Divine Desire: A Lotus House Novel: Book Three Read online

  “I’m thinking six weeks,” Crystal offered.

  “Agreed. But you have to do all the leg work to get this concept off the ground,” Jewel added.

  I clapped my hands together. “You will not be sorry.”

  Both women looked at one another and smiled. “Don’t let us be,” Crystal said.

  “So what’s your plan?” Jewel placed her elbows on the desk and cocked her head to the side.

  Now that I knew they were going to allow the new class for a minimum of six weeks before committing, I sat down in the loveseat. “Well, I’m going to start by asking each of the teachers here to commit to attending at least one class that I hold in the first couple weeks. My thought is that if the clientele know one of their regular teachers, someone they trust, is going to attend, then maybe they will. Plus, I was hoping the teachers would enjoy the experience and share the new concept in their classes.”

  Jewel frowned. “That’s a lot to ask. As you know, we pay a flat twenty dollars per class to start, regardless of whether you have one or thirty people in your class. However, you know for every person after five in attendance, you get an additional two dollars per person. That means if that person is not going to their class, they are adding to your weekly income versus theirs.”

  I let out a long, hot breath. “I see. Makes sense, but still. I’d want to help get a friend off the ground in a new class. All the teachers here seem willing to help one another.” As I said that, I immediately conjured an image of one wildcat hottie—Mila Mercado, whose mere existence set my blood on fire in the best possible ways. But she’d be a tough sell for sure. “I hope to connect with them and offer the same shared promotion in my classes.”

  “Fair enough. Do your homework and preparation. I’ll have my husband add the new class to the schedule,” Crystal said. “We’ll need a working description e-mailed to us by the end of the day. Also, make sure you rework one of our disclaimers and send that through for us to review and approve.”

  I made notes in my cell phone of everything they said. I didn’t want to forget or let them down. Besides, I had a gig tonight. I’d need to knock out all of these things right after leaving so I could get over to the club for a sound check. And, first thing tomorrow morning, I had a heated Vin Flow to teach. The night would be long but worth the extra work if I could get this new concept off the ground.

  “Thank you, ladies. Really. I know this is outside of the box, but I just feel it deep in my bones that the clientele at Lotus House will take this new concept and share the experience with their friends and colleagues, and hopefully, a horde of new clients! I’m certain this concept will go over smashingly with the college kids, and you’re always looking for new ways to bring them in each year. This one…this is the golden egg!”

  Crystal smiled, and Jewel stood and held out her hand. “We’re counting on you.”

  I shook her hand, smiling like a loon. “Oh, I’ll make it happen. I have faith.”

  At that point, Crystal stood up, came around the desk and hugged me. “Faith is all anyone needs in life.”

  Boy, she was not wrong. I felt as though I’d spent all my twenty-eight years on this earth hoping and praying for things to happen. This was the first time I felt like I was using my creativity for something magical. Unfortunately, my music gig wasn’t happening as I’d hoped, even after spending the last decade attempting to become a somebody in a sea of nobodies.

  The music industry was beyond tough. I’d come so close to being signed I could now count them on both hands and feet. And that didn’t include the drawer full of rejection letters I’d received from countless producers telling me that my voice worked, the lyrics were stellar, but the entire package was lacking. I still hadn’t figured out what that “it” factor was, but I was driven by the desire to make my dreams come true. I’d never stop until one day my passion became my job. For now, yoga gave me an outlet not only to make money, but also to find myself. Yoga helped to bring it all inward to a place where things were simple, easy, balanced. Now I just needed to take that same Zen spot and merge it into my music.

  One day at a time. That’s what my buddy Dash told me all the time. He’d be the first person I would talk to about attending my class. Maybe he’d get Amber on board, and she could get her best friend, Genevieve, who teaches hatha and prenatal yoga, to come. Although she just had a baby. Then again, maybe that celebrity baseball-playing man of hers would come out and show support. Having him, in particular, come to this class would bring the ladies in droves.

