by A. K. Evans
Following a brief make-out session, I pulled back and searched his face. “I should get going,” I rasped.
“Yeah. Let’s try to focus for the next hour on getting you ready and fed, so we can get you over to the gym on time,” he agreed.
My brows pulled together. “Let’s?” I asked.
Holden dipped his chin in response.
“What does that mean?” I wondered.
He let out a laugh. “Why do you look so confused?”
“What you said indicates that you’re not leaving,” I explained.
Holden gave me a peck on the lips and confirmed, “I’m not.” Then, he pulled away, opened his door, and exited the truck. I sat there, dumbfounded, as I watched him round the front of the vehicle.
When he opened my door, I turned and asked, “Are you staying with me?”
Holden didn’t immediately respond. His eyes roamed over my face for a bit before he said, “Yeah.”
“Really?” I pressed, making my shock even more evident.
“Yes, Leni.”
With that, he plucked the bag with our breakfast from my lap and held his other hand out to me. I placed my hand in his because I couldn’t do anything else. Holden’s one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn had me feeling a bit off balance.
“I’ve got to get a workout in this morning as well, so we can ride over together. While you teach, I’ll get in my own workout.”
“And then what?” I questioned him.
He shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure. I just know I’m not done with you yet.”
Yet.
I didn’t like what that three-letter word implied. But without any real time left to process that word, that statement, or Holden’s complete turnaround, I did all I could do and simply went with the flow.
Once inside, Holden and I ate breakfast. After, I went to my bedroom and got myself ready for my class. When I walked out in a pair of my yoga shorts, a sports bra, and a crop top, Holden stood from the couch and moved toward me with a devilish grin on his face.
With my body being held tight to his, he brought his mouth to my ear and asked in a low tone, “Do you know what these outfits do to me?”
I barely managed to shake my head, but I whispered my reply, “No.”
Holden shared, “The first time I saw you on the day of the fire standing outside your studio, you were wearing an outfit like this one. Did you know I couldn’t get that image of you out of my head for days?”
I swallowed hard at his admission because it seemed Holden was making baby steps in opening up to me. My body remained still, my breath frozen in my lungs, as I waited for him to tell me more.
“Sometimes I still can’t,” he added.
He was killing me.
One of his hands dipped down over the curve of my ass. He squeezed and continued, “I hated seeing you so devastated, but still thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid my eyes on.”
“Holden,” I breathed.
“You’re incredible, Leni.”
I tipped my head back and looked up at his face. It was filled with adoration. Seeing that made my heart swell. And it was this very moment, being held in his arms with his sweet words filling my head, that I found myself unable to regret diving in head first and leading with my heart.
As much as I didn’t want to ruin the moment, I knew we needed to get going if I was ever going to be able to leave. I brought my cheek to his chest, took in a deep breath, and let the warmth of him surround me for just another minute.
“We should leave,” I finally said.
Holden gave me one last squeeze and a kiss on the top of my head before he agreed, “Good idea.”
“So, what’s the problem you’re having?”
Holden and I were standing in Reece’s office. I’d just finished teaching while Holden got in his workout. When we walked into the gym this morning, Reece saw us, greeted us, and told Holden he had a situation he needed his help with when he was done with his workout.
Holden was ready to help his brother immediately, but Reece insisted he had a few phone calls to make anyway.
Now that we’d both finished what we originally came here to do, Holden wanted to see what this situation Reece was having was all about.
“I’m stuck right now on this construction,” Reece began. “You know how we’re renovating and putting in an aquatics addition to the gym, right?”
Holden nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, I’ve been fighting to get approval for the last step in this process, but I can’t seem to get them to give it to me so that the construction crew can do what they need. Once I have that approval, they can finish up and I can finally have the cement poured for the pool.”
Wow. Reece was adding a pool to the gym. This was particularly exciting to me because I loved swimming. It was just another means of movement for me.
“Has the town cited any specific reasons why they aren’t giving you the approval?” Holden asked.
Reece shook his head. “It’s not a matter of there being an issue with any of the work that’s been done up to this point. It’s simply because they seem to want to drag their feet. The zoning officer doesn’t work every day. This is just something he does on the side, so for the few hours he works each week, he’s not getting much done. From what I’ve heard, I’m not the only one in this position.”
“What days does he have hours?”
Reece gave Holden a look of disbelief and declared, “Mondays and Wednesdays from one o’clock to four o’clock. That’s it.”
Holden shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I wish I was.”
After a brief stretch of silence, Holden instructed, “Alright. Get his information over to me along with any paperwork I’d need. How long has this guy been dragging his feet?”
“We should have had the approval three months ago,” Reece stated.
“That’s ridiculous,” Holden grunted. “I’ll stop in to the town office on Monday at one and get this taken care of for you.”
Relief washed over Reece. “Thanks. I hate to burden you with it, but I’m out of time and patience. If you can make this happen, I’ll owe you one.”
