Bending Over Backwards Page 5

  He saw a flash of heat in her eyes before she looked away. So maybe her thoughts weren’t completely businesslike, but Leo was determined not to take advantage. That didn’t mean he’d given up, but he had another idea in mind. Jasmine thought she knew him. For some reason, she looked at him like there was a check in the column of All Figured Out.

  So he planned to surprise her. First, he had to spend a little time with her so that he could know how to do that, exactly.

  “Come over here. You can borrow a mat for now. I could sell you one to take home, though they’re cheaper at the local discount store.”

  Leo laughed. “Some businesswoman you are,” he teased. “That’s not a great way to make a profit.”

  “It’s not all about money. I sell high-end mats. For beginners who aren’t sure yet, it’s better to spend twenty bucks or less on something that’s not a huge investment when they might quit.”

  He nodded. Her advice made sense, and told him more about her than she knew. That she looked out for her students, that she was honest, and that on some level, she also expected people to quit. To bail.

  Not only in their choice of exercise, Leo surmised.

  “I’m going to guide you through a very easy session, something that will focus on opening up your shoulders and chest, but will still give you an overall effect for your entire body.”

  He took his running shoes off and stood on the mat as she instructed, admiring her expertise. She was clearly tired, and yet she paid close, detailed attention to every move he made, correcting him without making him feel foolish.

  Leo found his focus was directed by hers—he really did want to learn this—and soon he was totally caught up in mastering the moves. Timing them with his breathing was difficult, especially when Jasmine touched him. That set his blood and pulse racing.

  “Do that sequence for a week, no more than once a day, and see how you feel,” she instructed, glancing at the clock. “Then we can move on to the next set of poses.”

  Leo frowned. “That’s all, for a week?”

  She nodded. “You don’t want to take it too fast. You’re in pretty good shape, your injury aside, but you can hurt yourself if you push too hard.” She walked away from him to turn the sign on the front door to Closed.

  She stood there, her hand on the door as if waiting for him to leave so that she could lock up. Then, out of nowhere she sagged, her knees giving slightly, her body going slack for a second before she caught herself. Leo crossed the room as if to catch her, but by the time he reached her, she seemed okay.

  Though she was very pale. The shadows under her eyes had deepened and her irises seemed bleary.

  “Have you eaten?”

  She glanced at the clock again. It was about quarter to eight. She’d spent more time with Leo than she’d intended. People still walked past on the sidewalks outside, getting ice cream and enjoying the evening in the waning sunlight.

  “Not since breakfast. I had a protein bar at lunch, but I guess my blood sugar is low.”

  He knew that breakfast for her was well over twelve hours before, considering how early she started her day.

  “Close up and let’s get you some food.”

  Her head snapped up, and she stepped away. “I’m fine, Leo. Just hungry. I need to get home and I can eat then.”

  “You can’t drive—what if you passed out again?”

  “I didn’t pass out,” she said irritably, glowering at his Oh, really? look.

  “Let’s go find something to eat. I’m hungry too. My treat—you let me stay in class this morning for free. And you made me cookies.”

  She looked like she would like to argue, but then the energy for it visibly abandoned her.

  “Okay, sure, yes. Let me change and get my things. There’s a fish place where we can get some food and eat outside.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Leo waited, and when she emerged a few minutes later in a white crop pants and a tank, he tried to ignore how the clothes hugged her curves, and what those curves felt like under his hands.

  Right now, Jasmine needed someone to take care of her for a change, and he had a feeling no one had taken on that role for some while. Inexplicably protective, he put a hand at the small of her back as they walked, heading toward the fish stand.

  Taking care of Jasmine was a role he would be more than happy to take on.

  Chapter Six

  Jasmine nearly groaned out loud at the sheer ecstasy of the rich taste of the tartar sauce and ketchup that she had slathered on her fried fish. She rarely allowed herself such an indulgence, but she was starving and the greasy, fatty delight had called to her, irresistible.

  Leo grinned as he watched her lick her fingers, digging through his large plate of fried scallops with equal enthusiasm. French fries were piled between them, and she’d gotten a vanilla milkshake.

  If any of her students saw her, they would be shocked. Jasmine was a very lapsed vegetarian, though she tried to make a stab at eating well most of the time. But eating well meant something different at different times, as Leo had aptly pointed out.

  “Oh God, so good.” She stilled when she saw the banked heat in his eyes. She’d murmured words almost exactly like that, in the same breathless tone, a few nights ago. With him.

  Then he smiled, and the awkwardness disappeared. He was being sweet. Friendly, considerate, and not at all acting like a player.

  He was acting like a friend.

  Jasmine appreciated it. He’d been focused and sincere in his yoga lesson, and he’d been a gentleman through dinner. He’d even paid. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had bought her dinner.

  Taking a breath, she looked at the people walking by, enjoying the summer evening. Normally, she would be home, preparing for the next day, getting ready for bed by now. Alone.

  “Thank you, Leo. This fattening feast was absolutely lovely,” she said, offering a smile.

  “You’re welcome. I’m glad you showed me this place. I have a feeling I’ll visit here pretty frequently—these scallops are amazing.”

