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“What’d you think?” I asked her.
She exhaled a small laugh. “That was … intense. But one of the best workouts I’ve ever had.”
“Excellent.” I held out my hand. “I’m Isabel, the manager.”
“Brenleigh.” She pointed at the ring in the center of the gym. “I was just glad you didn’t make us hop up in there for some ass-kicking.”
“Nah, we wait until at least your second class for that. You bought the ten-class punch card, right?”
Brenleigh nodded. “I came in yesterday after I saw one of your Insta posts about the special you’re running.” Her cheeks were already flushed from class, but when she glanced around, the red deepened even further. “Is it true that Aiden Hennessy is the new owner?”
“That is true. We’re very excited to work with him.”
Excited. Terrified. Hiding from him. Whatever.
She licked her lips and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Is he, like, taking one-on-one clients or anything? You know, like, private training sessions.”
Ahh. The fangirls were starting to descend. Now this was something I hadn’t anticipated. I knew he had plans to do some training sessions, but no formal coaching like some speculated he might after he retired. So a co-ed coming in and asking for private sessions … that was not in my managerial wheelhouse. It wasn’t in my personal wheelhouse either. My ability to fake it with people was about as stellar as my cooking skills.
I sucked at both.
Now that I looked at her more carefully, she was wearing one of those sports bras that wasn’t really a sports bra, the kind that flashed more cleavage than a Victoria’s Secret ad.
Gawd, I sounded like such a judgy bitch. So I softened my smile. “Not that I know of, but he’s still getting settled. I’m sure in the next few weeks we’ll know a lot more. If he decides to take on clients, we’ll definitely post about it on our social, so keep an eye out.”
There. I sounded polite. Professional. Go me.
Brenleigh and her cleavage leaned in toward me. “What’s he like?” she asked, big brown eyes wide.
I paused. What did she want me to say?
“He seems very nice,” I answered diplomatically.
“I hope he’s not like, too nice.” She grinned. “What a disappointment, right? He can be hard on me any day.”
Then she bit down on her lip and giggled.
And it was the giggle, along with the criminal overuse of the word like, that had me imagining what it would be like for Brenleigh if I like, elbowed her in the face.
It wasn’t her fault, not really, because what Miss Brenleigh and her strappy bra and her burning curiosity did was nothing more than hold a mirror up in front of my face. Something about him turned me a little crazy and made me feel like I was Brenleigh. A caricature of the worst side of me.
The silly, unsubstantial side.
Even though it killed me to do so, I kept my smile firmly in place. “Are there any other questions about the workout today? I’d be happy to review anything since I didn’t get a chance to talk to you before class started. Normally, I’d go over the basic moves if this was your first time.”
She waved a hand in the air. “Nah, I’m good. Will he like, be here tomorrow if I come back for your four o’clock class?”
“I couldn’t say. He doesn’t have a set schedule.” I shrugged. “Perks of being the owner.”
Brenleigh sighed. “I guess. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks!”
And she bounced off. Actually, physically bounced. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
As she walked toward the front, where she sat on a bench to change her shoes, I did a lap around the bags, snagging two water bottles that had been left behind and a few wipes dumped just outside the garbage container. Only a few people were using the weight machines, with one person on the treadmills facing the TV Amy had installed a couple of years earlier.
My office was quiet when I walked in, and when I took a deep breath, I caught the slightest whiff of something masculine.
I sank into the chair and dropped my head in my hands. He wasn’t even here, and I could smell him. That was when I noticed the sweatshirt folded on the edge of my desk. He was wearing it at the meeting and must’ve left it. My fingers reached for the edge, tugging it toward me before I thought too hard about what I was doing.
