Read Online The Real Deal by Lucy Monroe - Free Book Online Page B

exercising?”
    â€œAs I cannot see him at this moment in time, I cannot answer that question with any degree of accuracy.”
    â€œJacob, I bet there’s a spear somewhere in Africa with your name on it.”
    The left corner of his mouth tilted up before he schooled his expression into somber regard. The old faker. “I will escort you below stairs if you would like.”
    She waved her hand in front of her. “By all means.”
    All humorous irritation with Jacob faded when Amanda found herself standing inside the open doorway to Simon’s gym. Everything faded except the sight of him, as his foot repeatedly connected with the kicking bag hanging from a ceiling beam.
    He was fast, faster even than her Tae Bo instructor. His ponytail flipped from side to side like a short black whip.
    And graceful. He moved with the lithe agility of a human panther.
    He was also almost naked.
    Wearing a pair of black karate pants and nothing else, sweat glistened on the smooth, tan skin of his body. His chest had a neat triangle-shape patch of black hair centered between his male nipples. The dark copper circles drew her eyes as did the rippling muscles below them.
    He had a six-pack of abs that most weight lifters would die for. The shoulders of his six-foot-two-inch frame were broad and well-developed, as were the bulging biceps of his arms.
    He was devastating.
    And she was standing there, ogling him like a star-struck teenager on her first visit to Universal Studios.
    â€œIt appears he is exercising, Ms. Zachary.”
    â€œAs shocking as you may find this to believe, I’d figured that out for myself.” She couldn’t make herself stop looking at Simon while she spoke to Jacob, which she had no doubt the old man noticed and found highly amusing.
    She might find her behavior amusing too, in someone else, but in herself, she found it both unexplainable and embarrassing. Nevertheless, she could not look away.
    Without warning, Simon whirled on his bare feet to face her. “Amanda. You came.”
    Had he doubted she would? “Hello, Simon. I can wait for you upstairs while you finish your workout.” Even as she said the words, she regretted them. What if he disappeared while she was waiting for him again?
    â€œThere’s no need. You can talk while I exercise.”
    â€œYou must have better concentration than me. I can’t even tell someone my name in my Tae Bo class, or I lose count of where I’m at.”
    â€œYou practice Tae Bo?”
    She laughed self-consciously. “Not exactly. I’m taking a class in it, strictly for the exercise. My form is terrible.”
    â€œI can help you with that.” He eyed her as if already determining how best to work with her.
    Just the thought of being in her Lycra leggings and sports bra in the same room with Simon in his loose fitting karate pants was enough to send her temperature spiking. “Well, uh, thanks for the offer, but I doubt I’ll have the opportunity to take you up on it.”
    One black brow rose. “What’s wrong with right now?”
    She gave him an incredulous look. “I’m not dressed for it.” Her smart ice-yellow suit had not been designed with strenuous exercise in mind.
    â€œTake off your shoes.”
    What? “No.”
    â€œCome on. You can be my dummy. Watch my form and later you can work on emulating it.”
    â€œI don’t need to watch your form.” Watching him stand there doing nothing was bad enough on her equilibrium. “I’ve got an instructor back home.”
    â€œHe can’t be very good if your form is still choppy. You’re too supple not to excel at it.”
    He was a she, as was the entire class, but Simon didn’t need to know that.
    â€œYou’re mistaken.” She’d fought the blasted treadmill for supremacy, how in the world could Simon believe she was supple?
    â€œShe moves with innate limberness, doesn’t