Page 10 of A Monster Is Coming

I think his date hadn’t been quite so impressed with his idea of dinner conversation. It was kind of funny, but so boring.

“You’re ready,” he said, standing tall.

“What’s your last name?” I asked, and immediately regretted it. One of my key rules was not to ask questions. The less I knew, the better. The less I wanted to know, it meant others wouldn’t want to know my business either, and that was the way I wanted to keep it.

“Shadow. Peter Shadow,” he said. “What’s your last name, Niamh?”

I opened my mouth about to tell him. “Wait, how do you know my first name?”

“Well, besides the fact that it’s on your uniform.” He pointed toward my uniform. “It’s a pretty name and I’ve made sure to always remember a pretty girl’s name.”

This made me open my mouth and then close it. Never had I been called “pretty.” He had to be lying.

Rather than smile, I felt myself frowning even more. “Niamh Long,” I said. It wasn’t my name.

It had taken me several nights, constantly repeating my name—Niamh Long, Niamh Long—until it became second nature to say that name. I wanted Niamh Byrne to die, and the only way to do that was to make sure she didn’t exist.

Stepping around him, I wanted to slap myself silly. Breaking rules because of listening to a bunch of giggling women. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard them drooling over a guy. When they had their fun with Peter Shadow, then they’d move on to whatever flavor they wanted next. I’d seen the way this went.

Even though I hadn’t been in town long, I’d been there long enough to see the trend. They liked shiny new toys, and Peter was a prime toy.

We stepped out of the gym, and I liked the fact that it was only a short walk toward the diner, and it would be a lot faster by car. But anyone attempting to lose weight wouldn’t use a car, right? I didn’t like the thought of making small talk, that was when mistakes were made.

I wasn’t trying to be rude. I just didn’t want to make small talk with anyone. It was easier this way.

“You know, I’m starting to get the sense that I have done something to upset you,” he said.

“That’s impossible. I don’t even know you, so you can’t do anything to upset me.”

“No? Then why does it feel like I have?”

I wanted to argue with him, but as we got to the diner, I stopped and turned toward him. “You don’t have to lie to me. I’m not under any illusion about what I look like. You’re going to teach me how to swim, and I’m going to keep letting you. Lying is not going to change that, unless you don’t want to help me.”

And with that, I spun on my heel and walked straight to work.

Chapter Three

Peter

I should let it go.

All day long I couldn’t help but see the hurt in Niamh’s eyes, and I didn’t know exactly what had put it there, but I did know it pissed me off. She looked so damn hurt.

I didn’t know what I lied about.

I’m not usually so distracted and not when it came to female bullshit. Niamh had confused me. For the rest of the day, she played on my mind. Even when Carl was giving me a hearty slap on the back for getting more people to sign up at the gym. It didn’t come as a surprise to me that more women wanted to know if I had planned to become a personal trainer.

All I knew was how to train myself. I knew nothing about being a personal trainer or doing that kind of shit. I’d read through the paperwork Ivan sent me, and it seemed pretty straightforward. My only problem was, my goal was to get Niamh, and the only way to do that was to blend in.

So, against my better judgment, I began to take on a few more potential clients. Carl had given me the files on every member who wanted a personal trainer. He had everyone fill out detailed applications to help us better understand their personal goals. It made a lot of sense, and seeing as Niamh was also my client, I had gotten hers as well. Sitting alone in one of the many offices, I glanced at Niamh’s file. The lies of her name were there, but I noticed she didn’t lie about anything else. Standard information was there, including where she currently lived. I knew this information. When it got to her goals, she had simply indicated she wanted to be half the weight she was now. That was all. It didn’t tell me why she was pissed off.

By eight o’clock, I still wasn’t any wiser. I did, however, have three women I now had to train. Each of them had an appointment tomorrow. I’d start my day with Niamh, which also meant I’d become the guaranteed coffee-and-breakfast collector for the staff. I could walk Niamh to work, get the food, come back, eat breakfast, then I had Colleen from ten until twelve. Then I had lunch break. Anna, from one to three, then from four until six, I had Caitlynn. Two of the three women were married.

I already had a rough idea of what I was going to do, but right now, I was more interested in dealing with Niamh and her lack of tact.

Tonight, the diner closed at nine. I didn’t mind waiting.

Staring into the diner from my car, I watched as Niamh worked around the room. There were still several customers, and she kept the fake smile. Seconds passed, then minutes, and I expected boredom to sink in. Watching a woman work was not my idea of fun, and yet she worked that room so well. Every now and then, she’d tuck some of her long brown curls behind her ear.

---