Page 18 of Seduced at Stevens Street
His smile was genuine. “You’re welcome. I told you I would. So, are you at least going to feed me? I’m hungry too.”
“I guess I need to go to the grocery store, the prospects aren’t too good.”
“You ever get sandwiches from Rubenstein’s Deli?”
I didn’t eat much bread or deli meat. “No, I haven’t.”
“Really? They’re only a few blocks over. They have an amazing pastrami, huge, big enough for us both. And their Kosher pickles are to die for.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. As tight as his abs were, I couldn’t imagine he ate anything but healthy food. “I’ll trust you.”
He took a few steps towards the door. “So, we’ll share the pastrami?” He opened the door.
“Sure but get me my own pickle.”
Logan
Damn, another rule broken, buying the meal for her, way to date-like. But we did have to eat, and she didn’t have much in her refrigerator. Besides, I was the one delaying her packing by keeping her in bed. Just the thought of it had my lips forming a smile I couldn’t stop. I wanted to keep her in bed a lot more. Damn, what would this look like with her working at the gym? If I were smart, I would cut this off right now. I knew I couldn’t do that though. She had to understand though; this wasn’t a relationship.
I brought the food back into her apartment, not bothering to knock on the door as I entered. She had the wine open, and two glasses poured. We sat next to each other at her dining table. She raised her glass into the air towards me. “To my new job and us keeping it from getting messy.”
I tapped her glass, and we drank. “You know I am going to think of nothing besides getting you into bed whenever I see you in those form fitting yoga pants and tank tops you wear.” She smiled in a way that said she was not only flattered but conveyed that she would be feeling the same way about me. “I can’t makeyou any promises about anything, little girl, except that I will be honest with you.”
“That’s more than a lot of people will do or can do.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that. I really wanted to ask about her ex-boyfriend, who had obviously lived here with her. I didn’t though. I didn’t feel it was my place to ask. I took her glass from her hand and sat it back on the table. I kissed her, to cover up for my lack of anything to say to her statement.
Chapter 6
Gia
Things moved quickly after that. I split my time between teaching classes at Claudine’s and in meetings at Stevens Street as I was officially on their payroll now. I worked very closely with Kenzie to develop the yoga program, class schedules, and decorating the temporary studio, which was built in just over a week. Many tradesmen were members at the gym, and I was impressed how fast they rallied to construct the space, often working late into the evening on it.
Kenzie had a lot of great ideas from a marketing standpoint to retain Claudine’s current members as well as attract new yoga students. She was very accommodating to anything I wanted or needed program or schedule wise. Ashley was working on getting her certifications to teach and Kenzie promised me they would hire another part-time instructor quickly.
Just being around Stevens Street Gym, I learned very quickly how much respect everyone had for Andy Stevens, and anyone else associated with the gym. Kenzie had only been on the scene for about six months, and she was adored by all.
Even though Logan’s sexual appetite was very well known, legendary as a matter of fact, everyone liked him and respected the knowledge he had. His boot camps were always full. Watching him interact with Andy, the other trainers, and the people who took his classes, I saw a side of him I never would have guessed existed. He was a good and loyal friend who would do just about anything for anyone. He shared his vast fitness knowledge with everyone. He had a great sense of humor. His smile and laugh were infectious. He was always confident and comfortable in his own skin.
And our nights together continued to be incredibly hot. And we saw each other nearly every night. He was an expert at keeping work and our play time separate. From his behavior alone, no one would ever suspect we had any sort of relationship, not even a friendship. I found myself stealing glances at him when I was at the gym, hoping no one would see. I couldn’t stop myself from watching him, becoming more enamored by him every day.
The two weeks passed very quickly and before I knew it Claudine, Heidi and I were saying goodbye to each other and the studio we had spent so much time in. We taught our last class, the three of us together. It was packed with clients, many who had been with us for years. Claudine and Heidi said goodbye to them with hugs and tears.
I knew I would see most of them at the Stevens Street Gym. All the members were set to finish out the class punch cards at Stevens Street Gym, and hopefully they would be retained as clients there. I was moving over to Stevens Street full-time beginning the next day.
This chapter of my life had come to an end. It was time to flip the page and continue onward. Tomorrow I would be moving out of my apartment as well. As promised, Andy had a crew ready. They’d be at my place by eight in the morning. Thanks to Logan’s help and my friend Sara, my place was all packed up and ready to go.
I still had not told Sara anything about Logan. I wanted to, but I knew she wouldn’t approve. Until my new apartment was done, I would be staying both at her place and the guest room at Kenzie and Andy’s house so maybe I would confide in her at some point. But I wasn’t even sure what I’d tell her. Even though Logan and I had spent so much time together over the two weeks, I couldn’t really define our non-relationship. I knew it wasn’t just sex for him, but he still said he didn’t do relationships. Would friends with benefits be a fitting description?
The soft opening of the yoga studio at the Stevens Street Gym went better than I could have expected. We were packed for allfive classes I offered that day. And the drop by, to come see the temporary studio, had steady foot-traffic with Claudine’s former members as well as a lot of women I’d never seen. I know that everyone was interested in what else the gym had to offer.
Part of Kenzie’s rollout to retain Claudine’s former members and hook new ones involved giveaways and half price promotions. Anyone who came to a class during the soft opening day would receive a Stevens Street Gym yoga tank top and a water bottle with both the Pure Body and the Stevens Street logos on it, and a five-class punch card for free. They would be able to buy half-price full-gym memberships and half-price yoga class, ten punch cards that day only. They would also receive one free boot camp class.
I found out while talking with several women I did not know that all the trainers and Logan had promoted the yoga program to their members for the past two weeks. Logan had passed out flyers to all those who took his classes extending the offer to wives, girlfriends, even coworkers of anyone who took his classes. And anyone in his bootcamp classes were given the free five-class punch card and encouraged to try it to augment their strength training. I met many of them at the soft opening.
The actual grand opening for the yoga program would coincide with the gym’s party to celebrate the completed construction build out of the new space they’d acquired. That would be in about a month. With the space they’d acquired, the gym would double the size of the bootcamp facilities, add a dance room, and build new locker rooms with showers and other facilities. They also planned to move around some of the equipment, paint, and put down new flooring in the main room.
The gym was exactly what Andy had promoted it to be, a community, many of whom were friends or in the very least friendly. I found out that many of the bootcamp classes had the same people on the same days and times every week. They had group text message chains between them, and their relationships had grown from strangers into friendships. Many of them got together outside of the gym. They asked for recommendations from each other on services, plumbers, mechanics and so forth, many of which were skills possessed by members. They recommended each other and frequented each other’s businesses.
