“Let’s wrap this patrol up. I have a feeling there isn’t much villainous activity happening in our quarter tonight, and it’s best we don’t mess up any more…intimate encounters.” He laughed. “Tomorrow I think we’ll start off with a nice long jog, bright and early. Good way to get the blood pumping.”
“I thought that’s why God invented caffeine,” I replied, joking weakly.
A jog at the butt-crack of dawn with the Glamazon? What had I gotten myself into?
CHAPTER SEVEN
I groaned and sat up in bed, fumbling for my alarm. It was still dark out, so why had it gone off?
Everything came back to me: Luke and I on patrol. The kinky couple in the alleyway. My promise to go jogging with Luke and Selena, so we could all be one big happy dysfunctional hero team. It was too early for this without coffee.
Throwing on an EHJ T-shirt and a pair of yoga pants that I’d bought when Toby and I optimistically promised each other we’d do yoga every morning (we actually only did it once), I found my sneakers in the back of my closet and tied my newly dyed hair back in a ponytail. Then I headed downstairs in the early morning darkness.
Stepping out of the elevator and into the quiet and empty lobby was a bit disconcerting. While we owned the building and our personal accommodations were on the top floor, the downstairs held a gift shop, a coffee house, and a crime-fighting museum focused mainly on the history of the EHJ. The floors between were offices for our corporation—we were a brand, after all, with lawyers and publicists. Paul and I both had full-floor laboratories for our work, though I liked to do a lot in my room. What can I say? I constantly tinker.
My tennis shoes squeaked on the newly waxed floors, and as I walked through the double-glass doors I could see Luke and Selena standing right outside in the cool, foggy morning air. Selena was laughing about something he’d said, and she touched his arm in a flirty and intimate gesture.
Seeing me, Luke flashed me a smile. “Mindy! Good morning.”
“Morning,” I mumbled, never the picture of grace or sweetness in the a.m., especially not until after I’ve had my caffeine fix.
“Good morning,” Selena added, cheery. “All set?” She was dressed in one of those expensive matching zip-up sweatshirts and pants that are cropped to be like a second skin. They usually have some sort of phrase written on the butt, but I didn’t want to stare at her perfect ass to find out what hers said.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
She laughed. “I hear that.”
“So do I,” Luke said. “You both volunteered to do this.”
“I like to keep in shape,” Selena said, giving him a dazzling smile. I grunted something affirmative.
“Best to keep up an even pace,” Luke instructed us. “I’m assuming you already did some warm-up stretches, Mindy?”
“Oh yeah, of course,” I lied, like I hadn’t just rolled out of bed. Was stretching what they called what they’d been doing?
“All right, let’s go,” Luke said. “If we get separated, we’ll meet back here.” And we began our slow descent into hell, aka our morning jog.
It wasn’t so bad at first. I kept a decent pace, managing to stay even with Luke, the crazy fitness nut, and Selena, who didn’t look winded or break a sweat. By the time we had gone a few blocks, however, I was starting to feel sweaty and my calves stung, and Luke was ahead of me. (At least that made the view nice. Here was an ass I didn’t mind staring at.) Selena was just a bit behind him, safely between us. I didn’t bother to feel jealous.
We went a few more blocks, and I began getting a pain in my side. My calves felt like they were on fire and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. And Luke? He was out of sight.
Cursing my out-of-shape body, I slowed to a walk, breathing hard and holding my side. I hadn’t gone too far at this new pace when I ran into Selena, who was leaning against the side of a wall, hands on her knees,
“I thought that’s why God invented caffeine,” I replied, joking weakly.
A jog at the butt-crack of dawn with the Glamazon? What had I gotten myself into?
CHAPTER SEVEN
I groaned and sat up in bed, fumbling for my alarm. It was still dark out, so why had it gone off?
Everything came back to me: Luke and I on patrol. The kinky couple in the alleyway. My promise to go jogging with Luke and Selena, so we could all be one big happy dysfunctional hero team. It was too early for this without coffee.
Throwing on an EHJ T-shirt and a pair of yoga pants that I’d bought when Toby and I optimistically promised each other we’d do yoga every morning (we actually only did it once), I found my sneakers in the back of my closet and tied my newly dyed hair back in a ponytail. Then I headed downstairs in the early morning darkness.
Stepping out of the elevator and into the quiet and empty lobby was a bit disconcerting. While we owned the building and our personal accommodations were on the top floor, the downstairs held a gift shop, a coffee house, and a crime-fighting museum focused mainly on the history of the EHJ. The floors between were offices for our corporation—we were a brand, after all, with lawyers and publicists. Paul and I both had full-floor laboratories for our work, though I liked to do a lot in my room. What can I say? I constantly tinker.
My tennis shoes squeaked on the newly waxed floors, and as I walked through the double-glass doors I could see Luke and Selena standing right outside in the cool, foggy morning air. Selena was laughing about something he’d said, and she touched his arm in a flirty and intimate gesture.
Seeing me, Luke flashed me a smile. “Mindy! Good morning.”
“Morning,” I mumbled, never the picture of grace or sweetness in the a.m., especially not until after I’ve had my caffeine fix.
“Good morning,” Selena added, cheery. “All set?” She was dressed in one of those expensive matching zip-up sweatshirts and pants that are cropped to be like a second skin. They usually have some sort of phrase written on the butt, but I didn’t want to stare at her perfect ass to find out what hers said.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
She laughed. “I hear that.”
“So do I,” Luke said. “You both volunteered to do this.”
“I like to keep in shape,” Selena said, giving him a dazzling smile. I grunted something affirmative.
“Best to keep up an even pace,” Luke instructed us. “I’m assuming you already did some warm-up stretches, Mindy?”
“Oh yeah, of course,” I lied, like I hadn’t just rolled out of bed. Was stretching what they called what they’d been doing?
“All right, let’s go,” Luke said. “If we get separated, we’ll meet back here.” And we began our slow descent into hell, aka our morning jog.
It wasn’t so bad at first. I kept a decent pace, managing to stay even with Luke, the crazy fitness nut, and Selena, who didn’t look winded or break a sweat. By the time we had gone a few blocks, however, I was starting to feel sweaty and my calves stung, and Luke was ahead of me. (At least that made the view nice. Here was an ass I didn’t mind staring at.) Selena was just a bit behind him, safely between us. I didn’t bother to feel jealous.
We went a few more blocks, and I began getting a pain in my side. My calves felt like they were on fire and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. And Luke? He was out of sight.
Cursing my out-of-shape body, I slowed to a walk, breathing hard and holding my side. I hadn’t gone too far at this new pace when I ran into Selena, who was leaning against the side of a wall, hands on her knees,