Free A Matchless Romance (Aisle Bound) by Christi Barth Page B

him.
    “You’re staring.” Milo angled to follow her line of sight just as the gorgeous guy put on a burst of speed as he came to a hub. The smooth, muscled gait put her in mind of a champion racehorse. “Ah. Good spotting. With a view this exciting, I may not even need to finish my coffee.”
    “Holy smoking six-packs.” The words slipped out as the runner turned to race in their direction.
    “You took the words right out of my drooling mouth,” sighed Milo.
    “That’s Drew.” She’d had the hots for him ever since she’d pressed against his rock-hard chest at their first meeting. But that was through the buffer of her clothes as well as his. Now? Half-naked? Well, there was simply no other way to put it. Drew Weston was ripped. Sure, international track star and all that. But…Tabitha finally exhaled the breath she didn’t remember holding. Seeing that muscled perfection up close and personal was waaay different than ogling a guy on television—even on a sixty-inch plasma screen in HD.
    “Your boy’s a looker.”
    “He’s not my boy.” She meant to snap out the retort. Instead, it came out sort of wistful. The way a shy oboe player in the marching band sighs over the unattainable quarterback’s nearness at every Friday night game. “I’m assessing his assets.”
    Milo choked on a combination of his coffee and a snicker. “Assets? That’s the new euphemism for super sexy stud parts?”
    Apparently. “We’ll call it the professional term for things that make me melt .”
    Drew stopped on a dime in front of them. His skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat. Just enough to make Tabitha imagine him lying on top of her, arms corded next to her shoulders, hips flexing and sweat slicking the strip of dark hair bisecting his chest. God. If she didn’t get a hold of herself, she’d have to overlook the inevitable hypothermia and walk straight into Lake Michigan.
    “Hey there. Glad you came out so early.” Drew cracked his neck and shook out his arms. “Did you see me run?”
    Milo’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he nodded. “Did we ever.”
    “Not the same guy who almost toppled over the wedding cake, right?” he said with a self-deprecating laugh. Drew threw his arm behind his head, grabbed an elbow and pulled. The movement tightened his abs, popped out his pecs, and soared Tabitha’s heartrate into the triple digits. “I’m in my element here. Slap on a pair of running shoes and everything else falls away.”
    Interesting choice of words. Seeing as how whenever she looked at Drew everything else fell away. Especially her previously rock-solid professionalism.
    “So, what did you think?”
    Tabitha finally unstuck her tongue from her suddenly dry mouth. “I think if your boss watched you run, she’d stop picking on you. Promote you immediately. Maybe even strategize a way to make you president. Not of your company. Of the whole, freaking country.”
    “I don’t want to be president.” Bending at the waist, he tucked his fingers beneath his toes with the same ease as Tabitha’s Gumby-esqueyoga teacher. “Even given the gender gap in Congress and the Cabinet heavily weighted toward men, the Secret Service is employing many more females. I’d definitely have to interact with more women than I do in my current job. Probably wouldn’t go well.”
    “Delightfully literal as always,” she murmured. Drew’s adherence to the literal was her personal version of Kryptonite. It rendered her defenseless against his unaffected and probably unintentional charm. Damn it. In order to recover her equanimity, Tabitha really needed him to do something off-putting. Right now. Maybe make a big gesture and spill Milo’s coffee all over him. Accidentally kick gravel in her face as he ran away. Blurt out that his favorite food was liver and onions.
    Two young-ish women in matching ponytails and red warm-up suits jogged up. Tabitha started to smile in greeting. Then she realized they weren’t