Real Challenge (Atlanta #2) (13 page)

Cassie was sad for him. All that goal-driven success he aimed for was so empty and he didn’t even realize how much more satisfying his life could be. Maybe she could help him see that, but now was not the time. She wanted to see him genuinely happy, and she was certain that being around a pool all the time would make that happen.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Scott said, “but it still involves you driving, if that’s ok. Let me take you swimming with me tomorrow. I’ll show you the pool and you can be one of the select people in the country who can say they swam in an Olympic natatorium. You can pick me up in the morning. You in?”

She heard the honest excitement in his voice and there was absolutely no way she could refuse. She would love to see him in that world, the one he truly belonged in. Scott by the pool would be one hundred percent pure
him
and she wanted every ounce. “I’m in. What time should I pick you up?”

“How about nine. That will give me a chance to swim and then still get some hours in at the office. The workload right now is about to crush me. It’s probably going to be seven days a week until April 15.”

“That completely sucks. I’m sorry. But at least I’ll see you at nine.” With that, Cassie got up off the couch, absolutely thrilled. Scott walked her to the door and kissed her good night with a sweet, very chaste moment on her lips.

Scott laughed and felt good for the first time in weeks. She got to him again. Energy radiated off of her and he hadn’t realized how much he missed her until he got another dose. He was like an addict and couldn’t wait for the morning to get his next fix. In the mean time, he crashed out hard like he did every night with the exhaustion he was living in for the entire busy season at work.
 

When he got in Cassie’s car the next morning, she was smiling and energetic like always. She got him talking about swimming so easily all over again. He was glad for the chance to talk about something besides work. She asked how he felt in the pool, and he could barely describe the experience. She asked a lot about swimming, but he didn’t mind. He usually didn’t have a chance to talk about the subject at all.
 

“Doesn’t it stress you out to keep your swimming workouts going during your crazy work schedule? I don’t think I’d be able to handle all of it. I mean, I still do my yoga when I’m tired, but I don’t think I’ve ever been as worn out as you are.”

“See, that’s the thing. Swimming gets me into a completely different place. The water is another world entirely. Work doesn’t exist. Stress doesn’t exist. Gravity doesn’t seem to exist. It’s easy to make myself go because I need it, you know? I don’t think I could get enough if I tried. It’s actually kind of hard to cut back like this.”

“I had no idea,” Cassie said, in awe of the way he spoke about swimming. Being in that world held a deeper meaning for him than she had ever guessed.
 

“Yeah. Once you get to that level, it kind of defines you.”
 

Once they got to the building on the Georgia Tech campus, Cassie watched as Scott used his key card to open a side door. The place was deserted on a Sunday morning and that was fine with him. He didn’t feel like dealing with a crowd, especially after the debacle the club scene had been the night before. He pointed to the women’s locker room for her.
 

When they came out of their respective changing areas, Cassie raised her eyebrows at Scott when she saw his perfect body in those little Speedos. My God, that was an impressive sight. She couldn’t have imagined him any better than naked, but there was something incredibly sexy about seeing him in that suit, surrounded by the environment he was supposed to be in.
 

He was absolutely, undeniably, strongly and completely perfect. She looked around at the stands and could easily imagine his 19-year-old self handling the scrutiny of the crowd and thriving on the pressure. She saw him eyeing her right back. He certainly seemed to enjoy the sight of her lithe body in a simple black suit. He must like seeing her by the pool, too. He looked her up and down without trying to hide his ogling.
 

“Nice,” he said with a cocky smile and a nod toward her body. “But a bikini would have been better.”

“No one swims laps in a bikini. Remember why we’re here, player,” she said.
 

They both stretched and warmed up on the pool deck. This early on a Sunday, they were the only ones around so Scott took the opportunity to kiss her. He used the excuse that kissing was part of his warmup. This time, Cassie shook her head at Scott.
 

They dropped into the water in separate lanes and Scott pulled her over to kiss her one more time. When he let her go, he settled his goggles in place and looked over to make sure he had her attention. The moment he did, he grabbed the pool wall behind him.
 

