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A furrow appeared between his brows. “I guess. It’s not like I have a choice.”

I shook my head. “I mean it, Luke. Some of my training will make no sense, and you might even look stupid doing it. I don’t have the time or energy to work with someone who’s going to argue with me. So I’m gonna ask you again. Do you trust me, and are you committed?”

He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up at awkward angles. It was more attractive than it should have been. Then he gave me a wry smile. “I’ve spent the last few days crab-walking down the stairs at my apartment while it’s still dark so nobody will see me. I already look stupid. And I really need to keep my job, so I’m willing to do whatever it takes.” He leaned forward with his elbows on the table, eyes wide. “I know I was late, but I really need this. Give me a chance? Please?”

And shit, how could I say no to the pleading in those big brown eyes?

“All right. We start tomorrow. But don’t be late.”

“I won’t.”

And I believed him.

Luke was late. Again.

It was only a few minutes, but still. I hadn’t dragged my ass out of bed at 6:00 a.m. to sit around waiting for him. I considered calling him and canceling, but then I remembered what he’d said about his building having stairs and decided I could cut him a break—just this once. After yesterday I was mostly confident he was taking this seriously.

I jogged around the park a couple of times to ward off the morning chill, breathing deeply and enjoying the rich fall air that was damp with mist and inhaling the scent of wet leaves and salt. The park I used to train my clients ran alongside the ocean, and I ran to the soundtrack of waves breaking over the rocky shore nearby and the sharp cries of the gulls wheeling overhead.

Once I’d finished my second lap of the park, I busied myself doing some stretches. My muscles tended to complain if I didn’t warm up properly—an unwelcome side effect of being thirty, I guessed. I did a series of gentle moves, starting with extending my arms over my head and breathing deeply, before I propped my calf on a park bench and bent over to clasp my ankle. My quads and calf muscles protested, and my back muscles pinged as they untwisted and popped and generally made themselves comfortable. It sucked and then it felt good, and I let out a low groan of satisfaction.

From behind me came the clatter of something hitting the ground.

I spun around to find Luke standing there, open-mouthed. His gaze was locked on my ass, and a water bottle lay on its side at his feet.

Huh.

Maybe I needed to rethink my earlier assumption about him being straight.

On impulse, I caught and held his gaze and flashed him a smile that was probably flirtier than it should have been, and the way color rose in his cheeks told me that yeah, he was interested. He was also fucking adorable when he was flustered—and had I mentioned he was attractive?

Stop that. He’s off-limits.

Stupid hot werewolves.

Stupid self-imposed rules.

Stupid sexy Flanders.

Okay, so that last one didn’t really apply, but the vibe was the same, okay?

Still, I dialed back my smile to something less “hey, gorgeous, it’s Friday night at the bar and I’m looking to get laid” and more “welcome to your HR training course on appropriate workplace behavior” and said, “You made it.”

“Yeah,” he said, slightly breathless. “Sorry I’m late. I got… you know.” He made a vague gesture, but I got it.

“Stairs again?”

He nodded, his shoulders creeping up in what I recognized as embarrassment. “I swear my body thinks I have paws, and it doesn’t know what to do with two of them.”

“Lack of rear-end awareness,” I said.

Luke looked pointedly over his shoulder at his very fine ass. “I’m aware of my rear end,” he said. “I just can’t control the damn thing.”

I was aware of his rear end too—more than I should have been.

Stop it. You’re a professional, Hunter.

I jogged over and scooped up his water bottle and handed it to him, and definitely didn’t scope out the way his tee clung to his biceps and hugged the curves of his chest. Not at all. “Don’t worry. Your rear end is in good hands,” I said.