by L. P. Dover
It was actually a good idea, but he had no idea what he was getting in to. “Tyler will never allow it,” I whispered, leaning in close.
A small smirk splayed across his lips. “Well then, I guess it’s a good thing he just left.”
“Kyle, no,” I hissed, smacking him on the arm. “Tyler just made me manager. I don’t want to get fired.”
“You’re a manager now? Look at you go. I think we should celebrate.”
“We’re not going to be celebrating anything if I don’t have a job tomorrow.” Kyle looked over my head at the women and walked around me. Groaning, I rushed to keep up with him.
“Tyler’s not going to fire you, love. I mean, I already got my ass kicked by Dean. Why not add a bunch of women to the mix?” It didn’t help that he paraded to the front half-naked, showing off his perfectly tanned and tattooed muscles. “Which of you ladies want to work with me first?”
Almost instantly, all of them lifted their hands in the air. Kyle’s smug expression made me want to slap him. “Okay, fine you can help. But if I get in trouble, I’m going to say you forced me and there was nothing I could do.”
“I’m okay with that.”
Rolling my eyes, I focused on the ladies. “Girls, don’t hold back. Give him hell.”
***
KYLE HAD BEEN outstanding with the women. He’d let them pound on him and gave encouragement every step of the way. I wondered how the ladies would feel if they knew of his past.
“Out of all the women, I think Sherry enjoyed having you the most. Did you see her face? I’ve never seen it that shade of red before,” I laughed.
Chuckling, Kyle put his shirt on and zipped up his gym bag. “Probably because she tried to cop a feel. That woman scares me.”
Shaking my head, I pushed him out of the room so we could make our rounds through the gym. “Thank you for helping me tonight. You surprised me.”
He winked. “You’re welcome. What do you need me to do now?”
I pointed to the treadmills. “Make sure all the machines are turned off and then move to the weights and straighten them up. Once I check the rest of the stuff we can go.”
He turned to head to his section while I started on mine. “If I keep spending my time here, Tyler’s gonna have to put me on the payroll.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I laughed. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him bend down to straighten the weights. His muscles tightened and flexed as he moved them around. Was it wrong that I wanted him to hold me again? Hell, he could hold anything against me at this point. “Would you really want to work here?”
He glanced at me over his shoulder. “I don’t know, but one of these days I’m going to need to find a job. I can’t live off of my money forever.” He finished up his rounds and joined me at my desk. Once I fetched my gym bag and phone, we were ready to go.
“What else do you do besides fight?”
We started for the door and he shrugged. “To be honest, not much else. Fighting was all I’ve ever done. I made triple on my fights at the Dark Side compared to the UFC. I guess it’s a good thing I learned to save money.”
Opening the door, I waited for him to walk out before locking it. “I’d say so. I’m sure you’ll find something. If you find a way to get back into Tyler and Kacey’s good graces I know Tyler will find something for you to do.”
He chuckled. “And I can only imagine what that something would be.”
We walked side by side around to the parking lot and noticed it was exceptionally dark. “The parking lot lights are out. That’s strange,” I noted. My danger instincts went on full alert and Kyle could sense it.
He put his arm around my shoulders but kept vigilant as we walked the rest of the way to our vehicles. Little did he know I had a gun in my bag. I slipped my hand inside and felt the cold metal on my fingers. Tyler understood my need to carry one and allowed me to bring it to work. It helped me feel safe. When we got to our cars, I expected someone to jump out, but no one did. However, the feeling in my gut was still there.
Once I unlocked my car door and opened it, the interior lights helped illuminate the surroundings. That wasn’t the only thing the light uncovered. “Holy fuck,” I gasped, grabbing Kyle’s hand, “look at your truck.”
He looked down and his whole body tensed. “Motherfucker,” he growled. Someone had vandalized the whole side of his truck and keyed the words Stay Away in big, scraggly letters. Bending down, he surveyed the damage and held his head in his hands. “I guess I can’t say I don’t deserve it,” he claimed sadly.
Anger boiled in my veins. “Yeah, but they need to stop being pussies and bring their issues to you and not your goddamned truck.” I yelled it so that if the fucker was still around they’d hear me. “I swear, if this is someone at my gym I’m going to kick their ass.”
Reaching into my bag, I pulled out my phone and dialed Tyler’s number. Kyle got to his feet. “Who are you calling?”
“Tyler.”
He grabbed my phone and turned it off. “No you’re not.”
“Why? This happened on his property. He’ll want to know.”
Sighing, he passed my phone back to me. “But if he finds out, he might ask me to stay away. If he does, I won’t have a choice.”
“Dammit, Kyle,” I griped, putting my phone in my bag. “This isn’t right. What are you going to do?”
He huffed and turned his attention to the scribbled words. “I’m going to get this fixed and move on. I knew what I was getting myself into when I moved out here.”
I placed my hand on his arm. “It still doesn’t make it right.” My stomach churned looking at the damage. “You can’t drive around with your truck like that. When do you think you can get it fixed?”
“We have a mutual friend in California who can do it, but I haven’t talked to him since I helped him with Gabby. I don’t even know if he’ll talk to me, let alone fix my truck.”
