by Lexy Timms
In the end, he'd narrowed it down to two: one guy and one girl.
The girl was recovering from an eating disorder. It wasn't what anyone would expect. People watching the competition were probably hoping for a new take on “The Biggest Loser”, but Parker found himself drawn to her as much for what she'd gone through as for the basic stats he'd chosen. The guy was bigger, struggling to keep himself off the couch after losing his job and his wife. He was halfway to deciding just to take them both on. One for the contest, and one just for the sake of making his conscience feel better, because he wasn't sure he was going to be able to live with letting one of them go, whoever he picked to keep. He flipped a coin back and forth between his fingers and wondered if he should let Jackson make the final decision.
“Maybe eenie, meenie, miney, mo.”
Yeah. Because that was such an adult means of making a decision.
Parker sighed, and dropped the coin back on the desk. He hadn't seen Jackson in person since the night they'd gone out, but he was going to arrive any minute for their face-to-face, and Parker still had no idea what he was going to do about the candidate issue.
As if on cue, there was a knock on his door.
“Come in,” Parker called.
Jackson stepped through, carrying a laptop bag over one shoulder as usual, and took the seat across the desk from Parker's. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Parker thought he looked more relaxed than he had on Saturday, like he might even be thinking about smiling.
“So,” Parker started as Jackson unpacked his laptop, “have a good weekend?”
Jackson set the computer on the desk and looked up at him. “Really? You toss that at me, without even a 'hello'?”
“I took you out to find someone who would have sex with you. I want to know if my plan was a success.”
“You know it was,” Jackson said. He did smile then, just for an instant before it disappeared.
“Ha! See? I was right. I knew you'd feel better if you got laid.” He grinned. “I saw that redhead you were with. Really good-looking chick.”
“If you're asking me for her number, I'm not giving it to you.”
Parker scoffed. “Not likely, man. I can get numbers on my own. Which I did, this weekend.”
“You know that you're still a twelve-year-old at heart, right?”
“So I've been told. Mostly by you.”
The man across the desk shook his head. “Look. I went home with people. I got laid. All is well with the world as far as you're concerned. As far as I'm concerned, I don't really care about that right now because we've got bigger things to worry about. Like this contest with Jennifer Leandra. Have you picked the final contestant?”
“About that...”
Jackson looked up, eyebrow lifting. “How did I know you were going to come up with something that was going to make my life harder?”
“They both need help, Jackson.”
“All of the candidates I picked for you need help. And want it, too. That's part of their appeal.”
“Yeah. But these two need it the most.”
“You're telling me that you want to take on two clients for free, at the same time?”
“Basically, yeah. Is that going to be a problem?”
His business partner opened the laptop on the desk and pulled something up with a few clicks of the mouse. Jackson's eyes flicked over whatever he'd opened, and he sighed. “Well, financially, it's not as though we're struggling. If you want to add an extra charity case, it's not going to knock us out of orbit or anything. But you've got to think about the consequences of adding another person. One is a contest. Two is a precedent. You're going to get all kinds of people knocking on our doors looking for free training. And we can take two, or three, or maybe even a dozen, but eventually you're going to have so many people trying to get you to do business for free that you're going to start having real trouble.”
“So what if we make it an offer that they can't come after too often? One or two people every... I don't know. Once a year?”
“But that adds up, Parker. You don't usually drop a client after just a year. If Fitness and Health Sports Club was any older than it is, I'm sure you'd have clients that you'd been working with for a decade.”
That was probably true. Parker sighed, and nodded. “Well, one new client a year that isn't paying, or two, that's not going to sink us, is it? Even if their training starts to add up. Or we make it a limited time thing. Free training for twelve weeks. Or a year.”
Jackson gave him a look that said he didn’t believe Parker was actually going to start charging anyone after a year, but he glanced at his computer screen again anyway. “Not as long as we keep moving upward. Or even stay on track. If the business starts to sink, we'll have to rethink it.”
“The business isn't going to sink.” Parker knew he'd won when Jackson finally threw up his hands. He grinned. “So, I can take on both of them?”
“Fine. You can take on both of them. You own the business anyway.”
“We're partners,” Parker said, leaning back a little more comfortably in his seat and crossing one leg over the other. “That's why I ask you things. Because we share the business. If I didn’t have you, I’d still be working out of a garage. Or building garages, more likely.”
“Be still, my heart.”
“You know what I love about you, Jackson? How sentimental you are.” He got flipped off for his trouble, and laughed. “Okay, so,” he said when he’d calmed down and was ready to get back to serious part of their conversation, “I'm going to have Michael be the contestant for the thing with Jennifer. I think he'll be able to handle the publicity better. Or. Well.” He paused. “Maybe I should ask them. Lydia might actually be a better choice. There are a lot of girls with eating disorders who could probably stand to see a positive example of recovery.”
“You know,” Jackson said, looking up from his computer screen, “every time I think that maybe you're just a meathead after all, you say something like that and I'm forced to remember that you're actually intelligent.”