  Yeah. That was it. I made a mental note to talk to Dash and his wife about the idea and the special request to involve their friends. It was all coming together. I could do this. Then, once I got things settled and my income on solid ground, I’d work on figuring out what the “it” factor was that I needed to add to my repertoire. I tugged on the key that hung around my neck, a talisman I carried with me. The key was the very last thing my father gave me before he up and abandoned Mom and me twenty years ago. I still didn’t know what it opened, but like all things, I figured one day the answer would present itself.

  “Ladies, thank you. Thank you for giving me a chance. I’m going to work hard at making this successful. I promise.”

  I opened the door to exit the office and ran right into a pint-sized wildcat. “Hey, hotness.” I glanced at the small Mexican American fireball from her medium brown shoulder-length hair to her perky breasts. She’d covered the girls in a tight black sports bra type top. Her midriff was bare, leaving a scandalizing swath of brown sugar-colored skin I’d like nothing more than to bend down and press my lips to. I just knew she would taste of the sweetest honey. Her knee-length black yoga pants dipped low, well below her navel, making my mouth water. The pants fit her like they were painted on, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. Thank the good Lord above for women’s athletic attire.

  “Curly,” she addressed me flatly.

  I ran a hand through my messy curls. Her caramel eyes watched in what I hoped was fascination. For a scant second, her mouth opened, and her pink tongue licked her bottom lip. The instant sexual tension that crackled and zipped between us was heart-stoppingly magnetic. If I were a lesser man, I’d have walked her backward until she was up against the wall opposite the office door and taken her mouth right here, right now. But I wouldn’t. Not only could the action get me fired, but she also might actually backhand me. Not the best way to get in good with a girl, though I’d experienced worse during my late teens when I was wild and out of control.

  She planted her hands on her rounded hips. “Did you get a good look?”

  The woman had an insane body. Tiny but built. Her breasts were small, high, and enough to fit in the center of my palms. However, her perky tits were not her best feature. Hands down, it was the ass. Tight, shaped like a perfect heart, with enough bubble to it that I wanted to bite it. Hard. Mark it as my territory. Damn, I’d always been an ass man, and this woman could bring me to my knees to worship at the cheeks of her fleshy heaven.

  I petted my bottom lip with just my thumb as I tilted my head and glanced at her finest attributes. “Maybe if you’d turn around.”

  “Pig,” she mumbled and pushed past me.

  For a sprite, she was strong as an ox. “Mmm…even better from the back. Not as much chin wagging either to distract from the view.”

  She huffed, flipped her hair, and lasered her gaze on mine. “You want to do this here?” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the two women who had mysteriously gone radio silent. Once I saw Mila, I’d pretty much forgotten my name, and the fact that I was standing in the admin office at Lotus House with my bosses in the background.

  I responded without thinking. “I’d do you anywhere.” Crass but true. She was my current walking wet dream.

  “You disgust me,” she growled, her teeth obviously clenching, providing a sharp contrast to her cheekbones.

  “You love it.”

  “I do not!” Her huff was indignant, but
her erect nipples, labored breathing, and dilated pupils said otherwise.

  “No, but you will.” I smirked and then jutted my chin toward Crystal and Jewel. “Thanks again. I’ll be in touch this evening.”

  Crystal waved and Jewel crossed her arms. Crystal, I’d been told, was in love with love and probably enjoyed the show. Jewel, on the other hand, I had to watch out for. I didn’t know enough about her to determine whether or not I was in trouble. Time would tell.

  “Catch you later, wildcat,” I quipped while closing the door and heading out, purposely not waiting for her retort. I’m sure whatever she’d have said would have been great.

  Sparring with the feisty woman would be the highlight of any day. I needed to plan more time at the center to take her classes. Operation Hotness would commence this week.

  I walked out of the center into the California sunshine with the Mission: Impossible theme running through my mind.