Holden shook his head, put his arm around my shoulder, and curled me into his body. I had no choice but to press my palm to his toned and defined midsection. “No thanks needed. And you don’t owe me. You took care of my girl. We’re even,” Holden insisted.
Reece’s eyes went from his brother to me. He shot me that same look I saw the night I was leaving the gym. I couldn’t quite read it, and that unsettled me a bit. Even still, I offered a smile. Eventually, Reece returned one and directed his attention back to his brother. “Keep me posted, yeah?”
Holden gave him a nod. “We’ll see you later, Reece.”
“Later, guys,” Reece responded.
“Bye, Reece,” I said as Holden moved us toward the door.
No sooner did we step out of Reece’s office and close the door when our attention was drawn to a woman who’d stopped right in front of us. She was eyeing me in a way that I did not like. I was just about to say something when the sound of Holden’s voice stopped me.
“What do you need, Tanya?” he asked.
Her eyes shot to him, moved over his body in a way I really didn’t like, and she smiled. “I was just coming over to introduce myself to the new yoga instructor. Reece was promoting that class last week and I hadn’t realized you both knew each other.”
I wasn’t sure I understood why Holden and I knowing each other was this woman’s business. Unfortunately, I didn’t get an answer to that because Holden never responded to her.
Tanya extended her hand to me, “Hi, I’m Tanya.”
Despite the bad vibe I got from her, I decided to be a big girl about this. I took her hand, shook it, and returned, “I’m Leni. It’s nice to meet you, Tanya.”
“Leni,” she repeated my name. “So, are you teaching yoga classes here regularly then? I�
�ve always wanted to take a class, but Reece seemed to have trouble securing someone to fulfill that role.”
“I’ll be teaching here regularly for the next few months while my studio is being rebuilt,” I started. “After that’s up and running again, I’ll probably come here and offer a couple classes a month.”
I could tell she wasn’t the least bit excited at that prospect as her eyes darted back and forth between Holden and me. Ultimately, she declared, “Well, maybe I’ll stop in to take one of your upcoming classes then. It was nice to meet you, Leni.”
“You too, Tanya.”
Tanya directed her gaze to Holden. She tried to come across as seductive, but it was overt and anything but. “As always, it’s been a pleasure to see you, Holden.”
The way she said that made me think that there’d been more than just glances between them at some point. Sadly, that thought churned my stomach.
Holden replied, “Tanya.”
At that, he ushered me past her and around the check-in desk.
We didn’t speak to each other as we walked to his truck, but once we were inside it, I blurted, “I’m sorry if there was ever anything between you and Tanya, but I’ve got to say this. I do not like that girl.”
Holden let out a laugh and assured me, “There was never anything between me and Tanya. She wanted there to be, but I was not interested.”
I felt myself relax at that news. Even though I never suspected Holden to be the kind of guy who’d cheat, it didn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy to think that a woman he’d been with would be sniffing around. The way she looked at him was enough to make me want to claw her eyes out, though.
“Does she know that you’re not interested?” I asked as Holden pulled out of the parking spot.
“I told her several times already,” he insisted.
I looked at Holden and said, “I don’t think she understands that.”
“Leni?” Holden called.
“Yeah?”
He came to a stop at a red light and looked over at me. “I don’t care if she understands that or not. I’m not interested in her. I never was. But even if I had been, the second she decided the way to get my attention was to sleep with my brother would have been the second I no longer cared to get involved.”
My eyes widened in surprise. Tanya slept with Reece just to get Holden’s attention?
“She slept with your brother?”
“Yep.”
I sat back in my seat and gazed out the windshield. “Wow.”
“Trust me, Leni. You do not need to be worried about Tanya.”
Holden knew I was feeling uncomfortable about the situation and was doing his best to ease my mind. Even still, I had to save face. “I was not worried about her,” I stressed.
“If you say so,” he teased.
“I wasn’t!”
Holden reached across the center console and curled his fingers around my wrist. He lifted it up and placed it on the armrest between us. Then, his forefinger traced patterns on my palm. “Okay, sweetheart. I believe you.”
I wasn’t sure if he truly meant that or if he was just trying to calm me down. Either way, it worked. I allowed Holden to continue caressing my palm as I thought about how grateful I was for what he’d given me earlier that morning.
And as the thoughts ran through my mind, I realized I needed to make a trip to see the one person who’d be happy to hear all about the man in my life and all the wonderful things he’d done for me.
“Good afternoon, Leni. It’s been a few weeks since we last saw you.”
I stared back at Pauline feeling a twinge of guilt. Pauline was the receptionist at the assisted living facility where my grandmother stayed.
“I know,” I started. “There’s been a lot going on, and I just couldn’t get over here. I’ve gotten just about everything sorted now, though, so I should be back to my regularly scheduled programming now.”
Pauline gave me a friendly smile. “Well, it’s good to see you again. Audrey is going to be so excited to see you today.”