  “They looked it. Maybe I’ll try them next time. New England has such fresh, wonderful seafood.”

  “Have you always lived here, or are you a transplant?”

  “Transplant, but not far. I grew up in Boston,” she offered, figuring it didn’t hurt to share that much.

  “Really? Is your family still there?”

  She couldn’t stop her frown, or the wave of sadness that sometimes hit her thinking about it, even now. Some things stayed with you.

  “No. Not anymore.”

  “No siblings?”

  She shook her head.

  “Me, either. I guess it’s just as well. My mother had to work damned hard to raise me. Two would have been difficult, especially in the city.”

  Her tension faded as their discussion turned away from her life. “Your mom raised you alone? What happened to your father?”

  “Left when I was young. I barely remember him. I get the idea, though Mom never said much, that we were better off without him. She mentioned that he died when I was twelve. Maybe he did, or maybe she wanted me to think so.”

  “You didn’t try to find out?”

  Leo held her gaze, munching a fry, but his eyes were dead serious. “Why would I? He left, she stayed. That was all I needed to know.”

  Jasmine sat back in her chair. “Wow. Well, good for you. She must have been a great mom.”

  He smiled. “She was.”

  “When did you lose her?”

  “About six years ago. Heart attack.” He looked down, the memory obviously still a painful one for him.

  “I’m sorry you lost her so young, but you were lucky to have her. I can see that you loved her very much.” Jasmine thought back to a time when her parents actually were her parents. When her mother made cookies and her father had—once or twice—come to her school plays.

  It was so long ago that it felt like she was thinking about someone else’s life
. Her throat tightened and she took a large gulp of her milkshake.

  “Thanks.” He dug back into his own meal.

  Jasmine liked how Leo’s eyes warmed when he talked about his mother, and how he smiled, a little crookedly, when he watched the kids playing ball across the street. She liked his hands, his mouth and his voice.

  Uh-oh.

  “Thanks for this, Leo, but I have to get home. Early class in the morning.” She offered an apologetic smile as she rose from the table.

  “No problem. At least I know you ate something substantial.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, probably enough to get me through all of my work tomorrow.”

  “You teach classes all day, every day?” he asked as they walked back to the parking lot.

  “I do. It’s my business, and while Amanda picks up some of the load, Body Sense is my baby. I can’t afford to hire her, or anyone, full-time, yet. I’m not quite out of debt on the start-up costs. Maybe next year I can bring on another instructor, but for the moment, it’s up to me.”

  “It takes a lot of hard work to make a small business succeed these days. It requires all of your attention. And a lot of money.”

  Jasmine stopped in her tracks. “Yes! Thank you. It really does. And it’s a competitive field. If I don’t offer a certain class, there are plenty of other places here for clients to go. I know my clients come back because they get to work with me, at my studio. That means something to them. So it’s hard to think of handing that over to someone else. Yoga is personal, and many clients don’t like substitute instructors.”

  It was nice to have someone who understood why she had to work so hard instead of making her feel like she was pushing too much.

  “I can see that. Does it ease up in the winter?”

  They reached their cars, parked in the studio lot, and she faced him, leaning against hers.

  “Somewhat. Tourists are gone, and so are many of the summer residents. I don’t have outdoor classes then, obviously, but there’s still a regular daily schedule of sessions.”

  “How long have you been into it?”

  “Nine years now.”

  “That’s a good stretch to have kept a business running. Most fail within three years.”

  “Thank you.” She accepted the compliment, practically glowing.

  “Do you really have to go? It’s so nice out—maybe a walk down by the water?”

  Jasmine almost caved, almost said yes. That seemed to be a problem with Leo—she had a hard time saying no to him.

  “I really can’t. Early morning, remember.”

  They stood a foot or so apart, quiet, the breeze from the water—just a quarter mile down the road—caressing their faces. People still walked by and milled around, but Jasmine felt like the world narrowed down to her and Leo in that moment.

  He reached out, tugged the curl he’d touched earlier, the back of his fingers brushing against her jaw.

  “Okay then,” he agreed easily. “Good night, Jasmine. Thanks for the lesson.”

  It almost made her do a double take. For some reason, she thought maybe he would press the point or try to kiss her or…something.

  Instead, he winked, waved and walked to his own car. He waited for her to pull out before he did so himself. Watching over her again? It had been a while since anyone had done that, too. She’d watched over herself for a good, long time now, and she was doing a fair job of it. But still, it was nice of him to wait, she thought.

  She frowned as she drove down the road.

  Leo was nice.

  She didn’t know what he was like in his previous life, before he lost his memory and his job, but now, here, he was a really nice guy. A sexy guy. A funny guy.

  It made her want him more, which was something she didn’t want. Or maybe she did. Suddenly, it was all very confusing. She popped in some music, letting the lyrics distract her on the rest of the way home.

  “Are you okay?” Amanda asked, looking closely at Jasmine as they finished up the next morning’s senior session. Twelve octogenarians all smiled brightly and rolled up their mats, looking a lot more energetic than Jasmine felt.

  “Tired. Thanks for taking most of that one. I’m beat.”

