Page 2 of Tiger on the Prowl

“Very funny!”

“Honestly, just put on your big girl pants and ask him,” Claire urged her and opened the door to Namaste.

Inside the gym, they both signed in, then walked to the yoga room. Outside the door, they took off their shoes, and left their bags in one of the open lockers.

When they entered with their yoga mats, several other students were already assembled, their yoga mats laid out in an orderly pattern. Unfortunately, the first row was already taken, so Olivia had to place her mat in the second row. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who lusted after Jay. The middle-aged housewives in the first row weren’t immune to his charm either. When the door opened again behind her, the four women in the first row turned their heads.

Were they wearing make-up? For a yoga class? How pathetic. Olivia sighed, but didn’t turn her head to see who’d entered, trying not to make it too obvious that she couldn’t wait for Jay to arrive.

From her seated position, gaze downward, she caught a glimpse of the instructor’s bare feet as he walked to the front of the class. They were white. She lifted her head and stared at him. This wasn’t Jay.

“Morning, all. I’m Mathias. I’ll be filling in for Jay today.” The pale, spindly guy who couldn’t be older than twenty-five set his drink bottle next to his yoga mat. Yep, that was definitely a kale shake.

Disappointment swept through Olivia.

“That’s the second week now,” Claire whispered next to her.

Olivia glanced at her. “Do you think he’s sick?”

Claire shrugged.

“Let’s start with some deep breathing this morning,” Mathias said.

The entire hour Olivia went through the motions, not really enjoying the exercises like she did when Jay taught the class. Instead of feeling relaxed and invigorated, she felt worried and stressed. She couldn’t wait for the class to end, and the moment Mathias released the class with the customary Namaste, she was already at the door. Rapidly, she put on her sneakers, grabbed her possessions, and went to the front desk.

Amber, the owner of the studio stood behind the computer.

“Hey, Olivia, good session?” she asked.

“Yeah thanks, though, I’m surprised Jay wasn’t teaching. Nothing against Mathias,” she added, not wanting to let Amber think that the replacement instructor wasn’t any good. “But I just like the way Jay teaches the class. Is he sick?”

Amber let out an annoyed huff. “Your guess is as good as mine. He hasn’t been answering his phone. Frankly, I’m so pissed at him that if he does finally call me back, he can look for another studio. I need reliable people.”

“Oh,” Olivia said. “Maybe something happened to him?”

Amber shrugged. Then the phone rang, and she picked it up.

Now more worried than disappointed, Olivia went outside. A moment later, Claire caught up with her.

“So what’s wrong with Jay?” Claire asked.

“Amber didn’t know. Apparently he’s not answering his phone. I have a bad feeling about it. What if something happened to him?”

“You mean like an accident?” She shook her head. “If that were the case, I’m sure somebody would have notified the studio.” Then she grimaced. “People are flakes. Better you find out now. Or do you really want a guy who’s gonna ghost you after he got what he wanted?”

“Of course not, but he never struck me as a flake.”

No, Jay was the serious kind of guy. Almost a little buttoned-up, and she couldn’t imagine that he would not show up for his class without an explanation. Not for two weeks in a row. Something was wrong. But how could she figure out what?