I felt my insides warm at the mere mention of my grandmother’s name. Pauline wasn’t wrong. My grandmother was going to be beyond excited to see me today, the same as she always was every time I came to visit her.
“I feel the same about seeing her today, too,” I assured Pauline.
“You can head on back. She should be in her room now, watching her favorite morning program.”
I shook my head in mock disappointment. “That’s never going to stop, is it?” I asked.
“She’s pretty set in her ways,” Pauline replied. “I wouldn’t bet on it.”
“Figured as much. Thanks, Pauline. I’ll see you later.”
With that, I walked to the double doors where Pauline buzzed me through so I could make my way down the hall and around the corner to my grandmother’s room.
When I made it to her door, I tapped lightly before I went inside. Her eyes left the television and came to me.
“Am I interrupting?” I asked, shooting her a knowing smile.
“My darling girl,” she beamed. “You’ve got perfect timing. This mother-daughter duo is about to reveal to the ex-husband and father that for the last three years they’ve been working together as a sugar baby team.”
I shot her a look of utter disbelief. “I don’t think I’ll ever come to terms with the fact that you watch this salacious stuff.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” she insisted. “Besides, watching this makes for great conversation at bingo night.”
I guess she had a point there.
“Come watch with me,” she ordered.
I had no choice but to walk over and sit down next to my grandma while we watched the rest of her show.
When it ended thirty minutes later, she turned off the television and continued to stare at it. She did it for so long, I began to wonder if something was wrong.
“Grandma?” I finally called.
She didn’t look at me when she deadpanned, “You’ve got to admit it’s not a bad way to make a living.”
Not understanding what she was talking about, I asked, “What?”
“The mother and daughter,” she clarified. “They’ve got a good thing going. Look at the life they’re living.”
“Don’t tell me you’re having regrets you didn’t think to do this,” I teased.
She shrugged. “You can’t deny they’re having the time of their lives, Leni. And really, who are they hurting? The men know what they’re getting into, and mama and her girl are traveling the world.”
“What about the father?” I questioned. “Don’t you feel the least bit bad for him? Maybe not over the ex-wife, but what about his daughter?”
For the first time since the show ended, my grandma turned to look at me. “He left them,” she started. “They did what they had to do to survive while making themselves happy. If he wasn’t there to support his daughter then, he doesn’t really get a say in what she does now. Especially considering she’s an adult. You, my darling girl, should understand that more than anyone.”
I loved my grandma. It didn’t matter to her that my father was her son. She believed whole-heartedly that he was wrong for all but disowning me, and she refused to hide her dismay over it.
“I guess you’re right,” I agreed.
She laughed. “Of course I am. When am I not?”
Grandma was also a little spitfire. She knew who she was, remained confident in that, and never let anyone tell her any differently.
“So, tell me. Why has it been a few weeks since I last saw you?” she asked.
“Where should I start?” I wondered.
“The beginning is usually the best place.”
Nodding, I sat up a little straighter. I took in a deep breath and let it out. No sooner did I do that when she pointed out, “Deep breaths… this is going to be big.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She knew me so well.
When my laughter died down, I launched in
and told her everything. I started at the beginning and told her all about the fire and the complete destruction of my studio. There was no way to tell her about that without telling her about Holden, not that I had any intentions of keeping him a secret from her anyway.
I gave her all of it.
I told her about all of the kindness and compassion he’d shown me from the minute I met him. She learned about the things he did to secure a place for me to work from until my studio was rebuilt. And I even shared how he took the time to plan the perfect date for me a few days ago.
When I finished, I sat there and waited for her reaction.
“You were inside the building when it was on fire?” she struggled to ask.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “But other than needing a couple stitches in my foot, I was completely fine. I didn’t have any other injuries that needed to be treated.”
“What about the studio?” she asked.
“It’s being rebuilt,” I replied. “The landlord is getting it taken care of, so there’s nothing for me to do there until it’s ready for me to move back in.”
She looked me over and nodded slowly as though she was trying to assess whether I really was okay. I loved her for it and gave her the time to do it.
“Alright,” she eventually said. “Now tell me the truth about this boy.”
I cocked an eyebrow and advised, “He’s so not a boy, Grandma.”
She got a devilish look in her eyes. “Of course not. But until I know the truth and that he’s worthy of you, he’s not a man.”
“What makes you think I lied to you about him?” I wondered.
Shaking her head, she insisted, “I don’t think you lied at all. I just know that there’s something you haven’t yet told me.”
I didn’t plan on hiding anything about my relationship with Holden from her, but what I really needed to discuss with her about it wasn’t the kind of thing I had planned to lead with. I didn’t think it would be the best to present him in a negative light right off the bat.
“I’m falling for him,” I said softly. “And I’m worried he’s going to walk away and break my heart.”
My grandmother reached out and took my hand in hers. “He’d be a fool,” she asserted.
