Sex on Summer Sabbatical (3 page)

Subject is unexpectedly slow to initiate progressive physical contact. Non-physical stimulus had limited results. Subject continues as suitable candidate. Next goal—Secure access to subject’s natural environment to further understand motivations and tactics most likely to achieve end result.

Tori closed the book and smiled to herself as she headed to get ready for bed with a spring in her step. In other words, the next date needed to be on Adam’s turf. Time to see what made him tick.

Chapter Three

Having a goal firmly in mind went a long way towards making Tori feel brave enough to bring a bag of workout clothes and accept Adam’s invitation to meet him at Del Sol, the private fitness club he worked out of. All that courage fled the minute the door closed behind her and she was suddenly thrust into a world of über-fit, enhanced bodies. Instantly feeling every bit of her forty-cough-something years—plus a decade or so—she just about turned tail and ran.

“Hi there. Looks like your first time. I’m Amy.” A tall, young brunette in a Del Sol collared shirt came up and offered her hand to shake. Only ingrained politeness and reflex saved Tori as she responded appropriately.

“Tori.”

“Hi, Tori. Where can I get you started today?”

“I have an appointment with Adam.”

If anything, her smile got even wider. “Ah yes. That’s right—he mentioned you. Come with me, and let’s get you changed.”

Tori trailed along obediently, trying not to look at the plethora of human fitness on display around her. She’d never been to a gym before—were they all like this? It was like she’d walked into the pages of a fitness magazine. If this was what Adam got to look at every day, why on earth was he interested in her?

They followed the curve of the building, and Amy played tour guide along the way. “Guys are around the other side, women over here. You saw the café when you came in. There are also apparel and equipment shops off the lobby. Did you bring a swimsuit?”

Adam had told her to make sure to pack one, but it’d been years since she’d worn it, so she had no idea if it would even fit. “Have one, but…” She shrugged.

“That’s great. Nothing like following up a workout with a soak or steam.” They approached a counter.

“Hi, Jen, this is Tori Warren. She’s one of Adam’s.”

“Hey, Amy. Hi, Tori. Nice to have you here. Let’s get you set up in your locker. Since you’re one of Adam’s clients, you automatically get VIP status. One of the perks is the locker you’re assigned will be registered only to you, so you can leave items in it until your next visit if you like—shoes, toiletries, that kind of thing. Whoever’s here at the desk will keep the key while you work out. I just need you to fill this out and sign here to get you set up.” She handed a tablet over to her with a form open on it.

Tori worked to fill in the blanks then did a cursory signature with her fingertip. She handed it back to Jen, who handed her a small key with a big plastic fob.

Amy walked her into the huge changing room and showed her around, then pointed out her locker. “So why don’t you get dressed? You must be anxious to get started. I’ll be waiting for you back where we got the key.”

Tori opened the locker, admiring the set-up of shelves, hooks and even a mirror. “Wow.” She quickly changed, hoping that her non-tech workout clothing wouldn’t get her kicked out of the place.

Back outside the locker room, she exchanged her key for a towel and water bottle. Tori raised her eyebrows in question, and Jen smiled. “You get a bottle each visit—another one of the perks. Just be sure to use one of the recycling bins when you’re done with it.”

Amy expanded on her tour as she led Tori—surprisingly—to an office rather than the gym.

“I’ve texted Adam that you’re ready for him, so he should be right in. Just have a seat.”

Left alone for the moment, Tori looked around. “Jeez, it’s like going to the doctor’s office.” The almost clinical environment brought to mind one of her favourite, private fantasies. Suddenly, the nebulous doctor she used to conjure in her head had Adam’s face with a wicked smile.

Hmm. What have we here? I’m going to have to examine you
very
closely, Tori…

“Ready to do this?”

Tori jumped, startled, very glad that he couldn’t read her mind, then smiled as Adam came in and closed the door behind him. Her fantasy popped back into her mind and her cheeks warmed. She cleared her throat.

Adam crossed the room towards her, looking fantastic in a form-fitting, club-logo’ed tank top and shorts. And as he pulled her in for a hug of greeting, all she could think about was how ridiculously happy she was to be with him…and how freaking hard it was going to be when the excuses to see him finally ran out and she had to go back to her normal life.

When on earth had she got so attached? A week ago she hadn’t even known Adam was alive, and already she was mourning the loss of him at the end of her summer adventure.

Not part of the plan!
she thought in a near panic.

“Relax.” Adam backed away from her tense form with one last squeeze, guessing she was feeling out of her element. He cupped her soft jaw line in his hand. “It’s just me. So”—he looked her up and down—“you look like you’re ready to go. Hop up on the table.” He patted the padded, sheet-covered massage table then busied himself with the computer, by the looks of it setting up her file.

