by Nana Prah
He bullied her because he thought she was after his job. Give or take a few years of experience, wasn’t she almost as qualified as him? She’d overtake him one day, and that probably scared the shit out of him.
She plopped down into her seat scowling at the revelation. Understanding the reason behind his stupidity had shed a new light on the situation. At least for once she didn’t have the urge to go out and grab something loaded with sugar. What she longed for was a way to put a stop to the harassment so that she could start enjoying the job she’d worked so hard to get.
In the meantime, she’d do justice to the work that the jerk claimed she was too incompetent to do. Gia grinned at just how much he’d given away. Sure, he had everyone charmed and in the palm of his hand, but she’d find a way to make a breech. For the first time in a long time hope flickered.
Chapter 8
Gia had skipped out on two sessions with no call to explain. Picking up his cell, Lamar opened her folder and dialed her number.
A yawn greeted him before a raspy, “Hello?”
“Hi. This is Lamar Pearce, is this Gia Baxter?”
The phone made scratchy noises, culminating in a bang sounding as if it had fallen.
“Um, hi, Lamar. This is Gia.”
He got straight to the point. “You missed your session today and on Monday.”
“I received a last-minute assignment that I have to complete before the deadline.”
Concerned with the strain in her voice, he sat up straight. “Are you okay, Gia?”
The pause was filled with a sniffle. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Her voice wavered. “Tired, and I still have more work to do before tomorrow.”
Her job as a mechanical engineer had impressed him when Trista first mentioned it. He didn’t believe that fatigue was the reason for her sounding as if she would cry at any minute. He couldn’t force the truth out of her, but he could get her to come into the gym to complete her sessions. She may eventually feel comfortable to open up to him like she’d almost done the other day. “You made a commitment, and so far you’ve broken it. Twice.”
“But—“
“I don’t like that word unless we’re working glutes. You promised me two solid weeks of training. Now you need to make up two days. Be here tomorrow. And the two-week trial period deal is off since you broke our agreement. You’re on for the full six weeks.”
“Listen, Lamar.” Her tone caught a spark of indignation. “I have more responsibilities than exercising all day. I’m sorry I didn’t call to tell you I couldn’t make it. Work took priority. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to train tomorrow, but I’ll be there on Friday. Unless something comes up.”
Damn. She had grit after all. He liked the spike of surety in her voice. He added steel to his words. “Not good enough. Your sister is paying me to get you in shape. If you can’t find your way here, the training comes to you. I’m sure you have a staircase and hallways. I’ll bring weight bands and we’re all set. Either way, you aren’t skipping the workout. You’re definitely going to get your sister’s money’s worth whether it’s in the gym or not.”
She let out a grunt. “Is that what we’ve been doing, Lamar? Training? I’ve done harder workouts playing tag with my ten-year-old cousin.”
Silence resounded after her virtual punch to his gut. How many people had dared talk to him like that about his training regime? None. He’d have never expected it from Gia. Something must be going right to raise her confidence to that level. He grinned wishing he could witness the flash of annoyance in her beautiful dark eyes. “We’ll discuss your workouts tomorrow when we meet to amp up the intensity. Either at the gym or your workplace. The choice is yours.”
Her sigh was heavy. “I can’t promise to make it.”
“I’ll see you at five-thirty tomorrow. Don’t work too hard. Putting yourself under stress is one of the worst things you can do to your body and mind.”
“What if the stress is thrown at you?”
“Then you need a way to circumvent it. Talking about it helps.”
With several seconds of no reply, he added, “So does exercise. See you tomorrow.”
“Fine. Bye.”
He chuckled at the snark. “Have a good evening.”
She cut the call. This new Gia might be a challenge to work with, but he would definitely have a good time.
When his phone rang, for a beat he hoped it was Gia calling back. That was silly. Yes, he liked having her voice in his ear, but she was a client. He had no business wanting to speak to her again.
“Hey, Mama,” he said with a smile.
“Hi, pumpkin. Do you have a minute to help me choose a couch?”
It had become their new ritual. He had no kind of eye for decorating yet she always asked him for his opinion. Nine times out of ten she chose the opposite of what he suggested. He had to admit that the redecoration of the home he’d bought her in Florida was shaping up nicely. No thanks to him.
“Sure.”
For the next five minutes they discussed the merits and the negatives of the pictures of sofas she presented.
“When are you moving back to Boston?” He missed his mother something fierce.
“When the sun stops shining and the waves stop rolling in. I love it here. When are you coming to visit?”
He chuckled at the same response she always gave. “Soon.”
His mother clicked her tongue several times. “Hmm. That’s not good enough. I need dates so I can rearrange my schedule.”
With his renewed UFC training, he had no idea when he’d get a chance to make the journey, but he’d do it as soon as he could. “So, you wouldn’t drop everything if I popped by on a surprise visit?”
“You’re my baby, but no I wouldn’t. You have no idea how competitive it is to get into some of these classes at the gym.”
Lamar laughed. “God forbid if my visit keeps you away from your fitness regime.”
