One to Love (One to Hold 4)

“You guys are too much. Still, I like this whole... crazy big-brother-bodyguard thing you’re doing.”

He pulled me into a quick hug. “You let me know if anybody doesn’t treat you right.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I laughed, then turned to Elaine, holding out my hand. “And thank you again. For everything.”

She stepped forward and gave me a squeeze. “You’re welcome.” Stepping back, she touched my chin, smiling. “You don’t need a guard. You’re doing great.”

* * *

Mariska was waiting at the juice bar when I arrived at ten. It was later than I’d ever gone into work, but I didn’t have a client until ten thirty. My best friend was dressed in a black bodysuit with a long, red handkerchief-print skirt wrapped around her waist. I was in my usual all-black trainer gear.

“Dammit, Ken!” She cried as I rounded the corner to get my key. “You just missed him! I’ve been holding my breath all morning... Oh! Love the purple hair!”

Nose curling, I put the lanyard around my neck and went to fix my not-disgusting green smoothie. “Thanks! I got the urge to change everything Friday. I actually think I might’ve done it, too. I didn’t even feel like getting out of bed this morning!”

“Is that a good thing?” She bounced over to lean beside me on the bar as I threw in the simple ingredients followed by two cups of crushed ice. “Okay, that looks disgusting.”

“It’s really kind of sweet.” The loud WHIRR! of the blender forced me to yell. “But yeah, I’ve been having trouble sleeping.”

“You need a matcha shake,” she shouted back. “It’s a whole-leaf green tea I’ve been using in my newer smoothies. Full of antioxidants, protein...”

Nodding, I shouted. “After the kale regimen. Why are you holding your breath?” Her expression was confused, and I released the button, continuing in a normal tone. “You said you were holding your breath.”

“Oh! Oh oh oh!!!” She bounced on her toes. “I’m so ticked at you, though.”

I took a sip of the sweet concoction and smiled again. “Then I guess I’ll never know.”

“You’re really happy today. It’s weird. Did you get laid?”

I almost choked on green smoothie. “Shh! Jeez, there are members right over there.” I nodded my head toward the open workout room.

She only passed a glance in their direction. “Well? Did you?”

“Sadly, no.”

“Don’t worry. The clock will be ticking on that problem once you see him... Only, dammit! Rook sent him on some overnight errand to Scranton.”

Jerking her ponytail, I leaned forward. “What are you talking about?”

“The new guy Slayde! The one you never told me about.”

“I never met him.”

Her eyes sparkled. “He’s not a trainer, he’s like a maintenance-handyman-janitor-badboy-sexgod. Rook’s got him doing all sorts of things, I guess ‘cause he has a truck, and his aura is totally smokin-red-hot.”

“Good for him.” I took another big gulp, as she studied me. I could tell she was thinking, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what.

“I think you’re patronizing me. Anyway, he hardly ever speaks, and when he does it’s usually something grumpy.” She reached for my cup, and I handed it over. Taking a sip, her eyebrows rose. “That’s really good. I need the recipe.”

“It’s on the notepad there. If you make it for anybody, you have to mention Veggi-Smooth. They donated the ingredients, and I’m not patronizing you. I can’t wait to meet this maintenance-badboy-janitor-nontalking-sexgod.”

She grinned. “Okay. But you are going out with me tomorrow night. You promised.”

“Who goes out on a Tuesday night?”

“Everybody! There’s this hot new bar that just opened on Water’s Edge.” She swept her long brown curls into a high ponytail. “We need to go there before it closes. You know Bayville can’t support a place like that. By the way, your aura is as purple as your hair... although it’s drifting toward red. You’re going to get lucky.”

My client, a new mother I was helping lose the baby weight, waved to me from the other side of the bar. She was fun, and I liked swapping baby stories with her.