Once we returned to the Frog Pond, we stretched.
“How are your muscles feeling?” Luke balanced against the frog statue, reached behind to grab his left ankle in his left hand, and stretched his quad.
“They feel great. My body’s still on its high.” I lunged forward to stretch my hip flexor. “I’ll feel a little tight later, but I’ll stretch again. No biggie.”
“When’s your next appointment? Tuesday, right?”
I was floored he knew when I would be back at The Rub Down. With dozens of responsibilities and clients, his memorizing the schedule made it seem that maybe he liked having me on his table as much as I liked being there.
“Yeah, ten o’clock. I’ll go for a quick run first thing that morning. I’m taking tomorrow off.”
“You going to come in and take another yoga class?” he asked. His eyes grew as wide as saucers.
So, he knew I was at the spa yesterday. I had assumed he wasn’t there since I didn’t see him. A shy smile appeared on his face, displaying his rare dimples. They were deep enough to stick my pinkie in, but what I really wanted was to lick them as I inched my lips to his mouth.
“Maybe. I need to check the schedule and see what appointments I have tomorrow. I did like Nikki’s class, though. She’s really great.” I replied, hoping I had a chance to see him tomorrow at the spa. “But since I did yoga yesterday, I think I need to hit the gym for some strength training.”
“Did you walk here from the South End or did you drive?” Luke asked.
We finished our cool down and stared at each other, neither of us wanting to end our time together.
“I drove, and actually parked at the Ritz. One of my clients lives there and she loves me, so when she heads south for the winter, she leaves me her parking spot for whenever I need it.”
We started to walk through the Common to the Ritz where I knew Luke lived.
“That’s great. Parking in this town is nuts sometimes. My neighbor rents his spot for three hundred dollars a month since he doesn’t own a car.”
Wow, I didn’t realize my client could get that kind of money for her spot, not that she needed more money. I made a mental note to send her a thank you present to her home in Naples.
“I can’t wait to get home and drink another gallon of water and stuff my face full of food,” I said, dreaming of the pastries I planned to pick up before I got home.
“Do you want to grab brunch with me?”
His voice had a glimmer of hope that I didn’t think I could ever turn down.
“We aren’t really dressed for a restaurant,” I answered, wishing I were presentable to the brunch world.
“Who cares what we look like?” he replied with a cheeky grin.
“You realize you’re wearing tights, right?”
“Good point. We can run up to my place so I can throw on some jeans. Then we’ll head to brunch. What’s the name of the one who has pajama days?” he asked.
We approached the south tower of the Ritz, which happened to be where my client, Mrs. Denton, lived as well. We greeted the doorman as he held the door open for us and gave us a friendly smile.
“It’s in the South End. I’ll ask Addison the name.” I sent off a quick text before we stepped into the elevator. “She’s been before. I walk past it all the time, but I can’t remember. My brain hasn’t settled from your spinning me around.”
The elevators in Luke’s building were like no other I’d experienced. When I first started visiting with Mrs. Denton, my ears would pop, and I swore I wouldn’t need gum during airplane takeoff anymore. Luke pressed thirty-five and away we went. Once the doors opened, I followed his lead and enjoyed the view. He took the key from his jacket pocket and let me into his condo.
I already knew the units at the Ritz were spectacular, but Luke’s place was gorgeous. The floor to ceiling windows along the exterior walls provided the most amazing view of the city. Soft blue-gray paint covered the textured walls, accented with white trim. The furniture was large and decadent, and the black leather sofa with attached chaise appeared to be soft as butter. I could imagine wrapping up in Luke’s arms and sinking into the couch. Mounted on the wall in front of the couch was a large television, at least double the size on Addison and my little dinky one. The dining area held a dark ebony table with four matching chairs pushed in around it. Off to the side, two other chairs implied the table expanded for more guests.
“Water?” Luke said, peeking around the corner of his kitchen, startling me. I hadn’t noticed he’d left the room I was so entranced with his home.
“Yes, thank you. You have an amazing space here.” I reached for the bottle proffered to me.
“Glad you like it, but I can’t take all the credit. Jess and Elle did all this. They refused to allow this amazing place to look like a shit hole.” He laughed, and I could tell he was remembering their conversation.
Just then, my cell sang a little ditty, alerting me that Addison texted me back.
“The brunch place is called Cooper’s Place on Tremont.” I showed Luke the text.
“Great. Let me just peel myself out of these tights and throw on something I can breathe in.” Luke took off down the long hallway to his master suite.
I turned around in the living room to look at the pictures lining the walls. Some were of when Luke and his sisters were little, and some seemed to be more recent. One was in front of The Rub Down with Luke and Danny holding giant scissors and a red bow tied off in front of the doors.
I had just noticed the art on the other wall when I saw Luke leaning against the hallway wall, staring at me.
“What?” I gave him a playful attitude since he totally caught me gaping around the room. Thank goodness I hadn’t hit up the bathroom medicine cabinets yet.
“Nothing. I was just watching you.” Luke answered with more honesty than I expected. My cheeks grew warm with embarrassment. “Did you call for your car yet? Can I ride over with you, and then I’ll call a cab home? I’m pretty sure my body is not up for the walk.”
“Shit, I forgot to call while you were changing.” I was too busy staring at your pictures.
“What’s the car tag number? I’ll call for it.” Luke pushed off the wall and walked to the kitchen house phone.
“669.” I giggled like an adolescent boy when I had to say my car tag number. Luke just laughed at me laughing, shook his head, and placed the call to valet.
“Okay, ten minutes. Let’s head down. Sometimes on Sundays they’re quicker.”
We left his place and waited in the lobby for only a few minutes before my car arrived. The valet held my door open, but when I turned around to close it, Luke was there, and the valet was gone. He shut my door, ran around to the passenger side, and hopped in.
Since Cooper’s wasn’t far from my apartment, I thought of asking if we could pop in for me to change too, but Luke beat me to it.
“Hey, we’re near your place. Do you want out of your tights, too?”
Only if you help me out of them.
“Yes, you just read my mind. They’re sweaty, and I feel nasty.” Before I could berate myself for being so ladylike and sexy with my sweat talk, I spied a parking spot right in front of my place! “You’re good luck! This is the best spot. I didn’t think that car was going to ever move. It’s been parked there for like the last month. Now shh, so I can concentrate on parallel parking.” I threw the car in reverse and did my thing, but got nervous with him staring at me and had to start all over again.