“Kent,” she said.
“Okay,” Rich responded. He got out his phone and dialed.
She heard him telling Kent that he needed to come over, but she didn’t tune in to everything he was saying.
She stayed huddled in the corner, and Rich stayed on the floor an arm’s length away, as they waited for Kent to arrive.
When the knock came at the door, Roni heard Rich talking quietly to Kent. He explained what he could, then said something about having to get to the Rec Center to deal with a burst pipe. He asked Kent to have her call him when she was ready. He paused and looked back at her before he walked out the door.
Kent came up and put a hand on her shoulder, and she crawled onto his lap. Eager to accept the comfort that he offered.
Chapter Seventeen
Rich was exhausted. He’d spent the night with the plumber trying to deal with a pipe that exploded in the Men’s locker room.
That, along with Roni’s melt down the night before, had kept him awake long after he’d finally had the chance to lie down. Now, he was an hour away from the Grand Opening of the Rec Center, and he felt like he was half dead.
He’d texted Kent this morning to see how Roni was doing. Since she hadn’t wanted him to stay last night, he hadn’t been sure that she would welcome him checking on her this morning, but he had to make sure she was okay. It had really scared him to see her like that. So terrified, quivering in the corner. He honestly hadn’t known how to react. Kent responded that she was doing better, wished him luck on the opening, and said he’d see him later.
Rich knew he’d see Roni soon, but for now, he needed to focus on one of the most important events of his life.
The Center was a flurry of movement, everyone was trying to get there last minute preparations done before the doors opened. Rich had done an interview with Kent for the paper, and had taken out an ad to promote the opening. He’d had a ton of people call, or stop him on the street, and say they were planning to attend and bring the whole family.
He walked into the kitchen to find Briana putting the finishing touches on dozens of cupcakes.
“Smells good, Bree,” he said as he reached for a cupcake.
She slapped at his hand, as he knew she would, and clucked her tongue at him.
“Hands off, Mister. These are for the guests.”
He grinned at her and picked up one icing covered hand, bringing it to his lips.
“Now, Darlin’, are you sure we can’t work something out?”
Briana laughed and pulled her hand away.
“Get out of here and make sure everything is ready for your big day. I’ll save you a cupcake.”
Rich smiled and winked, satisfied that he’d gotten what he wanted, then walked out to check on his other instructors, whistling as he walked.
This was going to be a great day. He felt it in his bones.
He paused when he got to the door of Roni’s dance studio. Roni was inside lining up colorful tutus along the mirrored wall. Classical music played softly in the background, and she hummed while she worked. He walked hesitantly inside, clearing his throat as he entered, so he wouldn’t startle her.
She looked up at him with a small smile, her eyes still a little troubled.
“Hey,” she said. “You ready for today?”
Rich closed the gap between them, bringing his hand up to brush the hair from her face and leaving it there to cradle her cheek. “You okay?”
Roni closed her eyes and turned her face to kiss him gently on the palm. She opened her eyes and stepped back, putting some space between them.
“I’m okay. Let’s focus on the Grand Opening today. You’ve been working so hard and I know it’s going to be a great success.”
Rich looked at her, then nodded, “If that’s what you want, but let me know if you need anything, okay?”
Roni nodded back and he turned to leave, pausing when he reached the door.
“We will talk about what happened though.”
“I know,” Roni responded, then turned to finish getting ready.
As he walked through the building, he saw the Art room was set up, the music room had recorders and xylophones placed along the table, and Alex was warming up in the Karate studio.
“You ready?” Rich asked Alex, popping his head in briefly.
When she nodded to him, he gave her a thumbs up and kept going down the hall. Jason and the other boxing coaches were warming up and using the equipment. Jason nodded to him and he nodded back, then went to complete his walk through and head back out front to open the doors.
Within an hour the center was alive with the sounds of laughter and the excited chatter of children. It was better than Rich could have ever imagined.
By the time Colin, Kent and Nicole arrived, he had perma-grin.
“Wow, it looks like a great turn-out,” Nicole gushed. She gave Rich a quick hug, then said she was going to see if Bree needed any help.
Rich smiled after her, then turned to his friends. “I can’t believe it.”
“I can,” Colin responded. “This place is just what this town needed.”
“Yeah, man,” Kent agreed. “I can’t wait to get my gym membership. In fact, I’ll go back and see if Jason and the guys need a hand with anything.”
Colin said he would catch up with Kent after he checked on his fiancé. Once they were gone, Rich went to his office to grab a water, before doing his rounds again.
He’d just opened the water and taken a sip when nervous giggles had him turning towards the door. Twin girls wearing pink leotards and pigtails stood watching him.
“Hello, ladies,” Rich said with a wink, causing them turn to each other and giggle. “What can I do for ya?”
“Hi, Mr. Rich,” the girl on the left said.
Her sister followed it up with, “Can you show us where the dance class is?”
