Out of the corner of my eye I watched him casually walk into the aerobics room. Sweat from his warm-up run had dampened the front of his light gray t-shirt and the bright overhead lighting in the room made the perspiration glisten off the tan of his bare arms. As he walked toward the water station to refill his cup with ice, water and lemon he briefly glanced at the mirrored walls to check his appearance and it was then that I knew that this must be Jason, the guy that my friend Alison had told me about.

I have to admit she was absolutely right about him. His playing tennis, running and working out did indeed leave him pretty buff looking, plus he was still sporting a nice dark tan from the vacation he had taken last month. As my eyes leisurely wandered over his body from head to toe I wondered if his vacation had left him with any tan lines, and I decided right then and there that I was going to find out. At that point in time I had no plan to actually fuck the guy, let alone let him seed me and get me pregnant. That was Alison's goal after all, not mine. No, all I wanted to do was to tease the guy. I would heat him up and he could cool himself off without my help, thank you very much.

After replenishing his water he turned and scanned the room again, studiously avoiding the men and only checking out the woman populating the rows of stationary bicycles, treadmills and elliptical training machines that filled the floor, searching for the source of the staring eyes that I knew he could feel on his body. I decided that it was time to set the hook, and so I allowed him to catch me looking at him, pretending to be doing my best not to make eye contact with him, pretending to read the fashion magazine that was layed out on the holder at the bottom of the display panel of my elliptical machine. 'You're busted, Jason' I smirk to myself as he looks in my direction, making sure that I can feel his return stare. I make eye contact with him, hold is stare long enough to let him know that I have been the one admiring him, then glance down at the display panel of my machine. Out of the corner of my eye I watch him make his way toward me.

After getting the 411 on Jason from Alison I figured I would eventually run into him, and that's why tonight I am dressed for success. I'm wearing my black running tights and pink cross-training shoes, and my white Adidas t-shirt is just short enough so that each time I move upward on the elliptical my midriff gets bared, showing off the silver stud in my newly-pierced belly button. My brunette hair is wavy and tied back in a pony tail that swings back and forth as I work out, kind of like the way a matador would work his cape in front of the bull that he is fighting, except in this case the bull is Jason. I'm a few inches shorter than him, and have been told by more than one man on more than one occasion that I have a good body and an even better bust. I glance up again, catching his eye as he nears me and give him a brief smile, then go back to pretending to read the fashion mag in front of me. In that one quick look I can tell that he's already decided that I am worth his while, especially since I made the first move, and in his mind he is trying to determine how fuckable I really am.

As luck would have it the elliptical trainer right next to me has become free and before anyone else can grab it Jason hustles over and climbs on board. Most men don't realize this, but one of the easiest, non-threatening ways to engage a woman in conversation is to pretend that you - the man - are confused about something that she can clearly help you out with. Who knows? Maybe our mothering instinct kicks in, or maybe our ability to help a man allows us to put whatever insecurities and self doubts we have aside for the moment. Like I said, most men surprisingly have never learned this simple fact of life, but apparently Jason has. As he climbs on board the elliptical, each foot firmly planted on a pedal to keep his balance, he studies the instructions flashing on the display and I can tell that the poor thing is honestly confused. I hit the pause button on my machine, take my feet off the pedals and straddle the support bars, then reach over and with my freshly manicured deep plum red forefinger I point at the button labeled 'Quick Start'. I feel a slight tingling sensation as Jason's gaze runs slowly along my fingertips to the back of my hand, then past my wrist and up my tanned arm, allowing him to appreciate the beauty of my smooth, soft skin.

"Hi, my name's Jason," he introduces himself with just the right amount of calculated embarrassment in his voice. Looking deep into my coffee colored eyes he adds, "This might sound silly, but I've never used one of these things before."

"No worries. It's really easy. Let me show you," I say, returning his greeting. I balance myself on the side rails of my elliptical. "My name's Bonnie," I extend him my hand to shake, letting him think that everything was going according to his plan. Despite my trying to be as devious as possible, damned if my female nurturing instinct didn't kick in and I spent the next minute giving him the beginner's tour of how to use an elliptical trainer.

As our short instructional class came to an end Jason decided to double down his complimenting of me. "Geez, you make this seem really simple. I don't think I could have figured it out on my own." Then, after a short pause and an admiring nod toward my body, "By the way, I really like your tan. It looks like I'm not the only one who just came back from vacation."

I smile, and for the second time during our brief time together catch myself being pleased that I please him. "Turks and Caicos. Just got back last week. How about you?"

"Went to Greece to do some sailing. Near Santorini Island. So you and your boyfriend must really like the beach?"

I grin at his not-so-innocent use of the word 'boyfriend' to probe me, trying to discover whether I am coupled with anyone at the moment, and decide not to answer. Instead I hit the 'Cool Down' button on my display to signal the end of my workout. I have to admit that I admired the way he was playing things. He knew I was interested in him but didn't want to make me feel that I was being too easy, instead paying me the compliment of making sure my curiosity was piqued.

"We should trade phone numbers. Maybe have dinner some time . . . ?" he asks as I gather my workout towel that is hanging next to the handle bars of the elliptical. Bingo. I just love it when a plan comes together.