She also liked her space, but that bridge had already been crossed.
Evelyn paused as she reached her door and glanced over her shoulder to Luke. “No rude comments, okay?”
He actually looked insulted. “I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a dick. Do you expect me to laugh in the face of a tiny apartment?”
“I give you some credit,” she admitted. “I didn’t expect you to laugh out loud.”
She unlocked the door and held it open, twisting around to carefully study Luke’s reaction. She knew her space wasn’t about to get its own photo spread in Good Housekeeping, but it was hers and served its purpose well.
The studio apartment was seven hundred square feet and every inch was put to use. Except for the bed in the far corner and the kitchen area, the entire floor had been converted into a gym with a treadmill, punching bag, and a weight set with an Olympic bar and plates going up to forty-five pounds.
Luke let out a small whistle. “I feel like I understand you so much better now.”
Evelyn rolled her eyes. “Big talk, pretty boy. You won’t have as much of a sense of humor after you have me for a trainer.”
He set his briefcase on the corner table barely big enough for one person to eat at while she shut and locked the door, throwing the deadbolt and chain in place.
“I can change in the bathroom.” She headed past him. It was the only area in the apartment that had a door. Her workout clothes were already laying out for her on the bed. She spread them out every morning so she had no excuse to skip a day. Evelyn snatched the sports bra and shorts from the bed and paused. There wasn’t a shirt out. Shit. She knew exactly where all her oversized t-shirts were. In the laundry bin she’d dropped off at the cleaners that morning. Pickup was scheduled for after six, but she’d completely forgotten.
“Everything okay over there?” asked Luke.
Evelyn sighed. Looked as if she was working out in her sports bra today. Sure. Why not? Really, what else could go wrong? “Everything’s fine,” she muttered as she escaped to the bathroom. Grabbing a hair tie, she pulled her curls into a tight ponytail and stripped off her business suit.
The skintight shorts stopped just under the curve of her ass and the bra covered more than most bathing suits, but it was still more (or was it less?) than she was comfortable with. Damn it. Back in Texas, she had a washer and dryer right in the basement of the house she rented. The house that was over three times the size of this place and cheaper.
So what if her outfit was revealing? When she was lifting, she wanted to see her body to make sure she was working the right muscles. And what was the harm in Luke seeing her? It wasn’t as though she didn’t have the body to pull off the tight clothes. Thanks to her borderline obsession with getting back to her old position, she was in the best shape of her life. Actually, she could even see some abs emerging, which was funny because she’d tried to get abs her entire life.
At least there was some silver lining to having a bullet tearing through her thigh and throwing her career on its axis. She’d go out there knowing she looked good, kick Luke’s ass in training and then have a damn good night’s sleep. Easy.
As soon as she opened her bathroom door, all her plans crashed down around her. Luke didn’t look like a billionaire CEO anymore. He’d changed out of his suit and into a black t-shirt that hugged the muscles in his shoulders and chest in exactly the right way and his loose sweatpants fell perfectly against his toned ass.
And then he turned around and his eyes raked over her body. For a brief second, neither of them said anything. Luke looked like less of a corporate man and more like a...man. A man who was just as silent as she was.
Which meant she wasn’t the only one who was affected by this. She was half about to turn tail and run, ordering Luke out of her apartment, when he broke the silence.
“So how do you want to do this?” he asked, his voice low and husky.
“Um, do what?” Were they still talking about exercise? She was just going to imagine they were and go with it. “I usually do a warm-up on the treadmill for five minutes and then go into heavy lifting. I alternate what muscle groups I hit. Today is compound lifts like squats, bench presses, and deadlifts.”
Luke shook his head. “Come on. Screw that. Let’s do some real training.”
He approached her and she was fascinated by the ripple of his muscles as he moved. “Real training?” she murmured.
“Like you wouldn’t want a chance to kick my ass?” He stopped just a foot away.
Her eyes widened as she finally got a hold of her libido and realized what he was saying. “You want to fight me?” she asked incredulously.