And then I thought about Sawyer, hard and soapy in the shower and I died.
“Katie?” He leaned closer, swiping his thumb along the curve of my neck.
“Y-yes?”
“I asked when you wanted to start. I’ll need you at least once a day--five, even six days a week if you can handle it. Do you think you can handle it? I’m not too rough, I promise to take it easy,” and then he leaned a little closer, grin slipping to one side, “the first few times.”
Raspberry-infused truffle cupcakes with maple sea salt.
My heart slammed like a professional fighter was having a cage fight behind my ribs. My entire body felt tied to his, every motion, every touch, every single look elicited a traitorous response inside of me.
“Tomorrow?” I heard myself squeak.
“Perfect, tomorrow is perfect.”
I nodded, ready to back away and finally escape this den of temptation.
“And Katie?” He cooed, catching my hand in his and hauling me a little closer to him, chests pressed firmly, “I can't wait to get you sweaty.”
Sawyer
The drive into work the next morning was intense, all I could think about was Katie. Her beautiful smile and slammin’ curves playing non-stop in my mind. She was so damn distracting that I almost forgot to hit the brakes when a car in front of me stopped for a red light. As soon as I saw her last night, everything that I’d tried to push back rushed through me, taking hold and refusing to let go. Seems like nothing had changed, she was still the same Katie and she was still under my skin, driving me crazy.
I remembered how sweet and smart she was in high school. So smart that I was always nervous around her. I was just a dumb jock and here she was, this goddess, and I couldn’t figure out what to say to impress her, so I became her friend. It was easy being around her, she actually listened to me talk and gave suggestions, not just telling me what I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear. I didn’t always like what came out of her smart mouth but I craved to know what she was thinking or how she was feeling.
Aside from being so patient and incredible with me, she was the hottest girl I’d ever seen. I remembered too many library boners, sitting across from her as she read to me. I could never tear my eyes from her lips as she read the words, a few times I’d needed to run to the washroom to alleviate the tension caused by my sexy little tutor.
I hated that she wanted to drop weight now, which was one of the sexiest things about her, all those sexy curves making my hands itch to touch her. My hands tightened on the steering wheel thinking about how all these years later her upper society mother still made her feel like she wasn’t good enough. She was fuckin’ perfect. For a split second I thought about offering to work her out in my bed, but I didn’t want her to run out of my gym crying murder.
I suddenly found myself with a hankering for something sweet. I knew I couldn’t have what I wanted in that moment, but I was sure she could satisfy me with one of her many baked goods. So, like a stalker, I’d found her bakery on my phone, and was pulling up a minute later and shifting my car into park.
“Mary, can you please get the cash? I have to finish these cupcakes for the Gala.” Her sweet voice filled the shop before her gaze met mine. The shocked look in her eyes shot a jolt straight to my dick. It was the same look she gave me on graduation night. My plan was to go over there and kiss her, tell her that she was fucking amazing and I loved her, but then I remembered she was Katie Wilder, the perfect girl of my dreams and I was just good old Sawyer.
But things were different now. Now I was someone worthy of her.
“Hey there,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. She watched me for a moment without saying a thing. Her hair in a messy bun, her apron dirty from splatters of chocolate and her cute button nose had a dot of icing sugar right on the tip. She immediately wiped her nose and started to smooth her hair.
Did I make her nervous?
“Sawyer, hi. What brings you by?” Her voice tilted up--something she’d always done when she was taken by surprise. I liked that I had those memories of her.
“Since you came by my place, I wanted to check out yours. The shop is amazing, Katie.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes averted to the stacks of baked goods under the glass counter. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’ll take a cup of coffee, black.” I smiled warmly when our eyes met again.
She passed me coffee and a slice of lemon cheesecake a moment later.
“You remembered,” I said, taking a sip of coffee. “This is amazing. I don’t think I’ve had a cup this good since high-school.”
“I found an amazing roaster. He actually makes a light roast so the beans don’t taste like they’re burnt. Dark roast is disgusting and destroys the flavor of delicate bakery items. It’s just a fancy way of saying oops, we burnt the beans.”
I took a bite of the cheesecake as she spoke, closing my eyes, lost in the rich and silky taste on my tongue. I wondered if she tasted this sweet. I grinned, knowing damn well she would. Katie was sweet everywhere.
“You still love Granny’s lemon cake?” She asked sweetly, her beautiful face taking on a faint pink blush as she leaned closer to me.
“Love is an understatement.” I finished and set the empty plate beside us, her smile grew wider. “You still have the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen.”
Her eyes faltered for a second before she recovered and breathed, “You’re still the most charming person I’ve ever met.”
I closed the distance between our fingertips on the counter and brushed against her pinky with mine.
“This is completely inappropriate since I’m your employee and all now. But, would you consider getting dinner with me after your workout tonight?”
She visibly swallowed, her eyes looking everywhere but at me.
“Katie, please say yes.” I brushed my thumb along the underside of her wrist before twisting our hands together gently.
“I’d like that,” she whispered and I felt like I had won the lotto.
Katie
“I had no idea my body could bend like that.” I had no idea muscle pain could be so vicious. “I think you’re a sadist.”
Sawyer laughed, passing me a bottle of water. “It gets better, I promise.”
He smiled and for a moment and I forgot the pains and aches shooting violently up and down my body.
“Why do people do this?”
“It becomes a high. Once the pain wears off and the routine sets in.”
“This better at least shave off twenty pounds.” As soon as the word’s left my mouth I wanted to take them back. Sawyer didn’t need to know how insecure I was about my weight. Needy and insecure wasn’t sexy.
“You’re perfect. You don’t need to shave off a single pound. I’m all for working out because it’s good for you, but if you think that you don’t look amazing as you are you’re fuckin’ blind.” He grabbed my hand, dragging me to the mirror in front of the weights. He stood behind me, his hands on my shoulders. “Take a look.”
I looked back at myself in the mirror, dark hair, sweaty and matted to my head. Top-knot messy and crooked at my crown, my face a little too full, the double-chin noticeable if I moved my chin anywhere but my best angle. All that extra fat looked pretty good in my breasts though, they were perky for being double D’s, and I had a dip in my waist, so my body had some shape. But then there were my hips, generous to a fault, that led to thighs badly in need of some definition.