“First Jennifer and now you. What is it with people insulting my intelligence?”
Jackson didn't answer, and Parker threw a paperclip at him, which earned a dirty look.
“And then you do something like that, and I go back to thinking that I overestimated you all along.”
“That's really rude, Jackson. Don't you have interns to terrorize or something?”
Jackson laughed. “I do, actually. Is there anything else you wanted to go over?”
Parker shook his head. What he really wanted was some lunch. Or maybe a round with the weights. He was feeling a little uncomfortable in his skin. Too much time sitting still lately.
“Okay. Well, we'll have the film crew out tomorrow, so make sure you've decided by then who you want to have in the actual contest. The rest of it we can figure out after.” He paused. “Actually. Scratch that. Today's Wednesday. Film crew out on Friday. Make sure that you've chosen who you want as the contestant by tomorrow so that someone on the social media team can brief them on the rules, what to say, etc.”
“I'll do that.”
“Text me when you know.”
“Sure, Jackson.”
Parker stood as the other man did. “Have a good day, dude.”
“You, too, Parker. See you later this week.”
The door closed behind Jackson, and Parker sighed in relief, gathering up his wallet and phone to head out to one of the nearby restaurants. He hadn't been back to the diner where Jennifer showed up since the day that she'd sat down at his table, and he wasn't about to go back there again just quite yet. Maybe the juice bar down the road. Or a burger joint. Real food sounded a little more appetizing than a smoothie, and in the end he turned in that direction. It was a good decision.
***
Lydia was the one Parker chose to be the contestant. She'd stated that she was comfortable putting her story out on camera, and while all of them had signed somet
hing in the beginning that said they acknowledged the fact that parts of their training sessions would be filmed, Michael had looked a little less comfortable with the idea once they'd started talking about it.
Filming the video to announce the contestant of his choice went smoothly. It took more than the few minutes he'd allowed the film crew the first time, but for Lydia’s sake Parker permitted them to call extra takes and boss him around. Even if it was annoying. This was more important than some temporary irritation. He still didn't read off a script; Jackson hadn't even bothered providing one this time. Apparently Parker's lack of truly interesting reaction to the first one had bored him enough that he didn't feel like making the effort to repeat the prank.
“So,” Parker said, sitting down to lunch with Lydia after the shoot. “Are you ready for all this?”
She looked down at her hands, twisting together in her lap, and then up at him. “As ready as I'm going to be, I think.”
“I promise I won't let anything happen to you. The contest is publicity. Your health is more important than that. So if you're ever uncomfortable, if there's something that isn't working for you, let me know. We can change it. I'm not willing to risk hurting you for some silly, overblown rivalry. If Jennifer Leandra wants to get to the top spot by stepping on other people, she can have it.”
“Do you really think she'd do something like that?” Lydia picked at her food. “I mean, she has to care about her clients, too, doesn't she? Or she'll lose them.”
“To an extent. There are a lot of people who will keep going back to someone who doesn't treat them well, if they think they're getting results. I don't know Jennifer well enough to really know if she would keep pushing someone who shouldn't be pushed any further. She told me that she cares about her clients' health, and I hope that's true, but I haven't found her to be a really likable person.”
Lydia ate a bite of her sandwich, and paused, looking up at him again. “You know,” she said, smiling, “I'm glad I decided to try for this. I was a little nervous, but I read your interview in Rich & Single and I thought I would give it a shot. You're even nicer than they made you out to be.”
“That was supposed to be a secret,” Parker said, grinning across the table at her. “You can’t go around telling people that I’m not really a drill sergeant. They’ll get complacent and then I’ll have to actually whip them into shape.”
Lydia laughed at that. Despite the tired circles under her eyes, she looked good when she smiled. She lifted one of her hands and dragged an X across her chest with a fingertip. “I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret.” Her smile curled into something a little more mischievous. “Or what’s left of it, anyway.”
“You know what, you and Jackson should meet. You deserve each other.”
All that got him was more laughter. He gave up and ate his sandwich.
Chapter 10
“You know, I really have to hand it to you, Parker. You know how to work people.”
Parker looked up from his phone at the sound of the voice, which belonged to Jennifer Leandra, who should definitely not have been barging into his office without knocking. Why hadn’t any of the trainers stopped her? Or at least alerted him?
“Jennifer,” he said, polite and a little wary, “what can I do for you?”
She dropped into the chair across from him like he’d invited her to sit down, and leaned one elbow one his desk. Parker wondered if she was planning to climb over it. Because he could stop her if she tried. But thinking about that made him think about other reasons she might be climbing over it, and how she’d feel riding him…
He jerked back from the images of her naked on his lap, and smiled the way he smiled at people who came into his office to yell at him. They were few and far between, but it did happen.
“I’ve got a class in fifteen minutes, so if you have something you want to say to me I’m going to need you to say it now.”
“If you think that you can win this just by being clever with your choice of subject, you’ve got another think coming.”
