Page 41 of A Lot Like Adiós
“Exactly!” Her eyes shone with praise, and he was a little annoyed at himself for how much he liked it.
“So, what are the values of Agility Gym?” she asked, but answered before he could speak. “It’s in the title. Movement, flexibility. How does that come through in the messaging?”
Gabe grunted. “It doesn’t.”
“Who cares if you show someone at peak physical condition being flexible? That wouldn’t make me want to go to a gym. I want to see a regular person working out, to know that it’s a place where I can fit in and feel comfortable.”
“Youarein peak physical condition.”
She gave him a look up and down. “One of us is, and it’s not me. I’m not saying I don’t look damn good, but I’m not eighteen anymore. My body has definitely changed, and I’m okay with that. Cellulite and stretch marks are natural.”
He stopped and cupped her face in his hands. “I have always thought you were beautiful. Now even more so. You take my breath away, Mich.”
Her chin trembled and there was wistfulness in her eyes before she looked away. “Gabriel, this is a family establishment. Stop seducing me at the zoo.”
His lips quirked, but he dropped his hands. “That’s fine. I’ll wait until we get home.”
Home. Fuck. What was he saying? He didn’t mean that. New Yorkwasn’t his home.
Michelle cleared her throat. “So, yeah... movement, flexibility—”
“It still sounds like you’re talking about sex,” he muttered, and she elbowed him again.
“—body parts working in harmony—”
“Still sex.”
“—feeling at home in your own bodyand not fighting it.” She sent him a glare, but the corners of her mouth tugged upward. “What are you trying to do?”
“What areyoutrying to do?”
Her grin was sassy and he loved it. “You hired me, and I’m actually trying to do my job.”
She was right, and he should be glad one of them was staying on task.
Gabe looked down at his hand—the one that wasn’t currently folded around Michelle’s. He remembered being smaller and slipping his fingers through the fence to feed pellets to the goats in the Children’s Zoo, the way their sticky tongues had licked him.
Maybe he’d come back here again and bring Nikki’s kids.
Shit, he should really tell his sister he was here. She was going to be so pissed if she found out he’d been in the Bronx and hadn’t told her.
But that was a problem for another day.
They passed another kiosk, this one selling popcorn, and Michelle gestured to it. “The product you’re selling is memberships, right? You want people to sign up for your gym andpay a monthly or yearly fee. But the service is the gym itself and the amenities.”
Unbidden, another memory popped up. In it, Gabe was five, maybe six, and visiting the zoo with his sister and their parents. He’d begged his father to let him get ice cream on a cone, instead of in a cup, promising over and over that he wouldn’t drop it. But of course, being a small child, he’d managed to lick the rapidly melting ice cream right off the cone. It had tumbled down his overalls before splattering on the hot pavement—and his sneakers. His parents had been furious. Gabe vaguely remembered that they were going somewhere after the zoo, and his mother had bemoaned bringing a dirty kid with her, while his father had yelled at him for wasting money and food.
Gabe never got ice cream at the zoo again, even after he was old enough to walk or ride his bike over here after school with Michelle.
“Right.” Gabe focused on the conversation, instead of unwanted childhood memories. “The memberships are the main product, although we have some other branded items for sale on-site and online.”
As they walked, she asked him about the other products and the gym’s various partnerships. He answered the best he could, feeling frustrated by some of the questions—or by his own answers. When she asked, “Why did you start the gym?” he’d answered, “To help people feel better in their bodies and achieve a full range of motion.” But when she’d inquired about the clientele, rattling off the names of celebrities didn’t quite match the original vision.
He just didn’t know what to do about it.
Or about Michelle. It was so fucking nice walking around with her like they were two normal people on a date, instead of former childhood friends with years of baggage and hurt who’d found themselves in some kind of sexual truce.
Finally, while touring the Madagascar exhibit, which was new to him, he found a shadowy corner blessedly devoid of children. He pulled Michelle in close and leaned down to kiss her softly.
