Lily stepped into the office all the way. Malee’s head popped up and the man turned to face her. Lily’s jaw dropped. That good-looking face was not one anybody who had an electronic device of any kind wouldn’t recognize. “You’re, holy Toledo, you’re Hyde Metcalf!”
He smiled and she honestly wanted to swoon right then and there. “Holy Toledo?”
She blushed.
On camera, Hyde Metcalf always seemed to have half a smile on his face, like he knew a joke everybody wanted to be privy to. But when he really smiled, wow, it was a good one. She didn’t have as much insight as she wanted to about his personal life because she tried diligently not to become obsessive about him, but she knew he had an African American father who’d also played for the Storm back in his day and a beautiful, blonde mother. He was the perfect blend of his parents. His eyes were dark with long lashes framing them and his face was just nice—the right amount of manly lines with enough softness to make him real.
Just because she didn’t allow herself to Google his personal life any more than once a week, or read every article put out by the gossip magazines about him, didn’t mean she didn’t know his every stat, watch his games faithfully, and follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, really wherever he had an account. Okay, she was pathetically star struck by him.
Her hands were trembling with nervous excitement and she wasn’t sure what her face was doing. She wanted to touch him and make sure he was real.
“And I hear you’re Lily Udy,” Hyde said, extending his hand to shake hers.
“The one and only.” Lily gave him a firm handshake, liking the size of his hands. Of course they had to be big to snatch the ball out of the air like he did. Oh, my, goodness, he was real. She wanted to jump up and down, take a selfie with him, and call her brothers to tell them how amazing this was—she was meeting Hyde Metcalf and he knew her name. Her youngest brother, Josh, would go completely berserk.
“Malee is telling me you’re the best sports specific trainer in Golden,” he said.
Lily cocked her head and tried to appear confident, though he could probably see the pulse in her neck jumping. “Maybe in the state of Colorado.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I like confidence. This is the girl I need.”
Need for what? Because she was totally up for whatever he needed. Lily! Her mother’s voice in her head told her not to be infatuated with him just because the guy was a big time star. But come on, she loved him. Well, not loved him, loved him, but he was the best wide receiver to play the game. He had 1871 receiving yards last year. Plus, he was always just doing cool things. Coordinating an event to raise money for juvenile diabetes research and, from the video footage she saw, spending time with many of the children one on one. Helping a single mom whose daughter had cancer with medical bills. The media captured all of it and she knew famous people had a hard time hiding nowadays.
The only bad media he got was when his mother was interviewed, an older blonde lady who was a bit rotund, but still beautiful. It was interesting that they involved his mom so much, but she always said hilarious things, usually bragging about her “sweet, little boy”, but she always seemed to somehow cut his girlfriends down and whether it was intentional or not, it came out pretty funny, but not exactly good PR. The other day she’d told a reporter, “That girl’s shorts were so short I saw her tush.” The reporter had goaded her and she’d continued with, “Well, I shouldn’t say the word tramp, but if you saw her tush what would you think?” Last year, she’d called one of his girlfriends a “floozie” then she’d been horrified when the reporter looked shocked and she kept repeating, “I meant frou-frou because she dresses so … fancy all the time.” The press had a field day laughing about that one.
Okay, so maybe she Googled Hyde more often than once a week and knew a few things about his personal life.
“Hyde wanted to meet you before we signed the contract,” Malee said.
“Contract?” Oh my, calm down, heart. Hyde Metcalf is looking at me and smiling!
“You probably heard about the pneumonia?” Hyde asked.
“Follow you on Twitter,” she admitted.
“Nice. I like a girl who’s informed.” He cocked an eyebrow and folded those beautiful arms across his chest. Yum, what she wouldn’t do to work with biceps like that, or touch them, touching them would be a little creepy though, right?
“I’ve recently been cleared to return to physical activity,” Hyde was saying and she tried to keep up, “and I’ve got two months until practice starts full bore for the season. I’d like you to train me.”
Lily had to grab onto a nearby chair. “Your team trainers are some of the best in the nation.”
“Hey, what happened to that confidence?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You’re the best in the state of Colorado.”
“I am. But I’m a year out of college, I don’t have the experience your trainers have.” She had to be honest with him, even if it killed her if he decided to walk away.
“So you should have all the most recent training info,” Hyde said.
Lily gave him a grateful smile and tried to find that confidence again. She was a specialist in sports training and she could do this. She could do a fabulous job of training this man to be ready for the season, but truly he did have some amazing trainers at his disposal.
“Yes, that’s right,” she said, “but why did you choose our gym?” Shut up, Lily, and sign the stinking contract before he gets away.
“I wanted to stay close to home,” Hyde admitted, ducking his head.
Lily raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to explain. She knew he was from Golden, everyone in the town knew and were more proud of that fact than Livability.com listing Golden as a top small town. But Hyde didn’t live here anymore, did he? She tried to remember all the places he had homes—a coastal place in California, some island in the Caribbean, and maybe Park City, Utah. She’d have to check, but he also had a penthouse in downtown Denver. I mean, come on, the man made over fourteen million dollars a year and who knew how much in endorsements? Who wouldn’t want that face selling cologne on television? She’d buy whatever he sold, if she could afford it.
