Page 68 of Bewitch

“Sometimes, it’s better to not always be so serious, you know? Let down your hair.”

“Yeah.” He rubs a hand over his short blond hair. “I really can’t do that.”

“A shame. You’re probably so uptight that you need a massage.”

Do it. Offer him one.

“I don’t need a massage or anything else. I’m good. You know, you could always stop by the gym by yourself, even if not for a session.”

“Will you be there?” I ask, trying to sound casual.

“You can go to the gym when I’m not there, you know. You don’t need a babysitter.”

I wrinkle my nose. “You aren’t that much older than I am.”

“What you need to do is stop.”

I bristle. “Excuse me?”

“Stop living your life afraid. Stop listening to other people and letting them get under your skin. Do what makes you happy.”

“And if what makes me happy is to shove my daily allotment of calories down my throat in one meal, why not? Being happy isn’t good enough.”

“Or do you want too much to be happy and can’t ever be satisfied?” He shakes his head. “You’re all the same, rich snobs who think that going to the gym will solve all of your problems. Some of you don’t even work out when you’re there, as if you’ll change just by showing up. No, you have to put in the time and the effort and—”

“You can’t say I haven’t put in the time or effort,” I snap.

“And yet…” His gaze shifts over to my cart. “Are you having a party too, or are you going to shove cake and cookies down your throat all day?”

“My willpower has never been stronger—”

“Willpower cracks. You should’ve just had something small to eat at the party. You were up so much later than normal. Of course you burned more calories, so something a little small might’ve helped you so you wouldn’t throw it all away today.”

“Maybe you don’t know me very well.”

He snorts. “Or maybe you know I’m right and just don’t want to admit it to yourself.”

I grit my teeth. “It’s a wonder to me that you have any clients at all.”

“And yet my approval rating from my clients is higher than any other trainer at the gym, even higher than the ones who have been around the longest. Plus, you haven’t asked for someone else. Deep down, you know that you need me.”

“I don’t need a damn thing from you,” I hiss.

“Keep telling yourself that, or are you going to not show up on Monday? Already thinking about another excuse—”

“I beg your pardon?” I cannot believe what I’m hearing. “I didn’t just make an excuse. I was out late at a party, and I wasn’t feeling up to working out. You were the one who originally wanted me to have two rest days a week in the first place! I pushed for only one, and the only time I beg off of a day, you think I’m going to stop going? You can bet your ass that I’m going to be there on Monday. I’m not done with the gym, but maybe I’m done with you.”

My fingers hurt from gripping the handle to my cart so tightly, and I jerk my cart to the side to go around him. Why is he so hot and cold? Why do I care so damn much about what he says to me? It’s probably all just an act on his part, and if I want to lure him in, I shouldn’t be responding so passionately to the shit he’s saying.

But he burns me up like no other. There’s passion between us even if it’s fueled by hatred.

I can feel someone staring at me again as I enter the self-checkout line. Casually, I glance over.

Lucas is the one staring at me with those bewitching eyes of his, and that smirk of his? Damn it all. He knows I’m not done with him ye.

So not done at all.

CHAPTER20

---