Page 3 of Friends With Benefits

“Yeah.” She sighed with relief. “Thank heaven for Sela.”

Kerri’s yoga studio had been growing steadily ever since she started it seven years ago. While she’d taught classes six days a week, sometimes three or four times a day, she’d been so busy she’d hardly had time to breathe, but she’d been happy and her business thrived. She’d impressed Mitch with her success. Then her lease had been cancelled and her business was homeless.

“It was perfect timing,” Mitch said, “since she needed to move her spa to a bigger place. It was nice of her to offer to lease space to you.”

“Nice? She didn’t do it because she’s nice. She did it because she knew I would bring in a whole new clientele. It’s a natural fit for both our businesses. Mutually beneficial. This was totally a business deal.”

Moving her yoga studio in with White Lotus Spa meant a lot of long hours and stress levels that would knock anyone else out. But Kerri, with her serene outlook and Zen-like ability to master stress, seemed unfazed by all the demands on her. He often mocked her for her dedication to yoga, but he had to admit it did seem to work for her.

“Sheisa smart businesswoman.”

Kerri frowned, stirring her margarita with the straw.

“Anyway,” Mitch continued. “I’m not sure how you plan to fit marriage and motherhood in with a growing business that keeps you busy teaching six days a week.”

“I know how to balance. I know how important that is. My chakras are aligned.”

He gave her a look and her lips twitched as she continued. “The chakras draw in the universal life force energy to keep the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical health of the body in balance. Yin and yang.” She knew damn well how much it bugged him when she talked about all that mind-body-spirit shit, which was exactly why she did it.

“Karmic crap,” he muttered, holding back his own smile.

She laughed. “Oh, shut up. You know what I mean.”

He wasn’t sure how much of all that stuff Kerri actually believed, but he had to admit she did manage to lead her very busy life with serene steadiness.

“So tell me aboutyourday.” She leaned her elbow on the table and propped her chin on her hand. Her eyes fastened on his face with an interest so genuine, it made him feel good. Important. Warm.

His day. He leaned back in his chair, not sure what to say. His day had been frustrating, discouraging…not stuff he really wanted to talk about right now. “It was okay,” he finally said. He looked down at the bottle in his hands.

“Anything juicy?” Kerri leaned forward, brows lifted.

“How about a seventy-two-year-old couple splitting up after forty-nine years of marriage?”

Kerri’s slim dark brows drew together. “That’s not juicy, that’s depressing.”

“They were planning their fiftieth wedding anniversary party and the husband started having an affair with the party planner.”

She laughed. “Okay. That’s juicy.”

He smiled back at her, knowing she wanted to hear the outrageous, funny stories he often had, but the reality was, sometimes things didn’t seem so funny any more. A couple in their seventies fighting over a divorce just annoyed him. There had to be a better way. He’d been trying some different things lately, other ways of helping people resolve their differences, but he didn’t think Kerri was interested in hearing that, so he entertained her with the rest of the story about the septuagenarian divorce.

Chapter Two

“Have you thought of anybody yet?” Kerri demanded.

She sat in her new office, talking to Mitch on her cell phone, impatience bubbling inside her. It had been a week since she’d asked him to help. She needed to get going with this. “Um…well, not really.”

“Mitch!” she wailed. “You said you’d help.”

“Well, yeah, but I just haven’t thought of anyone.”

“Oh jeez. You know tons of people. It can’t be that hard.”

“I don’t see you out there finding your own dates. There’s nothing to stop you from trying yourself. Don’t put this all on me.”

She paused and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. “You’re right,” she said with a sigh. “It’s not your responsibility. I should be out there putting in more effort. It’s just been so long… I have no idea how to meet guys. I’m not really into the bar scene…and I feel a little old for that, anyway. But you know…I was checking out some on-line dating services the other day and—”

“Jesus Christ, Kerri,” he interrupted heatedly. “You’re not going out with some stranger you met on-line. Forget that bullshit. I’ll think of someone. Wait. I just did.”

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