“My mom needed some help so I had her house remodeled a few months back and I’m staying with her.”
Whoa. He obviously didn’t need to share that information with two basically strangers. She could see why he kept it on the down low. The press would have a heyday with the mega-stud moving back in with Mom, no matter what the reason.
“That’s so sweet,” Malee gushed.
Lily stared at her friend. It was sweet and Malee was obviously as infatuated with him as Lily was. Lily couldn’t blame her.
“I wanted a trainer and gym close by so I don’t have to drive into Denver every day for workouts until practice and team training officially start. My agent got great recommendations for The Fitness Academy.”
Lily nodded. “Well, you made a good choice.”
He smiled again, looking relieved. “I hope so.” He sobered. “But you really do have to be the best. I’ll give you one week to prove yourself. If I’m satisfied with your workouts and my progress, I’ll keep working with you and give you a ten thousand dollar bonus at the end of June. If I’m not satisfied, I’ll pay off the training for May, but I’ll have to go with the team trainers.”
Lily gulped. A ten thousand dollar bonus? Oh, she loved this guy so much.
“Malee informed me that your hourly rate is a hundred. That’s reasonable.”
A hundred? She charged sixty at the very most, quite often less, and usually was doing package deals where her clients got an hour free for every three hours they trained. Malee was giving her the glare, telling her not to reveal any of what she was thinking. Lily’s breath caught. Tick off her boss and maybe lose her dream client or be honest?
“I don’t usually charge that much,” she said in a rush.
Hyde looked her over and nodded. “That’s okay. I’ll pay a hundred.”
Lily exhaled, grateful she’d spoken up and even more grateful he’d dealt with her revelation so well.
“I’d like to do two hours a day, six days a week,” Hyde continued.
Lily appreciated that he was a get things done kind of a guy, but seemed like he could joke and make things fun as well. He was every bit as cool as his media persona, maybe more, and she got to train him for two hours a day, six days a week, for the next two months. Her brothers were going to be insane with jealousy. Her little brothers idolized Hyde Metcalf, especially the youngest, Josh. She wondered if there was any way she could arrange a meeting. It would be the highlight of Josh’s life.
“When do you want to start?” she asked.
“Right now.”
“You’re cleared for all activity?” She was already planning the workout she’d put him through.
“Malee has the doc’s note.”
She put out her hand and grinned. “Let’s do it.”
He stepped closer and grasped her hand again, but this time it wasn’t a nice to meet you handshake, more like—you passed the test and now you get the privilege of shaking my hand good and long. Lily noticed that his hands were not only big, but tingly. Wait, were they tingly or was she? The scent of fabric softener and musky man smell wafted over her.
“Snuggle?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Do you use Snuggle fabric softener?”
He laughed. “I think so. My mom insists on doing the laundry rather than sending it out.”
He came from a different world than her obviously, and she wondered what the media would do to him when they found out he was living with his mom again. The momma’s boy taunts would probably be horrid, but she thought it was pretty honorable. Moving back home to take care of his mom. She wondered what was wrong with his mom and she wondered if she needed to let go of his hand now.
She forced herself to release the clasp and he looked down quickly, as if he wasn’t ready to be done touching her either. Okay. She had to keep this professional no matter how smitten she was. This was a huge paycheck for her and the gym, and also a huge advertising tool. She could imagine Malee was planning all kinds of scoops on that one.
“Obviously people are going to know I’m coming here, but I’d like you to wait on using me for advertising until after July first.” He looked at Malee. “Can you add that to the contract?”
Malee nodded, sat at her computer and typed away.
“We have a private room upstairs where we do personal training,” Lily said. “If you’re okay with seven to nine in the morning or any time between eleven and four we could workout in there and not many people would see you.”
“Do you have all the equipment we need?”
“Yes, or I’ll bring it in from the main weight room. I’d also like to do some workouts outside.”
His smile crinkled his cheeks. “I’d like that too. Let’s go for the morning time slot.”
Malee pulled the printed pages from the copier. “Can you look this over, Mr. Metcalf, then sign at the bottom. I’ll also need a credit card for billing purposes.”
“I’m going to run quick and check on my class while you sign the paperwork,” Lily said. “They should be finishing up, but I don’t want them to think I left them hanging.”
“Okay.” Hyde nodded to her.
Lily bounced upstairs and down the hallway. She could not believe this blessing that had fallen from heaven. She wanted to scream and dance, but forced herself to be somewhat calm.
Ike was talking to a couple of the girls from her class, but everyone else was gone. “Are they already done?” she asked.
“I let them out early for good behavior.” Ike winked. “I’d do more than that for you if you could demonstrate a little good behavior.”
Lily glared at him. “Stop, Ike.”
The girls giggled and said their goodbyes as Ike strode right up to her.
She stood her ground, not willing to back away and let him think he could bully her. “I don’t like you making my class too easy,” she said.