“Race ya!” he challenged, then took off like a torpedo in the water. Cassie just laughed and watched him, completely astounded with his grace and speed in the water. No wonder he had been in the Olympics. He was the picture of precision as he moved. Barely any time passed before he was next to her, only slightly out of breath. “You didn’t even try?!”

“Oh, please. I’m back
before
you. I touched that wall and this one and I’ve been waiting for your slow butt so I could rub it in your face,” she said as if she believed the ridiculous story.

“Your hair’s not wet.”

“That’s just how fast I am. The water doesn’t even touch me.”

He just grinned at her, shook his head and rolled his eyes all at the same time. He pushed off the wall again. He swam at a pace that allowed for deep muscle work in the water. Cassie pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and then started off the wall when he got back beside her.
 

She kept pace with him for less than a half a length then had to slow down. Yoga made her strong and lean, but that peaceful workout did not prepare her for the intense cardio push he was accustomed to in the pool. She felt positively clumsy in the water beside him. She understood now exactly how his body got so perfect.
 

After a long workout, half of which she spent treading water in the deep end just to watch him swim, the two of them hit the showers and got dressed again. Cassie drove him to his SUV near the club. He got out of her car and threw his swim bag over his shoulder.
 

Cassie was surprised when he walked around and opened her driver’s side door. He pulled her up out of the car and held her face with both hands. He kissed her deeply and with a lot of emotion. When he broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead down against hers.

“Three more weeks,” he promised. “Just three more weeks and I won’t have to leave you.”

She was pretty sure there was implication in that sentence and her stomach did an excited flip-flop. They had been apart already for over a month and she found herself wanting him more and more, especially after seeing him at the pool. He broke her thoughts by kissing her again, and she didn’t want him to leave. Not at all. He obviously found leaving equally difficult. Cassie held on for a minute more and then gently pushed him toward his car. “Go count some beans or something.”

She saw him shake his head as he walked toward his SUV. He waved one more time and drove off. Cassie hated to see him go, but she was so glad she got to see him. She went straight home and dropped another few marbles in the jar. One for his kiss, one for him wanting to stay with her, and the last two were for the sight of him in that little Speedo.
 

At the end of March, Cassie was going insane trying to wait for April 15 so she could see Scott. That morning swim had done crazy things to her thought processes, namely that all her synapses fired nothing but Scott Merchant. The entire episode from that weekend was an experience she could only describe as “pure” from seeing him as his true self. His natural smile was so beautiful.
 

No matter how much she thought about him, she could only talk about him with Marcus so much. She was in need of some serious girl time, but since Erin was equally busy as Scott, she would have to live without her perspective. Jenna, however, had a good ear to bend. She’d heard about him since the first date.
 

All of this rolled through Cassie’s mind while she was pulling on her soft pink scrubs for her shift at the clinic. Jenna was scheduled for the day, too, thank goodness. They could chat at work, and hopefully have time for dinner or something afterward. And talk about Scott. Because he was all she could think about anyway.
 

Cassie pulled her hair into a ponytail with a neon-yellow sequined bow and smiled at her reflection. The little girls who came in always smiled at her various bright hair-ties. Those smiles inspired just as many from Cassie. She kicked on her bright pink Crocs and was ready for work. She drove to the clinic, still thinking about Scott, of course.

“Hey, Cass!” Jenna said when Cassie walked into the locker room.
 

“Daaaahhling!”
 

Jenna laughed as they headed out to the reception desk. They unlocked chart racks, booted up computers, and slid the deadbolt on the front door. One of Cassie’s favorite neighborhood girls stood waiting at the door.
 

“Hey, Zoe!” Cassie beamed. “You’re not sick, are you? You look far too cute to be sick.”

Zoe smiled her adorable toothy grin at Cassie. “I just had a birthday. I’m four. I need a chet-up.”

“Oh, good! Chet-ups are what we do best. Wait, did you say FOUR?! You’re getting so big!”

