Page 22 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

“I haven’t,” he said. “I was picked on a lot as a kid by the older kids in the neighborhood. My mom put me in martial arts classes to learn to stand up for myself. Probably made it easier for me to catch on to the moves in your class.” He paused. “Plus, you’re an excellent teacher. Mart wouldn’t still be in your class if you weren’t.”

I sighed. “I’ve told him to move on to a more difficult class, but he says this time slot works best for him.”

“That’s not what he told me.”

I hated his smug tone.

“What did he tell you?”

He stopped and pointed to my car. “This is you, right? I’ll see you at the bar.”

“What did he tell you?”

But Alex just waved as he walked away. And again, I was caught off balance, wondering what he knew about me, what Mart had told him.

***

I didn’t usually go out to a bar in yoga pants and a t-shirt, but I wasn’t embarrassed to be seen that way, either. Maybe the drunk guys looking for an easy target would leave me alone.

I could have changed at the gym, or stopped by my condo, but it would have felt wrong to put nice clothes on my sweaty body, and I’d have ended up showering and putting on make-up and wouldn’t have made it to the bar until after nine.

A couple people from accounting waved me over as soon as I walked in. I waved back and made my way over to them, my nerves lighting up for some strange reason. At work, I talked to them all the time, but always about work stuff. I had no clue what to say to them in this more relaxed setting.

I knew, from HR, and my assistant, the basics of what was going on in their lives outside of work, but I’d never talked to them about it. It wasn’t that I didn’t care I just…Thought it was important to maintain a distance as their boss. Now, I wondered if maybe I’d maintained too much of a distance.

“Hi, Laura, Cliff, how are you?” I asked.

“We’re great,” Laura said. “It was so nice of Alex to invite us all out.”

“It was.”

I could have walked away, said I had other people to talk to, but it occurred to me that maybe I should work on being a different kind of boss. Now that I worked for a company not on the verge of bankruptcy and my family seemed not to need me, maybe I could spare some time and energy on being more personable with my colleagues.

“I apologize for my casual attire,” I said. “I was teaching a class before I came here.”

“Aerobics?” Laura asked, her brows rising with surprise.

“Krav Maga. A self-defense class.”

She nodded, her surprise fading. “I’ve always wanted to learn, but I’m not…” She gestured to her skinny form. “I’m pretty out of shape these days.”

“You don’t have to be super fit.” Everyone should know how to defend themselves, it was something I believed with a passion. “I teach a beginner class and we all work together on getting stronger. You should come by sometime.”

I gave her the name of the gym and fished free passes out of my bag for each of them.

“You didn’t give me a free pass,” Alex said as I stepped away from Laura and Cliff. He was so close his breath was hot on my ear.

I swung around so I was out of his personal space and faced him. “I didn’t want to encourage you, and the gym needs all the income it can get.”

He’d changed at some point into jeans and a snug polo, but his hair was dry, so it was unlikely he’d showered. With his income, putting clean clothes on his dirty body didn’t matter. Or maybe he was so fit, he hadn’t worked up a sweat in my class.

His brow creased. “Is it struggling?”

I shrugged. “It’s a small gym in a city filled with gyms, it’s always a struggle.”

“I enjoyed your class. I don’t think I told you before. You’re a good teacher.”

“Thanks.” I was warmed by his unexpected praise. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

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