The Trade Read Online Free PDF Page A

bang.
    BANG, BANG, BANG.
    "Hey sleepy-head, get up,” Tonia called
through the door. Jay, realizing what had happened, leaped out of
bed and rushed to the door. Opening it he saw Tonia with her fist
raised ready to pound again. She rapped gently on his forehead.
    “ Good morning silly. Your
are so not ready to go,” Tonia teased. Jay knew he was in
for it.
    "Uh, just give me a minute,” he answered.
    "Running on three legs this morning are we?"
Tonia asked. Jay suddenly realized that while he'd slept, dreaming
about Tonia, he'd become aroused. He blushed three shades of red
and turned away from her.
    "I'll be ready in five minutes okay?" Jay
asked. She narrowed her eyes, enjoying his early morning panic and
plain embarrassment.
    "Five,” she said.

    "So where are we going?" Jay asked.
    "That depends on how far you want to run,"
Tonia answered.
    "Oh I don't know, 5 or 6 miles I guess,” Jay
said casually, like he ran that far every day, which he didn't. Two
or three miles a day was more like it.
    “ Will your hand stand up to
that much punishment?” she asked.
    They both looked at his swollen, discolored
hand.
    “ No problem,” he boasted.
“I won’t be running on my hands.” Tonia scanned him from top to
bottom, took a good hard look at his hand, then decided.
    "Alrighty then, let's get a cab to Central
Park and do a loop up there okay?"
    "Sure six isn't too far for you?" Jay asked
Tonia. He had no idea what kind of shape Tonia Taggert was in. She
turned to look sideways at him.
    "Not for me,” she said casually. For the
first time Jay noticed how trim she was. Yesterday she'd been in
loose fitting clothing and he'd been staring in her eyes, at her
hair, at her lips. This morning, as they waited for a cab, his eyes
drank in her body.
    She was wearing blue Lycra running tights.
Her calves were developed and firm. Her thighs were thin yet toned
and sculpted with muscles. Her rear end was high and tight. Jay was
slowly coming to the realization that he might not be able to keep
up with her. She seemed to be in great shape. His eyes tracked
higher on her figure. She wore a t-shirt from a 5K race on Long
Island.
    It was one size too small so Jay could
clearly make out her trim waist and small well-shaped breasts. Her
shoulders were a little wider than most. He figured she must lift
weights of some type. Tonia Taggert was certainly an athletic woman
of the nineties. Jay smiled.
    Tonia caught him scrutinizing her and noted
his smile.
    "Well?" she asked sharply, "Are we going to
get a cab or what?"
    "Yeah right,” Jay answered. He figured to try
to bluff his way out of being caught staring at her. "How did you
do in that 5K in...?” He leaned closer trying to fake reading the
small lettering on the shirt.
    "Nice try,” she said, spinning away and
diving into the arriving cab.
    "Are you coming?" Tonia called. Jay dived in
beside her. The ride to Central Park passed quickly while Tonia
pointed out some landmarks to her tourist running date.

    "Ready?" Tonia asked.
    "Ready as I'll ever be,” Jay answered. They
finished their stretching and started off at a slow pace. Jay
noticed that there seemed to be a large number of rolling hills in
Central Park. He'd just assumed that since it was New York that
everything would be flat. Six miles was one thing, six rolling,
hilly miles was something completely different. After leaving the
steep hills of his rural home behind, he’d succumbed to the
flatlands of southwestern Ohio. His speed had increased, but his
endurance had decreased. He broke a sweat, partly from the jogging
and partly from wondering if his slightly hung over body would last
through six miles. He should have gone straight to bed when he got
back from the game. He should not have stayed up half the night
playing Centipede in the World Trade Arcade.
    "So you never answered my question,” Jay
said.
    "What question, silly?" Tonia asked.
    "How'd you do in that race?" he asked,
pointing at her shirt.
    "You really