“Paxton?” I asked.
“Yep, he’s the best. It’s just I don’t want to ask him yet. I’m probably the last person they want to spend time with.”
“You’d be surprised about Gabby. Maybe when you decide to go I can come with you. It’ll help soften things up.”
“You’d do that?”
“They’re my friends, Kyle. I’d do anything to spend time with them again. I miss California.”
He sighed. “So do I.”
My phone began to ring so I fished it out of my bag. It was Nicole, probably wondering what was taking me so long. “It’s Nic. When I’m late, she always calls to check up on me. Will I see you tomorrow?” My heart dropped when he shook his head.
“I think I’m going to lie low for a few days. It’s probably for the best.”
I nodded, even though deep inside I wanted to see him again. “I understand. You’re not going to pack up and skip town are you?”
He laughed and pulled out his phone. “No, love. Give me your number and I’ll call you back so you’ll have mine. Feel free to text or call anytime.” Once the numbers were exchanged, we said our goodbyes and I got in my car. As soon as I got home and pulled into the garage, my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
Kyle: Will u miss me this week?
Me: Wouldn’t you like to know.
Kyle: Don’t worry. I’ll keep asking until you say yes.
Me: You’ll be waiting a long damn time.
I walked inside, staring at my texts with a big grin on my face. With her hands on her hips, Nic glared at me, wearing her strawberry shortcake apron.
“Girl, where have you been? I tried calling you. Dinner’s been ready for forty-five minutes.” Her face softened when she noticed my smile. “Oh, look at you . . . I guess I’m not the only one taken now.”
“Greg?” I asked excitedly.
She grinned. “Yep. It looks like our love lives are finally looking up.”
I threw my bag on the floor and sat down at the kitchen table. The food smelled amazing. “I wouldn’t s
ay my love life is looking up, but it’s definitely not looking down either.” I just had to keep it a secret for now.
***
DURING KYLE’S ABSENCE, I watched every person who walked through the doors to see if I could sense any trace of gloating; especially Dean and his friends. I even worked out around them and heard nothing about them taking the credit for Kyle’s truck.
“Is there a reason you keep checking your phone every other minute?” Tyler asked, sidling up to my desk.
“Nope,” I said, shutting it inside one of the desk drawers. I wasn’t about to tell him Kyle and I had been texting incessantly the past three days. “I was looking at the time.”
He leaned over on the counter and shook his head, smirking. “I’m just going to pretend I believe you. So what are you doing tonight?”
I narrowed my gaze. “Going home. Why?”
“I figured we could celebrate your promotion tonight. Kacey’s expecting us at the restaurant after we close.”
“Sounds good to me. Is Nic still invited?” I asked.
He groaned and then finished with a smile. “As long as she doesn’t talk the entire damn time, we’ll be fine.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I have other plans for her.”
“Good. We’ll close up a little early and head out.” As soon as he walked away, I picked up the phone and called Nicole.
“What’s up, chickadee,” she answered.
“Not much. Just calling to tell you we’re having dinner at Kacey’s restaurant tonight and you’re invited. Tyler wants to celebrate my promotion and reward me for my hard work.”
“Awesome. Call me when you’re about to head out and I’ll meet you there. Greg’s coming over for a little bit.”
I laughed. “Just make sure you get to the restaurant on time.”
“I will, I will. There’s nothing wrong with a little afternoon delight to get the party started.”
“Have fun with that. I’ll see you later.” Shaking my head, I set the phone down. She might as well have fun on her afternoons off because it wasn’t going to last. I was determined to get her a job. She just needed the confidence and a push.
My phone started vibrating in the drawer. I slid it open and to no surprise it was Kyle, again.
Kyle: Miss me yet?
Me: Nope.
Kyle: What are u doing tonight?
Me: Going out with Tyler. Jealous?
The gym phone started to ring but I couldn’t take my eyes away from my cell. I knew a snarky reply was coming. “Rushing’s Gym and Fitness, this is Megan, how can I help you?”
“Well, love, in reply to your last text, no I’m not jealous of you going out with Tyler. Now if it was with your other two shitdick friends who want to bang you out, then I’d have a problem.”
“Oh yeah, what would you do?”
“You don’t want to know.”
I chuckled. “Probably not.”
“Where is he taking you?” he asked.
“We’re going to Kacey’s restaurant to celebrate my promotion. I wish you could join us. It’s a really nice place. I bet you’d like it. It’s amazing the kind of talent your sister has.”
The line went quiet but then he sighed. “That she does.”
“I can call you tonight when I’m on my way home. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sounds good. Besides, there’s something I want to talk to you about too.”
The parking lot was slam packed when I pulled up to Kacey’s restaurant, K and B’s Bistro. The K stood for Kacey and the B stood for Bree, her partner. Luckily, I found a spot and made it inside before Tyler could. Kacey spotted me as soon as I walked inside.
“Megan, it’s so good to see you,” she greeted, folding me in a hug. “I have the best table for you. Follow me.”
