Part 6 (2/2)

”Whatever you say.” Beth shrugged her shoulders and returned to Alex. ”Okay, Alex, name your pain.” Under her breath, she whispered, ”Has she decided about the a.s.signment yet?”

Alex shook her head and waved Beth off. ”I'll work my way through the machines and meet you at the bench press in about half an hour.” She avoided looking at Keri again. For some reason the easy way she and Beth had just connected bothered her. She envied Beth's ease with physical intimacy and wished she could have reached out to Keri herself. She looked so disheveled and anxious. Alex wondered if the task force decision was the only cause. Every time she'd thought about Keri lately, her mind and libido had been at war, and for the first time, she could see signs of the same internal con ict in Keri. She hadn't imagined the s.e.xual tension between them just moments ago, and she knew Keri was equally aware of it.

Alex cursed beneath her breath as she headed for the lat machine.

As if the situation wasn't complicated enough, would she now be working with a subordinate she had the hots for?

The next thirty minutes dragged. Keri punched the treadmill speed up to six and easily kept pace. Every time she looked at Alex her mind reeled from the possibilities of what could happen between them if she accepted the task force a.s.signment. Maybe Alex would give her a second chance. Or perhaps she'd just prejudge her again. Or maybe they'd become friends bonded by professional necessity. And it was even possible that they could become involved with each other. Keri's legs weakened at the visual her mind played and she momentarily lost her rhythm. Alex was certainly attractive and Keri's body responded to her readily. But Alex was her superior and nothing could ever change that. Their relations.h.i.+p was and always would be professional.

Keri adjusted the treadmill speed, stumbling to remain vertical.

A strange tension mingled with the rising heat in the room. With only an occasional grunt or moan of exertion, the other two women worked silently through the exercise machines that lined the gray gym walls.

Beth offered occasional thumbs-up of encouragement in Keri's direction and some not-too-subtle glances at her small bouncing b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

* 65 *

Alex hadn't looked at her since she started her run. An infrequent word of motivation or a brief consultation about weight or technique was the only conversation that pa.s.sed between Alex and Beth, unlike the friendly banter she'd witnessed upon entering the gym. She felt as if she'd interrupted something private then.

Keri mashed the treadmill Stop b.u.t.ton and stepped off, wet clothes clinging to her body. She pulled a towel from the storage rack and wiped her face and neck. Beads of perspiration trickled down between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She raised her s.h.i.+rt and captured the moisture in the ribbed cotton material. Eyes closed, enjoying the rough-textured fabric on her skin, she wiped the at surface of her stomach to the top of her shorts just below the navel. With an exhausted sigh, she opened her eyes and noticed Alex look quickly away.

”Are you ready to spot me?” Alex asked Beth.

”I've got a few more leg presses first.”

”I'd be glad to help out,” Keri said.

”No, I wouldn't want to impose.” Alex was unwilling to encourage a closer proximity of their bodies. ”I can wait for Beth to nish.”

”Oh, let her spot you, Alex. I'll be on this a few more minutes.”

Reluctantly, Alex agreed. ”If you're sure it's no bother.”

Keri admired Alex's uid movements as she positioned herself on the bench, long legs up, feet resting on the edge of the seat. Placing her gloved hands equal distance from the weights on either side, she wrapped her slender ngers around the bar, stared straight up at the ceiling, and began the exercise.

Veins bulged in her neck and hands as she pumped the weight up and down. Perspiration dotted her forehead and rolled away from the headband. Keri observed the rhythmic rise and fall of Alex's toned chest muscles, the dip of her stomach, and marveled at the beauty of a well-formed female body, clearly visible under the clingy out t.

”Set,” Alex said, placing the weights back on the rack. As she let go of the bar and withdrew her hands, a wet strand of hair fell across her face. Without a thought, Keri reached to push it aside.

Alex saw Keri's hand moving in slow motion toward her face. She wanted that touch more than she realized but simultaneously feared it.

She turned her head to avert the connection and rose from the bench.

”Please, don't.”

