Miss Spelled (17 page)

I look to Mel for help, but she only looks capable of sweating at the moment.

‘Working holiday,’ I finish. ‘This space feels good though. I’m connecting with it, you know? The vibe works well for me,’ I say, moving my mat back into its original position next to Aiden. Perhaps my yoga talk about energy and connections will persuade Willow to leave my mat alone because there is no way in Hell I am giving up this spot in the room. Willow smiles, nods, tells us to enjoy the class and leaves.

Mel is flat on her back on her mat and has already started to flush. I kneel down beside her.

‘Are you okay?’ I whisper. The room is very quiet and most people seem to be meditating.

‘No. I’m baking already and the class hasn’t even begun yet. There’s no chance of me making it through the next 90 minutes without melting,’ she says.

‘Yeah, yeah. You’ll be okay,’ I say, distracted by Aiden’s naked torso. ‘Did you see, I’m right next to Aiden! We might even touch during the class,’ I say. My brain is focusing on the excitement rather than the heat, which is probably a good thing.

‘Great,’ Mel says, but she doesn’t sound like she means it.

‘I owe you,’ I say.

‘Yes, you do,’ she groans and continues to sweat.

Aiden is sitting upright, his long legs crossed. Kneeling next to Mel gives me a perfect view of every delicious muscle in his back and shoulders, which are glistening with sweat. His short hair is already damp and I watch, fascinated, as a drop of sweat forms at the base of his skull, just under the hair line. It rolls, slowly down towards the nape of his neck, a part of him I have kissed and run my tongue over many, many times when we made love.

My loins continue to quiver as the sweat rolls down onto the golden brown skin of his shoulder, where it stays, for just a moment. The muscles of his shoulders and back are defined— long and lean, wiry but strong.

As his body heats up, it releases his scent. The deliciousness of his citrusy aftershave, mixed with his own manly-musky smell wafts towards me, enveloping me in a cloud of pure sex appeal.

The droplet of sweat makes its way to the top of his shoulder blade, which looks like an angel wing perched upon a divinely constructed body.

I hold my breath and resist with all my might, trying not to reach out and touch him. My hand aches to feel him, my fingers zing with anticipation and longing. There are other parts of me, many other parts, that want to touch him, to feel him, to have his skin rubbing against mine.

For just a second I allow myself to imagine us together again. Memories of our lovemaking replay in my mind, like a movie. As if this room isn’t hot enough, my temperature soars as the thought of Aiden’s skin rubbing against mine, the sound of him calling out my name, the taste of his skin, the feel of it under my hands sends me into an erotic zone no woman wants to be in alone.

The drop of sweat then falls from his shoulder blade as it gathers speed and rolls, silently, down the length of his back. The same back I have dug my fingernails into, calling out his name, my legs wrapped around his hips, the feel of him moving inside me.

The frustration is unbearable and the desire to cry, to throw myself at him, to eat him up is overwhelming. My heart races inside my chest, which is heaving like a brazen bar wench’s.

Suddenly, all the fluoro lights are flicked into life and I am blinded, as the instructor booms, ‘Right, let’s get started!’

Aiden stands, his legs stretching like a stairway to heaven. His black shorts hug the curve of his butt, showing the leanness of his hips— the ones that had a permanent place between my thighs not so long ago. Even though this room is, literally, hotter than Hell, my skin breaks out in goose bumps.

‘Now, eyes only on yourself in the mirror. This is a 90-minute open eye meditation. Let’s start with Pranyama Deep Breathing. For those who are beginners…’ the instructor starts.

Eyes on myself? That’s not going to be possible with Adonis’s younger, hotter brother standing next to me.

Within five minutes the sweat is dripping off my body and hitting my mat with a splat. Who would think that you could actually hear a drop of sweat hitting the ground? Aiden just looks sexy – after-sex-glow sexy.

Within 30 minutes my body is on fire and I have been told eight times to keep my eyes to myself - no prize for guessing where they were! Mel is the colour of a ripe raspberry and isn’t smiling at me. Aiden is still sexy and sweaty as Hell.

Within an hour I am roasting from the inside and am hallucinating mirages of ice cream trucks and swimming pools.

