Falling Hard

“I love you, sweetheart.”

* * *

The next morning, I woke up feeling like total shit. I was grateful that we’d started summer vacation on Friday because my ass would have had a class at nine. I rolled over in bed, but my mother must have heard because she shouted from downstairs. Rubbing my face in my pillow, trying to ignore her call, I felt sleep hit me again.

“Nope. No going back to bed. I need your help, and your breakfast is ready.”

“Breakfast? No work today?”

“No. I got fired, but I don’t want to talk about it.” That explained the late-night baking. I thought maybe she was taking them in to work as a treat, but she was stress baking.

“Maybe you should open up a bakery.”

“Now that’s a possibility. With the divorce settlement, I’m betting that I can make it work. Stop stalling and get your butt up.”

I went downstairs to enjoy some of her delicious pancakes, and I swear I saw the guy from the gym drive by the house from the front window. No, I couldn’t have seen that. He wouldn’t have a reason to come over here. Hell, he didn’t know I existed.

“I’m going to need to hit the gym after I eat these babies.” The house smelled fantastic, and I wanted any excuse to run into my dream guy.

Three hours later, I was sitting in the sauna when two women entered. I recognized the first as the trainer. “Hi, Erica. How are you liking the gym so far?”

“It’s really nice, but I have to say I woke up sore this morning. I thought I was in good shape, but apparently not.”

“Speaking of shape. Did you see Adrian’s ass in those jeans?” the third woman asked us. I did my best not to laugh. This woman had the hots for the owner. I bet that helped him with gaining clientele.

“That’s my boss,” Rachael reminded her.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look. Adrian’s worth the twenty grand a year I spend. Just the damn eye candy in the place. Too bad he’s not interested.”

“Yeah, if he was interested in a woman, I’m sure we’d all know it.” There was something in her tone that made me think she knew more than she was letting on. Maybe she didn’t want to talk about her boss in a negative way, which I respected.

“Have you met the owner yet, Erica?”

“I don’t think so.”

“He’s the tall guy with brown hair that is long enough to run your fingers through, but not too long.”

“Killer ass and smile,” the other chick weighed in. She pulled out her phone and showed me a picture of him, my obsession, with a smile on his face in the candid shot of him talking to another employee. He had his arms crossed, revealing his ripped muscles through his polo sleeves, and I could see that butt she was talking about.

“Wow. He’s the owner?” I’d been stalking the owner. I tried to hide my surprise, but Rachael’s eyes were trained to me and she wasn’t a fool.

The other woman didn’t notice a thing, and she added, “Yes, and totally uninterested in sex.”

“Maybe he has a girlfriend at home and doesn’t want to give her a reason to be jealous.”

The woman continued, “Nope. Someone already asked him that. He’s single as can be. He’s probably a head case. We know he’s packing something in there.”

“If he’s not interested, how do you know?” I attempted to tamp down the jealousy, but the quick trainer hadn’t missed a thing. Nosy bitch.

“Grey joggers, sweetheart. It’s the male push-up bra. It puts it all on display.” If it weren’t for the heat in the room, no one would miss how red my face appeared or how flooded my panties were.

Chapter 3

Adrian

For three consecutive fucking days, Erica exercised in the gym, showered, then left, and I missed her each damn time by minutes. Being the owner really sucked sometimes. I was going to have to take drastic measures instead of letting things happen naturally. I sat in my office and dealt with the paperwork and invoices all day until I couldn’t take it any longer. Then I moved to the front desk and waited, although the second I was out on the floor, clients and trainers wanted my attention. Normally they always had it, but since her arrival, I’d lost my head and didn’t have the patience for people. When she came in today, I’d make an excuse to see her and claim her ass. The gym be damned. Today, nothing would stand in my way.

I’d become obsessed with watching her through the security cameras throughout the workout areas of the gym. Of course we didn’t have any in the locker rooms, but I wanted one just to see her. Never had I been so damn interested in a woman before. Every day I planned to approach her before she left and not a moment sooner because I might be tempted to do something stupid like run out of the building with her over my shoulder.