Page 6 of Christmas with my Three Best Friends

“I’m more than a client, though,” I joke.

But he takes me seriously. “You’re right. You’re more than a business partner, too. More than a friend. More than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Oh, now, you’re spoiling me,” I joke some more, though my ears are incandescent.

“I’m not spoiling you nowhere near as what I read on that naughty list of yours.”

And there it is. The blow to the knees. The kick in the gut. The moment of truth. Panic sets in. I could barely handle myself with Jax, but Marius is even harder to deal with—it’s probably because I’ve harbored my crush on him for the longest. He was my first point of contact with the world of fitness, my first pillar of support in my journey of self-growth, and my closest ally when Vincent disappeared six months ago. I found comfort in this man. Kindness. The kind of tranquility I’d never experienced with my ex-fiancé.

“Marius, I… It was a terrible mistake,” I say, trying to mend something I fear I may have broken beyond repair.

“Maybe. But I needed to read it. Jax and Richard, too. We all needed to read it and we certainly needed to become aware of where your head is at. Lord knows I’ve been wracking my brain for months, trying to figure out a way to get closer to you.”

“Wait, what?” I blurt out, suddenly self-aware. “What do you mean?”

Marius’s lips twitch into a shy smile. I’ve never met a man like him, with eyes as dark as sin and a gaze that pins you to the spot. He’s a walking contradiction, a shadow filled with light, a strong man with a soft core… no wonder his female clients swoon over him the way they do.

“I thought you might have noticed by now,” he says. “It’s not like I’ve been indifferent to your presence. Your beauty. Your brains.” He smiles at me. “Shay, there’s plenty about you to like and then some. Getting that naughty list of yours felt like a gift from the heavens.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“So say nothing right now,” he playfully replies. “You need to do a third set of deadlifts, anyway. We’ll keep this weight for now.”

I nod slowly and get to work, thankful to have my body briefly take over while my brain recovers from the avalanche of advances I’ve been getting since I walked into my place of business this morning. I’m embarrassed as hell—and I’m not usually easily embarrassed.

I’m cautious, perhaps too cautious. I don’t want to ruin anything.

“I don’t want to ruin anything,” I say it aloud as I finish my third set.

“You’re lifting enough, there’s nothing to ruin,” he replies.

“That’s not what I meant. I don’t want to ruin anything between us.” I look up at him, my heart struggling against my ribcage. “I’d rather have you as my coach and business partner if I can’t have you in any other capacity in my life,” I add. “The same goes for Jax and Richard. We’re close, we’re friends, and my… gosh, my sexual fantasies weren’t supposed to be the hot topic of the day. I’m sorry, Marius. It was a terrible mistake.”

He frowns and comes even closer. I can almost breathe him in. The world around us disappears. I forget about other coaches and clients currently buzzing through the gym. I no longer hear the weight disks clanking, the treadmills humming, the grunts and gasps of strength aficionados pushing themselves past their limits. All I hear is the thudding of my own heart, the muscle twitching furiously with every beat as I dissolve under Marius’s discerning gaze.

“I may be so focused on my professional ethics that I don’t notice when a woman likes me, Shay… And you know that about me. You know how creeped out I am about the very concept of trainers hitting on their clients. I can’t even fathom a woman being attracted to me in this place. But I know how you feel now. And there’s no undoing that. There’s no undoing that because you’re not the only one who feels it.”

“Marius…”

“We’ll talk about it later, don’t worry. Let’s keep what’s left of this session professional in the meantime, what do you say?”

I nod slowly, mustering a soft smile. “Okay.”

“Bulgarian splits squats, next.”

“My God, Marius, are you trying to cripple me?!” I croak, feigning despair.

He laughs wholeheartedly, fully aware it’s one of my favorite exercises, especially when he throws a ten-pound weight into the mix. I like our sessions the most, truth be told. There’s always this muted tension between us, this want and need for more, but I’ve never had the courage to voice any of it.

Once I finish work, and Marius wraps up his last training, we meet by the reception area, where Laura, another receptionist, is currently engaged in a phone call with what I’m guessing is a new customer. I feel hopeful about this place, even though we’re not doing as well financially as I’d hoped just yet. The company is still young. The brand needs more time to grow.

And Marius is making my heart skip beats with every glance he steals at me.

“Jax wants to use my car until tomorrow,” I mutter, checking through my phone messages while I wait for Laura to get some files for me from her desk drawer. “His is in the shop, apparently.”

“Leave the keys for him here,” Marius replies. “I’ll drive you home.”

“And pick me up tomorrow morning?” I shoot back with a grin.

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