Page 3 of The One Who Got Away (Murdock Brothers #4)

Gus

The next few days flew. My body already aching from long days of demo.

I had my first training session on Wednesday.

I’d barely made it to my appointment since the Jennings job was becoming far more complicated than planned.

The amount of electronics Mr. Jennings wanted required an upgrade to the wiring.

Especially since they were changing out to fiberoptic internet for all the streaming services the guy discovered.

It was going to be a sweet setup, but the job would be an extra week since my electrician specialist brother, Cash, had to fit us in. We were all stretched thin since we were pushing to finish a bunch of jobs before winter came in and shut down outside builds.

I swung out of the locker room and hustled to the upper level of the gym where the thumping bass of the music was a little more muted. My trainer, Josh, was stretching on the mats beside the empty running track.

“Oh, shit.” Josh got to his feet like a damn cat. “I was expecting an old dude.” Josh held out his hand. “Been a minute, Angus.”

“Josh Hart, how the hell are you old enough to be a trainer?” I shook his hand. The Hart brothers were as prolific as my parents with kids. “How’s Booker?”

“He’s good. Talking about trading closer to home.”

My eyebrows shot up. Josh’s older brother was a Major League Baseball star and used to be Sully’s best friend. He’d been out in California for the last ten years. “A New England team?”

“Yeah. Still in talks so I can’t say.”

I held up my hands. “All good.”

Josh crossed his arms over his chest. “How long were you sick?”

I swallowed hard. “How can you tell?”

“Looks like you lost some muscle and dropped weight fast.”

I looked around but we were relatively secluded. “That’s why I’m here. I need strength training.”

“I keep it one hundred. I just need to know what level of sick. Are you doing chemo or anything?”

“Oh, no. Nothing that bad. I got tangled in a swarm of jellyfish then tossed around in a riptide.” I lifted my joggers to show off the colorful scars along my calf.

He whistled. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah.” I straightened and nervously cracked my knuckles with my thumb. “Three weeks in the hospital and I dropped twenty pounds.”

He didn’t need to know just how close to death I’d been.

No one did.

Least of all my family. A few more months and I’d be able to smooth over any questions about my scars. Luckily, Sully was big on long pants for the worksite, so I could hide it a little longer.

Even if I was sweating my ass off this week.

“Okay, good to know. Any adverse effects from the stings?”

I shrugged. “I have to baby it a little, but it’s mostly healed up. I got lucky there was no lasting nerve damage.”

Nope, that had just been my lungs full of ocean water and a cracked head.

“Okay, so you’re just looking to put weight back on emphasis on the muscle?”

I nodded. “I’m healthy and used to doing a lot of heavy work, I just want to get back what I lost.”

“Got it. I can put you on a high protein diet. How much do you want to bulk up?”

“I’m not looking for bodybuilder weight.” I laughed. “Endurance mostly.”

“Can do. I’m about to kick your ass, Murdock.”

I grinned. “Bring it on.”

By the end of the hour, I was practically shaking.

I was flat on the mat staring up at the network of ducts and steel girders above. The medicine ball still on my chest because I was too tired to push it off.

“If you’re up for some yoga, that’s a good idea for strength training too.”

“Yoga?” I panted.

“Yeah. It’s surprisingly difficult. My sister is into it and dragged me to a few classes. Hardest workout I’ve ever done. Not exactly a bad view either, just don’t be a creep in the classes.”

I turned my head to look at Josh. “I’m no creep.”

He was crouched next to me. “I know. It’s hard not to notice, that’s all I’m saying.” He stood up and held out a hand to me. “C’mon. Gotta stretch before you lock up.”

I let him help me off the mat and I winced at the sweat I left behind. “Can’t say I didn’t work hard.”

Josh laughed. “It was a good start.”

I groaned.

“We’ll stretch out and I’ll give you homework until I see you on Friday.”

We’d done a lot of mat work and I had a feeling I’d be a crying heap tomorrow at work.

