Page 6 of L.O.V.E

I’m not sure why I refrained from telling her that Dark and Dangerous was the man Holden had scuffled with during my attempted breakup speech. Maybe I got a certain thrill from keeping that little secret to myself. “Looks like a fight gym.”

“So? I’ve always wanted to give boxing a try.” Moving in front of me, she raised delicate hands and threw a fake punch, bouncing on her feet, her ample bosoms nearly shaking free of her push-up bra.

We were polar opposites in shape and size. Lacey stood four inches taller than my five-foot-three, had curves that conjured fantasies, and silky raven hair that hung to her small waist and seemed immune to common annoyances such as frizz or split ends.

“I hate fighting.” I dropped my shoes to the ground and wiggled my feet back into the leather sling-backs.

Lacey grabbed my arm to steady me. “But you’ve got a thing for gyms and the men who frequent them.”

“Not after today,” I assured her, finding my balance and continuing toward home.

“Oh, come on,” she pleaded, hands steepled. “I have to meet that guy. He was gorgeous.”

“I’m not spending money on a new gym when I’m perfectly happy at the gym I’ve been going to for over two years now.”

“Might I remind you that Holden spends fifteen hours a day at that gym?”

“Good point.”

We reached the entrance to our apartment building and giggled our way up the stairs, shushing each other, then laughing harder. I hugged her goodnight at her second floor apartment, then made my way up to the fourth where I resided.

A large, unconscious lump of drunken testosterone sat slumped against my door, his face a mangled mess, lip cut and swollen, both eyes boasting varying shades of bruising, and a ridiculous bandage wrapped around his head and under his chin. Thank God, I’d never given him a key to my place.

Funny, the man he’d attacked hadn’t a mark on him that I could tell. Maybe I should’ve stuck around to watch the scuffle.

I rolled my eyes and considered calling security. Instead, I grabbed the half-empty bottle of Jack out of Holden’s fingers. He wasn’t a drinker. If he woke up and finished that fifth, there was a good chance he’d choke to death on his own vomit, or walk in front of a moving bus. Couldn’t have that on my conscience. “Sleep it off, you big lug,” I whispered, then turned around, headed back downstairs, and spent the night on my best friend’s couch.

“You actually joined that gym?” I grabbed the pink bakery box out of Lacey’s hand and closed the door behind her, inhaling the sinful chocolate aroma.

Mom butchered the lyrics to “Gooba” from the laundry room. I rolled my eyes. Lacey laughed.

She still wore her workout clothes, but somehow looked fresh as a daisy, hair piled on her head in a perfect messy knot, red lipstick, eyes bright. “Of course, I did.”

Lacey James. Hopeless romantic. Nobody deserved an epic love affair more than my bestie. At age ten, she lost her mother to a tragic train accident. Her father fell ill shortly after. Lacey, the most selfless person I’d ever met, had spent her late teens and all her college years taking care of her ailing father. Mr. James had done his best to raise Lacey right. He’d never remarried and spoke of his wife daily. The doctors had never been able to diagnose his illness, but as the years passed, he withdrew more and more until eventually he died of what I believed to be a broken heart.

“Good for you. Did you meet Blondie yet?”

She followed me into the kitchen. “No. But he’s there every day. I’ve caught him staring at me, and he’s smiled at me three times.”

“So, go talk to him.”

“I’ve tried.” She huffed, dropping her keys on the counter. “I just don’t know how to do this.” Lacey rarely dated. First her father, and now her job as an HR Assistant took most of her time.

“Just do you. You are the most compassionate, funny, gracious person I know. Be yourself, and you’ll be swatting men away like flies.”

“You should come with me. I’m always braver when you’re by my side.” She threw an arm around my shoulders, giving me a hip bump. “Come. Just once. There are hotties everywhere.”

“I’m on a hottie hiatus,” I reminded her, before kissing her cheek and ducking free of her hug. “But I do need to get back into the gym.”

I’d avoided my daily workouts for one reason and one reason only—Holden.

Two weeks had passed since our breakup. Twice he’d shown up at the bank, and I had pretended to be in a meeting. After day three, I’d blocked his number and changed the security code to my apartment building.

I considered accepting Lacey’s offer to join CFC, but Mr. Dark and Dangerous used that gym, and I wasn’t sure I would survive another encounter with his smolder.

Ugh. My body tingled in all the wrong places just thinking about that stranger.

No, I would not join CFC and further humiliate myself. And even if the guy was interested, my plate was full. I had a corporate ladder to climb. I was currently a junior associate, the best at crunching numbers, and had a sharp eye when it came to assessing risk management, but what I wanted and where I thrived was landing the clients, sealing the deals on corporate accounts. Not an easy feat considering I was a young female in the banking industry. Work was my priority.

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