“I know you have work to do so I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He should’ve told her about returning to the cage, but once again he’d chickened out. It would happen. Eventually.
At five twenty-five on Thursday, Lamar speculated that Gia wouldn’t show. Would she test him to see if he’d arrive at her workplace as he’d threatened? She had a surprise coming if she thought he’d just been talking for the sake of hearing his own voice.
He looked to the glass doors to find Gia rushing through them. His heart did an odd jiggle. The same thing had happened every time he’d seen her last week. He flexed his fingers to release the tingles of need to touch her. He’d extended beyond the line of professionalism too many times to count when he’d corrected her posture more than necessary because he couldn’t resist the brief touches of the silky soft skin of her bare arms or her t-shirt covered hips.
She’d had no reaction to him other than to reposition herself. Accustomed to women trying to get his attention, often by outrageous flirtation, Gia did none of it.
She jogged in his direction and sat a hand on her hip when she reached him. “As you can see I’m here.”
Yes, looking appealing in a pair of gray trousers and a billowing pale orange top that emphasized her figure. Enticing.
If she wanted a powerful workout, he may as well be more himself around her rather than the reserved person he’d imitated last week. He tapped his watch. “You have three minutes to get changed and meet me out here.”
“Or?”
He held back a laugh at her feistiness. Maybe she’d decided to be more herself as well. “Do you remember those burpees I introduced you to that you loved so much?”
She took off toward the locker room at a run.
The attempt to keep her satisfied with easier workouts had backfired.
During his years of MMA training he’d learned early that people would rather quit than exercise outside of their comfort zone. Sure, they’d push themselves a few times, but ultimately they wouldn�
�t be able to sustain the overexertion. It’s what differentiated him from those who didn’t become contenders. Comfort was no longer a place he knew how to reside when it came to physical activities. Achieving the best had always been his goal. It still was.
Gia was proving to be someone who wanted to leap outside her comfort zone and improve herself. He wondered if it would still be the case when she hung from a bar attempting to do pull-ups.
He grinned as he remembered the defiance she’d exhibited when he’d told her to come to the gym. She was a stronger woman than he’d been led to believe by her sister when she’d met with them and given her orders. Or rather threats.
What gave Gia the impetus to stand up to him when she wouldn’t do so with her coworkers? The thought of her being cowered by anyone irked him. He doubled his resolution to find out what was really bothering her.
Five minutes later Gia rushed up to him in her standard oversized t-shirt and dark yoga pants.
Lamar led her into an empty studio.
“We’re doing dynamic warm-up stretches. We’ll start from the top and progress down.” He demonstrated the neck movements first. “Fifteen each side.”
He let her get into the flow of arm swings before speaking. “You mentioned not being challenged with the workout regime.”
She bowed her head as she rotated her right arm in large forward circles. “I was just upset with you for trying to tell me what to do.”
“Why are you lying to me?”
Her body stilled as she raised wide eyes up at him.
“Keep moving. As I mentioned on the first day, if this is going to work we need transparency. Lies won’t get results.”
Her brows scrunched together. “What about you? Why have you been taking it easy on me?”
“Other arm,” he ordered. “What gave you that impression?”
She smirked. “Now who’s not looking like a pane of glass? I may not be friends with exercise, but what you put me through was disappointing. I came to the gym a little earlier last week Friday and saw how you treated your client. You trained him a lot harder than you did me.”
He held her gaze. “Could he have had different goals from you? Or been training longer? Or—”
Gia held up her free hand. “I get it. Maybe I jumped to conclusions.”
“No, you didn’t. Your workouts were lighter than they should’ve been.”
She stood still and swiped a finger towards his chest. “I knew it.”
“Keep moving. This time wind your waist.” He demonstrated the motion, holding back a grin when her eyes expanded as her gaze fell to his hips. Maybe she wasn’t as immune to him as he’d thought.
Her hip motions started out stiff, as if she were self-conscious. “Why’d you take it easy on me?”
Because I need your sister to get customers stampeding through the doors. Once my personal business is successful, I’ll be able to acquire sponsorships to help inner-city kids get off the street and find safety through sports.
He rubbed his brow. The full truth wouldn’t serve their relationship. “Training new clients is a balancing act. You want to give them enough to see changes in their body, but not too much so they get scared away.”
Gia gathered her lips to the side as she changed the direction of her hip rotations. “So you settled on the lowest level for me.”
“It’s a process. Now that I know you were bored with your previous routines, I’m going to push you harder.”
Her ponytail of braids bobbed with her nod. “Good.”
“You may not like me during our training.”
A twinkle came to her pretty brown eyes. “Who says I like you now? You’re bossy and more than a little arrogant. Not qualities I appreciate in a person.”
He laughed. She definitely liked him. She wouldn’t have stepped foot in his gym after their initial meeting if her instincts had told her otherwise. “Would you expect anything less from a UFC champion?”
“Huh.”