And I was supposed to see Eloise.

Shit.

I was so stupid.

Josh loaded my notes app with exercises for me to do in between sessions along with a few dietary instructions. At the level of protein, I needed to ingest I was going to have to shuffle my grocery budget and add in some meal prep time.

Whatever I needed to do to get back my life, I didn’t care.

On my way down the stairs to the main gym I spotted Eloise on her elliptical machine. A new weak-in-the-knees moment was unlocked when I got a look at her workout outfit.

Sweet fuck.

She wore one of those bra things leaving her midsection bare. The network of freckles that coated her face and neck spread out on all of her skin.

And I wanted to paint every single mark with my tongue.

The merlot-colored bra matched the skin tight pants that hugged every damn curve she had. She dabbed at her neck and chest with a towel before she kicked up the incline which showed every single muscle flexing in her thighs and heart shaped ass.

This was not the little Eloise I knew when we were in school.

She’d been tiny in an almost fragile way.

She half-heartedly played soccer, but it was mostly for the college points.

She’d been happiest working at the computer, perfecting her code and ideas.

Back then she’d been deep into storyline games.

Her brain had been fascinating and I knew she was way too good for me.

Now she was home, which was a story on its own.

I slung my towel over my shoulder and crossed to where she was. She’d worked up a sweat and the little baby hairs along her neck were kinking up in the curls I knew and loved.

My thighs protested, but I stepped on the treadmill beside her and set it to an easy walk. Even with that my thighs and abs burned and screamed.

She turned with a tight, polite smile then it suddenly bloomed into the kilowatt Eloise smile. “Hey. Since when were you a gym guy?”

“Since thirty came and smacked me in the face.”

She laughed. “Same.” She tapped on her earbud. “Running around Bite Me is good, but then I also eat there because...hello.” She smacked her hip. “Right there.”

My mouth dried. “Everything looks good to me.”

A blush started in her neck and she hid a smile. “You don’t have to say that.”

“I’m not kidding.” I gripped the bars a little tighter and wished I had my sunglasses so I didn’t do something stupid, like let my gaze trail over her mouthwatering breasts.

I’d seen her in a bathing suit before, but it was a far cry from the tight bands that somehow lifted and strapped down everything at the same time.

Whatever the magic, I wanted to peel her out of it.

Mistake—my brain said with a blaring alert.

A huge fucking mistake to come over here and see her like this. But I was locked in now.

There was nothing but the swishing sound of the machines for a moment. She cleared her throat. “Did you want to do something tomorrow or was that just...”

“No, I do.”

A quick smile bloomed across her face. “Good. I’m back at my mom’s house.” She looked down for a minute before her cute little chin lifted. “She’s got a book and wine club thing in Saratoga. I could cook us something, unless you want to go out.”

“You cook? Since when?”

She chuckled. “Since I lived alone for ten years. Take out got old.”

I gave a strangled laughed as the burn intensified. Did I accidentally kick it up a notch? She wasn’t even breathing hard. “What about your dad?”

Her face went blank. “It’s just Mom and I.”

I frowned. “Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” Shit, was her dad dead?

A little bubble of laughter escaped her as she switched the machine into a cool down. “He’s not dead. They split.”

“Really?” I’d always thought her parents were as tight as my own. “Shit. I didn’t hear.”

“It’s okay. It’s a relatively new situation.” She picked up her phone with a curse. “I have to do a closing shift at Bite Me.” She turned the machine off and hopped off. “We’ll play story time tomorrow. How’s six sound?”

I slowed my machine to a stop as well, my whole body screaming thank you. “I can bring wine.”

She grinned. “How adult of us. Bring a red.”

“I can handle that.”

“Good.” She blotted her face. “It’s a—” she cut herself off. “I’ll see you then.” She quickly jogged across the gym leaving me alone.

It was a date.

There was no doubt about that.

I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that, but it felt right.

It was the first thing that felt right in a damn long time.