Working up a Sweat

by Working Up A Sweat (lit)

  The sound was coming from Leo’s phone on the dresser. She got up and brought it back to bed, nudging him as she handed it to him. He rubbed his eyes and took the phone.

  “Hello?… Yes, I will be in. No, I’m fine. I just overslept. Tell Mrs. Harding that she can either wait, or reschedule her, and apologize for me… Yes, in about an hour.”

  Hanging up the phone, he sat up. “I’ve got to get to work.”

  “Okay.”

  “Anything special you want to do today?”

  “Besides you?”

  He grinned and kissed her. “Yeah, besides that.”

  “Not really.”

  “Okay, so I’ll catch up with you later?”

  “Yep.”

  “Great. Okay, I’m outta here.”

  Calli watched as he dressed and blew her a kiss. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Today was her last day. The last day she’d see the sparkling water of the Caribbean outside her window. The last day she’d pig out on room service. The last day…

  Even as the words formed in her mind, tears came. The last day she’d spend with Leo.

  * * * * *

  Leo made his way to the pool. He hated teaching water aerobics. Hated teaching aerobics period, but water aerobics even more. As luck would have it, the instructor had come down with a stomach flu and they needed someone to fill in. Since his schedule was free, he drew the short straw.

  He was going to be glad to see this experience come to an end. Only two more days and it was back to Boston for him. Work his own schedule, live his own schedule and be his own boss again. This had reminded him of just how great it was to be your own boss. Not that it had been horrible. It was a different experience, had allowed him to do a favor for a friend.

  And he’d met Calli. That brought a frown to his face. How the hell was he going to let her just walk out of his life? The frown turned into a look of determination. He wasn’t. Couldn’t. He’d talk to her tonight and tell her straight out that he wanted to find a way to continue seeing her. And he’d hope that look he’d seen a couple of times in her eyes spoke the truth and she did have feelings for him. If she did, then they’d find a way.

  Such thoughts were cut short as he approached the pool. Two women, Debbie and Diane, friends who’d come for a two-week stay, were waiting. He mentally groaned. Both of the women were attractive, but both were freaking barracudas. He pitied the poor man who ended up with either of them. He’d be chewed up and spit out before he knew what was happening.

  “Hey, handsome,” Debbie, the too-blonde-to-be-natural cooed and ran her hand up one arm.

  Leo nodded and shrugged her off to take off his shirt. Mistake. She was on him like white on rice. “Oh, just look at all these glorious muscles. Diana, feel this! Have you ever felt anything so delicious?”

  Leo literally peeled the women off him and made post haste to the pool. “Sorry, I’ve got a class I have to teach.”

  “Well, why do you think we’re here, handsome?” Debbie reported and sidled up to him. As he started to step down into the pool she gave him a push then jumped in on top of him.

  Leo grunted under her weight and let the impact push him under the water. She wrapped around him like an octopus, legs around his waist, arms circling his neck. He surfaced and raked back his hair.

  “Hmmm.” She ground her pussy against him. “Come on, baby, let’s see what that you’ve got hidden in those shorts. Give Debbie some wood.”

  Leo wanted to retch. Literally. Several of the people nearby were laughing at her antics, egging her own. He reached behind his neck to work her hands loose and when he did, she kissed him. Or tried. He slammed his lips shut and turned his head.

  And saw her. Calli. Standing at the line of deck chairs with a look of shock on her face. Her eyes met his for one split second then she turned and ran.

  “Let go of me!” He pried Debbie’s hands loose but no sooner would he get her unwound around his neck, she’d grab hold again. Damn, he was going to have to drown this bitch to get her off him.

  * * * * *

  “Well here you are again,” Calli said to her teary reflection in the bathroom mirror.

  “You’d think you’d have learned after last time, but no, you had to go make a fool of yourself over a man who sees you as nothing more than another fuck.”

  It horrified her that she’d let herself fall for Leo. She’d tried to play it cool and claim this was just fun and games—a fantasy—but the truth was, it was way more than that for her. She didn’t know how to play those games, and because she’d been careless and left her feelings exposed, she found herself having to face that once again she’d been played.

  What really hurt was that she’d thought Leo was different. That he… God, how stupid could she be? It was too humiliating. She couldn’t face him again. There’s no way she could keep up the act. Not now. What was she going to do?

  Leave. She had to leave. Now.

  Calli slammed things into her luggage, heedless of what went where. All that mattered was getting the hell out of there. What a fool she was, thinking that Leo was genuinely interested in her. Why had she been so stupid?

  She grabbed the house phone and called the desk. She was checking out early and needed a cab immediately. And a bellman to get her luggage. No, not shortly. Now. She had to leave immediately. It was an emergency.

  That was no lie. She couldn’t bear to see Leo’s face again, couldn’t stomach the idea of trying to make small talk with him after seeing him wrapped up with that fake-breasted, bleached blonde.

  Tears threatened, but she swiped them away. She was not going to cry. He’d made a fool out of her, but she wouldn’t cry. She threw the last of her belongings into the suitcase, zipped it closed and hauled it to the front door.