  “I’m so sorry I had to bail on you yesterday. Those migraines come out of nowhere. But I’m fine today. Why don’t you take the day off?”

  “Maybe you could take the afternoon sessions, and I could use that time to catch up on paperwork,” Jasmine agreed, too spent to argue.

  “That’s not exactly taking the day off.” Amanda gave her a stern look, hands on her hips.

  “I know, but I’ll be sitting in my nice, cool office, which is as close as I’m likely to get.” Jasmine was relieved she wouldn’t have to run another session that day. Walking back to her office, she shut the door and thought about a nap before tackling the paperwork.

  Thoughts of Leo had kept her awake most of the night, tossing and turning, waging internal battles between need and want. She must have passed out an hour before the alarm went off, and it left her feeling like something scraped up from the sidewalk. Not the greatest inspiration to her clients.

  She’d dragged through that last session—the senior session—barely keeping pace with Amanda. Hell, she was barely keeping pace with the students.

  Jasmine winced, aching in a way she didn’t normally. She was tight and tired instead of loose and relaxed. Not good. She should’ve skipped dinner with Leo and gone straight home to bed.

  But talking and sharing a bit with Leo had been nice. Their family pasts—not that he knew about hers—and their dedication to their work formed a bit of a connection. He didn’t remember his job, perhaps, but Jasmine knew about the ambition and single-minded focus it had to have taken for him to get where he had. It was part of who he was and probably what helped him understand her drive in a way most other people didn’t.

  She needed to make her business succeed. It was her life. It was difficult to make anyone else understand what it was like to lose everything and to rebuild a life. She was on her own, captain of her own ship. If she failed, she had no one to blame but herself.

  Skipping the nap, she plowed through paperwork, now and then checking with the studio to see how things were going.

  Mandy was a great instructor. She was fun, relaxed and cheerful, joking and interacting with the group in more social ways than Jasmine had energy for. Jasmine talked with her clients about their form and their progress, but she didn’t know much else about them.

  Mandy came back around lunchtime to see if she could pick up something for Jasmine to eat.

  “That would be great, thanks. If you could grab me some kind of salad and a lemonade, I’d appreciate it,” she told her friend. “You were doing a good job out there, by the way. The clients like you.”

  Amanda flushed with pleasure. “Thanks. I like them too. Such interesting people come in here. Did you know that Mrs. Paulson is a championship water skier? Or rather, she was, you know, back in the day. She brought some pictures, and they were amazing. Her granddaughter is competing now. Following in her footsteps.”

  “No, I didn’t know that. How interesting.”

  Jasmine felt inadequate and overwhelmed. How could she get to know all of her students? There were so many of them. It wasn’t realistic. No one had ever complained, she comforted herself.

  “Well, I’ll be back in a few,” Amanda said cheerfully, not lacking energy at all.

  The rest of the day went along uneventfully, and as Jasmine made her way home, she wondered how Leo was doing, and then pushed the thought from her mind, trying to refocus.

  Sleep came easily that night. She was so exhausted she passed out on her sofa, and then made her way to bed sometime after midnight.

  She was in the middle of the best dream. Leo was walking out of the ocean waves, wearing only black trunks, smiling at her in that way that told her his entire focus was on her.

  No wonder. Looking down, she discovered that she was nude, right ther
e on the beach. No one else was around.

  Leo walked up to her, looking at her intensely before he took her in his arms, kissing her until she couldn’t breathe.

  Who cared about breathing?

  He led her back to the waves. She knew she should be worried—the water was cold and deep—but she wasn’t. She wanted to go with him so much. She didn’t care as he kissed her, keeping her warm as the water came up and encompassed them…

  Some sort of ringing in her ears distracted her from the wonderful things he was doing to her underwater when he broke the kiss. What would be ringing underwater?

  “You’d better get that. It sounds important,” Leo said, looking down at the sand, where her cell phone rang.

  How did they get back out of the water?

  Jasmine wanted to go back in but found herself reaching for the phone. The next thing she knew, she wasn’t on the beach, but in her bed.

  Groggy, she fumbled for the phone on her bed stand.

  “Yes?” she answered hesitantly. She didn’t know anyone who would call her at late hours.

  “Jasmine Stanford?” a deep male voice inquired.

  “Yes? Who is this?”

  “Sergeant Drecker, Harwich Police. I’m sorry to call you so late, but the alarm went off in your business downtown. Your studio was broken into and vandalized along with several other nearby businesses, I’m afraid.”

  Jasmine thought maybe she was still dreaming, though it had turned into a nightmare.

  “Body Sense? My yoga studio, are you sure?” she asked, her heart rate skyrocketing, hands shaking. “What happened?” she asked, fighting to clear her head from the deep sleep.

  “We’re still investigating, but someone did a real job on your place, as well as the ice cream shop and an antiques shop. Could be kids being jerks, but we’ll have to know if anything was stolen or if you had any money or valuables on the premises, etc.”

  “Of course. I can be there in fifteen minutes.”

  “We’ve posted two cars outside the businesses to keep watch, ma’am. It can wait until morning. You could come down to the station then.”