“This is not a place you can pick up women.”
“I know that. I’m not using it that way. I’ve got dozens of clients, but Livia’s special.”
Dom continues to glare at me. I’m not going to explain myself any more to him. If he wants to fire me, then he can fire me.
He points a finger at me. “I’m not happy with you.”
Then he slams out of the room.
I push a hand through my hair and sigh. I guess that’s fair. I’ll just have to show Dom that what Livia and I have is something special, like how it is between him and Amelia. I’m not some player trying to fuck his way through the clients here.
That can wait, though. Right now, I have to go and see Livia.
Chapter Seven
Livia
I pace up and down my lounge, feeling sick to my stomach. I think I got Trey fired. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t burst into tears then he wouldn’t have had to comfort me. Trey’s going to be so angry with me.
Dread and despair wash over me. What if he’s like Piers when he’s angry? I can’t go through that again. People think it’s easy to walk away from an abusive relationship, but they don’t understand how men like that can warp your mind so much that you don’t trust your instincts anymore. My thoughts weren’t, He’s hitting me, which makes him an asshole and a criminal and I need to dump him. They were, He’s hitting me because it’s all my fault and I screwed up again. I deserve this.
There’s a knock at my door, and the sick feeling in my stomach doubles. I stand frozen to the spot, too scared to move.
A muffled voice calls, “Livia? It’s me.”
It’s Trey, and he doesn’t sound angry at all. Relieved, I run to the door and pull it open, and then throw myself into his arms. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Trey holds me back as hard as he can. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry about. Are you all right?”
I suck in a shuddering breath. “I’m all right. But I understand if you have to punish me.”
Trey closes the door behind him and takes me through to the lounge. He sits with me on the sofa and holds my hands in his. “Sweet bunny, I could never punish you while you’re upset. And you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I caused so much trouble. You can’t call that doing nothing wrong. Were you fired?”
Trey smiles. “The trouble was a joint effort, but mostly it was me causing the trouble, if you think about it. And no, I wasn’t fired. Not yet, anyway.”
I grab his hands in panic. “I’m so, so sorry—”
“If I am fired, then Dom’s an ass and I don’t want to work for a man like him. He’s got a temper, but when he calms down he’ll see sense. He and his partner met at Dom Fitness. You saw them together. She’s the bratty strawberry blonde.”
I remember Dom and a woman with red-blonde hair from my first session. She was lying on the floor complaining how tired she was as Dom didn’t look the least impressed or sympathetic. A brat and her daddy. Even though I’d never behave like that, they were pretty cute together.
It’s a relief to know that Dom and Amelia broke a few rules, too. Maybe after he’s calmed down, Dom will be happy for us.
I lift my tentative gaze to Trey’s handsome face. “So, you’re my daddy, then.”
He breaks into a smile. “Yeah, I am. I feel pretty great about that. How about you?”
“Excited, but nervous, too. I don’t know what to expect.”
“It’s a lot like how we are at the gym. Rules and expectations, and lots and lots of charts. I’m pretty obsessed with charts.”
“I bet you loved the group projects at school,” I joke, trying to hide my nervousness.
He kisses my nose, and then kisses my mouth. “Most of all, though, it’s about us being happy, so don’t be afraid.”
I feel some of the tension melt out of me. Trey’s not going to turn into a monster just because we’ve made this official.
“Do you like the idea of having rules?”
A buzz of anticipation goes through me. I’ve always enjoyed checklists and goals, but I’m hit and miss about sticking to them. Having someone manage them with me, keeping me focused and rewarding me when I achieve my goals sounds amazing. “Yes, please. Where do we start?”
He pulls my workout and meal plans from the gym. “Let’s start with these. Is there anything you’d like to change about them?”
I look over them and shake my head. I’ve been enjoying my workouts and the vegan eating plan has been going well since the first blip. I grin down at the pages. Seeing them makes me feel stupidly proud. I’m so used to feeling like I’m always disappointing everyone and myself.