Chapter 20: Workout

After a productive morning in the studio (as usual, Jon’s instincts about the arrangement were dead-on), Richie went to talk to Julianna. Both to feel her out about Jon’s idea, and because, well, he just plain missed her. As he approached the gate, he heard the noise of hard, fast, metal music coming from the studio. Intrigued, he crossed to the doors and looked inside. Julianna was beating the shit out of one of the man-shaped heavy bags in the corner of her studio. He watched as she circled the bag, punching and kicking, nearly but not quite toppling it over. Jesus, he thought. Note to self: don’t piss her off!

Julianna loved a good workout. She discovered kickboxing soon after Mark left, and fell in love with it. She worked through a lot of her anger by pretending the bag was Mark. Now, she just loved the exercise. Executing a perfect spinning roundhouse kick, she let out a triumphant yell as the 300-pound bag tipped over to the ground. Julianna dropped to one knee beside the bag and jabbed it once in the neck, then dropped onto her back, exhausted.

Richie called out from the door, “Is it safe to come in? Is he dead?”

Julianna looked over at the door, and smiling, waved him in. She motioned toward the control board, indicating he should go turn off the music. He complied, then came to sit beside her.

“How was your trip? Did you guys have a good time?” Julianna asked, as she sat up to stretch out.

“Yeah, thanks,” Richie answered. “New Orleans is one of my favorite cities. It’s slowly bouncing back to what it once was and it’s just an inspiring place to be. Incidentally, I read your book on the plane. You were right, it really was quite good.” He stopped talking to admire her flexibility. It had him thinking dirty thoughts. “Uh, how was your weekend with Lila and Sam?”

Julianna, impressed that Richie remembered the names of her leads, smiled. “Oh, fantastic! They are really a good pair of kids, and I’m so glad I found them. They’re doing a fantastic job. I think you’ll be pleased with the end result. Hey,” she said, looking at him, “you want to help me out with something?”

“Sure. Whaddaya need?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows a her.

Julianna laughed. “Here, take my hands, and sit in front of me. Put your feet against mine and pull. I need to really stretch my hamstrings and lower back, and this buddy stretch is the best way.”

Richie looked at her for a moment, then positioned himself as she instructed. He gently pulled on her arms until he was nearly lying down, and her chest was nearly to the floor. She let out a low groan. “God, that feels good,” she said. “Pull just a little bit more.” He did, and Julianna closed her eyes, and exhaled slowly. “Alright, you can let me go now, thanks.” She pulled her legs in, sitting with her feet sole-to-sole in a butterfly stretch, and dropped her forehead to the floor. After a moment, she pushed back with her hands, and rolled backwards over one shoulder into a standing position. She held out a hand. “Need a lift?”

Richie laughed. “I’m not so old that I can’t get off the floor, thank you very much.” He stood and motioned to the bag. “Need any help with him?”

“Sure, just roll Bob here over to his friends, and get him standing up again.” While Richie took care of the bag, Julianna wiped down the mats and took a long pull from her water bottle. “So, I’m sure you had a reason to stop by, right? What’s up?”

Richie came to her and said, “This.” He pulled her hot and sweaty body to him and kissed her thoroughly. Julianna pushed her hands into Richie’s hair and tore her mouth away. One look into his eyes, and she pulled him back for another kiss. He made a low growl in his throat that Julianna answered by wrapping a leg around his waist, anchoring him to her. This time, Richie broke the kiss.

Julianna whimpered at the loss of contact. Richie looked at the toned leg wrapped around him, and raised an eyebrow at her, smirking. Julianna smiled a sly smile. “I’m very bendy,” she said softly.

“Good Lord, woman,” Richie whispered, and dove for her mouth again.