Her words gave me a pick-me-up, and I smiled at her. “Deal.”

“Me, too!”

I rolled my eyes as Aaron raised his hand. “Back to work.”

I closed the office door behind me and collapsed into my chair. It felt great to have the support of my employees, and Dawn’s admission along with the support of some of my other employees had me thinking more and more about opening a place on my own.

The gym may have been Monica’s idea, but it’d been my skill that got it off the ground and gave it four successful years. With us no longer together, our working relationship had gone from strained to bad. Our business was suffering because of it and had become a sinking ship in my mind.

Dex had a large client base that Monica was shifting to Shone, and her degrading remarks to Dawn pissed me off. Dawn was the one to find and set up our scheduling software. She kept us a well-oiled machine. Alexa was not only a trainer but a nutritionist as well, and she and Monica did not mix well. Add in an eager Aaron, who was great with every member I’d seen him come in contact with, and they made for a great team.

I flipped through my contacts and pulled up the numbers for my lawyer, and my friend, Dave, who was a commercial real estate agent. It wasn’t the right time for it, but it was the necessary time to get things moving. For my own mental health, I needed to separate from Monica completely.

Aaron did a great job teaching the beginner’s boxing class. So well, in fact, a few of his students signed up for personal training with him. He seemed so excited.

The call with my lawyer went well, and he started the paperwork to separate me from Title Fitness. Luckily, we’d been talked into a Partnership Agreement when we opened up, something I was very thankful for as it was going to make what would’ve been a messy separation so much easier. However, I wasn’t happy when he told me it would take about ninety days for everything to settle and that he needed to meet with both of us.

In other words, I needed to get a new place very soon. There was bound to be a shit storm when Monica found out I planned on opening my own place with half our employees.

We had signed a five-year lease, and there were only ten months left on the contract. She could hop along by herself in that time.

For the first time in months, I felt pretty good, and nothing was going to knock me down—not even Monica’s persistent phone calls. My phone rang again on the drive to the gym, and for the fifth time in a row, I hit ignore. I knew she was pissed about the cancelled class. Two could play her little game.

As soon as I walked through the door, she was on me. “What did you do?”

“Why, sweet cheeks, whatever do you mean?”

Her face dropped at my condescending tone. I wasn’t the beaten-down man she saw a few days ago. I’d come back with a vengeance and a devilish streak.

“You’re a fucking asshole.”

“And you’re a fucking bitch.”

Her anger surged. “I set that class up for Shone.”

“Who doesn’t know shit about boxing. He knows what little he learned in my classes and the few attempts by you.” I leaned forward and glared at her. “He’s a gym rat, not a trainer.”

“He’s a great trainer.” Her jaw jutted forward.

I arched a brow at her and turned to Shone, folding my arms across my chest. “Where’s the sartorius muscle located?”

He gave me a blank stare. “Umm.” He looked to Monica for help. “It’s in the forearm, right here.” He gestured near his elbow.

“That’s the supinator or five other muscles in that area. The sartorius is the longest muscle on the body.” I drew a line with my finger down and around my thigh, then ended at the inside of my knee. “I figured it’d be pretty easy one to remember.” I shook my head and looked back at Monica. “Why’d you hire him?”

Her whole body tensed, vibrating from the force. “Shut up!”

“Shut up? That’s a terrible reason.”

She screeched and stomped off to our office, slamming the door. Objects crashed against the wall, breaking, and I was happy I’d gone through and taken any personal items and personal information home the prior day.

Dex walked up, complete shock written on his face. “Dude, what happened to you?”

I shrugged. “I gave in.”

“Gave in?”

“Gave up fighting everything. I’m going to have Hope and get Monica out of my life for good.”

“Have you talked to Hope? Did you fuck her?”

“No, but she works tonight.”

Dex slapped me on the back. “Good to see you again.”

I swung my arm to the side and punched his stomach. “Back to work.”

He rubbed his stomach and smiled. “Aye, aye, Capitano!”

I leaned against the front desk, smiling at Dawn. “Who’s on my hit list today?”

She reached out and gave me a high five. “Welcome back, boss.” She beamed at me. Was I really that far gone lately? “You’ve got Jason at two, followed by Sarah at three.”

I nodded. “Plenty of time for a workout. Thanks.” I patted the desk as I stepped away. “Yo, Dex!” His head popped up. “Workout?”

He gave me the thumbs-up and I moved to the locker room, a bit of a skip in my step that I didn’t even realize I’d been missing.

--oOo--

Cassie and her husband were keeping Mom company for the night, so I was in no rush to get home after my last client. It wasn’t a family dinner—those took place on Sundays—so I knew I wasn’t expected to be there.

I had someone to visit.

Still clad in my workout gear and my black t-shirt with the word “TRAINER” written across the back, I drove back to Union Jack’s to see the girl who made me crazy.

The hostess, Adriane, remembered me from the day before and sat me in Hope’s nearly empty section. I vibrated just knowing she was near. When she came out from behind the kitchen door, I shuddered and adjusted my hardening cock.

She stopped a few feet from the table and stared at me. “What are you doing here?”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from moaning at the view of her cleavage in her tank top. A ripple moved through every nerve in my body.

“I can’t have dinner and a drink?” I quirked my brow at her. Her movements were slow and cautious as she closed the last few feet. “Why are you acting so afraid of me?”

She slammed a napkin down on the table in front of me and glared. “What can I get you to drink?”

I smirked at her. “I’m not sure I can have what I want.”

She looked away, the buzzing heat between us increasing. “Dos Equis?”

I was pleasantly surprised that she remembered. “Water will do me for now.”

She backed up, nearly tripping on her own feet as she turned to head to the bar, an embarrassed blush flooding her face. She looked over at me a couple of times, and I stared straight at her. Last time, I was unprepared to see her again, but tonight, I was going to make sure she knew I wasn’t afraid of the intensity between us.

When she returned with my water and set the glass down, it slipped, tipping over and sloshing water onto the table. We both reached for it, and I barely managed to keep from touching her. The static current was still through the roof with how close we got. I couldn’t image how bad it would be when I actually got some skin-on-skin contact.

“Sorry.” She wiped away the spilled liquid with some napkins.

“Nothing to be sorry about, Hope.”

Her eyes fluttered as I said her name, eliciting the response I was going for. The muscles in her jaw tensed.

“Are you ready to order?”

“I’d like the spicy veggie wrap.”

“For your side?”

“Chips are fine.”

I handed her the menu, and she started to go, then stopped. “Why?”

I sighed, knowing exactly what she meant—the same thing I’d given up on asking. “Fuck if I know.”

She headed back into the kitchen, and I was left with a nearly empty area, nothing good on TV, and a water. Maybe I should’ve gotten the beer. Then again, the calories alone from the other night equated to about ten extra hours of cardio for my week. As much as I loved their pizza, I couldn’t handle it twice in one week.