I have never, ever, sweated this much before. I look over to the temperature gauge and expect to see it pointing to the words ‘critical mass, can’t get any hotter than this unless you are on the sun’, but it doesn’t. It’s more humid than a sauna and there is a puddle of sweat gathering at my feet that could possibly rise up and drown me by the end of the session. Who the hell does this for fun?

Mel is now the colour of a blood clot and glares at me as though nothing would give her more pleasure than to smother me to death with my stinky, saturated yoga mat. Luckily, she probably doesn’t have the energy right now.

Aiden is even sexier than before. The sweat is running off his body in a show of dehydration erotica. My lustful thoughts have been somewhat drowned by the three litres of sweat that has escaped every pore of my skin. Talk about detoxifying. I’ll be the purest person on earth at this rate.

Thankfully we get to lay on the ground for a short rest, although for me it’s more of a collapsed coma. The mat squelches underneath my weight, which is absolutely gross. I am hoping that breathing is an automated response from the body, because right now, it’s a struggle. My water bottle is nearly empty and the temptation to steal someone else’s and pour it all over my head, is almost too much, as is the desire to run out of this room screaming. But that’s not going to get me closer to Aiden.

Please, someone put out my fire! Open the frigging window!

During one pose, which requires our arms to be outstretched like aeroplane wings, our fingers accidentally touch. Zillions of shivers shoot through my fingertips, up my arms and kick-start my heart. Billions of tiny stars float around the inside of my body because for the briefest moment, the most beautiful moment, my skin caresses his.

I turn to look at him, and see that he is looking at me, just for a second before he mouths the word ‘sorry’ and returns to the pose. Unable to look away from him, my mouth opens in a smile and my eyes tear up. He noticed me. Maybe all we need is the touch? Perhaps that will cure his memory loss?

Although it is over in the briefest of moments, it gives me enormous hope, the familiarity of his fingers on mine, that everything will be okay. It just has to be, because there is no way I can live the rest of my life without him. Majique’s suggestion of her casting a memory deletion spell on me is a viable alternative, but is still a last resort because I have to remain positive that everything will work out.

By the end of the class 30 minutes later, I have overheated to the point of wanting to vomit, pass out and die. Not necessarily in that order. The instructor turns the lights down again and encourages us to stay in the room to cool down. Is she freaking crazy? How the hell can anyone cool down in a room that is hot enough to liquefy rocks into lava?

Mel scrambles to her feet and wobbles her way out of the room, bumping into the wall and doorframe on her way out. Poor thing is probably delirious.

Aiden is staying in the room, which means I am too, even though it appears that blessed relief is waiting for me outside. I will stay in here for as long as he does, because he might notice me again.

* * *

Eventually, after ten or so minutes, Aiden quietly stands up and rolls his mat. Of course I do the same, but the sudden change in position, combined with the mini furnace that is smouldering inside of me, causes dizziness and leaves me swaying in what has become black space.

My hand flies out to grab something, anything to keep me from falling over. It latches onto something, wet and warm. Then, even though my vision is gone, the familiarity of the hands holding me up are unmistakeable. One hand is on my arm, the other around my hips as he takes my weight and sits me back on the ground.
Aiden
.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

My tear ducts want to crack open in happiness that he is touching me and talking to me.

‘Here, just sit down again,’ he says as he eases me back down to the floor.

By now the extreme dizziness has passed and my vision has returned. I open my eyes to see him crouching down beside me, his hand still on my arm. There is so much hope and happiness inside me that I am unable to speak.

He smiles and it is as though the clouds are parting after a cyclone. His kind honey eyes are looking at me, only a short distance away from my face. His lips shift into a generous smile, one that matches the warmth in his eyes.

‘Is this your first time?’ he asks.

My voice is not working, because my eyes have stolen all available energy so that they can linger on him, but I force an answer.

‘Yes. It was hotter than I expected.’

He smiles again. ‘It can be a bit like that at times. You probably need to bring more water in next time,’ he says, motioning to my empty water bottle.

