She walked lazily down the stairs. She was dressed to run but her heart wasn't in it today. It had been a hard couple of days and usually when that happened running helped her sort it out and think. But in this case, she knew what the problem was. She was just exhausted from the stress of a case dealing with a particularly dangerous artifact.

She walked into the living room at caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of movement. She turned her head towards the motion and saw a hardened chest moving up and down slowly. Her eyes moved down ward to hardened abs and her eyes inadvertently followed a happy trail she found there down to where his shorts started. Her eyes swept back up again and saw that Pete was lifting his body on the door frame. Despite herself she found her stare transfixed, watching his body moving up and down, appreciating the way his abs flexed along with his biceps as he fought to maintain control.

She licked her lips unconsciously, suddenly all feeling of exhaustion fleeting from her body. He dropped his body easily down to the floor and turned to see her standing on the stairs.

"Hey, there you are." He gave her a sheepish grin.

"Was I missing?"

"No, I was just waiting on you." He walked towards her slowly, almost as if to not scare her. "I was gonna go run with you."

"Why?" she asked hands on her hips. Instead of seeming to be angry, it only served to direct his gaze to her to the bare skin over her pants and below her sports bra. The skin was smooth, muscles were toned. He looked back up to her face and saw her frustration mounting, the longer he took to answer.

"Well you know. The other day we were talking and you got me thinking. I haven't kept up with working out like I should since we've been here. And I know what time you run every day, and…"

"I do not run at the same time every day."

"Right, you either run at 7 am or at 3 pm. I was REALLY hoping for the 3 pm one today."

She rolled her eyes at him, up to the ceiling so that her gaze would be diverted from his bare chest. She usually preferred to run alone but seeing as she wasn't actually feeling the run today she didn't argue.

"Fine. But only if you can keep up."

----------------------------

Side by side, stride for stride. She was actually surprised that he could keep up so well. He hadn't been out for a run that she knew of in weeks.

They reached her half way point and turned around. She could feel and hear his breathing coming heavier now that they were on the home stretch. But he never slowed his pace, matching her with all the strength and endurance he had. She was actually impressed.

They neared the bed and breakfast, and just to mess with him, she sped up the pace. She sprinted towards to finish line and he followed suit.

They collapsed on the grass outside the B and B. his chest was slick from sweat, breath coming in and out heavily. She lay down next to him, breathing hard herself. They sat there for just a moment, not saying a word.

She lifted her right leg into the air and grabbed the toes, pulling out her hamstrings. His eyes trailed from her tennis shoes down her long leg to the place where that leg joined with the toned abs. He couldn't help the small groan that came out.

"What's wrong, Pete? Did I hurt you?"

"Ugh, not with the run." She raised her eyebrow at him and smiled slowly. She sat up and spread her legs towards him, grabbing one foot and then the next. He couldn't decide whether to stare at her breast that were quite visible over the top of her sports bra, or somewhere just a little further south.

He decided to just roll over and put his face in the grass. That at least would keep him out of trouble. It also had the added bonus of giving her the view of his ass, though of course he didn't expect her to look. But he caught her starring when he glanced her way.