  Before the bellman arrived she was standing outside her villa, laptop case in hand and purse strap on her shoulder. She didn’t bother to wait for the bellman to get off the golf cart, but hefted the two suitcases onto the back and climbed in behind him.

  Her cab was waiting outside the lobby. Without a word she tipped the bellman. The cab driver transferred her luggage to the trunk of the car and she got into the back seat. Time to go home.

  It wasn’t until the cab had cleared the gates of the resort that she allowed the tears to come. Brokenly, she instructed the driver to take her to the closest hotel to the airport. Her flight didn’t leave until tomorrow. She needed a place to stay, a place to have a nice long cry and figure out how in the world she was going to forget about Leo Thatcher.

  * * * * *

  Leo was certain he was cursed. By the time he’d extricated himself from Debbie’s clutches, her friend Diane joined the party. In the end he’d been rude and had literally tossed both of them halfway across the pool, yelling at them to get their fucking hands off him.

  And naturally, the assistant manager of the resort happened to be at the pool bar conferring with the bar manager and overheard him. It took Leo fifteen minutes to explain, apologize and get away from the man. By the time he got to Calli’s villa, she was gone.

  He raced back to the lobby and asked about her, only to be informed that Ms. Howard had checked out and her cab had left no more than five minutes ago. Leo cursed, stomped to the bar and proceeded to get drunk.

  Chapter Six

  By the time Calli stepped off the curb into her sister Stella’s arms, she’d gained control of her emotions. She’d had plenty of time to cry and feel sorry for herself the previous day and night as she sat alone in the hotel room.

  Stella finished hugging her and pushed her back to arm’s length. “My god, you don’t have a bit of tan! Did it rain the whole time?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, I know that look. Get in the car and tell me what happened.”

  The last thing Calli wanted to do was tell Stella what an idiot she’d made of herself. Maybe she’d just plead a headache and Stella would leave it be. She buckled up her seatbelt and leaned her head back, closing her e
yes.

  “That won’t work with me, Calli Howard. Now tell me what happened.”

  Calli opened her eyes and stared out of the window. “Nothing to tell. There were a lot of naked people. I didn’t want to get naked, so I worked out, ran and enjoyed some time doing research.”

  “You are so lying through your teeth.”

  Calli whipped her head around to look at Stella. “I am not.”

  “Yes you are!” Stella’s voice softened. “Calli, I know you’re upset. I can feel it. Why can’t you tell me?”

  Calli thought about it a long time before answering. “Because if I don’t talk about it maybe I can pretend it never happened and in time I won’t have to think about it.”

  “You’re scaring me, Cal. Did someone hurt you?”

  The concern in Stella’s voice ripped away all the protective barriers she’d erected. Before she realized it, she was telling Stella what had happened. The only thing she didn’t mention was Leo’s name. She couldn’t bring herself to even speak his name.

  It wasn’t until she got to the point in the tale where she’d called a cab that she realized they were not on the right route to her apartment. “Where’re we going?”

  “Oh shit!” Stella cut a nervous look at Calli. “The girls planned a coming home party for you at Fenny’s.”

  “Stella, no. I don’t want to. I just want to go home.”

  Stella chewed her lip for a moment then shook her head. “I know that you do. Just like I know that if I take you home you’ll just sit there by yourself and brood. That’s no good, Cal. So this guy played you. We’ve all been played. Just chalk it up to a life lesson and move on. Besides, these women are your friends. Do you really want to hurt their feelings?”

  “God you know how to work me,” Calli complained. It was true. Stella knew the right buttons to push. “Okay, fine. But just for a little while.”

  She turned away from Stella, staring out of the window and steeling herself for the gathering.

  * * * * *

  Leo forced a smile on his face when he walked in the door of the gym. He’d been back home for two days and he couldn’t put off getting back to work any longer. Besides, it was doing him no good to sit around and brood. He was just going to have to accept that it wasn’t in the cards for him to find a meaningful relationship. Fate had screwed him over royally in the Caribbean and he’d lost any chance with Calli, even if he could find her.

  And he’d tried. He’d run searches on the internet, tried to bribe information from the resort and even searched library forums online to see if maybe she was a member. So far, he’d found no leads on her. Why the hell hadn’t he asked where she was from? And why had that never even come up in their conversations?

  Because all the conversations were about you, moron. Your book and your aspirations. That made him feel ashamed. He’d really let his dick and his ego lead him along. He’d just wallowed in the attention and the help she’d given him with his book, and hadn’t paid attention to the important things.

  Like she did? That devil’s advocate in his head had a good point. She’d made it clear that all she wanted was a fling. So why was he so messed up over the way it had ended?

  “Well, well, Leo Thatcher.” A cool, sarcastic female voice had him pivoting on his heel at the reception desk.

  “Good morning, Stella. How are you?”

  “Haven’t seen you lately, Leo. Where’ve you been?”

  “I was gone for a couple of weeks, doing a favor for a friend.” Leo checked the computer to see how many members were logged in as he talked.

  “Really? How kind of you. Where did you go?”

  It was a little out of character for Stella to be so inquisitive, but then again in the last few months she had changed a lot—become less cool and brusque and more personable.