“It would be my pleasure,” he responded, placing the water on the desk so he could take each of them by the hand. “Let me be your escort,” he said dramatically, as he led them towards the dance studio.
When they reached the studio, the girls were so excited they practically vibrated.
Roni was teaching a group of kids how to do a plié. He watched as she leaned down to whisper to a little girl who was having difficulties. The little girl smiled happily when she executed the simple move, and Roni’s obvious joy caused his heart to flip in his chest.
He was falling in love with her. She was not only physically beautiful, but had a beautiful heart. The way she was with her brother and their friends, showed how selfless she was. He loved that she didn’t take shit from anyone, including him, and that she always had a comeback. Seeing her dance and the way she interacted with the kids, just introduced him to more aspects of her, and so far, he was lovin’ all of them. She was the total package.
Roni looked up and started towards him and the girls. Rich felt frozen in place as he tried to register what his heart was feeling.
“You guys here for a lesson?” She asked, smiling at the twins.
They both nodded quickly and let go of his hands yelling, “Thank you, Mr. Rich,” as they ran into the room towards Roni. She gave him a small smile, then took the girls and got them situated with the rest of the class.
The rest of his day went by quickly. The bulk of it was spent making sure that everyone on staff had what they needed, and his guests were having a good time. He did get a chance to get in the ring with some of the teens who were interested in boxing, which made the day even brighter. It really proved to him that he’d made the right decision.
By the time the Grand Opening was finished, he and the staff were ready to drop. They’d taught countless classes and had been on their feet for over eight hours, but it had been totally worth it.
Although he was tired, Rich walked around and helped everyone clean up. He set up a time for them to meet and discuss what worked and what hadn’t.
He was standing at the front, saying goodbye to everyon
e as they left for the night, when Alex walked up.
“Thanks again for doing a great job today,” he told her.
“It was fun,” she said. “And I think a good number of the kids that tried the class will be contacting you to sign up.”
“Great,” Rich replied. Then he remembered Jason and decided to do some recon for his friend. “So, you got a hot date tonight?”
Alex looked a bit puzzled and replied, “Nope. I’m perpetually single.”
“Perpetually?” Rich asked with a chuckle.
Before Alex could respond, Roni cleared her throat behind them. Rich looked up and wondered at the look on her face.
“Everything okay?” He asked.
“Yup,” Roni responded. “I just need to get going.”
Alex smiled unsurely at her, before turning back to Rich and saying, “Well, thanks again, Boss. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Rich said goodbye, then turned to Roni as Alex walked outside.
“You’re leaving?” He asked, disappointed that she wasn’t planning to stay so they could talk.
“Yeah,” Roni responded, not quite meeting his eyes. “It was a long day.”
“I was hoping you’d want to grab some dinner, and talk,” Rich said, a little displeased by how needy he sounded.
“Not tonight,” Roni replied. “We’ll talk later.”
“Alright, but you can always give me a call later, if you change your mind.”
“Okay. Goodnight,” she said as she walked out.
Rich watched her leave, as Jason came up behind him.
“Awesome turn-out tonight, Bro,” Jason said, putting his fist out to pound Rich’s.
“It was better than I’d ever imagined,” Rich admitted.
“I’ll be back early to get some training in before we open.”
“Sounds good, I’ll warm up with you,” Rich said. “Oh, hey… Alex is single.”
Jason stopped and turned to his friend, his eyebrow raised. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yup,” Rich answered with a grin. “Told me so herself.”
Jason returned his grin and said, “’Night,” before walking out the door.
He locked up and did one last walk through, stopping in the kitchen to grab the cupcake that Briana had saved for him. He took it with him to his room, where he settled back on the bed and let the day’s events replay in his mind.
He already had quite a few families’ sign up for classes and they’d sold a good number of items in the resale store. Eventually his thoughts turned back to Roni and the way she’d reacted the night before. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going on with her. He hoped she’d call so they could talk about it.
She never did.
Chapter Eighteen
Roni had a raging headache. She really hoped the aspirin would kick in quickly. She was on her way to the center. She knew she couldn’t keep putting Rich off; she needed to talk to him. She’d done a lot of thinking last night, and she realized that she couldn’t continue to have a relationship with Rich. Not even a casual one. Because it didn’t seem to be as casual as it had started out to be.
Last night, when she’d heard Rich talking to Alex, she’d been slapped in the face by jealousy. Roni knew what it was like to be cheated on; she couldn’t help but think of how Hank had slept with anyone that had given him the slightest invitation.
She didn’t think that Rich was actually hitting on Alex, she believed him when he told her that he wouldn’t cheat on her, but she didn’t relish the feelings of jealousy. It brought back memories of the person she used to be.
Rich flirted with girls without even thinking about it, it was just his nature. She’d realized that even more after she’d met his parents. It’s like he’d been brought up that way. She’d thought she was used to it.
But when she’d seen the cute little Karate instructor responding to Rich that she was single, she’d been overcome by the green-eyed monster.
