“Now I’ll confess that I was so impressed I tried to draw after that.” She frowned a moment, thinking back. “What did I try drawing … oh yeah, Black Widow. I wanted to be Black Widow, so I tried drawing her. And was very frustrated I couldn’t.”

He twirled some of her hair around his finger. “Natasha or Yelena?”

“Natasha.”

“I could teach you to draw.”

“I sincerely doubt it.” She kissed him again. “And the noticing that approached?”

“The summer after my first year of college. I remember because I was working part-time at Rizzo’s, and you came in with Maya and some other girls. I guess you were about fifteen maybe. And you looked good. You looked really good. So I had this moment of hmmm. Before I snapped that back, reminding myself you were Mr. Rizzo’s granddaughter, and Maya’s pal, and basically a kid, and I was a college man.”

“It was the summer before that for me.”

“For you what?”

“Noticing you with approaching. You were out mowing the lawn at your mom’s, and you had your shirt off. You were all sweaty and skinny—”

“I wasn’t skinny.”

“You were always skinny—now you’re lean and lanky—but you were skinny, and your hair was sweaty, too, and sort of curling, and all sun-streaked like a surfer’s. I got all fluttery inside. Especially since I knew you had green eyes even though you were wearing sunglasses. I have a weakness for green eyes.”

“Filing that one.”

“Anyway, I had to remind myself that I was pledged, heart and soul, to Daniel Radcliffe.”

“Harry Potter?” He took her shoulders to lift them both a little. “You dated Harry Potter?”

“No, I never met him, but I desperately wanted to because he would no doubt fall in love with me and we’d live happily ever after. And I apparently have a thing for nerds.”

“Also filed.”

“In addition, Peter Parker is on my list, and I’d be a love slave in a hot minute for Tom Holland.”

“The things you learn while naked.”

“True.” She gave his left biceps a squeeze. “How much are you curling now?”

“Don’t start.”

“It’s ingrained. I need to design a new program for you.”

“I joined you and your mother’s online deal. I have all the damn programs.”

“Well, good for you.”

“It’s probably seeing you most days in those tight little outfits that got me here.”

“Unknowing vamping.” She cocked her eyebrows. “Most days?”

“I switch around. I’ve started lifting with Hugo the Hammer. He’s terrifying.”

“Sweetest guy in the world.”

“Next thing you’ll tell me is that other guy—what’s his name—with the diamond-cut six-pack and man bun is a pussycat.”

“You must mean Vince Harris, and no, he’s as mean as a snake and a diva on top of it. But he’s good at what he does. Try Margo Mayfield’s Give Me Twenty sometime. She’ll take you to the mat, in a good way.”

She kissed his pecs. “And all that talk about working out’s made me hungry. How about dessert?”

“Okay.” He rolled over on top of her.

“Not the dessert I meant.” Laughing, she wrapped him in. “Although.”

He stayed, which surprised them both, and delighted the dogs, who slept together in Sadie’s bed.

It surprised Adrian, too, when Raylan rolled out of bed when she did.

“I’ll let the dogs out,” she told him. “You can catch some more sleep.”

“I’m up. Habit. Kids.” He reached for his pants. “At their age weekends mean nothing to their body clocks.”

“What time are you picking them up?”

“We said around ten.”

“Great, plenty of time. We’ll work out, then we’ll have breakfast.”

“I don’t have any gym gear.”

She grabbed his shirt, threw it on. “I can fix you up. Come on, Sadie, Jasper.”

“Wait. No.” He experienced deep and sincere panic. “I’m not wearing any of those skinny pants things.”

“I can fix you up,” she called back and kept going. “Spare toothbrush in the bathroom closet.”

“Jesus, why can’t we just have sex again?” he muttered. “That’s a workout.”

But he went into her bathroom, found the toothbrush. And caught a look at himself in the mirror. He looked like a man who’d had sex. A lot of really good sex.

His mother would know. Just like she’d known the first time he’d had sex—with Ella Sinclair in his junior year of high school.

She’d only asked him if he’d used protection, he remembered—which, duh—but it had been mortifying.

He’d better get that look off his face, or she’d spot it. And that was just weird.

By the time he came out, Adrian had pulled on one of her outfits—little snug black shorts, a sports bra thing with black-and-white checks.

While they looked exceptional on her, he wasn’t going to wear snug black shorts.

Ever.

“How about I sign in blood I’ll work out when I get home?”

Saying nothing, she held up a pair of what he considered normal gym shorts—baggy, more or less knee length—and a New Gen T-shirt.

“You’re about the same size as Popi was. I haven’t gone through all his things yet. I keep meaning to.”

No way out now, he thought.

“Those’ll work. I can help you with that if you want. I know it’s hard.”

“It is. Thanks, but let me see if I can get going on it this weekend. I keep telling myself I should move into the master. There’s a good feeling in there, and the terrace, and the views. I’m going to get started on that.”

He pulled on the shorts, adjusted the drawstring. Not that he was skinny, he reminded himself. Lanky. He’d take lanky.

Resigned, he walked down with her.

“Did you lift yesterday? Upper body work?”

“No.”

“Good, neither did I. Today’s the day.”

When they reached her studio, she set her hands on her hips. “Do you want a program, or personal training?”

“You’re going to kill me. I can already feel it.”

“Personal training it is.”

She picked up a remote, turned on some music, smiled.

“Let’s warm up.”

He knew she excelled at training—he’d streamed her workouts for months now—but it took on a different aspect when she focused one-on-one.

She adjusted his stance, and in her cheerful but intense way, pushed him more—he could admit—than he pushed himself.

When he reached for his habitual twenty-pound weights, she shook her head. And handed him twenty-fives.

“Challenge yourself. If you start to lose your form, you go lighter. Now, it’s squat, hammer curl, squat, shoulder press.” She demonstrated. “Your whole body’s engaged. Got it?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

She talked him through it; her energy never seemed to flag.