She obligingly answered the routine questions, which seemed to put her more at ease until he got to the part about medications.

“None? How about vitamin supplements, aspirin or birth control?”

“Oh.” She blushed and looked exasperated with herself. “I didn’t really think of those things. Duh.”

Adam smiled. Damn, she was cute when she got all fidgety. “Most people don’t, which is why I try to clarify. So, any of the above?”

“Um, just vitamin C. Occasionally I take an ibuprofen, but not often. And…Depo-Provera.” This last was said in almost a whisper.

He purposely didn’t tease, letting her calm down again as he typed the information in. “Okay, let’s take your vitals for a baseline.” Adam pulled the blood pressure cuff away from the wall and tried to remain dispassionate as he ran through his normal routine with half his mind on his work and the other half enjoying the innocent touches and her breathless reactions to them.

Sternly warning himself to keep it under control in the workplace, he was nevertheless glad he’d worn a restraining jock as he knew what was to come. Just the thought of putting Tori through her paces, thoroughly assessing her body, was severely taxing his restraint…and he had barely started. For the first time, he doubted the wisdom of taking her on as a client.

Oh, come on, you can keep it professional here. She’s just another body.

Yeah, right.

“Okay, lie back. We’re going to do some range of motion so I can get an idea of where you’re at.”

Tori surprised him by lying back immediately, without a protest, giving herself over to his control. Swallowing at the vision she made reclined before him, he tried to get back on task, running through a typical range of motion series involving all her joints. All the while, he was hard pressed to keep his touches clinical rather than caressing. And the little minx had to know what she was doing to him, a knowing glint in her eye as she watched him manipulate her body.

Having her stand, he ran through an informal flexibility test, noticing she winced as she stretched her hamstrings.

“Are you sore from running?”

Tori grimaced slightly. “Is it obvious?”

Adam had to fight a laugh at her pout. “Just to me. It’s what I do. We’ll do some stretching both before and after your workout, and I’ll keep it in mind when I choose what you’re going to work on today. So what time of day do you feel at your best?”

Regarding him thoughtfully, she leant back against the table, the move thrusting her breasts forward under her T-shirt. She was either a huge tease, or she had no idea how alluring she looked. Adam’s throat went dry.

“Hmm, that’s a tough one. I do my best work later in the day and into the evening. But physically? I guess I feel at my peak about now, around mid-morning.”

“Then that’s when we’ll try to meet for workouts. That actually works well for me. Most of my clients work during the day, so early morning and late afternoon to evening are my busy times.” Equal parts relieved and disappointed when she straightened, Adam forged ahead to the fun part. After rummaging in the drawer, he came up with a tape measure.

Tori’s eyes widened with alarm.
“
Oh
no. No, no, no.
You are
not
measuring my butt.” She began scooting along the edge of the table as if seeking safety.

Laughing aloud, Adam advanced on her. “Come on. Don’t you want to see how much you’ve improved by the end of the summer?”

She glared at him, arms crossed. “Are you telling me my ass needs improvement?”

Your ass is perfect
. “Almost everyone has room for improvement, Tori. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“Hmph, I suppose. But I have less ‘room’ than most.” She slid her hands down over her short-clad backside as if taking measure of herself.

Deciding that come hell or high water he was going to trace the same path with his hands—and tongue—very soon, he reined in his lustful thoughts and coaxed, “It’s not just your hips—I’m going to take measurements from top to, uh, bottom.” His mouth quirked into a smile as he couldn’t resist the play on words. “Believe it or not, some areas we’ll want to see increase in size as you gain muscle. Now extend your arms straight out to the sides.” He demonstrated briefly before pulling his computer towards him for easy access in inputting the stats.

Visibly coming to a decision—Tori seemed to be one of those souls whose face revealed every thought and emotion—she relaxed and took the pose he indicated. Making quick work of recording her upper body measurements, he knelt before her and prodded her to widen her stance. A slight hitch in her breathing was her only change in demeanour as he ran the tape around her inner thigh. Forcibly resisting the urge to linger at the silky skin there, he measured her calves then looked up with a smile. “Hips time.”

By this point, she looked resigned. “Ugh. Fine. Just don’t tell me.”

He kept the momentum going with a trip to the scale for her weight, which she amusingly kept her eyes closed through, and her height—exactly one foot shorter than himself.

“Okay. Ready to run through some strength work? We’ll do your upper body and core today since your legs are tight. Did you bring your suit?” At her nod, he added, “Then we’ll hit the pool for some cardio.” Her look of surprise was priceless, and he had a sudden thought. “You
can
swim, can’t you?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“It’s been a while,” he finished knowingly, then encouraged, “It’s just like riding a bike.”

