Emma

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟐

"All that stretching doesn't seem to be making you any taller," James' voice came from behind her as she tried to focus on her downward dog pose. His smooth voice sent shivers up and down her back as she tried not to tense her muscles and show how much she reacted to his presence.

It was harder than it should have been considering how long she'd been working on perfecting her poses. Sighing, Emma slowly corrected her pose with a long exhale and moved into a standing forward bend, holding onto her ankles as she turned her eyes towards James from her mat.

The man was upside down from her current angle, leaning against the doorframe of the impromptu training room. Even upside down he was devastatingly handsome. It was kind of hard to properly see him as strands from her ponytail covered your eyes, but it was still clear to her that it wasn't the pose he was admiring as his eyes followed your legs up to your ass and back down her thighs to finally look her in the eye.

"It's not about stretching to become longer James," Emma said, feeling slightly dizzy from having to focus on the man whilst upside down. At least that was what she was telling herself. Though she knew the truth was that his eyes burning into her like that always made her a little light headed.

"Then what is it about?" James seemed to remember how to talk when Emma finally straightened up her body and turned to face him between her poses.

"I do yoga to relieve stress and relax," Emma said, getting down on all fours to go through her normal routine once more, hoping to clear any thoughts of love and possible heartache out of her mind through her yoga.

Table, cat, cow, modified cobra and then into half downward dog before repeating the two steps James had walked in on her doing. That was her routine twice a week; the other days she did the more intermediate moves. Emma wasn't lying when she said it helped her relax.

Emma's job description wasn't the most common in the world, being a girl of all things big and bad and all that. But it was definitely stressful.

"Then why don't you just have a beer instead?" James said, still leaning against the doorframe looking almost illegally handsome. Damn... That right there was another reason she needed to do yoga to help her relax. She'd been in love with the man for a few months now and yoga kept her from confessing what was always just on the tip of her tongue when he was in the room.

Emma knew James, and she knew herself. There was no way she could handle being a one-night fling with the man she loved. So yoga and massive amounts of self-restraint were a necessity now that she'd started living with her relatives.

"It's a different kind of stress relief," Emma said as she shifted from her normal routine once she noticed his eyes once more following her curves, trying out some of her more advanced moves to keep his eyes on her.

Emma knew she shouldn't, for her own heart if nothing else. But damn it felt good to know he was looking at her instead of some random chick in a bar halfway across town.

"I don't think a bottle of man's helper would help me as much as yoga does," she said, hoping James would mistake her blushing face for exhaustion from her workout as you watched the man casually wet his lower lip as he watched her stretch her body through slightly hooded eyes.

"Looks different alright," He mumbled to himself, his words holding not so hidden meanings as the hunter seemed to undress you with his eyes. Damn, too much, her heart could handle a little at a time, but that was too much. Emma quickly straightened herself again and planted both feet on the floor before her light-headedness made her tip over and make a fool of herself.

"It is," she said, busying herself with her water bottle whilst mentally berating herself. She'd been through the same train of thought several times. James was great and she loved him. He was flirty, she didn't really mind because... Well, she'd already made why clear.