“I could make things real easy with you.” Ike had the nerve to brush his fingers up her arm.
Lily whirled from him and ran right into Hyde Metcalf. Hyde held onto her arms to steady her and she was amazed at the difference of his solid, entrancing touch and Ike’s touch that felt like creepy spiders on her skin.
“You okay?” Hyde asked in a low tone. He lifted his eyes over her head and pinned them on Ike.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Ike smirked as he walked around them. If he knew who Hyde was, he didn’t acknowledge it. “See you later, sweetheart,” Ike said to Lily.
Lily ignored him, trying to hide the shudder that ran through her. She didn’t want to be unprofessional with Hyde watching.
Hyde kept his eyes on Ike until the trainer rounded the corner then he turned back to Lily.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Sure.” He grinned at her. “Put me to work.”
Lily rubbed her hands together, putting Ike completely from her mind. She was training Hyde Metcalf. Super athlete extraordinaire. It was better than being a Denver Storm trainer. She got Hyde one-on-one and this paycheck was going to make a huge difference for her family, especially her sister just younger than her. Life had just taken an enormous upswing.
Find Pass Interference on Amazon.
Two Hearts Rescue by Daniel Banner
Poppy Mercier stared down her enemy. “I own you,” she said, eyes held steady. “Today you’re going to be the one in pain.”
The treadmill stared back, its beady little red and green flashing lights taunting her, daring her to bring it.
“Oh, I’ll bring it,” said Poppy. “I’ll make you wish—”
“Everything okay?” asked a gym employee, who had been working her way up the machines wiping them down. Her name tag read, “Alta.”
Poppy cleared her throat and stepped up onto the treadmill. With an embarrassed grin, she said, “Y-yeah, sorry about that. Just psyching myself up.”
“I hear you,” said Alta. “Sometimes you gotta let them know who’s boss.” She was medium-height, a few inches taller than Poppy, had gorgeous mocha skin, and a body that made it clear she showed the machines who was boss on a regular basis.
“Here’s goes nothing,” exhaled Poppy, then held the up arrow and the belt picked up speed. She always used the manual option for speed and incline because she hated it when the stupid machines demanded she input her weight. It was none of their business.
At 3.3 mph Poppy had to jog to keep up. Dang her short legs. At 6.0 she pulled her finger from the button and resisted the urge to use the handrails like an old woman with a walker.
This wasn’t too bad. She could keep this speed for 3.1 miles. It was her first day as a member of the gym. Hopefully the monthly fee would be enough to motivate her to finally keep going with a workout plan for once. If she could just drop ten to fifteen, then keep them off …
New city—well, old city second time around—new lifestyle, new body? The spirit was willing but the flesh was, the flesh was severely lacking oxygen and Poppy’s second wind was nowhere in sight. Any second now, she told herself. Push through. Even the voice in her head was out of breath.
She stared straight ahead at the pillar in front of the treadmill. She had picked this particular machine because it was the only one with an obstructed view of the enormous mirrors.
Don’t check the distance yet. A little farther.
With things so slow at the shelter, Daria could hold down the fort for an hour. Once Poppy got a few days into a habit of working out, she could take the next step and drag her butt out of bed early enough to come before the shelter opened.
A line of TVs displayed various sports shows and middle of the day talk shows. Neither held any interest for Poppy, so she put her wireless headphones in and resumed her Cami Checketts suspense novel.
As she set her phone back into the cup holder on
the treadmill, Poppy accidentally glimpsed the display: .09. Not even a tenth of a mile. The self-inflicted agony was going to last all day. But she couldn’t take all day, she had to get back to shelter.
She also couldn’t keep up this pace. If she died on this treadmill she’d leave exactly 27 animals hanging. For the sake of the animals, Poppy decreased the speed to 5.8. It still felt incredibly fast, but it was slower than a ten-minute mile.
It had to be the elevation. Yeah, that was right, the elevation.
A bright red vehicle passed in front of the gym’s windows. Poppy looked up to see a fire truck and an ambulance pass slowly right along the curb. Was something wrong? Maybe she couldn’t hear the alarm over her audiobook. She pulled out one earbud and looked around for flashing warning lights and saw everyone in the gym just carrying on with their workouts.
The sound of doors slamming outside had to come from the fire trucks. Maybe someone had called 9-1-1 because Poppy looked as unwell as she felt. Poppy gripped the handrail and leaned to the side. Her hair was still in its ponytail but her face was only a few shades shy of heat stroke.
The gym doors opened and a group of firemen came in. Nope, one of them was a female, so she guessed that made them firefighters? They were all dressed in gym shorts and fire department t-shirts, and the only equipment they carried was radios. It didn’t appear to be an emergency.
They could have been straight out of a beer commercial. One guy was gray-haired and one was, well, for lack of a better word, fat, but as a group they were smokin’. If she hadn’t seen the Park City Fire Department vehicles pull up, she would have wondered if they were here to pose for a photo shoot. Between the six of them, they had some serious muscle and fitness going on.
Rescued By Love: Park City Firefighter Romance Page 13