“I’m being clever?” Parker scoffed. “You’re working with a kid just coming out of physical therapy. I don’t see how my choice is any more sympathetic, if that’s what you’re so bent out of shape about. But to be honest with you, I made my choice because she was the one who needed my help the most.”
“Right, Parker. You’re such a fucking saint. Give it a rest already with the ‘Mr. Perfect’ routine, would you?”
“It’s not a routine.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re so full of your own bullshit that you can’t even smell it anymore.”
“Do you think that you’re going to make me lose my temper?” Parker folded one hand over the other on his knee and leaned comfortably back in his chair. “Because you aren’t.”
What was it lately with people losing their cool over nothing? She really needed to learn to just chill. Whatever she was melting down about, it wasn’t that big a deal.
Jennifer laughed. “I seem to recall making you lose your temper the other day.”
“If you’d actually ever seen me lose my temper, you’d know that wasn’t anything like it. All I did was get up and walk away.”
“Oh, yes,” she shot back, rolling her eyes. “I’d almost forgotten just how unbearably noble you are in the last five seconds since you reminded me.”
Parker’s hand curled into a fist against his knee. “Get out of my office.”
“What if I actually have something to talk to you about?”
“And what could that possibly be?”
She leaned forward a little further, giving him a view of her cleavage that he only let himself take advantage of for an instant. Any longer, and she’d probably be calling him on it, telling him where her face was again.
“I wanted to make sure we’re on the same page.”
“And what page is that?” Parker asked.
“I think the rules should be made by an independent committee. We’re never going to be able to agree on a full set of them between the two of us, and even if we do there’s a chance some of the rules will be skewed to the favor of one side or the other. And I want medical doctors involved. They’ll do a baseline checkup of our subjects at the beginning of the contest, and then every week up until the end. Which we also need to decide. How long is this going to be, Parker?” She smiled. “How long are you going to put up with me?”
“Six weeks, at least, if we want this to actually do something for the clients we’re working with in the challenge. I would say twelve is better.”
“That’s a long haul.”
“I knew that when I walked into this.” Parker looked at her over his desk, eyebrows lifting. “Didn’t you?”
Her own brows lowered over narrowed eyes. “I don’t ever start a fight I’m not willing to finish.”
“Twelve weeks it is, then. And my team has a hand in picking the committee. Now, go invade someone else’s office.”
She laughed, and Parker straightened up in his chair, leaning forward to match her angle and meeting her eyes.
“Do I sound like I’m joking? Your business is done here. Kindly get out.” Jennifer didn't make any move toward leaving. Somehow, Parker hadn't expected her to. He sighed. “What is it now?”
She looked at him across the desk, her expression, for once, softening. “Actually, I wanted to apologize.”
“You,” Parker said slowly, “want to apologize. What for?” He knew what she needed to apologize for. He wanted to make sure that she did.
“For what I said the other day. It was unprofessional and really uncalled for. And I know that. I just get a little caught up in it all sometimes. You know how it can be.”
“I'm still not sure I understand. You're actually apologizing to me?” He wasn’t sure how you could get caught up in it all sometimes.
“Yes. I'm apologizing to you.”
The whole thing felt off to him. It had looked genuine in the beginning, but there was something
in her expression now that felt more like mocking than genuine apology. What possible motive could she have to actually apologize? He didn't buy it. “Well, that's... nice of you.”
Jennifer sighed. “Why is it that you dislike me so much, Parker? I mean, really. From the day we met you've treated me like I was some kind of pariah.”
“Pariah?” That was seriously it. Parker leaned forward over the desk, hands supporting his weight against the wood. “You’re the one who challenged me, sight unseen, to prove my slogan because now that you’ve moved in here we’re competing against each other, and you thought that would be the best way to watch my company go down in flames. And when we did finally meet, you acted like I was just some annoyance you had to deal with.” He shook his head, settling back into his chair before it escalated any further. “I have no issue with this challenge you want to do. What I do have an issue with is you showing up in my spaces and insulting me.” He let one corner of his mouth curl up into a smirk. “If you really want to get in my pants that badly, all you have to do is ask.”
Jennifer's eyes widened, then narrowed. “If you think I have any desire to fall into bed with you, Parker, you're in for a rude awakening.”
“No?” Parker crossed his arms over his chest and grinned at her. “You were being pretty pushy about it the other day, getting up in my space and running your hands all over my body.”
“That is not what happened!”
He laughed. “Okay, Jennifer. What happened?”
“I was teasing you.” She smiled, all teeth. “You're the one who wants to fuck me, not the other way around. And it's not happening.”
“Not even a chance, huh?”
“Not even if you were the last man on Earth!” She stood with the words, so quickly that her chair almost clattered over.
Parker kicked one foot up onto the edge of his desk and crossed his legs, leaning back in his chair so that he didn't even have to look at her. Then he clapped. Slowly. “Great performance. Really. I'm completely convinced.”
