Page 103 of Just a Little White Lie

Rummaging around in the laundry, he returns with two buckets, cloths, cleaning agents, and rubber gloves.

“You can do the main bathroom. I take it from your wet hair that you showered this morning, and I can only guess what you got up to in there. I’m not cleaning it.”

I simper and reluctantly take the bucket off the table. So much for reading. Grabbing my phone, I decide to blast some tunes instead, and it makes the tedious task of scrubbing and cleaning that much easier. I practice dance moves around the vacuum cleaner—yeah, Luke’s a demanding task master—and by the time I’m done, his fastidious checking of my work is driving me insane.

I have to get out of this house or I might be forced into committing a crime that will land me twenty to life.

Fleeing the premises, I drive into town and wander past shop windows, spotting things I can’t afford and getting frustrated by how much further I need to go. Luke was serious about that two years, and even though that’s an eon away, it might just catch up with me sooner than I think. Setting aside some funds to prepare for that might be a wise move.

Wow. Look at me, being all forward-thinking and mature.

I shake my head, wondering what’s happening to the woman I was before. I haven’t even bought myself a drink to wander around town with. I didn’t want to spend the five whole dollars on a smoothie when—

I stop at the end of the street. Something across the road has caught my eye, and before I can think it through, I dash over the crossing and walk through the door of Body Health gym.

The first thing I hear is the sound of metal crashing together as someone finishes what must have been a challenging set of weights. There’s the hum of a treadmill over near the window and then someone panting rapidly to my left. I glance at her box jumping and nod, impressed by her stamina. I could probably handle about three of those before keeling over.

“Morning. How can I…” The bright voice trails off, and I glance up to see Jack. His smile is warm but perplexed. “What are you doing here?”

It only just occurs to me how incredibly stalker-like this must seem, and I cringe before I can stop myself.

“What?” Jack’s smile drops as he walks around the counter to touch my elbow. “Are you okay?”

“I just… I was escaping the house because Luke’s on a cleaning frenzy, and I was walking through town not spending any money, and I saw this place and remembered you worked here and sort of walked through the door without really thinking about it.”

He grinned and leaned down to peck my lips. “Well, it’s nice to see you.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Why would I mind? My hot girlfriend is stopping by to brighten up my day. I would never have a problem with that.”

His sweet words make me grin and maybe float just a little. Okay, a lot.

“Want to look around?” He spreads his arm to show off the space. “There’s not much more than this, to be honest.”

I follow him past weight machines and around the corner to a free weights section where grunting men and one woman, who looks stronger than the lot of them, are testing their bodies to the limit.

“Very cool,” I murmur. “Is this where you do your workouts?”

“Yep.” He nods. “I get free membership because I work here.”

“And what do you do on your shifts?” I glance around, noticing how everyone seems pretty occupied with their own thing.

“Well, I… you know… I clean, I maintain the equipment, I help people with their programs, show them if they’re doing an exercise wrong. That kind of stuff.”

I nod. His voice is lacking an enthusiastic ring that makes my forehead pucker. I want to ask him, but it’s probably not a conversation to have while gym clients are working out within earshot.

“What’s through there?” I point to the frosted glass door behind him.

“Oh.” He spins and leads me into a studio. “The boss wants to start running some classes at some point, and he’s just finished off this space. He only acquired this part of the building last year, so he’s been working on getting it finished.”

I gaze at the mirrors and polished wooden floor. “What kinds of classes?”

“Not sure what he’s thinking. He’ll need to find some instructors, I guess. It’s probably just a case of what they can offer.”

“Are you going to start doing some dance classes? This is a great space for it.”

“Dance classes? Me?”

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