Page 15 of Seduced at Stevens Street
Chapter 5
Gia
When I woke up the next morning, it was to an empty bed. Based on how my body felt, I knew it had really happened. Last night wasn’t just an erotic dream. Logan had been real; last night’s intense sex had really happened. It was a shame he was such an arrogant asshole. What he did to my body was worth repeating! But he had said, one night, and I was pretty sure he meant one night.
I put myself through a quick sun salutation, holding the poses briefly. I had to get going. I twisted my hair into a bun. A showerwas a priority, followed by a protein shake. My appointment at Stevens Street Gym was at eight-thirty. It would take a good fifteen minutes to walk there. The sun was shining, and it was going to be a hot day. But this morning, it was still pleasant. I felt optimistic about the job offer and my future.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I came across the note on my kitchen table from Logan. “I enjoyed last night with you, Logan.” He had written his phone number below his name. I wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted or why he’d left his phone number. Was he expecting me to call for a repeat? I guess even a man-whore slept with the same woman repeatedly.
The problem was he was right. I am a relationship type of woman. After wasting six years with Gary, I knew any guy I got involved with had to want to get married and have kids. Logan was a one-night stand kind of guy and definitely not the settle-down type of guy. I couldn’t see myself having an ongoing casual sex relationship with him or anyone else. I’d get involved and want more, even with a conceited asshole such as him.
I pushed him from my mind and centered my thoughts on positive things as I walked to Stevens Street Gym. The offer they had made me was unbelievable. I knew there was no way I could turn it down. I was counting on everyone else who worked there being as nice as Kenzie, Ashley and Andy, but I’d find a way to deal with it if they weren’t. I pushed through the front doors right at eight thirty. Kenzie and Ashley were at the main counter. They both greeted me warmly with hugs. I’d never been inside this gym before. It was your standard gym, with cardio equipment and weighted machines within the main area. I saw afew open doorways with people and equipment towards the back and to the side of the main room.
Andy came out of the office behind the counter. “Hi Gia, glad you made it. The rest of the team will be here any minute. Several are finishing up classes or are with clients; a few others are just getting here. Timeliness isn’t in a few of the guys’ wheelhouses.” He chuckled, though I could tell it irked him.
“No problem. I’m off this morning. Claudine’s covering the classes at the studio.”
“Good, she did get back to me yesterday. She’s ready to sign the agreement.”
“Yeah, I think the sooner she can know classes will still go on in the neighborhood, but she’s free to move on, the better,” I said.
“I was really sad to hear about her daughter. Claudine is a good person. I hate it when bad things happen to good people,” Andy said.
“Yeah,” I agreed. I had been right in my original impression that both Andy and Kenzie were good people.
Several others had stepped up to our group. I gave each a friendly smile and shook their hands as I was introduced to them. Mason and Blake, I was told, ran the MMA training area in the basement and had just been added to their personal trainer program.
Mason was a squat guy, kind of shaped like a fireplug. He was a bit shorter than most of the men here, but his muscles were big, everywhere. His nose looked like it had been broken several times, and he had a few scars on his face that could have used a plastic surgeon’s touch. His brown hair was shaved close to his head.
Blake was a gorgeous black man. His body was sculpted and toned, not overly muscled like Mason, but he appeared solid and strong. His was a fighter’s body, and I could envision him dancing around a ring. His head was shaved and was a perfect shape. He had one large diamond stud earring in his left ear. They both appeared to be in their mid-thirties and had several military-looking tattoos running up and down their arms. Mason had one on his shoulder that looked identical to the one on Logan’s shoulder. I wondered if it was a unit and if they knew each other. I wouldn’t ask.
Andy introduced me to the twins next, Mario and Marco. They were younger, in their late twenties I’d guess. They had black hair, brown eyes, and olive complexions. Thankfully, Mario had long hair in dreads, and Marco’s was short. They were identical twins; however, Marco had bigger muscles, so that too would make it easier to identify which was which, and Marco had more tattoos. They were both personal trainers and worked at the front counter for Andy some evenings when they didn’t have clients.
Pete was an older guy, maybe in his mid to late forties. It was hard to tell. His short-cropped hair had gray peppered in with the dark brown. His face was hard, one of those guys who had seen a lot, lived a hard life. He wore glasses over his steelygray eyes. He was friendly enough, but alarm bells went off inside me. He did odd jobs around the gym, maintenance on the equipment, cleaned, and covered the counter when needed. He was in good shape, but not as muscled as the others.
Tripp was the last standing there. He looked like a surfer-dude, a long and lean body. Long sandy brown hair held back with a scarf, piercing blue eyes and lots of tats visible everywhere. He had several days’ worth of scruffy growth on his face and was tanned. He wore a shirt with no sleeves, but instead of looking muscled like the others, he just looked solid. He, too, was a personal trainer and taught a few of the boot camp classes when needed.
“And here comes the last of the team,” Andy said.
“Sorry, boss, class ran over,” I heard his voice. My stomach dropped. I knew that voice. I didn’t turn around to look. I didn’t need to.
“Gia Montgomery, this is John Logan,” Andy said.
Shit! I turned to face him. He stopped dead and stared at me in disbelief. Yeah, I was shocked too. I regained my composure. I stuck my hand out as I had with the others. “It’s nice to meet you, John,” I said. My voice sounded strangled, even to my own ears. My eyes flashed with a warning.
He recovered fast enough and shook my hand. “Gia, is it? Just call me Logan.”
“Yes.” I pulled my hand back and turned back to the others, glancing to see if anyone’s face registered anything telling. Kenzie looked a little curious. Otherwise, no one else seemed to notice the awkwardness of that introduction.
I had to focus on my breathing and keeping an expression on my face that didn’t match my insides, horrified. How could this be happening? Why did he have to work here? I couldn’t catch a break.
Logan
I couldn’t keep my eyes off Gia as Andy continued with the meeting. He showed everyone the blueprints he had shown me the day before and laid out the complete plan. Everyone grumbled about the space limitations and the need to set and stick to schedules during the construction and remodel, even though they all agreed how nice it would be when finished.
Mason and Blake especially griped about their space and equipment being used by my boot camp. Mason had a damn short memory. He’d been in the Army with us, and he had been a worse mess than me when he got out about a year after Andy and I had. Andy had literally pulled his drunk and beaten ass out of the gutter and set him up with the MMA training space. Sure, Mason had paid for all the equipment, but only because Andy had gotten him to care about something and stick to a plan. He was a damned good fighter, but a little too quick to take shortcuts.
Blake had shown up attached at the hip with Mason about nine months ago. We didn’t know much about him, except that he was a Marine and with the MMA league, infused money into Mason’s program, and had connections for the fighters they trained downstairs. He kept to himself mostly but flirted relentlessly with Ashley. At one point, I wondered if they were an item, but after further scrutiny I decided the spark there was unexplored sexual tension. They’d be better off if they just fucked and got it out of their systems.