“I know! I like your hair bow,” Zoe smiled.

“You want to wear it to see the doctor?”

Zoe beamed as Cassie untied the ribbon from around her ponytail. “Here you go, sweetie. You be good in there and we’ll get you a sticker when you’re done. I got some new kitty-cat ones. Do you like kitties?”

Zoe nodded while her mom helped her arrange the bow in her curls. Cassie high-fived her and returned to her desk to pull Zoe’s chart. Jenna checked in the next family while Cassie sifted through paperwork.

Once the initial influx of children eased, Jenna smiled over at Cassie. “You are so good with the kids. You should have like twelve of your own.”

“Ha! Maybe one or two. Besides, I need a man for that, first,” she smiled.

“What about Scott? He could be your baby-daddy,” Jenna teased.

Cassie grinned and shook her head. “I don’t know about that.”

“But you didn’t say an absolute
no
…are you still hung up on him?”

Cassie looked at her and grinned again.

Jenna’s chin dropped. “You are! You haven’t seen him in weeks and you’re freakin’ smitten! It’s all over your face. Geez, Cass.”
 

“I can’t help it. And actually, I saw him this weekend. He called on Saturday. It was kind of intense and I need some girl time to process. Can you go out after work?”

“Definitely. I want to tell you about my new place, too. Should we shop?”

“Only if you need something. I think I’m set for now,” Cassie said.

“Then lets just grab dinner. What sounds good?” Jenna asked.

“Cheap sounds good. Ramen Noodles at my house?”

“Perfect. Now we just have to get through our shift without you drooling from your thoughts of
loooove
,” Jenna drawled like a junior high kid.

“Shut up,” Cassie grinned.
 

The busy day went quickly dealing with spring allergies, asthma flare-ups, and a nasty cough that seemed to invade the entire neighborhood. One kid even came in with a parrot-bite. That was new for everyone.

When Cassie and Jenna gathered their things from the locker room at the end of their shift, each was ready for a relaxed night of boy-gossip and prepackaged noodle soup…the perfect ingredients for a girls’ night in. Jenna made an extra stop on the way to Cassie’s house for some ice cream and the two were set.

“Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl? My fave,” Cassie said with a little happy dance. “Jenna, you are brilliant. So tell me about your new place. Wait…have an apple and we can pretend this is a healthy meal.”
 

“Thanks,” Jenna said, crunching her first bite.

Cassie popped the ice cream in the freezer and set their noodles to heat up in the microwave. Jenna helped with drinks while Cassie got their spoons. Cassie couldn’t wait another second.
 

“Ok, so Scott’s awesome,” she said with a smile.

“Here we go,” Jenna said with a wide grin. “Tell me why.”

“So many reasons! But mostly because he finally got real. That whole night I went to see him, he was just so…
him
. He didn’t strut at all.”

“The
whole
night?” Jenna smirked with a knowing grin.

“Not like that, perv. I didn’t stay over. Just the whole time I was there, and then again the next morning when he took me swimming.”

Cassie told her every detail — his
almost
confession about his night out, all the way to the emotional kiss goodbye at her car. The more she talked about him, the more her chest filled with butterflies. She only had about a week and a half left before April 15. Scott hadn’t made any official plans with her yet, but Cassie had no doubt she’d see him on the sixteenth. His kiss told her that.

“Wow, Cass. This could be big,” Jenna said with a genuine smile.

“I know,” she said with a matching grin. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but there’s just something about him. Maybe it’s because he can put up with my crap and still smile.”

Jenna laughed. “That’s an impressive quality he and I share.”

They giggled and finished their soup. Over ice cream, Cassie asked about Jenna’s new apartment.

“I really like it. I’ll have you over next week after my mom brings the old couch over. Right now I only have my beanbag chair to sit in,” she laughed. “The place is pretty small, but I can afford it on my own. It’s the second floor of an old house. The owners converted it to a duplex. I even get my own outside entrance from a staircase they built up the side of the house.”