Page 6 of Bridal Boot Camp

“Give him a chance how? I already let him be in my class, with, I might add, the mayor’s wife, despite the fact that for all we know he could be a raving psycho.”

“Not that kind of chance. Go to ukulele night.”

“What?” My voice cracked. “No way.”

“It says it’s open to the public.”

“Yeah, it also says there’ll be children there. You know how I feel about children. They’re sticky-fingered germ factories. Except yours, of course.”

“Rob, I know you like to act tough, but I also know that deep down inside, you’re a big softie who cries at weddings and is obsessed with rom-coms.”

“Ugh,” I said, and swung away from the desk to head for the water cooler. “I do not cry at weddings. And I should never have told you that thing about rom-coms. Now I have to kill you. Anyway, I teach yoga on Wednesday nights. You know that.”

“I’ll teach the class for you.”

“Oh, just like that, huh?”

“Just like that. In fact, if you go, I’ll teach every Wednesday yoga class for you for a month... but give you the money.”

I stared at her. “No way.”

“Way.”

“Oh, come on, Jen. Even if I did go to his stupid ukulele thing and things worked out, what would be the point? You know we can’t date clients.”

“He’s hardly a client, Rob. He’s taken one class.”

“It’s still unethical.”

“How? It’s not like you’re his personal trainer.”

I leaned down to fill my water bottle from the cooler. “I don’t think you heard the part where I said no way. Besides, he made a point of not mentioning to me what it is he does Wednesday nights. Patrick thought he was in AA.”

“Probably because unlike most of the guys we get in here, he didn’t want to brag about himself, which is a refreshing change. Why can’t you just go? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Uh, I could fall in love with him and he could turn out to be a two-timing jerk who steals my stuff and breaks my heart?”

“Or he could turn out to be really sweet and you two could have a great time together.”

I switched off the water with a disgusted snort. “Please.”

“Good things do happen to people, Robbie.”

“In movies. Not to me.”

“Is this about your parents?”

I felt myself flush. And I do not flush. “Don’t drag them into this.”

“How can I not when I know they’re what this is about?”

“This is not about them.”

“Rob, you had parents who wouldn’t take care of themselves, which is how you ended up in a helping profession, then had a run of bad luck in the romance department—”

“You’re calling what Pete did to me bad luck?”

“Yes. But you, more than anyone, are due for a break, and maybe this guy is it. You’re never going to know if you don’t take a risk. That’s what all those women, and men, in that class you teach every year are doing—taking a risk on love. Why can’t you?”