Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90315 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90315 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
But we don’t make our way back to the house. Instead, there are other structures in the distance. I want to ask him about them, but he’s been quiet, hardly breathing hard as we’ve been on our run.
And I am struggling. Maybe because of the elevation change? I don’t know, but I don’t like it. My lungs are on fire, and I’m getting blisters on my heels from these stupid shoes.
Because of course I am.
As we get closer to the structures, I see that there are two buildings, and to the left, what looks like an obstacle course with big tires, climbing walls, ropes. It looks like something from a reality TV show.
He’s going to make me do that. Shit, I don’t want to do that.
But rather than lead me over there, he has us stop near one of the buildings, and I lean forward, my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.
“Whoa, you okay?”
I nod, then stand and press my hands into my low back, pacing. I’m a little dizzy, and there are dark spots around my vision. I haven’t been this wrecked after a run in years.
“Altitude,” I manage to get out. “Killing me.”
His jaw firms, and he waits for me to cool down a bit.
“What’s all this?” I ask.
Gideon points behind us. “Obstacle course. We’re not starting there today. I don’t like how you’re breathing.”
“I can—”
“Not today,” he interrupts, scowling. “This is the armory. Only my brother, Ryker, and I have the combination to this building.”
“You have a whole armory?” I blink at him in surprise. “Wow.”
“The shooting range is over there.”
He points off into the distance, but I can’t see it from here.
“This building is the gym. Weights and machines. There’s also a boxing ring in there.”
“Gideon. What do you do out here? This can’t just be for your entertainment.”
“Sometimes it is, depending on how bad my recruits are.” He smirks and crosses his arms. “I run a training center for new security officers who will be in high-profile jobs. Celebrities, the wealthy, that sort of thing.”
“So they come out here and you decide whether they’re badass enough to do the job?”
“Pretty much.”
“That’s cool.” I nod, looking around, and then I shiver again, because now that I’m not running anymore, the cold air is lowering my body temperature fast.
“Come on,” he says, gesturing for me to follow him into the gym. When he turns the lights on, I feel my eyebrows climb in surprise.
“This isn’t a gym. This is . . . I don’t even know. Gideon, this is something you’d find in New York City.”
It looks like a massive warehouse, with two staircases on either side of the room that lead to a loft where cardio machines are. Down here are the free weights and the boxing ring. There are also punching bags, kettlebells, medicine balls.
You name it, this gym has it.
“We’re in the ring today,” he says as he reaches for what looks like tape and takes my hand in his. He brushes his thumb over the spot where the coffee splashed earlier. “Is this okay?”
“It’s fine. You’re going to tape my hands?”
He nods and starts to wrap it around my skin.
“Am I going to punch something?”
His steel gray eyes climb to mine. “You’re going to try.”
“I don’t want to punch you, Gideon.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, you’re going to try. If you manage to connect, I don’t want you to tear up your knuckles.”
Every inch that he touches tingles. He’s so close, I can smell that woodsy scent. He’s hardly sweating from our run, and I can only imagine how I smell.
“You didn’t have to slow down for me today,” I inform him.
“I didn’t.”
Scowling up at him, I shake my head. “Yes, you did. You didn’t get any workout in at all.”
“It’s not about me. I’m training you. I’ll do my own thing later.”
I don’t like that.
But before I can argue, he finishes with my hands and then leads me to the ring.
“You’re not going to wrap your hands?” I ask.
“I’m not punching anything.”
I blink at him.
“Lena, I’m not the one on the defensive in this scenario. You are. Now, get your butt in here.”
I climb in after him and try not to be distracted by all the muscles before me.
“I want to see where you’re starting from in self-defense.”
“I had classes in college,” I reply with a shrug. “But it was mostly for exercise.”
His jaw firms. He doesn’t like that answer.
“I wanted to teach you self-defense when you were seventeen. I was outvoted.”
“Why do I need it? I always have a crowd of testosterone-fueled men surrounding me. Hell, Howey managed to smack me once, and—”
“Fucking say that again,” he growls, stepping into me. “Who the fuck is Howey?”
I roll my eyes. “The idiot ex. He was nice until he wasn’t.”
“He slapped you with witnesses around? What the fuck did he do when you were alone, Lena?”