Just One Night Together (Flatiron Five Fitness #3) - Deborah Cooke Page 0,39
she had wanted was Garrett.
But he hadn’t wanted her.
And in the early hours of the morning, Haley admitted that truth still hurt.
Damon awakened, sweating, just as the grenade detonated.
It took him a moment to realize that he was at home in his own bed, and not sprawled in the dirt in Afghanistan.
The dream had been more vivid this time.
The awareness of his own powerlessness had been terrifying.
He was shaking and his heart was pounding as if he’d run halfway across the city. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, told himself he’d get through this.
He dropped and did a hundred sit-ups, but it worked even less than it had the last time. He needed a distraction.
Damon turned on the light and went to his desk. The plans for the condos in the Flatiron Five Fitness tower were spread out there, in progress, but he wasn’t feeling practical. He got out his sketch book and flipped through it to a fresh page, picked up his favorite pencil and began to draw. He let his pencil take its own path, let his imagination take possession of his hand.
He quickly realized that he was drawing Haley.
Laughing. The way she looked after climax. Hair tangled, eyes sparkling, cheeks flushed. The way she looked after he gave her pleasure.
He’d been able to give her this joy.
That wasn’t a small thing.
It wasn’t something to throw away.
His mom would have told him to fight for Haley, but Damon didn’t want his demons any closer to her than they had already been. He was still tempted to call her, just to hear her voice, but he knew he had to be responsible. Even if she forgot about Garrett, she deserved more than he could give her.
She was better without him.
No matter what he yearned for in the night.
There was something very satisfying about capturing the sight of her joy forever. Damon concentrated on every line, getting it exactly right, and before he knew it, the dawn had come.
Haley was nervous about going to Flatiron Five Fitness on Wednesday afternoon. It was her day off and she was determined to go to that massage class.
Even if Damon was teaching it.
She wasn’t going to let the chance of seeing him again influence her own plans. She’d done that years ago, when Garrett came back to town with his new wife, and had gone out of her way to avoid crossing paths with either of them. Garrett’s return was why she’d done her Masters in New York, although she hadn’t admitted that to anyone else.
Haley wasn’t going to be such a chicken again.
Especially since it had been just sex. She couldn’t let every sexual partner affect her future choices.
She’d called F5F ahead of time and they’d said she didn’t need to do any preparation or bring anything specific. It was an open class and the teacher modified it each week to suit the attendees. The woman suggested that Haley wear yoga gear, as there would be no nudity in the class. When she found out that Haley had a day pass, she enumerated many of the features of the club, encouraging Haley to make a day of it, and to ask at reception if she had more questions.
She stopped at the hospital with Natasha’s new chemo hat. Damon’s mom was asleep but Haley removed the itchy hat and slipped on the new one. She thought that maybe Natasha smiled a little, but she had to run for the train.
She got to F5F a little early, having left extra time. She wandered through the shop featuring F5F gear and equipment, then watched the climbers on the huge rock wall for a while.
Her brothers would love that.
“Hi,” a woman said, stopping beside her. “You’re new, aren’t you? I’m Cassie Wilson, one of the founding partners of Flatiron Five Fitness.”
Haley shook the other woman’s hand. Cassie was taller than her, slender and sleek. There was a bandage on her upper left arm. She was blond and so pretty that she could have been a model, but Haley had the definite sense that Cassie was smart. “Why is it called Flatiron Five Fitness?”
“Because there are five of us.” Cassie ticked off her fingers. “Me, Tyler, Theo, Kyle, and Damon.” She smiled. “And it’s in the Flatiron district.”
Haley remembered the pictures she’d found online. “You’re the only woman, then.”
Cassie laughed. “And they never let me forget it. They’re good guys, though.” She raised her hands. “I feel like I have four big brothers.”