Tori made a show of looking perplexed. “I know it’s been some time, but I’m pretty sure swimming is way different than biking.” The twinkle in her eyes delighted him as she teased.

He laughed and placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the door. He wasn’t certain, but he had the feeling he was seeing a side of her she rarely showed to others. “I’m really glad you decided to come in.”

“Me too. Even though I really wanted to improve my fitness, I wasn’t really sure how to start,” she confessed. “And obviously my plunge-right-in approach wasn’t a winner.”

“Well, if you hadn’t done that, we might not have met.”

She stopped in her tracks then nodded thoughtfully. “That’s true.”

“Let’s get going.” He opened the door and indicated for her to precede him. “I’m going to personally make sure that you meet all your goals.”

He couldn’t have predicted her reaction to his encouragement. Tori went bright red as her transparent facial expression reflected a succession of shock, embarrassment, guilt and—lust?
What on earth?
His curiosity piqued, he wondered at her extreme reaction to his seemingly straightforward promise.

Adam mentally reviewed what he’d said. He’d obviously been referring to her fitness goals, but her immediate response pointed elsewhere.

To something else just as physical?
Adam guessed with his own shot of lust.

Exactly what sort of goals had she set for herself?

Then and there, Adam made it
his
goal to find out.

Chapter Four

“So how are you feeling so far?” Adam posed the question to Tori, who sat cross-legged on the other side of her coffee table, sharing the takeout Chinese he’d brought along.

“A little sore, but surprisingly good.” And she did look surprised, as if she’d been expecting to need a trip to the hospital.

Adam grinned at her before using his chopsticks to steal a spicy shrimp from her plate.

“Hey!” After a cute pout, Tori retaliated by snatching his egg roll.

“Oh, come on!” He rose up on his knees and tried for a menacing expression. “That’s my only egg roll. You have tons of shrimp.”

“Come and get it,” she taunted, then squealed as he knee-walked around the open side of the table, effectively trapping her between him and the couch.

“I’d think twice before issuing a challenge like that,” Adam warned, his khaki shorts getting tighter by the second at the sight of Tori flushed with humour, interested eyes watching his approach. “Now I
have
to get it back. I’m competitive that way.”

Tori brandished the egg roll teasingly then changed tactics and acquiesced, melting against Adam as he pulled her full against his chest. Almost groaning at the feel of the plush give of her breasts against him, he licked his lips, watching as her gaze zeroed in on his mouth. “Bite,” he demanded, mock-seriously.

Her tongue sneaked out to swipe her own bottom lip, tempting him to skip the appetiser and head straight to dessert. He took a bite anyway, tugging with his teeth before biting through and chewing the crispy treat.

“I have fun with you.”

Tori’s wistful confidence sent a dart straight to Adam’s heart. Glad to hear her affirmation, but a bit concerned about the reason behind her wonderment, he grew serious and set his forehead against hers.

“I have fun with you, too. Mind telling me why it sounds as though that comes as a shock?”

Tori shrugged uncomfortably, and Adam intuitively backed off, giving her some physical space in which to think. The silence dragged out, but just when he thought she was going to avoid the question, she responded.

“I haven’t really had a lot of fun in my life. Especially not
with
anyone. That’s one of the reasons I…” Tori’s eyes widened dramatically as she cut off mid-sentence.

If Adam had thought she was uncomfortable before, now she looked about ready to bolt. But he wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily, not when he sensed they were just getting to something important.

“One of the reasons you…” he prompted, waiting patiently.

Adam could almost hear her brain whirring through scenarios. Finally, she seemed to come to some conclusion and confessed, “I made it a goal of mine to treat this sabbatical like a vacation and have fun.”

“Well, I’ll just have to help you with that one, too,” Adam offered with a knowing grin, and he leaned closer as he continued in a low voice, “I’m going to have a great summer helping you meet all your goals.”

A strangled little sound was her response as she stilled, confirming Adam’s suspicion that there was more to her goals than just fun and fitness. If he could only figure out what she was so embarrassed about.

On a hunch, and not above a little snooping, he straightened suddenly as if he’d just remembered something. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he tapped aimlessly on it for a few moments. “Shoot. Hey, do you mind if I use your computer to check my email?”

“Sure.” Her brow quirked quizzically, but she didn’t ask for details, for which Adam was profoundly grateful, since he wasn’t sure he could come up with a plausible reason for needing to do it right then. He hoped she wouldn’t ask what was wrong with his smartphone. He didn’t want to actually lie to her.

Tori led him into a bedroom she’d set up as an office—he noticed a laptop as well as a desktop. She powered up the desktop, entering several layers of passwords he didn’t bother trying to catch, and opened the web browser. “Here you go.”

“I’ll be just a few minutes. Thanks a lot, I appreciate it.”

