Free Just This Once by Rosalind James

clothing—running,
swimming, bicycling. Plus general workout gear, and casual clothes for active women.
Everything I’m wearing today came from our stock.”
    “Seems like a good fit for you. You’re quite keen. I’ve seen
that. Like I said, I’ve never taken a woman tramping before.”
    “And here we are,” he announced as they pulled into the
almost-deserted parking area near a marked trailhead. “The Pinnacles. It’s
quite a walk. We don’t have to do the last bit, if you’d rather not.”
    “Sounds ominous. I’ll see how it goes. If I’m too slow for
you, you can always go on ahead of me and wait.”
    He smiled and helped her out of the truck. “That would be
heaps of fun, but I already did my training this morning. Reckon I’ll stick
with you.”
    As they started up the wooded track, lush with ferns and
palms, Hannah thought about what he had said. “But you picked me up at eight
today. What kind of workout did you do before that? Didn’t you say you were on
vacation?”
    “Can’t afford to get soft. Doesn’t matter what time of year
it is, have to keep fit. Nothing too much, though. Just running, this morning.”
    “I can see there’s a real danger of your getting soft,” she
said dryly. “You’d better work on that.” Walking behind him on the narrow
track, she couldn’t see anything wrong with his condition. Nothing at all, she
decided, eyeing his impossibly broad shoulders and powerful thighs
appreciatively.
    “Enjoying the view?” he asked, as he waited for her to come
up next to him.
    She gave a start and blushed. “Yes! It’s beautiful. Thanks.”
    He looked at her curiously, and slowly smiled. “Good. Let’s
keep on, then.”
    Good to know, he told himself. She was worth the wait, he
was beginning to be sure of it. And unless he missed his guess, the wait was
going to be over soon. Which was a good thing. Anticipation was one thing, and
he was enjoying it—to a point. But he was more than ready to move on. 
    She looked so bloody cute in her hiking shorts and boots,
with a cap perched on her blonde head. He enjoyed talking to her, too. Being
with her. She was interested in everything, full of enjoyment for every new
experience. He liked her honesty and her teasing sense of humor. But most of
all, he liked her body. And he wanted to see it all. In all sorts of ways. For
a long, long time.
    “Tell me more about what you do,” he said, after they had
negotiated a narrow swing bridge and were headed up the track again, the river
running beside them, vines twining among trees above the moss-covered banks.
“At that fitness company of yours. Besides wear their clothes so well.”
    “I’m the Sales and Marketing Director. Which means I do a
little of everything, I suppose, except the Operations side. The warehouse,
Customer Service, accounting, things like that. And I’m not in charge of the
actual product selection. I work on that in collaboration with our Product
Director. There’s always something new to learn, something different to do.
That’s what I like about it.”
    “Aren’t you too young, though,” he asked, taken aback, “to
have a job like that?”
    “I’m lucky to work for someone who’s always willing to give
me more responsibility. My boss isn’t very hands-on. We like that, though. We
have a great team, lots of talented people. It’s not like I have to know how to
do every job best, or have all the good ideas. All I have to do is recognize
other people’s strengths and help them work together so the best ideas get out
there.”
    Nothing easy about that, he knew. That was always the
challenge, and not everyone was up to it. “How’s the company doing, then?”
    “Really well, actually. We’ve been growing every year, both
in sales and staff. I like knowing I’m helping women be active. No trophies,
I’m afraid, or anyone to cheer for us, but I love getting letters from women,
and choosing pictures of real women wearing our clothes for the catalog.