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“Lucky break”
“That’s what I thought I’d just graduated froh school and didn’t have any idea what I wanted to be or do I started working right away Within a few ns”
Ah, a man with a charmed life She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised “Fame and fortune followed?”
“I’ an underwear shoot, there are a lot of changes No one bothers going behind a curtain So if I wanted to be a butt double in a , but they illing to pay, so I said yes”
“Is it true you had your butt insured?”
He chuckled “Not anymore, but, yes, I had insurance on several parts of ure I had to ht and build, no tan lines No tattoos”
A lifestyle she couldn’t iet ‘Mom’ tattooed on your butt?”
“I doubt I’ll do either I’m ready to settle down”
“Won’t you roupies or whatever they’re called?”
“Nope I gave theo”
“After the first couple of hundred, it gets boring?”
“So like that”
Casual sex She’d heard about it, of course Didn’t understand it, which was part of the problem
“I’ to be comfortable here,” she said “We’re pretty traditional Family friendly, lots of festivals”
“I like festivals Besides, I’ve seen the rest of the world already This is what I want”
He looked at her as he spoke There was an intensity to his voice and his gaze For a second, she felt that tingle again An awareness of his long legs and the muscles in his chest and arms
She re attracted to Clay hardly made her a special snowflake She would be one of a million and expected to take a number
“Good luck with settling in,” she said and rose “I need to get back”
She walked toward Mason
“Charlie?”
She turned back to Clay and waited
“I want to talk to you about the volunteer firefighters I hear there’s a class starting soon”
He stood there, bathed in sunlight The pose was powerful, his body well-defined He looked like a model in a shoot Probably not a stretch for hiood No doubt his idea of a hard day was having to get spray-on tan and a haircut Pretty but useless, she thought
“I don’t think so,” she told hiorous process”
One eyebrow rose “You’re saying I can’t handle it?”
“I’ no”
The humor faded and his expression became unreadable “We don’t want your kind?”
“So like that”
She didn’t want to be rude to her best friend’s brother-in-law, but this was different Life-and-death different Charlie took firefighting very seriously—mostly because if she didn’t, someone would end up dead If Clay couldn’t handle that, well, that wasn’t her problem
She swung into the saddle and rode away
THE FOOL’S GOLD firefighters worked a nine-day cycle In that period of time, they worked three twenty-four hour shifts She did her cardio in the exercise rooth training Nearly everyworkout
By eight, the business people were long gone and the moms had yet to arrive There was a lull and she enjoyed the quiet She left the weight oal was always to challenge herself, to stay strong Not just for her job, but for herself Being strongsafe Dependence eakness, she reminded herself as she used a towel to wipe sweat from her face
But today she wasn’t able to find her usual centered place Her movements were off, her concentration shot She knew the cause, too Clay
She’d beenhim the way she had She wasn’t usually like that and couldn’t help wondering if her reaction had so attracted to a ot defensive Maybe not her best quality, but one she couldn’t shake
The crazy part was she knew she had to deal with her proble close to sexual attraction should be a good thing But her intellect was unable to convince her gut that all ell
Knowing she had to figure out a way to have sex with ato be another Gritting her teeth and thinking of England had been her original plan Based on how she’d snapped at Clay, she y
She glanced toward the punching bag in the corner and wondered if she should try to take out her indecision on so less human Before she could decide, the ym and threatened to ruin her entire day
She felt the subtle ripple go through the building before she saw Clay A group of wo the aerobics room stopped as one and turned to watch hiht alcove on his way to the cardio equipym turned to watch Charlie found herself just asarms
He wore exactly what every other guy wore Shorts and an old T-shirt Yet he stood out Maybe it was the way he walked or the power in his shoulders Maybe it was that indefinable so that had made him so successful Whatever, she would swear she heard every woh
Clay walked to one of the treadmills He put in earbuds and flicked on his iPod, then started theFive ed her on her best day
Charlie returned to the rest of her workout As she finished up with triceps work, she are of hiy of his feet on the treadined the steady beat and felt herself drawn to both it and the man
She set the weight back on the rack and faced the truth When it came to Clay, she’d made assumptions People had done that to her all her life They’d taken one look at her too-tall self, at her big feet and strength and thought they kneho she was Especially after the rape
She’d always prided herself on being better than that, on getting to know a person, but sootten Or she’d been blinded by his appearance Presuhter because of what he was rather than who In her world, those were fighting words