“I’ll clean up from dinner while you’re doing that.” Tori turned to walk out of the door, but not before Adam noticed her gaze being drawn to a stack of inboxes. He went ahead and accessed his email, waiting for the sound of dishes and water running in the kitchen before he dared to look at the organisers.

Without touching them, he could tell most were just bills and apparently some work-related paperwork. But the top level held three notebooks, the old-fashioned black and white kind with a space on the cover for a title. The top one was titled in neat print:

Summer Sabbatical Objective One—Best Shape of My Life

Bingo. With growing excitement, he bypassed that one—he was probably already privy to everything in there anyway—and carefully picked up the other two.

Summer Sabbatical Objective Two—Best Sex of My Life

Summer Sabbatical Objective Three—Most Fun of My Life

Oh.
Oh!
Adam grinned and just barely stifled a laugh as he read number two. No wonder Tori flipped out every time he mentioned helping her meet her goals.

Oh yes, I’ll be helping you with that one, too. The trifecta. Perfect.

Sounds of dishes being done still rang from the kitchen, but Adam knew his time was getting short. He quickly opened number two, and began to read.

A few minutes later, he closed the book, not caring at that moment whether she caught him at it or not. He mechanically replaced the notebooks in their original spot and closed down his email. He was walking towards the door just as Tori came back in.

“Hi. Are you all finished? I put on some decaf.”

Adam managed a smile. Or something like one anyway.

“Can I take a rain check? I need to get going.”

Tori looked disappointed and a little concerned as she stepped closer. “Anything wrong? Did you get some bad news?”

“No, nothing like that. Something unexpected just came up.” It had been unexpected all right. “I’ll see you at the gym tomorrow. Okay?” Pressing a light kiss to her cheek, he made his escape.

As he descended the stairs from her apartment in the cool night air, he felt his shock attempting to morph into anger. He shut that emotion down, got into his car and headed home on autopilot, purposely not thinking about what he had seen until he was home.

It’s like that old saying
—
Eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves. Boy, did I get hit by the payback’s-a-bitch fairy
.

He exhaled heavily as he let himself in then tossed his keys onto the hall table with a clink and a thud. Deciding against a drink, he at last settled on his couch. Only then did he let the scene replay itself, how he’d needed to leave Tori’s
right then
, in order to process what he’d read—a very cold-blooded plan for seduction.

Of which
he
was the object. Pun intended.

It had all been neatly laid out, how she had decided after meeting Adam that he would fit the bill, her wishing that things would progress faster—after all, sex
must
be had before September!—and the final extra little detail that had really thrown him.

This—their ‘relationship’—was a means to an end. And when the sex finally happened, the
end
is exactly what it would be.

To a ‘no-strings holiday affair’.

It was bizarre being on the other end of sex for sex’s sake. Adam gave a humourless little laugh at the irony of it all. He’d been taking it slow because he thought he’d found in Tori a woman he could develop something long term with. And with her being older and more mature than his usual dates, he’d assumed she would be receptive to the slower pacing and a possible commitment.

In the meantime, she’d been sizing him up for a summer fling.

Adam rolled his eyes heavenward.

What the hell kind of twisted karma was that?

He briefly considered just going with the flow and giving her exactly what she wanted—what just about any other twenty-something guy would happily go along with—a no-strings affair, NSA to use personal ad-speak. That, to him, felt about as impersonal and tawdry as a personal ad would. As that pettiness occurred to him, Adam was already shaking his head, trying to banish the foul thought.
Yuck. No thanks
. He couldn’t pull a wham, bam, thank you ma’am on his quirky, sweet Tori. Even if that’s what she had in her head that she wanted.

It just didn’t make sense to him. Why the hell would Tori be on the prowl for a one-off? She was such a sweetheart. Classy, funny, smart…

The wave of tenderness that hit him at the reminder of his original assessment of her had a clarifying effect. Something had been nagging him about his discovery ever since he’d read the journal, or whatever it was called. The seemingly heartless and clinical approach to the very personal objective.

He seized onto the word ‘clinical’. Maybe that was just how she broke things down. She was a scientist. Perhaps she thought she could plan best when the emotional and subjective qualifiers were removed. Adam thought about his own background in science. He never would have thought about applying the scientific method to something so far removed—in his mind—from the sterility of an experiment.

But now that he’d thought of it, Adam would bet Tori would.

He had to get a look at the other two notebooks. If they also read as matter-of-factly as an English translation of foreign assembly instructions, then he would know for sure.

In the meantime, he needed to decide how to handle Tori’s need to rush to the finish line.

Adam smiled a little as he rose to go find a sheet of paper and a pen to do a little planning of his own.

One thing he
wouldn’t
do was have sex with her before the end of summer. No matter how hard she tried.