Loving Mr. July by Margaret Antone Read Free Book Online Page A

machine, and show her where to place her
hands on the bar. She jumped a bit when he wrapped his arms around
her, put his hands on either side of hers and pushed down. The heat
from his body enveloped her. In her sneakers, the top of her head
fit under his chin. The woodsy scent she had smelled earlier now
mixed with his own scent. Distinctly male. Utterly hot.
    This kind of weight lifting she could do. All
day, as a matter of fact. Engrossed in enjoying his nearness, she
jumped when he let go of the bar and moved away. The weight
crashing back to the stack jolted her back to reality.
    “Now you do it by yourself, just like that,”
Kurt said.
    Cynthia took a peek at his face. His bland
look gave nothing away. So I’m the only one having a moment here?
She decided right then and there that she was not going to let him
become aware of her attraction.
    She took the bar and pushed it down, catching
a friend’s eye as she did. “Hey Michael, how are you?”
    “Cynthia! I haven’t seen you in ages, what
gives?” He leaned in to kiss her cheek.
    “Working out, so I can get muscles like
yours.” She let go of the weight bar, purposely put a hand on his
bicep and squeezed, knowing Kurt was watching. Michael was handsome
and kind, and gay as could be. But Kurt didn’t need to know
that.
    “Looking good, too.” Michael winked at her
and moved on.
    A short time later, she saw one of the
firemen who had also been in her calendar. She congratulated him on
his new baby. He gave her an enthusiastic hug and told her his wife
loved the gift she had dropped off. She hugged him back, noting
with some satisfaction that Kurt had observed the exchange, but
wasn’t close enough to hear what they said.
    That should confuse him, she thought, make
him at least think she had other fish in the sea. The only problem
was, she couldn’t get over how fabulous it had felt in his
arms.
     
    ~ ~ ~
     
    Kurt emerged from the locker room and headed
toward the lounge area to wait for Cynthia. Might as well check on
the Padres game, he thought. Cynthia was bound to be doing whatever
it was that took women so long in bathrooms. He sat on the couch,
about to lean back when he noticed a flash of unmistakable pink
against the wall.
    He got up and ambled closer. Yep, that was
Cynthia all right. A guy crowded her against the wall, one hand
above her head, his body angled along hers. She had her hands on
his chest.
    He had half a mind to leave her there. Let
her find her own way home, if she was going to flirt with everyone
in sight. Jaw clenched, he moved in, raised his voice, put a little
edge in it. “You ready to go, Sweetie ?”
    Startled, the man turned around. “We’re
having a conversation here, do you mind?”
    “As a matter of fact, I do.” Kurt folded his
arms across his chest, widened his stance, narrowed his eyes.
“Cynthia came with me, and she’ll be leaving with me.”
    The man glanced back at Cynthia, who had
taken advantage of the moment to put some space between them. “Oh,
so that’s how the wind blows, does it? Figure you’ve moved up in
the world, huh?”
    He turned back to Kurt and let out a harsh
laugh. “Hey.” He put his hands up. “You can have her, Dude.”
    What the hell was that? Kurt turned to
Cynthia, took in her flushed face and downcast eyes. “You ready to
go, or is there another guy you can find to kiss tonight?”
    Cynthia didn’t say a word. She just nodded
and headed for the entrance.

Chapter 6
     
     
    Kurt was standing in his office, staring out
the window and thinking about the last couple of weeks when Blake
interrupted his thoughts.
    “Here’s the bill of materials you were asking
for.” Blake slapped a thick spreadsheet on Kurt’s desk. “It’s been
scrubbed by the operations team. Think we’ve got as low of prices
on the components as we’re going to get. Means our margins will be
up to almost 60%. You should be happy…”
    He paused when Kurt didn’t react. “You okay,
Dude?”
    Kurt