Falling For Autumn

His lips curled to the side in a smirk. “I’ll tell you exactly what I’m thinking if you tell me your secret.” When she remained quiet, he continued, “Or are you too scared of what I may think if you tell me your secret?”

She didn’t answer at first and he felt as if he was holding his breath for her answer. Squinting her eyes together, she leaned a little closer to him. “Your pupils are changing colors,” she said softly.

“That happens on occasion.”

“I know. And that’s part of the reason why I won’t tell you my secret.”

He scrunched his forehead in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“When I don’t understand something, I study it to try to figure it out.”

“Am I to assume I’m your latest study?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Are you saying I should be studying you, then?”

“Certain things about you do pique my curiosity,” she responded. “So to answer your first question, I’m not too scared of what you may think.”

“Then, why can’t you tell me your secret?”

At the sound of footsteps, she lowered her voice. “I can’t tell you my secret because I’m worried of what you may do.”

As Jaleen entered followed by a couple of the guys, Ajay was still contemplating Autumn’s words. She may not have wanted to tell him the secret, but she’d revealed what type of secret it was without indulging the information completely. What she didn’t understand about him was that her statement wasn’t going to make him stop asking. If anything, he wanted to know what she was hiding even more.

* * *

A bunch of arrogant males vying for her attention she could handle, but there was one hot-blooded male in the room who was occupying all of her thoughts. She could kill Winter for pushing back their meeting time. At least she felt a little more like her normal self. Now all she needed to do was convince Luke, one of Taheim’s groomsmen, to take a few steps out of her personal space.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

She sighed. Just like Jaleen, Luke was attractive. Both men could have their pick of women in Chicago. The main reason Autumn didn’t entertain their flirtatious ways was the muscular man observing her in the corner of the room sporting tattoos so sexy she wished she could trace them with her tongue.

Since it was mid-August, the fall season was right around the corner and she had gotten a chance to see Ajay’s bare, muscular arms only a few times. He was always wearing some type of blazer or long-sleeved shirt despite the heat. His urban style wasn’t something she usually found attractive, but Ajay was giving a whole new meaning to the term fashionable street wear.

He was rough around the edges, but smooth on the corners. A definite charmer from what she could tell, but he wasn’t the type of man who had to try to get attention. Women were just drawn to him. Unlike Jaleen and Luke, he wasn’t in your face, but rather the silent assassin who struck when you least expected it. He seemed like a simple guy, but he had layers, and damn her curiosity for wanting to see what other coatings he had.

“So tell me, Autumn, is there someone special in your life?”

“No, there isn’t. What about you?”

“No one as mesmerizing as you.”

Oh, Lord, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Strike one. She was all for a little harmless flirting, but this was becoming a little too much.

“So tell me, Luke, what is so mesmerizing about me?”

“That’s easy,” he said with his eyes smiling. “I’m mesmerized by your beauty.”

“Okay, what else?”

He leaned a little closer to her and she was tempted to tell him to lay off the cologne next time. “And your eyes are beautiful.”

“Anything not related to my looks?”

“I’m blinded by your beauty, but mesmerized by your entire package.”

Strike two. She wondered why men thought complimenting a woman’s entire package was a good thing. He could think it. But to say it?

“My package? All physical, or is there something about my personality that’s included in that?”

“Of course there is, sweetheart.” He flicked her chin with his finger and she barely heard whatever answer he gave. Strike three. Do not touch me unless I give you the signal to do so. She definitely had not given him the signal. She never was the touchy-feely type.

Her phone buzzed and she read the text from Winter saying that she was ready. She glanced back at Luke, wondering if he had any idea that her sister’s text had just saved him from a few of her choice words. Since she still had to see Luke for all the wedding stuff, she was glad she’d gotten the message.

“I have to go,” she said, standing up from the stool.

“We should go out sometime.”

“No, thanks.”

“Maybe you want to reconsider.” He gave her what she assumed was his sexy face. She wasn’t feeling it.

“Hmm, no need. My answer will still be no. You, on the other hand, will find some other poor soul to spit lines to.” She laughed to mask the jab.

“You’ll be sorry,” he yelled after her playfully.

“Doubt it.” She was glad he didn’t seem bitter about it. Probably the only thing about him that she actually liked was that he didn’t get bent out of shape too easily.

She said her goodbyes to the entire room, trying to flee Jaleen’s condo before any of the guys decided they wanted to flirt some more. Right before she was out of the room, she noticed Ajay glance at his phone and assumed he’d just heard from Taheim. He glanced at her and smiled. She thought about the words she’d heard him say when he was talking to Jaleen. On one hand, she was glad that he found her attractive but wasn’t acting on it. On the other hand, she was dying to know what on earth was making him hold back.

Chapter 3 (#ulink_3e8e19a6-9872-53ef-94bd-43584a0aeaee)

Of all the workouts her sister had decided to try before the wedding, hot yoga was by far Autumn’s favorite.

“That’s it, ladies and gentleman. Take a deep breath and exhale.”

Autumn maintained her tree pose as she concentrated on her breathing and listened to the instructor. As usual, she had to ignore the grunts from Danni and Winter, who didn’t enjoy hot yoga nearly as much as she did. She wasn’t sure if it was the fact that the temperature in the room was currently set to ninety degrees, or if it was because both the women liked to chat when they worked out, and yoga definitely did not allow that. Regardless, Autumn knew they continued to go only because she had fallen in love with it.

As they moved into another pose and she heard another groan from the ladies, she inwardly laughed as she reflected on the time she’d convinced them to try Bikram yoga. Bikram yoga was slightly different from hot yoga because the poses were more complex and the room had to be at 105 degrees at all times. After one class, Danni and Winter hadn’t been able to walk without wobbling for a few days.

“Now let’s move into our cooldown.”

This was her favorite part of the entire class. She did some of her best thinking during the end of class when her body was in full-relaxation mode. She wished that she’d discovered yoga when she was in high school and college. She’d heard about it, but never tried it before. Had she known she would feel so much more content after an hour of turning her body in poses she never thought possible, she would have possibly entertained a career as an instructor.

There weren’t too many things in her life that made her feel normal. It wasn’t that she wanted to be like everyone else, but sometimes she tired of being the oddball. The opinionated woman who didn’t like weddings, who used to hide just how smart she was for fear of not being accepted. Social gatherings weren’t her thing. She enjoyed talking to people, but sometimes it just felt as if people didn’t enjoy talking to her. She was awkward. She knew it. She embraced it. But every now and then she wondered what it would be like to not feel more different than everybody else.

“That’s all, folks. See you next week.”