His Kind of Perfection

He looked around and pointed to a bare area where no grass grew just off the northeast corner of the parking lot. “I guess over there will be fine.”

Bree got back in the pickup. Throwing the vehicle into Drive instead of Reverse, she pulled to the southwest corner, as far away as possible from where he’d suggested.

“I said over there.” When she climbed from the cab, he took her shoulders and spun her to face the opposite direction where he pointed.

“I understand. I speaka de English.” She winked and elbowed him playfully before walking behind the truck and lowering the tailgate. “Let’s get to work.”

Kale pulled on his gloves and grabbed a brick in each hand. Following Bree’s lead, he marched across the parking lot, pumping his arms over his head, alternating hands. When they got to the far side, they placed the bricks on the ground, then did walking lunges back to the truck to retrieve four more bricks.

“I want to show you how you can make your workday into a workout,” Bree explained. “I know you’ve been making laps around the lot several times a day, but that must get boring.”

“Yeah.” His answer came out as a huff, which irritated him a little since Bree seemed to be having no trouble at all lunging, pumping the bricks and talking all at the same time.

“The trick isn’t getting into shape. Anybody with the desire can do that. The trick is staying in shape, and staying in shape requires staying in motion. The best way to stay in motion for a lifetime is to look for ways of using what’s around you and using your imagination.”

Each time they returned to the truck, Bree came up with a different style of movement. In addition to lunges, they race walked, jogged, ran, hopped, walked backward, and despite his protests that real men didn’t do such things, they skipped. Bree made the skipping lap into a race so his masculinity wasn’t too threatened. He won, though he wasn’t sure if that was deliberate on her part or not.

By the time they had transported and piled all the bricks, Kale had sweated through his thermal Henley and was wishing he’d worn something lighter.

When Bree jerked off her sock cap to reveal her short brown hair, plastered by sweat to her head, he felt better. But then, she bent over and shook it, slinging a few droplets his way, and running her fingers roughly through her hair. When she straightened up, little brown spikes shot from her head in all directions. The sight was sexy, in a weird sort of way, and he kept thinking how she might look after a night of wild sex. But if the woman was the least bit aware of her sexiness, it was well-hidden. Inadvertently adding to the allure, she removed her down vest and thermal shirt, revealing a long-sleeved tee that clung to her body and accentuated every curve. “I’m so hot!” she declared, and the smaller of Kale’s heads responded in enthusiastic agreement.

Damn good thing his coverall was finally fitting loosely. Otherwise, Bree Rice might get the wrong idea about him.

“Want the tour now?” he suggested. Anything to give him a reason not to stand and gawk.

She patted his face as if correcting a child. Tilting her head, she grinned. “We’re only halfway through.”

Kale’s fingers reflexively dug into his hips. “What in the hell are you talking about, woman?”

“We have to load all those bricks back in the truck. They’re not going to walk over there and jump in.”

He narrowed his eyes, trying to look menacing, yet knowing he couldn’t pull it off. “You said they were staying.”

“I lied.” She smiled sweetly and fluttered her eyelids.

He reached her in two steps, moving faster than he thought his tired legs would allow. “Nobody lies to Kale Barlow and gets away with it.” Effortlessly, he swept her up into his arms and started toward the floating walkway that led out to the marina.

“What are you doing?” She laughed, but the sound had an edge to it he couldn’t discern.

“Giving you the tour.”

“I’d rather take the tour walking on my own legs.” She pushed against him slightly, and he gripped her closer. “Put me down, Kale.” She tried again, harder this time, and he latched on that much tighter.

“Not gonna happen. And quit squirming or you’ll throw us both off.” By that time, his long stride had brought them to the end of the walkway.

Her gaze shot up to meet his, her eyes wide with disbelief. “You wouldn’t dare.”

He mimicked her grin from earlier and fluttered his eyelids as they passed the gas pumps. “Naw. Of course I wouldn’t.”

Her arms flew around his neck, and she held on with everything she had as they reached the end of the gas dock. “Kale, so help me...if I go in, so do you.”

He shrugged. “I can swim.”

“But that water’s cold.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you lied to me.” He let go of her legs to reach up and pry her hands from around his neck.

With a squeal, she threw her legs around his waist, locking them in back, and pushing body parts together in such a way that nothing was left to the imagination. She must have immediately recognized the absurdity of the position because she released her legs so fast, he couldn’t accommodate the shift in weight. He grabbed at her and leaned back, but the next instant, the cold water of Kentucky Lake engulfed them both.

The ten-foot depth shouldn’t have been a problem for a good swimmer, but suddenly Kale panicked. What if Bree couldn’t swim? She would have said something, right? He’d assumed she could, being so athletic, but he didn’t know for certain. Besides, the water was cold...she could have hit her head. He pushed to the surface, shouting her name as soon as the air hit his face.

“I’m right here.” Her elbows were already resting on the dock, head and chest out of the water, rivulets of water running down her face. Effortlessly, she thrust herself up and plopped to a seated position. “That was a stupid thing to do.” She raised an eyebrow in reproach, but her voice was calm with maybe a hint of humor.

“Yes, it was. I’m sorry.” Kale was still upset enough, it didn’t seem funny yet. He swiped a hand down his face to clear the lake water from his eyes. “I wasn’t really going to throw you in. I lost my balance.”

Bree shrugged. “Guess I want that tour now. And I’ll have to change clothes. I assume you have a working shower?” She started toward the truck.

Wait...she was going to shower? In his apartment?

Adrenaline flooded Kale’s system. Placing his hands flat on the wooden boards, he heaved himself up, not making it high enough to get his top half out of the water. He tried again...and failed again. And again.

Humiliated and exhausted, he finally gave up and let go, swimming to the boat ramp and trudging up the slope, shivering from the cold.

Bree met him at the top of the ramp. “I’m glad I didn’t have to come in after you. Two loads of bricks and a load of Kale is more than I can handle in one day.”

Two loads of bricks? “You can’t seriously still want to load the bricks back in the truck,” he growled, and then he got her meaning. “Hold on a minute. Are you telling me you loaded them by yourself the first time?”

She nodded.

A groan rumbled in Kale’s chest, but he caught it before it became audible. Damn, the woman was hard to keep up with...but, damn, what a woman!

A violent shiver shook Bree’s body, and she rubbed her arms briskly. “I need out of these wet things.”

“Get your clothes.” Kale was grateful when she stepped away from him toward the truck. He’d had an overwhelming urge to rub her, too, but not quite in the same brisk manner she’d used. His touch would be slow and deliberate...and he wouldn’t stop at her arms.

Stop, the voice in his head warned. Don’t mess things up with Bree. She’s a great trainer, and she’s going to help you get what you really want. For the first time in his life, he would be somewhere long enough to see a plan through to its end. Buy the marina and then settle down with Addy.

With her gym bag slung over her shoulder, Bree hurried along with him to his apartment, putting off the grand tour until they both had showered and donned dry clothes. And after that, he put the tour off a little longer to take care of some business that was eating at him.

He led her back outside to the parking lot, which was now bathed in silver light from a three-quarter moon. “Do you really want the bricks back in the truck?”

Her shoulders sagged momentarily, but then she straightened as if something occurred to her. “If I leave them, will you use them to work out?”

“Scout’s honor.” He’d never been a Boy Scout—had never lived anywhere long enough to become active in a troop. But he’d pretended to be one lots of times. Fact was, he’d pretended to belong lots of times...to many different things.

Bree’s pleasure at his answer brought a warmth to both her smile and her eyes.

“Let me prove I’m not lying.” He pointed to the tailgate of the truck. “Sit. And don’t even consider moving.”