“Why do you look like that? What did you say?” Greer asked accusingly. Dallas hadn’t even heard Greer’s approach, let alone that he had rounded the table to Dallas’s side. His mister’s eyes narrowed teasingly toward Kailey as he extended a hand to Dallas’s shoulder. Dallas did one better and lifted his face, puckering his lips for a kiss. The idea Greer didn’t feel worthy of anything resonated with Dallas. He didn’t like it at all.
“I told him I’ve never seen you this happy,” she said cheerfully.
“Omigod, you’re messing with my game.” Greer’s hand gave Dallas’s shoulder in a gentle squeeze. “Don’t listen to her. I’m irritable and hard to get along with. Guys like the chase—like you gave Beau.”
Beau who had followed Greer over, nodded toward the front door. “It’s true, we do. And it’s almost eleven. I have to be at the hospital in six hours.”
Kailey rose, grinning suggestively. “I think they need time alone anyway.”
“Probably do,” Beau agreed.
“Omifuckinggod,” Greer said, “Shut your mouth.”
Dallas tried to stand but had to dodge Greer’s flying hands. Dallas had taken Kailey’s words to heart. Greer worked so hard to make sure Dallas felt loved that Dallas needed to give that back. He wrapped an arm around Greer’s waist, thrilling when there was no hesitation as he relaxed into the hold. From this day forward, Dallas promised to show Greer exactly how loved he was.
Chapter 35
Two Weeks Later
“What an incredible experience. We already look so much more professional,” Dallas said to Ducky while climbing off the bike they’d set up in the center of the stage. The lights flipped on automatically and the cameraman, a friend of Ducky’s for many years, nodded before exiting the studio without another word. Most of their new staff came from Ducky’s world. None of their new employees ever wasted time standing around and chatting. They were introverts, doing their jobs and moving on.
“Sales are crazy. We had to hire temporary workers to fill shipments from the weekend. The current inventory won’t hold us through next week.” Ducky stood at the edge of the stage, a few feet from the door with his arms crossed over his chest. They were alone in the studio, making Ducky more comfortable to speak freely. They’d had a scheduled leadership meeting this morning, but Dallas had to take a class for a trainer who’d run late.
“What’s Donny have to say about that?”
“He’s still not speaking to you? What a puss.”
Somehow, even between Dallas’s labored breaths, he still managed to laugh straight out at Ducky’s disgust. He grabbed a towel, running it over his face. Because the air conditioner was set at a cool sixty degrees inside this room, his sweat was down by half.
“Don’t knock it. It hasn’t been a hardship.” Dallas bumped Ducky on the elbow and motioned his head for them to leave the studio.
“He’s in Maryland now. I wondered if he told you. He’s touring the company Greer found for hardware production. I think it’s a formality. We ordered five thousand boxes from them yesterday. Another ten thousand next quarter. Greer works in numbers that scare me a little bit.”
Dallas smiled because he agreed. The order quantities seemed overly optimistic, but the cash from all those corresponding sales would truly change the course of their company.
“We agreed to have Skye add a morning class of personal training and a cardio class to the schedule six days a week. We tossed out the idea of adding them to YouTube too. What do you think?” They moved around a painter currently working on their new StreamTrainer logo being added to the hall wall.
“Who’s doing the cardio classes?” Dallas asked.
“She will. She’s hoping you’ll pick up one or two a week. She’s offered to cut back on her time at Elite Gym and sent us a proposal for a salary increase. I think Greer’s behind it, but he’s letting you decide since she works under you.” Ducky glanced his way, a brow arching, as Dallas thought about his answer. For him, that was a no-brainer. He wished they could afford for Skye to work full time.
“What about the technical staff? How many have you added?” he asked. Although business had begun to boom, his debt load hadn’t decreased in the slightest. Cash was still a major obstacle.
“We have a customer service person who’s going to sit out front as the receptionist and two guys I game with to help monitor the social site part time. Secret’s also giving us one person on their end, but we have to pay their salary. I’m still working on monitoring it too, but now we’ll be covered twenty-four seven. It’s weird to have an exact schedule. It’s gonna take me a minute to get used to it.”
“I bet.” What an understatement. Ducky hadn’t lived by the time of day since they had started working together. “We have two people filming, right?”