  Chapter Two

  Lotus Pose with Arm Extended (Sanskrit: Padmasana)

  There are a wide variety of modifications or variations on the standard lotus pose in yoga. A teacher may have you raise your arms from heart center while in prayer position to start the gentle stretch of your back and spine. A great upper body stretch is to extend the arms full and lean ever so slightly to the right and hold, come back to center, and then lean slightly to the left and hold. You can place a hand on the ground if you feel unbalanced.

  MILA

  “Can you believe him?” I pointed at the closed door. My entire body was alight with a heat that couldn’t be tamed. That man set everything within me aflame, and all I wanted to do was put it out. Immediately. Too damn bad my traitorous body didn’t agree. Every time I laid eyes on the tall hunk of studliness, I lost my ability to think straight. Probably why I defaulted to threats and sarcastic remarks. It felt like the only defense I had against the infuriating male.

  Atlas Powers. What kind of name is that anyway? Sounded like a superhero. And he was not super. Not even close. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. His six feet of pure male muscled perfection could lead an unsuspecting woman with a Barbie doll-sized IQ to believe he was heroic.

  “Yes, I can. What I’m finding entertaining, however, is how much you let him get to you. I think, Ms. Mila, you’re smitten with the new yogi. Am I wrong?” Crystal observed with a soft smile adorning her pretty face.

  I scoffed. “So wrong. If smitten means string him up by his toes and toss water balloons at him until he cries uncle? Then yes. Otherwise, absolutely not. The smug, insanely—”

  “Gorgeous,” Crystal supplied.

  “Yeah, that.” I recalled the way his hair fell enticingly into his eyes. “Frustratingly egotistic—”

  “Sexy,” Crystal added.

  “Uh-huh.” So sexy. If I were a stupid woman, I’d climb him like a tree, build a nest, and stay awhile. A long while. “Downright overconfident and devastatingly—”

  “Proportionate,” she supplied once again rather unhelpfully.

  I closed my eyes and remembered his body when he’d stood before me moments ago. His form was beautiful. The epitome of a fit, healthy male who was active and took supreme care of his body. He’d worn loose, black men’s-style yoga pants that clung to a pair of thick muscled thighs. A black-and-white marble-esque painted tank top hung low enough in front that his defined pecs were clearly visible in all their sculpted glory. A mop of curly, dark brown hair flopped in ideal bunches along his head in that classic, lackadaisical, hot boy way women couldn’t get enough of.

  “Inviting,” I whispered and then opened my eyes, realizing I was daydreaming in my boss’s office. A sense of dread rippled up my spine and out my pores as I covered a gasp with my hand. “No, I mean I despise him!” I swallowed, straightened my spine, and locked my hands into fists.

  Crystal chucked, and it sounded like church bells. “If by despise you mean crave in a way that any woman alive would, I understand. Sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with being interested in a fellow yogi.”

  “I am not interested in anyone.” I compressed my lips together, wanting to keep my retort simple. Do not allow my lack of restraint more recognition than it needs.

  Jewel stood up from her seat behind the desk. “Mila honey, we basically watched you both verbally and mentally caress one another. You’re hot for Atlas Powers. Just admit it. There’s no shame in being attracted to a man. Especially one that looks like a male fitness supermodel.”

  And he did. Look like a supermodel. He could easily grace the pages of any men’s magazine and have the girls drooling. Just pretty enough to be photogenic and a heaping dose of rugged, raw male that made women stupid. I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced out the window. “I’ll admit he’s attractive. But he’s smug…”

  “Overconfident and egotistical. I know, you said as much.” Crystal’s blue eyes were as bright as a cloudless sunny day and sparkled with mirth.

  “Well, it’s true.”

  Crystal came over to me and took my hand. “Sweetheart, you’ve worked here for four years, and in all that time, I’ve never seen you date anyone. Any particular reason why you’re holding your heart to yourself?”

  “Dating is not my thing, Crystal. I don’t have time for a man in my life.” Which wasn’t altogether true. What she didn’t know, and what I’d never told anyone, even Moe, was that I was the queen of one-night stands.

