Page 78 of Bewitch

He just shakes his head. “Get up.”

I comply, and he shifts the bench to be on an incline.

“Get back on it. Incline dumbbell flies. Or do you want to do this on a machine?”

“Whichever you think is best.”

“You don’t want to know what I think is best.”

I grit my teeth. Why does he have to be such an ass?

But then I think of his dad and how he had been cut off from his parents. Kelly said parents. Had his mom and dad been divorced? Had his mom and stepdad been the ones to cut him off?

There’s still so much about him I don’t know.

I clear my throat. “I want to know.”

“Know what?” He glances at me.

“Why you’re such an ass,” I say.

“Sometimes, you need to be an ass to get results out of your clients.”

“Some might consider that harassment.”

He snorts. “Like you have any room to talk. I could get you kicked out of here for all of the shit you’ve said to me.”

I blow out a breath. He probably has a good point.

“Have you tried my balls?” I ask.

Lucas blinks a few times and smirks. “Lady balls?”

“See? That’s the shit I’m talking about!”

“And you purposely didn’t say protein balls, didn’t you?” he counters.

“Maybe,” I allow. “Let’s try the machine.”

“No.”

“No?” I’m baffled.

“You’ll be too distracted over there.”

I glance over at the machine in question. Sure enough, Pat is nearby. He waves to me.

“So what? You think a gym is better than a bar as far as picking up guys?” Lucas asks.

“I’m not strong enough yet to pick up guys,” I retort. “How about you help me with that?”

He shakes his head, but there’s almost a smile to his lips. “You aren’t going to like what you have to do in order to get that strong.”

“Try me.”

Turns out, he’s right. His workout is punishing and bruising, and I swear he’s even more of an ass than normal, but there’s definitely an undercurrent of sexual tension in everything we say to each other, even if there’s also anger. I’m not sure if I really can believe that it’s because he’s jealous, and I’m angry with him because I just want him to… to what? Kiss me? His comment about his getting me kicked out of here terrifies me. If I lose this place, I have no doubt I’ll fall off the wagon again, hard. That’s the last thing I want.

When I head to the front after the workout is done, Pamela hands me the box.

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