The Innocent Behind The Scandal - Abby Green Page 0,34

hadn’t heard a sound, so when a voice came from behind her to say, ‘Fancy a sparring partner?’ she almost jumped out of her skin.

She whirled around, breathing heavily. Maks was standing a few feet away, with a small towel around his neck, in sweatpants and a T-shirt that left little to the imagination.

‘Um...’ It was hard to speak when she was hyperventilating. ‘I need a break and some water...you go ahead.’

On wobbly legs Zoe went over to a nearby water machine and took off her gloves, poured herself some water. She took a big sip before she dared to look around again. Maks was squaring up to the other punchbag, gloves on his hands.

He said over his shoulder, ‘I rang your room but there was no answer, I figured you were asleep.’

Zoe made some kind of incoherent breathless mumble in response and drank him in greedily while he wasn’t looking. Lord, but he was beautiful. All taut, coiled energy. Graceful, too, for such a big man. His technique was perfect—he was clearly experienced.

When she’d cooled down a little, Zoe put her gloves on again and went back to her punchbag. Maks was still pounding his bag, lost in his own world. Zoe almost felt she was intruding.

She got back to her own workout, but was too aware of Maks in her peripheral vision. He stopped and she heard him breathing. She tried to pretend that every cell in her body wasn’t swivelling towards him like the bud of a flower opening to the sun.

‘You’re good.’

She stopped and turned around. She shrugged. ‘Not in your league. There’s a boxing gym near me. I started to go there after—’ She stopped, feeling the creeping shame she always felt when she thought of her weakness.

‘After your ex-boyfriend?’

Maks’s voice was like steel.

Zoe nodded. ‘I went to learn self-defence, but I found sparring and boxing surprisingly satisfying.’

Maks tugged off his gloves and picked up a couple of punch pads. ‘Come on—practice on me.’

‘I’m not that good...really.’

Maks started to move around her. ‘Come on, Collins, show me what you’ve got.’

Zoe rolled her eyes but took up her stance, trying to remember to stay on the balls of her feet and mobile. Maks started off easy on her, but as she matched him he got faster and more unpredictable, forcing her to duck and react more quickly.

Finally he stopped and stepped back. They were both breathing heavily. Zoe more than Maks. She wished she could take off her top, but she only had a sports bra underneath.

As if reading her mind, though, Maks put down the pads and pulled off his own shirt. He must have seen the look on her face. ‘Do you mind?’

Zoe shook her head as a roaring sound drowned out everything else. It was the blood in her body rushing to every erogenous zone. She’d seen men in states of undress in the gym—it was normal. But never one like this...

Maks was not human. He was too beautiful to be human. His powerful torso was a finely etched work of art, ridged with muscles. Not an ounce of spare flesh. Hard. Unyielding. Mesmerising.

She dragged her gaze up and looked at him suspiciously. ‘Are you trying to distract me?’

He looked innocent. ‘Me? No. Only as much as you’re distracting me.’

Zoe nearly guffawed, but then Maks’s gaze narrowed on her and drifted down, taking in her heaving chest under the clinging Lycra of her top, down over her belly, hips, thighs and lower legs to where her three-quarter-length jogging pants ended. Normally she worked out in a bra top and shorts, and even though she was more covered up right now, she felt naked.

Wanting to push back against the easy way Maks could manipulate her body, Zoe knocked her gloves together. ‘Ready for round two, Marchetti?’

This time he put on his own gloves and started dancing around her. ‘Sure, bring it on.’

Zoe launched a few jabs, but Maks ducked them. She knew he was going easy on her, and that only spurred her on. She took advantage of a split second’s hesitation on Maks’s part to throw a quick right-handed upper cut. The last thing Zoe expected was to make actual physical contact with Maks’s jaw. But she did. And, not expecting it either, he stumbled back and fell over a stool, sprawling onto his back.

Zoe wasn’t even aware of taking off her gloves or moving. She was on her knees at Maks’s side, her hands on his face. His eyes were closed. ‘Maks?