The non-answer earned her another chuckle. “Keep your left leg straight and swing it out to the side as high as you can. Besides, you would’ve missed my gym’s ambiance if I hadn’t gently reminded you that the workout was going to happen one way or another.”
“Gently my ass.” She wobbled off balance and then righted herself. “You were a brute, threatening me with running stairs at the workplace.”
He held back the urge to step closer, maybe glide his lips across her grinning ones to appease his curiosity about their softness. He shook his head. Nope. He wasn’t going there.
“I’m glad we got it all out in the open, though,” she said. “Now I think I’ll be getting a workout better suited to me.”
Which he should’ve given her from the beginning instead of attempting to coddle her. Lesson learned.
Chapter 9
“That leg and butt torture on Wednesday had my muscles screaming the next day. What the hell, Lamar?” Gia held her right hand at knee level. “You took my workout from here—” she pointed to the high metallic beamed ceiling of the gym and waved “—to outside the stratosphere.”
He arched a brow. Why did he have to be even cuter when he did that? She still hadn’t gotten used to looking at him without her face becoming flushed from more than the workout.
“Are you complaining?”
She raised a hand to her forehead and saluted. “No, sir.”
The sessions after their revealing talk had been phenomenal. Two weeks of experiencing the type of accomplished agony she’d imagined dreading when working with a personal trainer. Probably why she’d never signed up for one before.
Gia had fallen in love with exercise. It thrilled her. The sweat pouring down her face and raining to the floor, cussing Lamar out under her breath, prayers of desperation as he encouraged her last ten squats into thirty. Fabulous.
They had also conversed more during the warm-ups, impossibly short breaks, cool downs, and after the workout. She’d been impressed to learn that he’d gotten into MMA in college when he’d joined a club. In high school he’d been on the wrestling team and had started training in jiu-jitsu in junior high. The more she got to know him, the more she wanted to learn.
The anticipation of his benign touches when they worked out kept her stomach flipping. On more than one occasion her imagination had taken off to places she had no business being, such as bending over the weight rack naked with him behind her.
And yet he still didn’t seem to feel the chemistry she kept trying to fight. Should she be happy that she had a disciplined personal trainer who didn’t screw around with his client, or depressed that he wasn’t attracted to her?
Yet every once in a while, she’d notice him observing her. She couldn’t figure out if it was with the critical eye of a gym master or the interested ogle of a man.
Her nutrition was still crap, but at least she hadn’t been binging as much and had even added a few fruits and vegetables into her digestive system.
At work, gloom still lurked like threatening storm clouds, but their impact had eased a little. Knowledge was power and now that she knew Harrison found her to be a threat, his sly words of putting her down and manipulative actions of making her look bad didn’t have as much heft.
She’d tried once more to stand up to him when he’d given her an assignment which would require using a system that she had limited knowledge about. The due date of the project was ridiculous considering how much she’d have to learn before even starting it. She went into his office, this time with her phone set to record. The son of a bitch must’ve known something was up because he’d offered her a training on the system. The phone hadn’t caught his extreme eye roll or light grunt of disappointment. Otherwise, he’d been cordial in a way that tended to make her even more nervous than when he took slight digs at her.
The learning session he offered was minimal, but was enough to cover him if he was called out on it. Manipulative cretin.
Gia returned her attention to the taskmaster stand
ing in front of her ready to make her legs shaky with never-ending bench climb overs.
“If your ears were burning yesterday,” she teased, “it’s because I was cursing you out every time I sat and stood. I mean every single time.”
His teeth glistened with that incredible smile. “I guess I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. I’ll take the curses as long as you keep coming back. Deal?”
Heat slid up her neck to her cheeks when he winked. “Deal. What’s on the agenda for today?”
“I thought we’d try something fun.”
She cocked her head. “Lying on a beach and being served cocktails?”
His laughter always drove her to want to drop more jokes. “That seems more relaxing than fun. How does boxing sound?”
“Like a plan. As long as my face stays intact. It may not be much, but it’s mine.”
All traces of humor disappeared as his expression became bland and unreadable. “What was that comment about?”
She ignored the humiliation crawling up her spine. “What? It’s not like I’m the prettiest woman in Boston.” Not even in this gym. Intelligence was what she had to offer the world.
His angled head, crinkled nose, and narrowed eyes of confusion were out of place on such an overly confident man. “You know you’re beautiful, right?”
Air refused to fill her lungs as a tightness pressed down on her chest. Did he mean it or was he just trying to hype her up? “I wouldn’t go that far. I’ll accept…interesting. Now my sister is stunning.”
He stepped into her space. She planted her feet resisting the urge to shuffle back as she looked up into his earnest eyes. This man epitomized the cliché of tall, dark and handsome to the point of making her breathless.
He shook his head. “I learned a long time ago to say what I mean. Flattery isn’t my thing. Let’s go.”
Her feet obeyed the command. Good thing because she’d been stumped at his admission. He really thought she was beautiful? Why would he lie? It wasn’t as if he were attempting to get her into bed. Not that she didn’t wish he’d try.
