Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

I stand in front of the desk, feeling like a fool, and look at Ezra as if I’m a deer caught in headlights. My brain has simply switched off, depriving me of the ability to speak.

Ezra’s smile widens slightly after a long, and for me, excruciatingly awkward moment. Hello, hole in the ground, please swallow me whole…

“Well… We’re here to have a look at the club. A lot has been done here, we heard there are a lot of new courses, like women’s self-defense. So, we thought we’d pop in and check the place out,” Kelly says for me, for which I’m very grateful.

Strictly speaking, I didn’t know we were going here until now, so what was I supposed to tell Ezra?

While Kelly talks, Ezra gives me an intense but brief sideways glance. I have no idea what to make of it. Kelly hasn’t missed it either—of course not. And I know she’ll ask me how I know him as soon as he’s out of earshot. Kelly is here because of him. After all, I know her, and Ezra is beautiful… and Kelly is… well, Kelly.

“That’s right. After my father’s death, I fixed up his club. It’s really great to see that the renovations have made a difference and brought in lovely new clients like you two,” Ezra replies charmingly and gives Kelly his best smile.

“This is your club?” I say, a little too horrified, so they both look at me with irritation.

Surprised at my outburst, I bite my lower lip and flinch. I didn’t mean to be rude or disrespectful… I’m just surprised that this is his club. I wonder what this must look like to him. Like I’m stalking him. Good God!

Kelly shakes her head imperceptibly after an awkward silence before looking at him again.

“Oh. Your father died? I’m so sorry,” Kelly expresses her condolences, placing her hand on his, which he rests on the desk.

“It’s all right. He was gravely ill, and somehow, I couldn’t part with the club after he died. I spent half my childhood here,” he says, a genuine smile sliding across his full lips as if he’s caught up in memory and can’t help but smile in response.

“You’ve done a great job polishing up the old place, and the idea of the new courses is clever,” Kelly praises him. Sometimes, I feel embarrassed for her because her intentions are pretty obvious. But of course, I remain silent and hope this charade ends soon.

“Thank you. So, do you want to join? Or have a look first? I could offer you a trial session right away,” Ezra suggests, and I want the ground to swallow me whole.

So I quickly shake my head and attract their attention again.

“No. That’s all right. I’m sure you have a lot to do, and we don’t want to impose,” I say quickly, grabbing Kelly’s arm to pull her with me.

With her eyebrows furrowed, she looks at me, then at him. Ezra grins ear to ear and then makes a throwaway motion with his hand.

“Nonsense. I’m happy to make time for two lovely ladies like you. The changing rooms are upstairs. Get changed, and we’ll meet back here in a few minutes,” he explains, sealing the deal. Wonderful ! “Oh, and you’d better take your jewelry off,” Ezra adds, his gaze momentarily sliding to my wedding ring.

I automatically reach for it before turning away. I leave his office with Kelly in tow, a fake smile on my face and a strong desire to leave immediately. But I realize that won’t happen and I have to get on with the training session. Kelly will also have many questions for me, and I’m not looking forward to answering them.

Next to the office is a small spiral staircase to the next floor. A narrow corridor leads us to the changing rooms. From up here, you can see the entire club.

As soon as the door to the changing room closes behind us, Kelly tugs on my arm, turns me to face her, and looks at me with expectant eyes, just as I predicted.

“Tell me everything !”

I roll my eyes, break away from her, and put my bag down on one bench so I can pick out my—or, rather, Kelly’s—gym clothes.

“There’s not much to tell. Ezra is our new neighbor. He bought the house next door, which had been empty for ages. I’ve seen him once or twice, and we’ve chatted briefly. End of story.”

“And why didn’t you tell me about your super-hot, young, and very single new neighbor who was hinting at your wedding ring?” Kelly asks with mock anger as she’s also getting her gym clothes out of her bag.

“Because there’s nothing to tell. And he didn’t even mention my wedding ring. He asked us to take our jewelry off, which is sensible when you’re working out,” I say, rummaging through the bag Kelly has packed for me.

I wrinkle my nose and realize it was a pretty stupid idea to borrow sports clothes from Kelly, even though I had no choice. The outfit she picked is far too revealing for me and my figure.

Kelly is shorter than me and doesn’t have big breasts, but she has curves I’ve always envied. She has always been sexy and probably always will be. Her blonde hair and blue eyes do the rest.

In our youth, we enjoyed driving men crazy. Not anymore—at least not me, since I’m married. On the other hand, Kelly is living her single life to the fullest and loves it. Although sometimes I think it’s more pretense than reality; I believe that deep down, she wants a stable and happy partnership.

Shaking my head, I stand in front of the mirror and look at my outfit in horror. The sports bra, which is too tiny, pushes my breasts up even more. And the pants are also a little too tight, as I’m taller than them. It usually wouldn’t bother me, and I would laugh about it, but I don’t find it particularly funny now or here. At least we have the same shoe size. We’ve always swapped shoes back and forth.