  Every few months I’d hit a bar in Oakland, find an attractive guy, and let him buy me a couple drinks, which would lead to me following him home. We’d have sex, and I’d be on my way. Like scratching an itch. We both got what we needed and went about our lives. Unattached. Simple. No complications. And through it all, I was the one in control. Always.

  Crystal frowned and cupped my shoulder. “That’s a very lonely way to look at life, my dear. Don’t you want someone to come home to? A person to say good night to at the end of a long day?”

  I tried to hold back the choked retort and failed. “I have more going on than the lack of a man. I’m perfectly capable of hooking a man if I wanted one. Really. You needn’t worry about me.”

  Technically, I could probably score a man in my life. I hadn’t tried in years, but it was easy enough to nail a hookup for a night. Didn’t matter, though. A regular man would just cause more problems. They needed the one thing I didn’t have to offer. Time. Surviving as a single woman in her mid-twenties without a college education and no support from family was hard enough. Adding a man into the mix, someone who would want me to give up my weekend activities, or the number of classes I taught, or prevent me from working on my paintings until well into the wee hours of the morning… Not an option.

  God. I needed to paint. Running into Atlas, having this conversation with Crystal, the nagging of my best friend. It was all beginning to form a heaping pile of crap I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with.

  “Look, not to be rude, but I only came in here to confirm my schedule for the next two weeks. I didn’t expect to get a life lesson.” My words were clipped and short.

  Crystal flattened her lips into a thin line. Ugh. I was such a weasel.

  “I see. I apologize if I overstepped my bounds,” she said flatly.

  “No, no, it’s fine. It’s just everything is okay. Perfect. I mean it.”

  “And Atlas? Does he bother you with his comments? If you feel he’s being inappropriate, I can have a talk with him,” Jewel offered.

  I shook my head. “No, really. I can handle him. He’s nothing more than a pest.” A ridiculously handsome pest. A man that I honestly loved battling, for no other reason than the entertainment value alone. He shook up the monotony of the day. Of course, I’d never breathe a word of it to a soul. It was better that everyone thought I couldn’t stand him. Maybe if that was the case, I’d come to believe it, too.

  “Then you wouldn’t mind attending his new class for us and reporting back?” Crystal was smiling like her normal happy self. Briefly, I wondered if
they sold pills that could make a person that happy.

  Why me? I didn’t want to take any of the sexy bastard’s classes. It was better that we just ran into each other on occasion. “I guess, if you need me to. Were you expecting me to give you details on his methods for Vinyasa, the instruction, the overall flow?”

  Crystal smirked and Jewel smiled before glancing away. There was something brewing between the two of them, but I had no idea what, only that it had to do with me and Atlas in what would likely be some cosmically twisted way. “Why do I get the feeling the two of you are setting me up?”

  Jewel blinked and pursed her lips. Crystal’s face didn’t change. “Whatever would give you that impression? Have we ever had nefarious purposes for anything?”

  “Well, no, but…”

  “Then we’d appreciate one of our veteran yogis taking the new class that’s offered and reporting back to us on the experience, instruction, class environment, how the clientele reacted. You’ve done this for us before. Remember when Genevieve started a couple years ago?”

  I sighed. “Yes, but…”

  Crystal shook her head and picked up a stack of papers. “No buts.” She straightened the stack into place against the desk. “The first class will be held next week. It’s going to be scheduled alongside Nicholas’s aerial yoga class and Genevieve’s evening hatha. Will that be a problem? Of course, we’re happy to pay for you to attend.”

  I blew out a long breath. “Not a problem. I’ll be there, and you don’t have to pay me. I’ll attend as a professional courtesy.”

  Crystal’s delight bloomed across her face. “Thank you, sweetheart. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.” She leaned over and wrote something in blue pen on the piece of paper sitting on the top of her stack. “And here’s your schedule.” She handed me the paper she’d written on. It had my name scrawled on the top. Farther down the page in her very descriptive penmanship she’d written, “Yoga with Atlas” on Wednesday evening. Guess I wouldn’t be painting that night.