She didn’t like it. She and Rich were just having a fling, emotions shouldn’t be involved. And the fact that they seemed to be, meant she needed to take a step back.
She needed them to maintain a good relationship, since they were going to be working together.
Roni felt a pain in her heart at the thought of telling Rich they needed to stall their relationship. She was surprised to realize that she was going to miss being able to touch him and be with him.
She checked his room first, but it was empty. She smiled at the site of his unmade bed and his clothes piled into a ball in the corner. He was such a guy.
That just reaffirmed that she was getting too involved, she thought, she should not think his messiness was endearing.
Roni shut Rich’s door and made her way towards the back. She figured he was either in the fitness center or the boxing gym.
She heard them before she saw them, the grunts of guys and the sound of flesh hitting something. When she rounded the corner, the site before her stopped her in her tracks.
They were both shirtless, with boxing shoes and trunks on.
Jason had the boxing mitts on. His toned body glistened with sweat. His dark hair and strategically placed tattoos made a striking picture, but Roni only had eyes for Rich.
His muscles rippled underneath his naturally tanned skin with each punch he threw. He anticipated Jason’s movements and met the mitts with his gloves, his hits fluid. The noises that he made seemed to resonate in the pit of her belly causing heat to pool there.
“They’re something, aren’t they?” Alex said as she came up behind her, causing Roni to jump.
“Oh, my gosh,” Roni said bringing her hand to her mouth. “You scared me.”
“Sorry,” Alex said, stopping next to Roni to watch the guys who were oblivious to their audience. “I thought you heard me walk up.”
Roni just shook her head, then turned to the other woman with her hand extended.
“I don’t think we’ve officially met, I’m Roni.”
“I know… You’re the boss’s girl,” Alex said with a smile as they shook hands. “I’ve seen you around, but I guess we’ve just never had the opportunity to talk before.”
“Oh, I’m not Rich’s girl,” Roni denied with a shake of her head.
Alex just smiled at her and shrugged her shoulders. “I think he would say differently.”
They stood quietly for a moment, enjoying the sight before them. When the guys took a break and Jason put his head back to squirt water in his mouth and over his head before running a towel down his chest, Roni heard Alex’s intake of breath and looked over at her face.
Roni smiled at her look of longing. Alex turned and blushed when she realized she’d been caught. She shrugged again and said, “I can’t help it, he’s pretty amazing.”
Roni nodded her agreement, “And he’s a really nice guy. You should go for it.”
“Oh… no,” Alex said with a small smile. “He’d never go for a girl like me. I work for the mayor and do Karate in my spare time. Not exactly his type, I’m sure.”
Roni was surprised at the other woman’s evaluation of herself, but Rich noticed them before she could take their conversation any further. He nodded and gave her the one-minute sign.
Alex turned to leave and said, “Well, I’m going to go check the messages and see if I’ve gotten any more sign-ups. I’m hoping to get my first class going by the end of the week.”
“Okay,” Roni responded with a smile. Then she turned and called out, “Hey, Alex. We should hang out sometime.”
Alex smiled broadly and said, “Yeah, I’d like that.”
Roni waved at Jason and turned to Rich who was walking up to her with a towel slung around his neck. She couldn’t help but notice how perfectly toned his abs were, and she loved the cut of his muscles as they disappeared below his trunks.
Shit, she needed to focus.
“Hey, sunshine,” Rich said with a beautiful smile before he leaned in and kissed her softly. Careful not to get any sweat on her.
As they walked towards his room he asked, “Did you have a good night last night?”
“Pretty much,” Roni said. “I went to sleep soon after I got home. I was pretty tired.”
“Yeah, it was a great day.”
Roni hated to wipe the smile off of his face. She started to feel hot and sweaty all over, her hands dampening with the thought of hurting him.
Rich threw the towel in the corner with the other clothes, then walked over to the bed and threw the comforter up over the bed, trying to make it look more presentable, before turning to her.
“Sorry, the place is a mess.”
“That’s okay,” Roni responded. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Yeah,” Rich said, gesturing for her to sit next to him on the bed. “I have to grab a shower before I open the doors, but I have some time.”
Roni sat next to him on the bed, her hair falling and covering her face, giving her a moment to compose herself and think about how she wanted to begin.
“Hey,” Rich said, pushing her hair back over her shoulder so he could look at her. “It’s okay. You can tell me anything.”
“I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
Chapter Nineteen
Rich felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He’d been so happy when he’d seen Roni standing in the gym talking to Alex. His first instinct had been to go to her and take her in his arms. He’d hoped her coming in early meant that she was ready to talk to him.
He’d never imagined she’d come to end it.
“Why?”
“This was always supposed to be a fling,” Roni said in a tone that made him wonder if she was trying to convince him or herself.
“Well… it turned into more than that,” Rich responded, hoping there was still a chance he could convince her not to do this. That she hadn’t already made up her mind.
“Look, Rich,” Roni began, “There are things you don’t know about me.”
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