Keri thought Alex's voice sounded deliberately polite but strangely * 66 *

cool. ”Sorry. I didn't mean anything.” The warning in Alex's eyes had been clear. ”Write me up for an invasion of PBS.” She tried to laugh off the encounter.

Beth was instantly at Alex's side. ”How about violating my personal body s.p.a.ce? I could use a good ma.s.sage.”

Alex grabbed her towel off the bench. ”I'm going to head out.

Thanks for the workout, Beth...and the spot, Morgan.”

Keri stood motionless, watching Alex's retreating back. When the locker room door closed behind her, she turned to Beth. ”What was that?”

”That's just Alex. She's a private person and that's how she likes to keep things.”

”Fine with me.” Keri ipped the thin gym towel over her shoulder.

”Good night, Sergeant, and thanks for your concern.” She headed for the locker room fully expecting Alex Troy to be long gone. But when she opened the door, Alex stood in front of her opened locker as if waiting.

Keri spoke without invitation. She had to strike before her courage waned. ”Lieutenant, I'm sorry-”

”Morgan, I didn't mean-”

”No, please, let me.” Keri stepped within touching distance of Alex and felt the heat radiating from her body. A misty sheen of perspiration glistened over muscles straining with tension. Keri's breath caught in her throat as she struggled to speak. ”I'm sorry if I overstepped. It was just a re ex.” And what about this urge you have to touch her right now? Is that a re ex? Keri wondered.

Alex's gaze hadn't left Keri's mouth since she entered the room.

It was as if she watched the words form on her lips but never heard the sounds. Wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, she responded, ”Don't worry about it. I'm just not very good with being touched.”

Keri watched the pulse along Alex's neck quicken and her body posture tighten as she spoke. ”I don't know who did that to you, but I'm so sorry.”

Alex's eyes grew wide with disbelief. ”I didn't say anyone-”

”It's okay. I've been on the receiving end of an out-of-control loved one and I know the look.” Keri moved carefully toward Alex and in slow motion raised her hand to Alex's face. ”Touch is meant to be loving and healing. Don't accept any that isn't.”

* 67 *

She cupped Alex's cheek in her palm and felt Alex lean into her.

The simultaneous warmth of her face and the lean hardness of her body red jolts of desire through Keri's system. Maybe she was oxygen deprived after the vigorous run. She'd never felt this excited, and there had to be a logical reason. Arousal spiraled from her core. Her muscles trembled with an unfamiliar need. Moisture ooded the suddenly aching folds of her s.e.x. What is happening to me?

Alex lightly touched Keri's arms and slid her hands tentatively upward. She raked her ngers through the damp curls at Keri's temples and teasingly dragged her index nger across Keri's bottom lip. The pink tip of her tongue appeared between her lips and left a moistened trail. Keri felt herself moving closer to those inviting lips, unsure if the advance was hers or Alex's. Brown eyes, hazy and hooded with desire, bored into her soul. Hot breath caressed her face. She closed her eyes and lightly parted her lips in surrender.

Suddenly the room around Keri turned cold.

”I can't do this.” Alex backed away from her as if she were poison.

”I apologize. This is wrong on so many levels.” She grabbed her gym bag, slammed her locker, and raced toward the exit without a backward glance.

”But what about the task force? I've made a decision.” Keri couldn't believe what she'd said. It wasn't until she touched Alex that she realized why she'd made the decision that felt so uneasy earlier that day. The last thing she wanted to talk about was the d.a.m.n job, but she thought that might stop Alex's hasty retreat. The slamming of the locker room door was her only answer.

Miserable and depressed, Keri changed clothes and thought about what just happened. Had she really almost kissed the woman who'd tried to destroy her credibility? She had strong feelings about Alex but they weren't s.e.xual. Or were they? She and Alex had almost kissed, of that she was certain. But why did Alex stop? Was she really so concerned about professional propriety? Her eyes said she wanted that kiss. Her body de nitely wanted that kiss. So what could possibly elicit such an obvious withdrawal from simple human touch?

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