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Clover crosses her arms over her chest and frowns. "Mr. Aldridge and I have a very different skill set, Mr. Hinton. I'm not sure a physical competition will be fair."
I wink at Russell when he glances my way. Clearly, he's trying to give me the win here without being too obvious about it.
Russell rubs his hand over his mouth, his eyes twinkling. "What I'm going to choose is a challenge that will be easy for neither of you. Ms. Weston, your area of specialty is yoga, correct?"
"Well, I like to think I have a variety of specialties. Yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, even the occasional spin class. If my clients want to improve their endurance on their morning runs, I can—"
Russell waves a hand. "You lost me after yoga, Ms. Weston. I know lifting heavy and hitting heavy things, I don't go in for all the new age mumbo jumbo. My point is, your specialty is the gentler areas of fitness."
"I wouldn't call Yoga gentle. I can—"
"And Asher is like me. He lifts heavy and hits heavy things."
Clover's lips are pursed like she's tasted something bad. Russell doesn't mean to come across as dismissive. He's just never been one to waste words or time. He's the same with me.
That's why I don't argue with him and point out my extensive training in plyometrics or my sprinting ability. I just keep my mouth shut and wait.
Russell doesn't even look my way. He shuffles through the unorganized stacks of paper on his desk and pulls out a flier. "Here it is. The Eagle Aerie twenty-five K trail Race." He passes the flier to Clover first and my stomach sinks, even as I keep my expression neutral. "Winner gets the gym."
"This race is on April twenty-ninth." Clover stares at the flier with a furrowed brow. "That only gives us a month to train."
"You don't have to win the race, Ms. Weston. You just have to beat Asher."
I can tell by Russell's tone he's already made his decision and I suspect this race is just a way to keep us both off his back while he decides who to sell the gym to. Or it's just a stall tactic, because he doesn't really want to sell the gym and is only putting it on the market to appease his husband, who wants him to retire so they can travel. Russell hasn't come out and said he doesn't want to sell, but he spends six days a week twelve hours a day in this gym. It's clear he either loves it or has no clue what to do with himself if he's not working or hitting heavy things.
Because I don't want to give Clover or Russell an inch, I lift my chin and smirk like I've got this in the bag. "Four weeks ismore than enough time to train for a twenty-five K race. That's just sixteen miles, right?"
Clover looks at me, eyes wide. "Sixteen miles of mountain trails, Asher. It can take a seasoned trail runner three hours to run that."
My eyelid jumps, and my head goes light, but I manage to hold onto my smirk. Or maybe I don't, because Russell stares at me like he's worried I might be having a stroke. "Piece of cake," I grunt out.
"What about a challenge that's tailored to our specialties?" Clover asks. "You could choose two of the most un-fit unmotivated people in town and Asher could help one get stronger in the gym while I help one get stronger with yoga."
Russell drops his attention back to his laptop. "Too hard to determine a winner. The race is the only way."
Clover's shoulders slump for just a moment before she meets my gaze and they pop back again. "Great," she says, breezily. "I love a good competition."
She attempts to walk past me, but I stand my ground and stare her down as she approaches. She doesn't back down or even cringe. Glaring, she steps up to me until we're toe to toe.
"You should probably bow out now," she says, her voice rough with threat.
I suspect she wants me to be scared, but I'm surprisingly turned on by the challenge in her eyes and how sexy she sounds when she threatens me. I shake it off. "Don't let the muscles fool you, Empress. I can go for days without stopping."
Her eyes flare with heat for the briefest moment before she pushes past me and out of the office, but it's enough to send a spark of want straight to my cock. I swallow hard and focus on the fact that she's the last woman in the world I should be lusting after.
I follow her out. She stops at the door to the gym, me ten paces behind, and glances back, her shoulders sinking. "I really am sorry about telling Russell that stuff about your past. That's not why I came here."
I cross my arms over my chest, willing to listen because she seems sincere. "How'd you even find out about that stuff?"
"My friend hired a private investigator to look into you." She winces. "I asked her not to, but she's a force of nature and did it anyway. I only even read the report because she sent it with the subject line He's a Serious Criminal."
I study her, letting her squirm. "And you expect me to believe you didn't come here planning to use it against me?"
Her shoulders sink still farther and she glances out the glass door like she's thinking about running. "You can believe whatever you want, but I only came here to tell Russell how I'm uniquely qualified to own this gym."
Maybe I'm an idiot, but I believe her. "In that case, I'm sorry about barging in and ruining your meeting."
Her eyebrows rise and her lips twist. "Really?"
