Page 21 of Body Check

“I’ll try.” His tone was firm.

“Excellent. Then I’ll finish creating a routine with your individual exercises today and you can expect a detailed plan in your inbox tonight.”

“Thank you. Could you send it to my personal email though? Not the one for the organization?”

“Sure.” Dakota sounded vaguely confused. “Whatever you’re most comfortable with.”

“I … it helps keeps things separate, you know?”

Dakota nodded. “Right. I get that. Let me grab my phone. You can put your contact information in.”

Gavin did so, adding his personal email and cell number along with his various work info.

“That should cover it,” he said, passing the phone back.

Dakota glanced down briefly. “You have two cell phones?”

“Work and personal, yeah.”

“Makes sense,” Dakota said with a soft laugh. “I suppose you don’t want hookup apps mingling with contract signings.”

“No, not so much,” Gavin agreed, rising to his feet, a little surprised by how reluctant he was to leave this warm, dim space.

“Thank you for doing this, by the way,” he added as he tugged on his socks and laced up his shoes. “I know how busy you are as well.”

Dakota glanced up from where he’d been puttering around the room, putting away the bolster pillow and folding the blanket. “You’re welcome.”

“Can I pay you for your time?” Gavin asked.

“No.”

“Are you sure? This was well outside of your scope of duties for the team, and …”

“If the team’s GM is feeling better, that helps him do his job better, which helps the guys play better,” Dakota said firmly.

“True,” Gavin said, but he hesitated, reluctant to leave it at that. “What if I okayed the purchase order for the additional reformers you requested?”

Dakota blinked. “You said there was no budget for it.”

He shrugged. “I can always find it somewhere. And, if not, I can always beg the ownership group for more.”

“You’d do that?” Dakota sounded surprised.

“I was wrong about you and your methods,” he admitted.

“How about this?” Dakota said, stepping closer, tucking his hair behind his ear. “For now, we’ll stick to our agreement, with one addition. If by February, you’re seeing improvements in the metrics you’re tracking and you’re getting fewer headaches, you’ll order the equipment I want.”

Gavin opened his mouth to agree to it but Dakota kept talking.

“And the next time I need some fancy, expensive piece of equipment for my studio, you won’t question the need for it. Because I wouldn’t ask for it unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Done,” Gavin said without hesitation, holding out a hand.

“And here I thought you drove hard bargains,” Dakota teased, shaking it.

His palm was warm and soft, but his grip was firm.

“I do,” Gavin admitted with a little smile as he reluctantly let go. “When it’s important to play hardball. But even though I hated every second of doing this today, I feel amazing now. You know your stuff. You’regoodat this. And I feel like I got the better end of the deal today.”

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