“I can’t work out looking like this!” I complain to her, glaring at her over the mirror as I tug at the top to somehow hide my protruding breasts.

“Don’t be like that. You look fine,” she shrugs it off, slapping my butt and nodding for me to put my stuff in the locker so we can go downstairs to Ezra.

I roll my eyes again but still comply with her silent request.

After I’ve put everything away, I tie my thick curls into a ponytail. I take off my necklace and earrings. When I reach my wedding ring, I pause briefly because taking it off now feels so wrong.

“Cora, are you coming?” Kelly urges me to remove the heavy diamond and put it in my locker.

I follow her outside with a water bottle and a small towel I found in my bag.

I pause at the railing and look down. You can see the entire lower floor from here. My gaze wanders over the people, mainly men, training here, and then I spot him . Ezra is standing in a miniature boxing ring and explaining something to two boys. He is light-footedly showing them evasive techniques and seems to enjoy it. Now I know how he got his muscular body; he trains here daily. It’s no wonder he is in top shape.

“That’s what I call eye candy.” Kelly pines from the side and snaps me out of my stupor.

I clear my throat and smile back at her. After all, I she’s the same old Kelly.

When we arrive downstairs, Ezra is getting out of the ring, giving the two boys instructions from the outside. They immediately get back to work, which seems to please Ezra. After another moment, he nods and then turns to us.

“There you are,” he greets us and glances over our workout clothes.

My cheeks are burning, and I want to hide behind something, but now is not the time to be shy. After all, I have no reason to. I’m happily married and have no interest in other men; therefore, I don’t have to worry about how others perceive me. Normally …

“Show us what we can learn from you,” Kelly states, highly motivated.

“Since you’ve already got a good view from upstairs…” Ezra begins, winking at me while putting on his typical smile again.

Oh, God! He must have seen me staring at him. This guy has his eyes and ears everywhere.

“…we can go straight to the workout,” he informs us and nods for us to follow him.

Kelly gives me a meaningful look because she hasn’t missed the wink, which was clearly aimed at me. I confidently ignore her and follow Ezra. What else am I supposed to do or say? I don’t even really want to be here.

Ezra leads us to the back of the club, to a corner covered with many mats. There are punching bags hanging on heavy chains from the high ceiling, and I can also see some training dummies that look straight out of the movies. I look around with interest because this world is entirely new to me. Before, I’ve never been interested in boxing, but right now, surrounded by all this stuff, it’s fascinating to see.

I let my gaze wander around the club while Kelly chews poor Ezra’s ear off and wants to know everything down to the smallest detail. Preferably about him, of course, but Kelly has been doing this for a while and knows how to approach men, especially a guy like Ezra. So I distance myself and step up to a ring near us to watch the two men fighting each other.

Bare-chested, barefoot, and dressed only in short gym shorts, the two men stand facing each other, fighting with their hands and feet. I’m fascinated by the force with which they hit each other and yet remain entirely focused. Their muscles dance and twitch under their skin, glistening with sweat, and I’m mesmerized by the sight.

“Looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” I hear an unexpectedly close— far too close —whisper from behind me.

Startled, I cringe, yet his deep voice and familiar smell send a pleasant shiver down my spine. I don’t turn to Ezra but stare at the two men before nodding gently.

I feel him move a little closer to me so that he is now touching my back. My entire body tingles, just like it did in my garden. It spreads like wildfire, and images flood my mind.

“Why did you leave the other night?” I whisper, closing my eyes as I feel his hot breath on the back of my neck.

“Wearing your hair in a ponytail suits you. I like it.”

I want to say something because Ezra avoids my question. But when he wraps my ponytail around his fist and gives it a little tug, stretching my neck, I feel his lips on my skin. I gasp softly and immediately bite down on my lower lip.

The tingling in my body has given way to a violent throbbing and is driving me more insane by the second. I’m on fire; this young, far too-young guy is my accelerant. I thought this fire was long extinguished in me. God!

Before I can get back to reality and regain control of my thoughts, Ezra has already let go of me, and I’m left breathless. The roaring in my ears is so loud that I can’t hear anything around me, and I can no longer ignore the throbbing between my thighs or the dampness, but I have to. I have to snap out of it and pretend that nothing is wrong, that I’m fine, and that I’m not losing my mind over a younger guy.

“Cora, are you coming?” Kelly’s muffled voice reaches my ears.

I take another deep breath, turn back to Kelly and Ezra, and walk with shaky legs toward the group of two—or, to my surprise, now three. Another guy is standing next to Kelly. I don’t know him, but he must work here. That explains how Ezra could slip away to me briefly—Kelly would never have let him out of her sight otherwise.

“You ready?” Ezra asks me with a mischievous grin that could make me weak again.

God, what am I doing here?