Annika choked on her spit, which prompted a coughing fit. Taking advantage of her inability to form words, Hudson spoke up. “Oh, Annika’s very generous.”

Seetha smiled, winked, and kept moving.

Once she could breathe again, Annika glared at him. Around them, people were turning to their partners with smiles and murmurs of encouragement. Must be nice. “Why do you want to partner with me, anyway?”

Hudson studied her for a long moment, his green eyes flickering with something she didn’t understand. “I don’t know.” Then, seeming to catch himself, he added, with a raised thick blond eyebrow, “That vein on your forehead’s about to assault me. Are you sure you’re a practiced yogi?”

Annika groaned.

“All right, now I’d like to teach you all a new partner pose,” Seetha said from the front of the class. “It behooves us all to remember that life is a partnership between us and all the other sacred creatures sharing our planet.

“Today I want us to practice ardha matsyendrasana, aka the ‘half lord of the fishes’ pose, with our partners. Before we begin, I’d like the yogi on the right—as you’re facing the front of the room—to walk over to the mat of the yogi on your left. You’ll both be sitting cross-legged on the same mat for this exercise. Right-hand yogis, please sit behind your partner.”

Annika got up stiffly, and without making eye contact, went and sat behind Hudson. He obliged by moving forward a few inches. Did he have to be so arrogantly tall? He towered over her so much, she couldn’t see Seetha. Instead, she studied his back, inhaling deeply to find her center again. Even though he had a fine sheen of sweat on him, he smelled really good, like a combination of light soap, deodorant, and his own scent. Without warning, a memory of a time they’d been this close almost knocked Annika over.

They’d started drinking at the bar, and then, out of nowhere, Annika had invited him to her hotel room, surprising even herself. Later, she would think about it and realize it had been an incremental sort of thing, her lust thermometer creeping up with each quiet observation—the alpha way he strode up the stairs to take the stage and give a presentation that held their peers in thrall. Once they’d begun to form a friendship over the week of the conference, she’d been captivated by the way he bowed his head, his big hand cupped around a pencil and his eyes sparking as he outlined the ideas rattling around in his mind. But all of that would be a post-analysis. In the moment, Annika had known only that she wanted—needed—to be with this man.