That couldn't be right.
"Why is your heart rate so slow?" She patted the front of him in several places and frowned. "You're not even sweating."
He turned her around. "I want you to stay here for just a minute. I'm going to step outside. After the door shuts, I want you to whisper something to me."
"Whisper what?"
"Anything you want." He backed toward the door.
"Wait." She stepped toward him. "You're not going to lock me in here, are you?"
"Nah. I'll come right back in as soon as you whisper something." He hesitated. "Okay?"
"I don't know why you're doing this. You won't be able to hear me." She rubbed her lips together. "I don't like this."
"Just humor me."
Keenan stepped outside. She blew out her breath, expecting him to come right back inside. It wasn't like he could hear when she whispered while he was out of the building.
Seconds ticked by. She rubbed her arms, not liking that he'd left her inside alone. It was worse than being in the house when he dealt with club business.
Scanning the room, she zeroed in on the guns attached to the wall. Keenan had never left her alone in the pole building before.
"I could shoot my way out," she muttered to herself. "I just want to go home."
The door opened, and Keenan came back inside. Instead of approaching her, he stayed in the doorframe.
"Can we go back inside the house now?" she asked. "I don't want to do this anymore."
"I heard you." His eye twitched. "You could shoot your way out and just want to go home."
A shock went down her spine. "You couldn't've heard me."
"I can hear what most people can't. A whisper in a crowd or from far away." He held her gaze. "I can run faster than other men without my breathing changing or my heart rate accelerating."
He wasn't bragging. She'd seen him.
"Those weights I lift are impossible for others to pick off the ground."
Her stomach rolled as if she'd vomit. "What are you telling me?"
"I was a participant in a project where they trained, drugged, and used mind-control to create enhanced killers. They taught me how to kill. In the process, I lost my emotions and all memories of my past. I lived each day to serve and train others. They—"
"No." She paced back and forth in front of him. "That kind of thing doesn't happen."
"It happened."
She shook her head. "You make it sound like you were a lab rat."
He was making everything up. How many times had she seen him workout in the pole building? He was fit, strong, and took care of his body. He consumed the right food, never snacked, and had probably done that all his life.
Whereas she hadn't. She loved coffee and junk food. Fried foods and French fries. While she'd rarely had problems with her weight thanks to genetics, she hated exercise of all kinds.
He shrugged. "When you found me at the cabin, I'd been switched."
Switched? She pressed her hand to her forehead. It was hard to follow what he was telling her.
"Hadn't you ever wondered why I was at the cabin alone? Naked?"
"Because..." Her head pounded. "I don't know. I thought you were camping. I figured you were a nudist or being one with nature. Who knows what went through my head. I was scared to death because you'd kidnapped me."
"After eighteen years in the project, I found myself in the cabin without anything. I had no idea how I got there. It was my first time without being under the care of the project. I withdrew from the drugs they had me on, regained my memories back, and survived on my own. I'd been there almost a year, hiding out from everyone, when you stumbled upon the cabin."
"But you told me you're stronger—"
"I'm enhanced. Not only physically but my senses. I can see in the dark, smell aromas others can't, and hear everything. Even without the drugs. That part of me is not going away."
"Oh, my God." She walked away from him, needing to absorb everything he was telling her. "Was it some kind of medical lab that was doing that to you? Were they studying you?"