Below the Belt by Sarah Mayberry Page B

her attraction to her trainer?
    She shot a sideways glance at him as they ran, taking in his superbly fit body, the harsh, determined lines of his face, the confident ease of his movements.
    Because he was hot, that was why. Because she wanted him. Because he’d started to invade her sleeping as well as her waking hours. Making beds at the hotel, she imagined him sprawled naked across the white sheets. Scrubbing down shower stalls, she pictured him beaded with water, pushing her up against the cool tiles as he took her. And at night she had the steamiest, dirtiest dreams she’d ever had about any man, dreams of hard heat and friction and need that left her gasping when she woke up alone and desperately horny.
    She was seeing Dean tonight. Surely that would scratch this itch of curiosity and need that was currently driving her just a little bit crazy. She tried to picture Dean’s face and body, tried to remember how good it had been between them last time…and couldn’t get past her awareness of the man running at her side. The man who, for whatever reason, had quickly assumed center stage in her fantasy life.
    Sweat dripped off her chin and onto her chest. She wiped her brow with her forearm. The smell of hot asphalt filled the air, and the only sound was the slap slap of their feet as they ran. Normal, sane people were taking refuge in their homes, curtains drawn, air-conditioning on. Not her and Cooper. They were punishing themselves in the heat.
    He didn’t want to want her. She didn’t want to want him. But he did, and she did. And if Dean didn’t do the trick tonight, Jamie honestly had no idea how to handle the situation. Human desire was a powerful, powerful thing. It had ruined marriages, brought down governments, destroyed dynasties. How in the hell was she supposed to stay strong when she saw the man every day? When he touched her time after time in the course of their work? When—
    She caught movement out of the corners of her eyes and nearly groaned with frustration. He was peeling his tank top off, leaving his chest bare.
    Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.
    She forgot to breathe for a moment as he balled his top in his hand and mopped his sweaty chest with it. He was beautiful. Great pecs, amazing abs, those big shoulders. Lucky she was already panting. As it was, she could barely keep her eyes off him, her gaze constantly darting to the side to keep checking that, yes, he really was that damned hot.
    “So, do you miss it?” she blurted suddenly, desperate to normalize the situation. “Fighting, I mean.”
    He shrugged, his breath coming easily despite the fact they’d been running for nearly half an hour now.
    “Of course. It’s been the center of my world since I was sixteen years old. Never really known anything else.”
    “And you had to walk away from the title.”
    “No choice. Not if I didn’t want to go blind,” he said.
    She tried to imagine how hard it must have been. To have worked like a dog to get to the top of the pile, only to have to give it all up because his body let him down.
    “You must have been so pissed.”
    “For a while. What’s done is done. No point wasting energy,” he said. “I’ve got the gym now, my fighters. Life goes on.”
    Despite the surface confidence of his words, she heard the uncertainty beneath them. He was still feeling his way, trying to work out what life was about if it wasn’t about the ring and winning and training and being the best.
    “You’re a great trainer,” she said impulsively. She felt herself blush.
    He shot her a look. “Suck-ups get an extra mile.”
    “I’m not sucking up, just telling it the way it is. All the guys are happy. Ray keeps saying that coming over to you was the smartest move he ever made.”
    He shrugged, but she could tell he was pleased. Hell, who didn’t like to know they were doing a good job? He was big on praise. She’d noticed that about him over the past few days. He always rewarded hard work with a