I nod, mesmerised by his beautiful face, so close to mine. My entire body is buzzing, just like the first time he kissed me, slowly, tenderly. At that moment, my body was more alive than it had ever been. Every sense was on overload, every part of me desperate to have him, for him to have me. It was then that something passed between us, the way he looked at me after that kiss. It was as though we had both been struck by the energy between us, that perfect balance where true happiness resides. I knew then he was the one. The only one. And I know now, that it will be like that again. It just has to be. True love has to win.

‘Come on, let’s get you out of here and outside where you can cool down. Can you walk, do you think?’

Oh my, is he offering to carry me? Because if he is, I will gladly fake passing out
.

‘I…I’m not sure,’ I whimper. It’s not meant to come out like that, but being so close to him, and the possibility of him picking me up has turned me into a blathering fool.

‘I’ll help you, okay?’ he asks. ‘Put your arm around my shoulder.’

I nod and do what he says. There’s no arguing from me. He can be as gentlemanly as he likes. What sort of deranged woman wouldn’t let a knight in sweaty armour come to her rescue?

His skin is hot to touch, sweaty but not in a gross kind of way. My hand shakes slightly as it rests on his shoulder. My heart does little flip-flops in my chest and if a mirror was handy, there’s no doubt my pupils would be fully dilated and my lips swollen, red and parted.

Aiden puts his arm around my hips again and pulls me upwards to my feet.

‘Just leave your mat, I’ll come back in and get it for you,’ he says as we make our way slowly towards the door.

His muscles are tense under my hand, strong and fully able to support my weight, as they have done so many times in the past. He smells delicious, all sweaty and sexy, and hot and yummy. It’s amazing how, even in this state of near unconsciousness, my girly bits are singing the Hallelujah Chorus.

He opens the door and we move outside where the temperature drops to almost arctic conditions in comparison. The breeze is enough to turn my hot skin into goose bumps and instantly, my wet clothing sticks to me, chilling my body to the point I need a towel to wrap around me.

Mel is sucking back another large bottle of water, only a small amount remaining. She looks like a dried up chip in need of a good dousing of water. She looks over at us and her eyes widen. She chokes on her water and splutters as it spills down her chin and chest.

‘Lou!’ she says. ‘What happened?’

‘She nearly passed out when she stood up,’ Aiden says.

‘Well, it’s a good thing you were there to catch her,’ Mel says, smiling.

‘Can you pass her a water, please?’ Aiden asks her as he gently sits me down on the wooden bench. ‘How are you feeling?’ he asks me.

Speak Lou, speak!

‘Better, thanks,’ I say.

Please take me home with you, throw me on your bed and do rude things to me
.

‘Good,’ he says. ‘Do I know you? You look familiar, that’s all.’

Yes, yes! You do know me! You love me, I love you. We are engaged and mad about each other. We are planning on spending the rest of our lives together, making each other happy, raising a family and growing old together
.

It’s so hard not to say everything that is running through my mind. It’s what I want to say. It’s what I want him to hear because it might just spark some memory of us.

‘I work at the bank,’ I say.

He looks at me, as though he is searching the database in his mind that will match my face to someone he works with.

‘Only temporarily, until the merger is settled,’ I finish. There is no need to mention Hunter. Why spoil the moment?

‘Oh, yes,’ he says. ‘Of course.’

For a moment hope fills inside of me, but is then flattened when it becomes clear that he is only being polite, again. He can’t remember me at all, but Aiden would never be so rude as to say that. It makes me love him a little bit more.

‘So, I think you look all right now. You’re feeling better?’ he asks me, nodding.

Taking my cue I reply, ‘Yes. Much. Thank you for, well, for catching me. It was very kind of you.’

My eyes linger on his for just a little too long and he shifts further back, away from me.

‘That’s okay. I’ve got to go. So, I’ll probably see you at work,’ he says.

I nod. ‘Yes, you will. Thanks again.’

He smiles and walks away.

My heart is working again. It’s mending. Just from his touch and smile and conversation. With renewed hope, I know this will work.

The next day is Friday. Only two days to go until, one way or another, this situation is resolved. In two days’ time, either Aiden will be in my arms, or at least out of Geneva’s, or he will be ready to leave for a very expensive honeymoon. The thought weighs heavily on my mind and limits the brainpower otherwise available for work-related activities.