  “Actually, I was filling in for a friend at a resort in the Caribbean while he was on his honeymoon.”

  “Really? And did you have a good time? Meet lots of new exciting people?”

  Leo felt the depression he’d battled the last week gaining strength at her question. “It was…interesting.” He looked down at the computer, hoping to end the conversation by appearing busy.

  “I can just imagine.”

  Something in her voice made him look up. Stella marched up close to the desk, threw her hands on her hips and leaned in close. “If you ever, EVER go near my sister again I’ll…well, I assure you I’ll make your life miserable.”

  “What?” He had no clue what she was talking about or why she was so angry. Bright pink spots had appeared on her cheeks and her eyes were blazing.

  “Don’t play stupid with me. Calli isn’t like the bimbos you’re used to here, Leo. She doesn’t play games well and she sure as shit didn’t deserve to be played and made a fool of. Frankly, I’m disappointed enough in you that I’m almost certain I’ll be taking my membership to another gym when the month is out.”

  Leo found his mouth opening and closing, his mind trying to wrap around what she was saying. “You’re…? Calli? You’re sisters?”

  “Like I said, don’t play stupid.”

  He completely forgot she was furious. All he could think was that now he could find Calli and explain. “I have to go.”

  “You just remember what I said, Leo.”

  “Yeah. I got it.” He hurried to his office and snatched up the phone to dial directory assistance. “I need the number for Calliope Howard.”

  “Shit!” He slammed down the phone when the operator notified him there was no listing for a Calliope Howard. Okay, but he knew she was in the area and she was a librarian. He turned to the laptop on his desk and accessed the internet. The first place to start was with the main library. Surely they’d have records of all the librarians associated with the library system.

  Hope had his fingers flying over the keys. It might be a long shot and might net him nothing, but until he saw her face-to-face and explained, he wouldn’t be able to move past it.

  * * * * *

  Fear spiked, sending a jolt of adrenaline to Calli’s legs. She’d seen that same dark sports car three times since she’d gotten off work. The first time was when she’d left the library. The car pulled out of the parking lot behind her. She noticed because the light had turned yellow as she was making the left hand turn and the sports car had run the red light.

  The next time she saw it was a block from her apartment. She hadn’t given it much thought. Many people took the same route she took. But now, seeing it as she bounded down the front steps of the apartment building to head out for her run, she felt very uneasy.

  Uneasy enough that she turned and ran back inside. As soon as she was in her apartment she picked up the phone and called Dini. “Hey, this is Calli. I’m sorry to bother you but I know your boyfriend’s a cop and… Well this car has been following me ever since I left work and just now when I went out to run I saw it again.”

  She looked out of the window as she listened to Dini tell her to try to get the license plate number, and that she was going to call Jonas that moment.

  “Okay, thanks, Dini. I’ll let you know if I see it again and get the number.”

  She hung up the phone and looked out of the window, scanning the street below. There was no sign of the car. Maybe she was making too much of this. She’d been such a mess since she returned from her trip that maybe it was making her see things where nothing existed.

  She should just go for her run and forget about it. She checked the view of the street again. Nothing. She wandered around the apartment for twenty minutes, tidying up, then checked again. No dark blue sports car.

  Okay, this was silly. She was going to go run. She grabbed her cell phone and keys and headed out the door. There was no strange car on the street that she could see when she walked down the stairs.

  Chiding herself for an overactive imagination, she started off at a jog, warming up. If she had time she’d like to get in at least an hour’s run. But chances were good it wou
ld be dark before then. That was okay. She’d run her short route and be back before dark.

  Running cleansed her mind in a way nothing else did. She could let go of all her stress and worries when she was running. She could even find ease from the almost constant ache she’d carried since she saw Leo with that blonde. She still didn’t know how she’d let herself be so fooled, how she’d let herself fall in love with someone she didn’t even know.

  Pushing those thoughts aside, she picked up her pace, forcing herself to think about other things, like the book she was finally writing. She’d started it the day after she got back, when she thought she’d go crazy from thinking about Leo. Now the story was starting to gain momentum and she was pouring everything she had into it.

  She rounded the corner onto her street and stopped short. There was the blue sports car. Damn. What should she do? She remembered what Dini had said. She couldn’t see the tag very clearly. Should she get closer?

  No, wait. Her phone had a camera. She snatched it out of its clip and aimed. If she zoomed in she could make out the numbers. She took three shots just to make sure, returned the phone to its clip, and then ran as fast as she could to her building, taking the steps three at a time.

  When she was safely inside her apartment with the door locked behind her, she called Dini again. “I got the number. It’s parked right in front of my building.”

  “Jonas is across the street, watching. He just called. Give me the number and I’ll call and tell him.”

  “Hold on.” Calli accessed the photos, scribbled down the number and read it off to Dini.

  “Okay, I’ll call you back.”

  Calli put the phone down and eased over to the window. A knot took sudden shape in her throat as she saw Jonas jumping out of a dark sedan across the street and running toward her building.

  “Oh shit!” She couldn’t see beyond the landing of the door. What was going on? Suddenly she didn’t feel so safe in her snug little apartment. She didn’t even have anything to defend herself with.