Chapter 3
1560 Words
HOLLY
“C’mon, three more reps!”
I pushed hard, through the pain, feeling the burn in my thighs as the platform above me moved smoothly up and down. I always loved the leg press machine. The sheer amount of weight on each side made you feel like you could put up really big numbers.
“Two more…”
Except today, when I was doing it for the first time in months.
“Another two…”
“Hey!” I grunted. “You said that last rep!”
“Yeah, well you half-assed that one,” Dylan barked. “I don’t accept half-reps. If you followed through you’d be done by now.”
I reached down into my core and pushed, shoving the weights away and finishing out my set. My perfectly-sculpted trainer engaged the locking clamp just as my legs went limp.
“There you go,” he smirked back at me. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
I gave Dylan my dirtiest playful look. “No. It was absolutely perfect.”
“Perfection is when I can bounce a quarter off your ass,” he shot back. His look went stern. “But you already know what I’m going to say next, don’t you?”
“Yeah yeah,” I acknowledged. “It wouldn’t hurt this bad if I came on a regular basis.”
He nodded as he threw me my towel. “Damn straight.”
I mopped my forehead as I looked Dylan up and down. As always he was flawless, from his square jaw and handsomely stubbled chin right down to his powerful biceps and rock-hard abs.
Jesus, did his arms get bigger?
It was the first time I’d actually seen him since my breakup. The first time I could really drink him in without feeling guilty, as if I were doing something wrong. Our playful banter was something I looked forward to during our sessions. It was cute and funny, and it also kept me in line.
“Fitness is like a relationship,” he finally winked. “You can’t cheat and expect it to work.”
In reality I wasn’t cheating. I’d been coming the last few weeks, I’d just been avoiding him.
“You avoiding me, Holly?” he squinted.
Shit, it was like he read my mind.
“No sir.”
“Then where have you been?”
“Around.”
“Not around here,” he said. “At least not while I’m in the gym.”
“Why?” I flirted playfully. “You been looking for me?”
Damn. That was bold! It also wasn’t like me at all.
“I look out for everybody,” he smiled. “But you especially.”
It felt good, being able to flirt with him like this. To be free of Malcolm, who’d always thought my personal training sessions were a huge waste of money. “Why pay for something you can do yourself?” he’d argued often. “You’re already paying for a gym membership. Do you really need to throw extra money at someone to stand over you?”
With any other boyfriend, I would’ve chalked it up to jealousy. After all, Dylan was gorgeous. But with Malcolm… not so much. Like always, he was just being cheap.
“So when did it end?”
Dylan’s deep, velvety voice brought me back to reality. I stared up him curiously. “Huh?”
“Your relationship. You broke up with your boyfriend, didn’t you?”
My confusion was suddenly replaced with astonishment. I was stunned.
“How do you kno—”
“Because you didn’t talk about him at all,” Dylan interjected. “Not once, during our entire session. Usually you talk about him a lot, whenever I work you out.”
“I do?”
“Yes,” he smiled. “Nothing good, usually. He sounds… well…”
“Go on,” I smiled. “You can say it.”
Our eyes locked. My personal trainer hesitated, sizing me up a little before continuing. “He sounds like a cheap, controlling asshole.”
I laughed as I popped the top off my water bottle. “Bingo.”
“So you broke up with him?”
I wish. Suddenly I felt very foolish. As if the other people in my life could see something obvious I was totally missing. Missing for a very long time.
“Something like that.”
“So then tell me,” he said. “If you’re single, and you obviously have more time on your hands… why are you avoiding me?”
I stared back at him, feeling like a deer caught in a pair of steel blue headlights. There was no use lying to him. He’d know immediately, before I even finished constructing the sentence.
“I— I’m kinda strapped for cash,” I admitted humbly. “I don’t have a car anymore, so I’m saving up for one.”
His expression softened. I saw a welcome understanding in his eyes, as all judgment went out the window.
“I can’t afford too many sessions right now,” I said. “So I was thinking of cutting back my sessions. Maybe only coming—”
“You’re a personal shopper, right?”
I blinked. It was the last thing I expected him to say.
“Yes.”
“Well Christmas is coming,” said Dylan. “And I’ve got a ton of people to buy for. Friends, family, small gifts I usually give to clients…”
His voice had changed also. It was still beautiful, still wonderfully deep and sexy. But it was smoother now. Much more casual.
“How about we trade?” he smiled warmly. “Some personal training sessions for some personal shopping?”
He had the best smile. It brought mine out as well.
“You’d do that?”
“I’d actually love to do that!” he said excitedly. “Can’t tell the gym though.” Dylan rolled his beautiful eyes. “It’s against policy, or something equally stupid.”
“O—Okay,” I stammered.
All of a sudden my heart was racing. The idea of shopping for this incredible man, of getting to know him on a more personal level… there was something as intimidating as there was appealing about it.
“Gotta do something to get you in here,” Dylan laughed. “You need an excuse to show up more.”
I had to stop myself from turning about ten shades of red.
“Maybe I need a little more incentive?”
Holy s**t! Did you really just say that?
“Then maybe I should just take you out on Saturday,” he countered smoothly. “How’s that for incentive?”
For a couple of seconds, time stopped. It was all I could do to keep my mouth from hanging open.
“I… I work on Saturday.”
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!
“Do you work at night?”
I swallowed hard. “No...”
“Then I’ll take you out then. Unless you—”
“No no,” I jumped in. “I, uh… I mean Saturday night is good.”
Dylan set his hands on hips as I let out a relieved breath. I couldn’t believe how close I’d come to screwing things up.
“Then it’s settled. Dinner, you and me, Saturday night. We can discuss the terms of our trade, and—”
“BURKE!”
We both whirled in the direction of the voice. Behind the front desk, the gym’s owner — a man I knew only as Eddie — was staring daggers at us. Or more specifically, at Dylan.
“You’ve got an eight O’clock who’s been waiting five minutes already,” the owner growled.
“Yeah, we’ll she’s ten minutes early,” Dylan shot back.
Eddie’s return scowl told me everything I needed to know next. Dylan’s shoulders didn’t slump an inch. He remained defiant in the face of the big, red-headed man. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither one of them willing to look away.
“It’s okay,” I said, pulling Dylan’s attention back to me. “Go. Do your thing.”
“You’re my thing,” he said. “At least until I’m done with you.”
I smiled sweetly. “Well, are you done with me?”
“For now,” he grinned back.
My stomach felt like a butterfly zoo. I couldn’t believe this was happening. Dylan! Asking me out! And this time there was no doubt about it. This time it was most definitely going to be a date…
I couldn’t wait to tell Aubrey.
“I’ll text you,” he said, before turning away. “But remember: Saturday night, you and me.”
I nodded mechanically. Like a schoolgirl being talked to by her biggest crush.
“Okay.”
“Be hungry,” he ordered. “But for right now? Treadmill. Thirty minutes. And I’d better see sweat when you leave.”
Damn. I was hoping he’d forgotten.
“I’ll do my best,” I said. “Been a few weeks though, so I’ll have to go slow.”
Dylan chuckled as he walked away. “No matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping everybody on the couch.”
- Writer
