Page 56 of When Annika Met Thom

If nothing else,Flatiron Five Fitness was great for Annika’s ego. Ten minutes in the place was enough to eliminate any doubts she might have had about her own appeal to the opposite sex. The men were fit and trim, incredibly good looking, and a high percentage of them gave her appreciative glances. Kyle took her out for lunch on Tuesday to an enormous Italian place around the corner, which was a grocery, a bar, a café and a restaurant. It was crowded and interesting, and too loud to do much more than watch him try to charm her. She had the best meatball sandwich she’d ever eaten and knew she’d go back to have a better look, as well as pick up some groceries or take-out.

Bruno beat Kyle to inviting her for lunch on Wednesday, the pair seeming to have settled into a competition over her midday company. Annika was flattered and she liked them both, but there were no sparks on her side. She wasn’t going to abstain from everything in Leo’s absence—she just didn’t feel ready to jump into a relationship with either of these men.

She’d make an exception for Thom in a heartbeat.

If she ever saw him again.

Margritte had recommended closure and a fling in that order, and Annika thought her sister was probably right. The trick was that she had no idea where Leo was, he wasn’t taking her calls, and the one person who might know Leo’s location was avoiding her. Evidently that strategy was contagious. She hadn’t seen Thom since Monday night, although it was clear that he was going back to the apartment in her absence. Cerberus was fed and walked each day, and she heard Thom come home late each night. He left early, too, which was frustrating when she wanted to talk to him. She couldn’t switch her work hours, so she had to find him when he was at F5F.

On Thursday, she asked for Thom at the desk and was told that he’d be coaching in the weight room from eleven to two. Annika turned down both lunch invitations and went looking for Thom instead.

The club impressed her every time she walked through it. There’d been no stinting on finishes, details or upkeep. The stone floors gleamed, the stainless railings were polished to a shine, the many glass walls were spotless. She took the stairs up to the weight room, which she knew was on the fourth floor. On the third floor, she peeked into the pool enclosures: there were three, two lap pools and a big shallow pool for water fitness. The water sparkled turquoise in the sunlight, which poured into each space from large glass windows on the exterior walls. There was an aerobics class in progress in the shallow pool, and a number of people swimming laps in the others. She could smell the salt water from the pools and remembered Kyle telling her that only one lap pool was chlorinated.

On the fourth floor, she was momentarily uncertain. The locker rooms were clearly labelled but not the weight rooms. Did she have to go through one to get to them? She asked a passing club member, who confirmed her theory. She went through the women’s locker room, finding a women’s weight room beyond it with tinted glass. The other larger weight room was clearly used by both genders and had clear glass walls. She didn’t see Thom in either of them. There was another space with tinted glass walls beyond and she headed for it, assuming he was there.

A big guy stopped her at the door. It was one of the partners, Damon, she thought, and he shook his head at her. “I’m sorry, but you can’t go in there.” It was interesting that even though he was bulked up like Thom, with dark eyes, dark hair and a similarly low voice, Annika didn’t feel much of a tingle in his presence.

“I’m looking for Thom.”

Damon smiled. “He’s coaching in there.”

“I don’t want to interrupt. I just wanted to talk to him for a minute.”

Damon considered this. “I’ll see if I can cover for him. Hang on.” He vanished behind the tinted glass and Annika smelled the efforts of the guys on the other side. She looked around as she waited. Three weight rooms was a big investment. Why not just have one?

“Problem?” Thom asked and she jumped at the growl of his voice. He’d emerged from the room silently and was standing behind her, his expression wary. In contrast to her reaction to Damon, Annika’s heart took off at a gallop at the sight of Thom. He was wearing a singlet and shorts, and his skin was covered with a patina of perspiration. She could see more of his tattoos and was more curious than ever but his curt manner didn’t invite questions.

Of course.

“Why are there three weight rooms?”

His brows rose. “You called me out of a session to ask me something anyone could have answered?”

“No, but I was just wondering.”

“Not everyone is confident in having the opposite sex see them work out. We did a private weight room for the women, because they asked for it, then the guys wanted one, too.” He shrugged, clearly not troubled by who saw him bench press hundreds of pounds. Annika knew whoever saw him work out would be impressed.

“That’s not why I was looking for you.”

“Good.” He folded his arms across his chest, which made him look more imposing and less cooperative.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

“I’ve simplified the situation. You won’t change my mind about that.”

“I’m not going to try,” she said, seeing surprise light his eyes for a minute. “I just wanted to ask you something and couldn’t, because I didn’t see you at the apartment.”

“Here I am. Ask.”

“You aren’t the most encouraging person, you know.”

“Chances are good you’re going to ask me to do something I don’t want to do.”

Annika had to admit that was true. “It’s about Leo.”

Thom raised a hand and started to turn away.

She grabbed his elbow. “No, wait. I need closure. I need to talk to him one more time.”

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