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“Fuse is blown.”
“Are you going to call someone to come fix it?”
My thumb tapped furiously on my thigh as I thought about my options. “I may not have to.”
I yanked out my phone and sent a text.
Me: You at the gym yet?
Kelly: Probably not for another hour, why?
Me: Nothing. Just trying to remember if I had a box of fuses in my office. Remember when Amy was having all those issues last year?
Kelly: Someone blew the fuse on the stereo in the middle of a Sunday afternoon class. YEAH, I REMEMBER. You ever tried to teach with only sound of your heavy breathing to motivate people?
Me: Thankfully, no.
With a glance at the dark kitchen, I decided that the very last thing I felt like doing was to wait around all day for an electrician. I went to find Emmett.
“If you don’t mind a road trip to the gym, we actually have some spare fuses in my office. There’s no point in paying someone to do this if I can figure it out myself.”
“Yeah, except if you blow the house up because you put the wrong fuse in.”
“Do you have that little faith in me?” I asked.
“You don’t know how to scramble eggs without burning them, Iz.” Emmett gave me a wide-eyed duh look.
I motioned to the front door. “Let’s go, punk. I’ll buy you breakfast on the way.”
Twenty minutes later, he was still inhaling the rest of his breakfast sandwich when we pulled into the parking lot at the gym.
The sight of a familiar black truck at the end of the lot had me utter a curse word under my breath.
Emmett held out his hand. I tossed my entire wallet at him. “Take a twenty, then I’m covered all weekend.”
His eyes were the size of the tires on Aiden’s truck. “Deal.”
I slid the car in park and turned to Emmett. “Okay, so my boss is in there. Be nice, be respectful, and don’t tell him anything embarrassing, okay?”
He shrugged. “What would I tell him that’s embarrassing?”
When we approached the front door, I glanced inside before I slid my new card in front of the scanner. Some lights were on, but not enough for me to see Aiden right off the bat.
As soon as we turned the corner around the half wall separating the front entry from the main gym area, I saw a small body lying like a starfish in the middle of the boxing ring. She was singing a song at the top of her lungs, completely unaware of our presence.
Emmett nudged me with his elbow. “Who’s that?”
Anya jumped up with a startled shriek, white-blond hair flying in all directions. But when she saw me, she smiled. “Miss Isabel!”
“Hey, kid. Nice singing,” I told her.
Aiden’s frame filled the doorway of his office.
Emmett climbed up into the ring with Anya, and they started running in circles. I sighed quietly. Now that there was someone to play with, this would not be a quick trip.
I jangled my keys against my leg as I approached Aiden. “Didn’t think anyone would be here.”
“I could say the same.” His eyes assessed me, head to toe, and I struggled not to fidget. It wasn’t like I got dolled up for work, but this was the first time he was seeing me bare-faced, hair a mess, and wearing the black joggers I’d slid on when I woke up. My white shirt was loose and comfortable, and it constantly slid off my shoulder, so it was painfully apparent that I wasn’t wearing a bra.
