Page 11 of Forever With You

“Of course,” he mimicked, and I laughed.

“Be careful,” I told him.

Nick opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, but seemed to change his mind. He moved quickly, swooping down before I knew what he was up to. He pressed his lips to the corner of mine, the touch brief and yet entirely startling. It knocked me out of my bliss and forced my eyes wide as he lifted his head. “See you around.”

I didn’t respond, was totally incapable of it, as he turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind him. I don’t even know how long I stood there, but at some point I had lifted my hand to the corner of my lips. The skin tingled.

That was the closest any guy had gotten to kissing me in a long time.

Chapter 3

“I’m good. I’m great.” In the rearview mirror my blue eyes seemed way too wide as I clutched the steering wheel until my knuckles bleached white. “I got this. Itotallygot this.”

Ignoring my pep talk, my stomach churned uneasily. I let go of the steering wheel and reached over, grabbing my purse. Prying it open, I pulled out the small bottle of Tums and popped one. The last time I’d been this nervous was eight years ago, and I ended up hurling all over my best friend’s open-­toed shoes.

I would not hurl today.

Not on my first official day of the rest of my life.

Okay. That was a bit overdramatic. Today was a big deal, though, as it was my first day as an executive assistant at Lima Academy. After all the education, I really had no idea what to expect. I could actually be doing the work I had spent years in college preparing for or I could be stuck with getting coffee and dry cleaning for my boss. If the latter was the case, it would suck, but I would do it. No matter what, you had to start somewhere. You had to put your time in.

Taking a deep breath, I snapped my purse closed and stepped out of my car. I smoothed my hand over my pencil skirt, drew in another shaky breath, and started across the parking garage, the clicking of my heels echoing my pounding heart.

Lima Academy was in a huge building downtown that had once been a factory but now was completely upgraded and converted into one of the premiere training facilities in the United States.

I’d already been to the building several times, during the interview process and then afterward, getting a basic layout. The first floor was a state of the art gym, equipped with practically every cardio and weight machine one could think of. On the second and third floors there were multiple rings, cages, and areas where mats covered the floor as far as the eye could see. Lima Academy didn’t just focus on mixed martial arts or cage fighting. They trained boxers, kick boxers, karate, Brazilian jujitsu, Krav Maga, and during the evening, on certain nights, they offered self-­defense classes to the public. The fourth and fifth floors were currently under construction. Andrew Lima, the owner and founder of the academy, planned on adding more training rings. The offices were all on the sixth floor, with the exception of Lima’s office, which was the seventh.

At no point during the interview process did I meet the actual Andrew Lima or any of the members of his family, who apparently all worked for him at the academy. I’d only interviewed with Marcus Browser, whom I’d be assisting.

I took the elevator from the second floor hall, which fed into the parking garage, up to the sixth floor. My stomach was full of knots, and anticipation bubbled through me as I stepped out, coming face-­to-­face with frosted-­glass doors that read:THE OFFICES OF LIMA ACADEMY.

Mr. Browser’s office was in the back, past the field of cubicles and closed door offices. Fixing a small smile on my face, I headed down the center aisle, eased by the hum of conversation radiating around me.

Before I reached Browser’s office, his door opened and he stepped out. Middle-­aged and fit, Mr. Browser looked at home here, with his pressed pants and company marked polo. He wasn’t alone. Another man was beside him, dressed in nylon sweats and a T-­shirt also with the company logo.

“Ah, perfect timing.” The dark skin around Mr. Browser’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “This is Stephanie Keith, our new assistant. Ms. Keith, this is Daniel Lima. He oversees the training facilities here.”

Switching my bag to my left hand, I extended my right. His grasp was firm and warm. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Lima.”

“Just call me Dan. There’s too many of us Limas running around to go with formality.” He dropped my hand, smiling. “And Marcus is exaggerating.”

Mr. Browser scoffed but his smile didn’t fade as Dan continued, “I only oversee the kick-­boxing and boxing training.”

“And Dan is way too modest,” Mr. Browser explained as he folded his arms. “He helps out in all the areas. Without him, Andre and Julio would be rocking in a damn corner somewhere.”

I had no idea who they were talking about, so I nodded and smiled. If I had to guess, Andre and Julio were also a part of the massive Lima family.

“I have to get going,” Dan said. “It was nice meeting you, Stephanie. Good luck.” He ran a hand over his bald head. “Working for this guy, you’re going to need it.”

Mr. Browser rolled his eyes as Dan made his exit. “He’s actually the easiest of the Lima horde to deal with. Keep that in mind.”

“How many are there?” I asked.

“That work here? Five, including Andrew. There are numerous cousins and nephews and God knows who else—­because I swear, they are related to half of Philadelphia—­but most of them you will never see. The brothers, though, are the only ones who have more say than I do,” he explained. “Now that you’re an official member of the academy, I’m going to cut the bullshit.”

Um...

I blinked slowly. “Okay. I’m good with bullshit cutting.”

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