Page 52 of Just One Fake Date

“Still. Flatiron Five Fitness.Fivepartners. Do you mind if I take a few shots of you at work?”

Damon looked at the guy he was coaching, inviting his opinion. There were three other guys in the weight room, which was bright and well-equipped. Two obviously had their own routines that they followed and she saw one go and spot the other for some lifts. She guessed that they regularly worked out together. The third was more slender and taking instruction from Damon.

“I’ll have to get written agreement from you, if you’re in the shots,” Shannyn explained. “But that doesn’t mean the editor will use them. Just do what you do and forget about me. I’ll show you what I have at the end and we can talk about it. If you don’t like any of the images, I’ll delete them.”

“The joys of digital photography,” Damon said.

Shannyn smiled. “Exactly.”

“Suits me,” the guy said and Damon resumed his instruction.

He was focused and intense, which made his few murmured words seem important. He gave his student a lot of encouragement, too, which Shannyn liked. It mattered, too—she saw the difference in the guy’s posture even during the course of his lesson. She was amazed by the quality of her shots, then she realized what was going on.

The warm hues of the lighting and the colors chosen for the wall paint made everyone look their best.

At the end of the guy’s lesson, she showed them her images and deleted the ones the student didn’t like. She had half a dozen that she liked and he signed off, then asked if she could send one of them to him for his social media. It was a really good shot of him, his arms flexed and his expression filled with resolve.

Shannyn agreed and took his email address, making a note of the image. “Who chose the decor for the club?” she asked Damon and he glanced at her in surprise.

“I did the design. Why?”

“The images are awesome and not just because I know what I’m doing. It’s the light and the colors in here. All warm. No blues. I think it might be impossible to take a bad shot.”

Damon’s smile surprised her. “No fluorescents,” he agreed. “We didn’t know that selfies would become such a huge thing ten years ago, but we knew that people have more confidence in trying something new if they look good doing it.” He turned and indicated the wall of mirrors. “It’s all motivation.”

“That’s really clever.”

“Tell Ty that if you get a chance. We’re still arguing about changing over to LED lights, which use less juice...”

“But tend to be blue.”

“You can get warm ones, but they’re comparatively expensive.” He shrugged. “I think it’s worth the cost.”

“I think you’re right. You want great images shared on social media.”

He smiled again and this time, his eyes lit. What a gorgeous man.

Yet his presence and even his smile didn’t set her on fire like Tyler did.

“I have another appointment, if you want to watch that one, too,” he said, gesturing to the door.

“The weight rooms are divided by gender?” Shannyn followed him to another room, just down the hall. It was filled with weights and benches, too, but the members here were all women. She’d thought it was just a coincidence, but saw now that there was signage to that effect.

Damon shrugged. “We asked. A majority of members wanted it that way.”

“More confidence in trying new things?”

“Maybe.” He smiled, checked his watch, then strode across the weight room to a petite brunette who was apparently waiting for him. She stood up, her enthusiasm clear. He shook hands with her and welcomed her, his words revealing that it was her first time using weights. Shannyn took a ton of shots of Damon giving her an orientation, and some truly great ones of him demonstrating the way to hold the barbells.

What a physique. And he had charisma. The woman was just glowing as she learned. A lot of these shots would be awesome for the club’s social media.

Shannyn took a few more shots of Damon. Why were they buying or commissioning photo stock for their ads when one of the partners—well, two, because she’d seen Tyler naked, too—was so ripped?

Next Shannyn lookedfor Cassie in an aerobics class for a group of women in their forties. There were two instructors but she guessed the tall blonde in black yoga gear had to be Cassie. She was the right age, although Shannyn didn’t know her. Again, the decor and lighting were warm and again, everyone looked good in the wall of mirrors.

Cassie waved at Shannyn, obviously expecting her, and explained her presence to the class while they were doing their stretches. Members were given the choice of opting out of the photographs, but none of them did. Shannyn went to work, trying to capture the sense of community she was finding at F5F.

Cassie was as positive as Damon had been, darting around the class to adjust postures and give encouragement. She also remembered the names of all the members she addressed and there were about thirty in the class. Shannyn wondered how many classes she taught. The music was upbeat and there were a lot of smiles, even as the room heated up. Cassie was also beautifully muscled. She could have been a professional dancer, given how toned she was. At the end, she came to talk to Shannyn and review the images. They chose half a dozen and Cassie identified the members in the shots so they could sign the permissions.

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