Page 158 of The Billionaires

“Very funny,” I grit out.

Finally, she turns to me. “What are you doing here?”

I’m about to tell her that the dog led me here when I realize that may sound like a made-up excuse for being a peeping perv.

No. I should think of a better reason to be here.

And then it hits me.

I’m in the gym, so I might as well burn off some of this energy flowing through my veins. True, it might not be as effective as a cold shower, but it’s better than nothing—and either way, I’m going to be late for my meeting.

Thus decided, I announce, “I’m here to box.”

Lilly’s eyebrows seem to dance a little jig—like two cute caterpillars that are on their way to turning into the most beautiful butterflies in the world. “Prudence mentioned that you box.”

“She did?” I walk up to the nearby stand and grab my boxing gloves. “Does everyone here think nondisclosure agreements are just polite suggestions?”

Lilly winces. “I was obviously joking. She didn’t tell me a thing. I read about your boxing online.”

“Nice try.” I take out my phone and tell Johnny to move the meeting I’m almost late to as is. The one good thing about running my own company is that, unlike everyone else, I don’t have to show up to meetings unless I wish to. Of course, usually, I do wish to.

“Well,” Lilly says. “You do your thing, and I’ll try puppy yoga.”

“Puppy yoga?” I ask. “Is that related to the puppy pose?”

“No,” she says. “It’s exactly as it sounds: doing yoga while there are puppies around. They get very curious and cuddly, and for obvious reasons, such yoga can be really soothing.”

She gets into the cobra pose—chest out, back arched, arms in a push-up position, and lower body on the mat.

Predictably, Colossus thinks what she’s doing is all about him, so he jumps on her lower back and sniffs her butt.

I can’t help but smile. “Do puppy yoga classes incorporate the dogs into the poses?”

“They do, and so will I,” she says, still staying in her position. “When I do the corpse pose, I’ll encourage him to get on my chest, and during lotus pose, he can be on my lap.”

Lucky dog. “I’m okay with this so long as Colossus is happy—and he’s obviously having a blast.”

“Great,” she says. “I can do this daily if you’d like.”

“Just tell me when,” I say firmly—so I can avoid coming here at those times going forward, obviously.

“Will do,” she says. “Now go do your boxing.”

Ah. Right. Except I have a problem. I don’t have my usual tank top on. Or shorts.

Then again, she doesn’t know what I wear for this. I have boxers under these slacks that can pass for shorts, and lots of folks exercise shirtless.

There. Lilly goes into child’s pose, which means she can’t see me. Quickly undressing, I put on the gloves and get into my stance in front of the punching bag.

As I start the warm-up part of the workout, I realize that my ending up here in the gym was actually fortuitous. Between the kiss that I wish to forget and the family visit that is looming on the horizon, I’ve got a lot of pent-up energy—and this is a great way to burn it.

In the corner of my eye, I spot Lilly transitioning into the bridge pose.

Fuck. How can a move out of an ancient spiritual practice look so much like a scene from Showgirls?

I rip my gaze away from my dog’s trainer and place it firmly on the punching bag. Inhaling sharply, I let the air out with a hissing sound and smash my fist into the bag.

CHAPTER 20

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