Page 37 of Guilty as Sin
Again the hesitation, then, “Not sure. What did he say?”
“Basically, that I’m a lucky bastard. And a liar.”
“Aliar?Even after you showed him your evidence? Tell me he took a report, at least.”
“Oh, he did that. For what it’s worth. Put it that he had trouble getting excited about it as a serious problem. I was half expecting him to say that he wished somebody would stalkhim.It was on the tip of his tongue.”
“Absolutely unprofessional.” She was rowing faster now. “What, men can’t be stalked? Of course they can. It’s a disgusting crime, whoever does it. Taking away somebody’s peace of mind. Taking away their freedom. It’s right up there with domestic abuse. In fact, it’s the same, because it’s the same guys. He’s saying he’ll control her one way or another. Or in your case,she’llcontrolhim. Which is just as bad.” She sounded like she was going to dash straight out and tackle Sergeant Worthless. Literally.
“No worries,” he said. “She’s not going to control me. And that wasn’t all of it. Sadly. I’m afraid it was my inadequate manhood as well. That I hadn’t hooked up with any possible suspects, although that was probably a lie, what with my readers sending me naked photos and all. Clearly an offer no red-blooded man would refuse. I was meant to be swiping right at the pub as well. I’m either a liar or a pussy who’s wasting his chances. He wasn’t sure which.”
A long silence, then she stopped rowing, replaced the handle, picked up her water bottle and her towel, and said, “We’ve both done enough of this. At least I have. Fifty minutes.”
Running away again.
Do better,Paige told herself. Way too much information shared. Way too far off Lily. Time to shift gears. Andnotthink about whether Jace had been wasting his chances or not.
She was wearing flowery workout clothes. Withlace.A thing she hadn’t known existed, to the point where she’d had to hold them up and stare at them to make sure they actuallywereworkout clothes.
She was Lily, dammit.
Medicine ball. Focus.
Which was why she was holding the heavy ball, squatting low, then twisting to her left and raising it high overhead, breathing her way through the discomfort, when somebody stopped beside her. Not a man devastated by her fabulous femininity in her flowery outfit. A slim brunette with a ponytail, a woman Paige had seen the day before. A trainer, probably, because she watched her do her final two reps before switching to her right side, the hard side. Before she could start, the woman asked, “Do you mind a little feedback?”
Paige would have said, “No, thanks.” Lily wouldn’t. She stood up, still holding the ball, and said, “Sure.”
“It’s not always a good idea to start out at your max,” the woman said. She was wearing a name tag.Kelli.“If you haven’t been doing a regular routine, I’d suggest not working the same muscle groups every day. And you’re pushing too hard. When it’s that much of a strain, I’d recommend a rest day between workouts, or at least a lower-intensity day.”
“Thanks,” Paige said. “But I don’t know why you’d think I wasn’t doing a regular routine.”
The woman smiled. Condescendingly. Which made Paige long to challenge her to a set of burpees. Or possibly just hit her, seeing as Paige would lose the contest. Stupid leg. Kelli said, “Maybe you’ve been doing something at home, but I haven’t seen you in here for a long time, and it looks to me like you’re overdoing it. A home workout really isn’t the same, and a medicine ball’s a better choice for later on. I can set you up with an introductory session if you like, and get you started on a program. If you ramp up gradually, you’ll be less likely to be injured.”
Paige was still trying to come up with a Lily-like way of telling her where she could stick her introductory session when Kelli glanced over at Jace. Who happened to be doing a set of lightning-fast pushups. With one arm. And then switching.
The light bulb went on. Paige was apparently not the only woman in Sinful who appreciated lean muscle and a hundred-watt stare. “I’ll be more careful,” she said, then decided to add, “Besides, what other excuse would I have to look at him?” and smiled. Lily-style. “He’s not really my type, but he sure is easy on the eyes, isn’t he?”
The other woman’s face relaxed a fraction, and Paige thought,yep.
“He is,” the trainer said. “Too rough for you? Probably so. He looks hard to handle. Or like a hard handler.”
“Exactly,” Paige said with a conspiratorial smile. “He’s my neighbor, actually. Lives down the road from me. He helped me with my goats this morning. You’re right, though. He’s a little much for me, honestly. Like you said.”One more step.“Like, you know.” She dropped her voice. “The kind of guy who’d be into bondage or something. Like he’d want to give you a good spanking first.”
The woman laughed. Superiority established, relaxation commencing. “Some people might consider that a feature, not a bug.”
Paige had stopped listening. She’d seen somebody else, the woman who’d given her a hard time the day before in the store. Did everybody hang out here? If she saw Hailey taking a spin class, she’d be sure of it. She said, “Hey. Do me a favor. That woman. For some reason, I can’t remember her name. Probably self-defense, because she hates me.”
“Jennifer? Well, yeah, obviously, because of the spa she wants to add once they do the new resort.” The trainer lowered her voice. “She’s overextended already, though, just with the gym, I heard. I don’t know how much longer she can hang on. She thought she was good because of the resort expanding, you know. And she has issues. When I started, I thought she was great, but that was before I realized how abusive the atmosphere could get. It’s not how it seems, not when you really know what’s going on.”
“Really? How long have you worked here?” Jenniferwasthe gym owner, then. The woman Lily had mentioned.
“Six months.”
“And it’s changed in that time? The gym? The… atmosphere?”
“I thought it would be perfect. Small town, friendly, laid-back. But it’s been getting weird. And the women here… If you didn’t grow up in Sinful, forget it. Which you didn’t either, and they know it. She’s not the only one that hates you. They all want the expansion to happen. So they can buy land and sell it for vacation houses, for one thing. If it gets to be the new hot place.”
“Who’s ‘all’?”
