Free Out of Left Field by Morgan Kearns Page B

stopped her. “Humor me.”
    “ No.” He jabbed a finger at the door. “Get out.”
    “ Why don’t you put some clothes on, then we can talk.”
    He raised the middle finger on his left hand before slipping it into the waistband of his boxers.
    “ Don’t you dare.” The words barely crossed her tongue before his boxers hit the floor. He stood in all his exquisite glory, daring her to look her fill. She met his challenge, eye-to-eye, proud she’d been able to keep her eyes focused on his face.
    “ My house. My rules.” He wiggled his brows. “And I feel like bein’ naked. Don’t like it, there’s the door. Don’t let it hit you in your perky little ass on the way out.”
    “ Fine.” She huffed a sigh. A mule had nothing on the stubborn jackass standing in front of her. He’d dug his heels in and there was no reasoning with him. “I’m leaving. But I will be back tomorrow. And we’re going to start working out that shoulder. Naked, if that’s how you choose to do it.”
    The journey to her car came and went in a blur. Her hands trembled as she tried to get the key in the ignition. She dropped her head to the steering wheel and focused on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
    Heaven help her if he chose to workout naked.

9
     
    “ I’m not a chick!”
    The flutter-flap combination of the peach resistance band landing like a drunken flamingo negated his pissed off, and Frankie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Xavier had been in a bad mood for the last couple of weeks.
    “ I assure you, Xavier, nobody thinks you’re a chick.”
    “ Obviously you do, since you expect me to use that .”
    She shook her head. “It’s a resistance band, not a tampon.”
    His lips twitched, but his glare hardened. “I don’t do yoga. Or Pilates. So I don’t need a resistance band.” He flexed his left arm, the bicep going all hard and sexy. “I use weights. Free weights, barbells, medicine balls. Ya know, what men use. Those bands are for pussies.”
    Change of plans.
    She bent over at the waist and retrieved the bane of his existence, holding it out to him. It dangled limply while he stared at it with all the disgust in his two hundred and ten pound body.
    “ I’ll make you a deal. You take this band and do all the exercises I give you, without complaining, and once you’ve done them all, then you can tackle some of your man weights. Okay?”
    Matthias Xavier III rivaled an ornery Brahma bull in that moment. X’s hazel eyes narrowed in irritated defiance. His nostrils flared with each puffed breath. His lips pulled tight into a slash. The muscle in his jaw jumped like his teeth had taken up hopscotch. She wondered if he considered running over the top of her and stomping her into the carpet.
    She didn’t blink. Didn’t so much as flinch.
    Show no fear! Rawr!
    She met the rage boiling in his eyes with determination, glaring back her frustration. Check her out! If any man besides Xavier looked at her that way, she’d be quaking in her Skechers. Or putting them to damn good use.
    Her chest rose with a deep, resolved sigh and he blinked. Well, not exactly. He dropped his gaze to watch her breasts press against the vibrant blue of her scrubs.
    His lip quirked. He shook his head. Amusement shone his eyes when he looked at her. “Well played, Doc.”
    She really hadn’t meant to use her ample chest to distract him, but she’d take the win any way she could.
    Except the standoff continued.
    She pushed the band toward him again. The disgusted look he sported made her double check to see if she hadn’t accidentally picked up a dog turd. Nope.
    “ Listen, X, you have to work out your shoulder.”
    “ I will.” He backed away from her. “ My way. ”
    She pulled the band between her hands, enjoyed the stretch of her muscles and the loud snap! announcing its release
    “ Don’t be such a baby!”
    Anger swirled in the room, and his charge came at her full force until his body bumped hers,