Rachel checked her watch and cursed under her breath. Even if she ran the rest of the way to the studio, she would still arrive late to class. Damn, damn, damn... She shouldn’t have stopped at the store after leaving work. Late arrivals to class were subjected to scathing lectures in front of all the participants and receiving a lecture about tardiness wasn’t her idea of one-on-one time with the sexy instructor.

Besides, now that it was spring, Adam had promised to take the class outside and today’s lesson would be their first foray into the “real world”. The week before, Adam had been adamant in his closing remarks: either arrive on time or miss the lesson altogether, and Rachel didn’t want to be the one student left behind. When the studio came in sight, she broke into a run. Two minutes late. He couldn’t fault her for that, could he?

She reached the door at the same time as Adam threw it open, and she stumbled to a stop, her nose only inches from his collarbone. She took a startled step back.

“Er... I left work late,” she improvised. “Can I drop off my stuff and change my clothes before we head out? I’ll be quick.”

He sighed, but swept his arm wide, inviting her into the building. “Be my guest.”

Rachel took a step forward, but then stopped again. Despite what he’d said, Adam hadn’t moved from the door. Their eyes met, and his lips twisted into a challenging grin. Not for the first time, she had the urge to either smack the cockiness right off his face or kiss him. Either choice would be fine, not that she would ever dare.

She wished she had the courage to kiss him unexpectedly. Simply seeing his expression might be worth it. She sighed and pushed forward. As she squeezed through the entrance, she brushed against him. It allowed her to feel the hard muscles of his chest and the warmth of his body.

Once out of sight, she smiled and set down her bags in a corner of the gym, changed her clothes, grabbed her water bottle and towel, and rejoined the rest of the group at the door.

As she hurried toward them, she noticed Adam watching her, his gaze unwavering. She felt herself blush, and she gave him a curt nod and said, “Thanks.”

After two hours of practice at the park, most students were panting, sweaty and exhausted, and no one complained when Adam announced the end of the class. Everyone made their way back to the studio, in tired, but generally satisfied silence. Rachel was happy; she’d learned some fancy new tricks—like jumping up several stairs head first before landing in a roll—and, better yet, she had only made a fool of herself once.

Back at the studio, she slung her purse over her shoulder, her workout bag already on her back, and was about to grab her shopping bag when a fellow student walked up to her.

She straightened back up and smiled. “Hey, Mike!”

“Impressive stuff you practiced back there,” he said. “I wish I was able to do that already.”

She shrugged. “You’ll get there. I have a bit more background training than you do, that’s all. I have to admit, though, not having any mats for protection takes it to an all-new level of scary.”

As they chatted, they left the studio to walk back toward the subway station. Rachel was glad to have met Mike two weeks before. He had joined their group from a prior session and, as it turned out, lived one station farther away than she did. When they had realized as much, Mike had volunteered to keep her company on the dark walk after class. She didn’t need his presence for protection, but it was nice to have someone to talk to on the way back home.

“Yeah. Good thing Adam’s drilled the fall and roll into us at the studio first. He definitely doesn’t joke around with safety.”

“I guess when the alternative is a concussion or a broken neck, you tend to be careful.”

As they neared the station, Rachel stopped and swore under her breath.

“Is something wrong?” Mike asked her.

“I forgot my shopping bag at the studio. I don’t want to wait ‘til our next practice to get it. Adam may throw my shoes away or something. I’m going to go back and get them.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“Nah. You can go on without me. You have a family to get back to and your wife will be waiting. I’ll run back and see if I can grab my bag before they close for the night,” Rachel replied, shaking her head.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right? I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.” Mike looked genuinely worried, which made her want to roll her eyes.

“You forget, I’ve been doing this for several weeks already. I can do it this time, too. Thank you for worrying, though,” she informed him. “See you next week!”

She left at a jog before he could protest anymore.

The run back to the studio was quick and she hoped the door wouldn’t be locked. It did look dark inside the studio. Perhaps Adam went home already, she mused as she walked up to the door. She tried the handle and it didn’t budge. “Double damn,” she grumbled as she turned away. Hopefully, her bag would be there tomorrow when she called.