I walked behind her and stared at her blonde hair that was the same color as Kyle’s. I wanted to tell her about how he was trying to be a better man, but it wasn’t the right time. One day soon, hopefully. She led me upstairs to the loft that was set up with just one huge table and my favorite bottle of wine, chilling in a bucket of ice. “This is awesome, Kacey. Thank you.”
She pulled out my seat and faced me. “No, thank you for being such a great help to me and Tyler. He loves you to death and so do I.”
I reached out to hug her again and closed my burning eyes. “You’re like my family, Kace. If it wasn’t for you and Tyler, I wouldn’t be happy here.” Letting her go, I wiped my eyes and sat down at the table. “Can I ask you something?”
She sat down on the opposite side and opened the bottle of wine. “Sure. What’s up?” She poured me a glass.
I took it from her and drank a sip. “I was wondering . . . are you hiring any chefs?”
Sitting back in her chair, she narrowed her eyes with a smirk. “Why do you ask?”
“You know my friend Nicole?” She nodded. “Well, she’s an amazing chef and graduated the top of her class in culinary school. I’d love to see her get a good job.”
“Why hasn’t she come to talk to me?”
“She’s nervous. Your restaurant is amazing and she knows that. Plus, if she applied and you said no, she’d have to see you around all the time and that would be awkward.” I laughed. “I just want her to be in a place where she’s appreciated, where she can use her talents and be creative. I know you’d encourage that side of her.”
Her gaze landed on something over my shoulder and she grinned. “Speak of the devil.” She got to her feet and winked. “Don’t worry about your friend, I’ll take good care of her.”
Turning around, I smiled as Nic approached.
“I’m not late am I?” she asked.
Kacey shook her head and put her arm over her shoulders. “Nope, you’re just in time. If you’d follow me, please.”
Nic’s brows furrowed. “Where are we going?”
Kacey led her back to the stairs. “To the kitchen. Don’t worry, you’ll do just fine. I’ll pay you double time.” Eyes wide, Nic glanced back at me with her mouth gaping wide open.
Giggling, I nodded for her to go and she went willingly. She was probably going to bitch me out for catching her off guard. At least now she had no choice but to show Kacey what she could do. As the girls started down the steps, Tyler marched up. His smile grew wider when he realized Nic wouldn’t be eating dinner with us.
“Don’t look so happy,” I chided, downing the rest of my wine.
Chuckling, he sat across from me. “I know she’s your friend, but she talks way too damn much.”
I poured another glass of wine and held it up. “That she does. I hope you’re ready to max out your credit card because I’m hungry. I intentionally didn’t eat lunch so I could pig out tonight.” Shaking his head, he grabbed his menu and opened it up. “Oh, and before I forget, is there any way I can take a couple of days off after you get back from your honeymoon?”
“Of course,” he said, setting down his menu. “Are you taking a little vacation?”
I wished. If he only knew I was going to be spending that time with Kyle. “Not really. I figured I’d spend some time with our friends out in California. I know they’ll be here for your wedding, but I miss the coast. I’m ready to see the ocean.”
“So, you’re not a fan of the desert?” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Ha-ha.”
Tyler kept his gaze on mine over the rim of my glass as I took a sip. “I heard that Kyle helped you in your self-defense class.” I choked on my wine and it splashed up in my face. Grabbing my napkin, I held it over my mouth and coughed.
“Who told you?”
He set the menu down and folded his hands on the table. “Sherry,” he replied. “She couldn’t help but fawn over how cute and amazing the new instructor was. Imagine my shock when I figured out who she was talking about.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes and lowered my head. “You didn’t tell her who he was did you?” I asked, lifting my head. “They really lik
e him, Tyler. You should have seen the way he worked with them.”
He leaned forward, jaw firm. “You know I trust you, Megan. But putting your faith in Kyle is a gamble, not just for you, but our clients as well. Bottom line, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“If you trust me as much as you say you do, then trust me on this. Kyle is trying hard and he wants to make a difference. I believe he can do it. All you need to do is give him one chance. Let him teach the classes with me on Monday nights. See for yourself how his demeanor has changed.”
Huffing, he ran his hands through his hair. “If Kacey finds out about this, she’ll roast my ass.”
“Not if she realizes he’s doing it for her.”
He groaned and poured a glass of wine, gulping it all down. “So help me, I’m gonna regret this.”
I smiled, excitement bubbling in my veins. “Does this mean he can help?”
“Yes,” he grumbled. “If he proves himself, maybe I’ll even consider paying him.”
Jumping out of my seat, I rushed over and hugged him. Belting out a laugh, he hugged me back. “I swear you two are going to be the death of me.”
I pulled back and smacked him on the arm. “Now that won’t do. We can’t have you kicking the bucket before your wedding next weekend.”
“There won’t be one if Kacey finds out.”
“I think you underestimate the power of family. I have faith Kyle can turn around for the better. I’ve seen it. All I need you and Kacey to do is to see it for yourselves.”
***
ON THE WAY home, I couldn’t wait to call Kyle. I didn’t want Tyler to know I was calling him so I waited until I pulled out of the parking lot to dial his number. He picked up on the second ring.
“How did your date go?” he asked.
“It went great and ended with a little tongue. Thanks for asking.”
He chuckled. “I bet.”