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There were others gathered near enough to me; I suppose she could’ve been approaching them, but she was looking at me, and then she fucking smiled. At me.
It was the most amazing smile I’d ever seen, screaming, yes, I want you.
Holy shit, she was actually walking to me.
For some reason, I panicked, worried I was reading the signals all wrong yet knowing I wasn’t. I took a step forward to meet her halfway, then stopped. No, this was her show. I’d follow her lead, wherever she wanted it to go, be it a casual, platonic, how’re you liking the new hat? greeting to a full-on make-out-session hello. She wanted to be close to me—in front of everyone. This was amazing progress.
And the progress part was what I told all my clients to focus on.
I beamed back at her, trying not to fidget as I impatiently awaited her arrival to see what she’d do when her father of all people appeared at my side and threw an arm over my shoulder before asking, “So who was the pretty blonde you were with at the gym last weekend?”
I watched Bella stop short. Her eyes widened in horror, ending the beautiful moment we were having together right in its tracks.
And everything went south from there.
“What!?” I swung to Mason with a horrified glance.
What the hell was he talking about, anyway?
With a knowing nod, he sent me a little smile. “Last Saturday morning,” he clarified. “I was driving by and saw her chasing you out the door of the fitness center so she could give you something.”
Oh...
El.
I blew out a relieved breath. “No, no,” I told him, waving my hand to set his assumption straight. And I glanced Bella’s way to make sure she wasn’t thinking the same thing her father obviously was. But when I saw that her face had drained of color, I nearly bawled.
No! She’d been walking over to see me, too.
This could not be happening.
My mother just had to make things worse by appearing out of nowhere and looking at me curiously. “Are you seeing someone, Fox?” she asked.
Idiot me, I paused over the answer because, technically, that was a gray area. But I definitely wasn’t seeing anyone who was blond, that was for damn sure. “She was just a client,” I tried to explain.
Mom furrowed her brow in confusion. “You meet clients at the gym?”
“I meet them anywhere they need to meet,” I explained, only for Mason to snort.
“This girl certainly didn’t need fitness coaching, Felicity, I assure you that,” he told her, only to lift his brows my way. “And she didn’t look like a client when you hugged her, either.”
Ah, fuck. I ground my teeth, wishing I could strangle Mason right about now. I’d only hugged El because she’d helped me figure out what to do with Bella, but I couldn’t tell that to anyone here.
Dammit.
“I hug clients who need hugs,” I bit out irritably. “And if she looked like she was in such good shape, it’s because I’m a damn fine life coach, thank you very much.”
“Someone hired you to be their personal trainer?” someone else asked in disbelief. I didn’t even bother to check who it was because another voice followed that with, “Why didn’t she just hire an actual personal trainer?”
When others had to chime in with their nosy-ass opinions and speculations, I scowled at the room at large, realizing Bella was gone. Nowhere to be seen.
“People hire me for whatever needs they have,” I defended. “I also helped her find a job, since you all are so damn curious. And yes, our relationship is nothing but professional, not that my confidential client’s issues are any business of yours, anyway. Now, if you’ll excuse me...?
??
I pushed past Mason and my mother to go find Bella.
She definitely wasn’t in this room any longer. I checked the other sitting and dining rooms next. Then the kitchen. After glancing out the window to make sure she wasn’t in the backyard, I started snooping through all the bedrooms down the hall. None of Pick and Eva’s children lived at home any longer, but I could tell which room everyone had used as soon as I peeked inside. They were all still decorated the same way they’d been when they’d lived here as if just waiting for them to return.
