Page 16 of Seduced at Stevens Street
“So, after the yoga studio and the roughed-in changing area are complete in the new building, one of the two apartments above the back of the new space will be the next priority. That’s for Gia,” Andy said. “Then Logan’s boot camp area in the new building will be worked on, followed by the locker rooms. A second one-bedroom unit for Logan will be built above the new space, and then you get his studio, Pete. About six months out, the two dance rooms in front of the new building should be built, and we’ll then focus on the daycare area above them. That’s the whole plan. It’s going to be a bit painful for the first few months, but the potential for new clients and expanded programs will bring benefit to us all.”
“Just having locker rooms with showers will attract more members, especially female members,” I spoke up. I had given Andy and Kenzie grief the day before, and I did feel bad about it. I wanted to give them as much support in front of everyone else as I could.
“They aren’t for you,” Mason said. The other guys laughed.
“No hitting on the members,” Marco echoed.
“Fuck you both,” I murmured. Everyone laughed. Gia just stared at me. I didn’t like the look on her face, and I didn’t like the guys calling me out this way in front of her.
“All of you knock it off,” Kenzie said before Andy even had the chance. She flashed an embarrassed smile at Gia.
“Before everyone goes, Ashley will be covering the front desk when needed. When the little bistro is finished, she will be running it full time. You have all had her pastries that she makes, and Kenzie and I agree that she will be making those and selling them at the bistro,” Andy said.
Andy dismissed everyone, and then he and Kenzie pulled Gia away for a tour of the gym. Their last stop led her into my existing boot camp area, and they showed her where the walls were planned. I followed and hung back, watching and listening. They told her the front door would be open for the studio’s clients with a key fob entry installed, and they would be adding a doorway between the gym and the yoga studio in the very front of the building. Kenzie promised Gia an equal voice in the planning, decorating of the studio, and running of the program. They were pulling out all the stops. They really wanted Gia to come on board.
Tripp came up behind me to touch bases on what I already had planned for running the program and give me his ideas. They weren’t bad. He had some thoughts on challenges that would spice things up between classes and class members, hopefully drawing their focus away from our limited space. I was pissed at myself for not thinking of them.
Gia
Kenzie and Andy were so nice and made me feel so welcome. Everyone but Pete seemed okay. I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but I knew I’d be avoiding him as much as possible. I couldn’t turn this job down because of Logan. We’d both just have to deal with it. I shouldn’t have been surprised his coworkers gave him a hard time; I was sure everyone knew his reputation of being a man-whore, which was obviously well deserved. I just didn’t like it, though. It spoke volumes about the kind of person I must be to have been with him last night. I sure hoped none of them would ever find out I’d slept with him.
“Gia, we do need an answer now though as to whether you are accepting the employment offer or not,” Andy said.
I glanced again at Logan. He was in the back of the room talking with Tripp. He wasn’t paying any attention to me. I guess I might as well get used to it. I forced a brave smile. If it weren’t for Logan, it would have been an exciting one. I reached my hand out to him. “I accept your generous offer and look forward to being a part of the team.”
They both shook my hand, and Kenzie hugged me. She had a copy of the employment contract in her portfolio. I signed it on the spot. “We get the building next door on the thirtieth,” she said. “We can have a bunch of guys at your place that morning after closing to move your stuff into the upstairs of the building,just outside where your apartment will be. There’s no need for you to worry about storing your stuff. It can sit outside where your unit will be till it’s ready.”
Wow, they’d even send movers. They were very nice! “That’s awesome. I’d really appreciate it. I must be out by midnight that day.”
“You are more than welcome to stay in our guest room until your apartment is built,” Andy said.
“I just may, some nights, if that is okay. My best friend Sara has offered her couch, but she lives forty-five minutes away during rush hour. I need to work out my schedule and figure it all out, but it’s nice to know I can stay closer if I need to. I’ll get back to you on that, if it’s okay.”
“Of course,” Kenzie assured me. “We’ll walk out with you.” She pointed to the door in the front window. “We’re going to Claudine now, and then after she signs, construction begins this afternoon on the yoga studio. We are so pleased you’ve come on board, Gia. You’ll never regret it, I guarantee it!”
I glanced at Logan’s back as we walked out the door. I wanted to go straight home to pack some more boxes, but I had to stop at the store to get more packing tape. I picked up a bottle of wine too, might as well celebrate my new job. Claudine had given me the whole day off.
Logan
When I turned around, I saw the outer door closing. Andy, Kenzie and Gia were gone. Shit! I wanted to talk to her. My last class of the day started in fifteen minutes. I turned to Tripp. “I need you to cover the next class. Something important has come up, and I have to take care of it.”
He started complaining. He hadn’t planned on working today, wasn’t dressed for it, whine, whine, whine. I stopped listening. “Seriously, dude, you sound like a chick on her period. Will you just cover the damned class, please? This is important.”
In his usual manner, he gave me the middle-finger salute but agreed. I went over the class plan with him fast and then raced out the back and fired up my bike. I hoped Gia had gone home. Didn’t matter. I’d wait by her door all day if I had to. When I got to her place, she didn’t answer, so I sat up against her door. I didn’t have to wait long; she appeared in her hallway, heading towards her door just ten minutes after I had gotten there.
“Logan, what are you doing here?” she asked as I came to my feet. She had two plastic grocery bags in her hand.
“May I come in, or are we having this conversation in the hall?”
She fished around in her purse for her keys. I took both bags from her. She unlocked the door, and I followed her in. She wasn’t giving me a very friendly greeting. I wasn’t sure what I had expected.
“What are you doing here?”
I put the bags on the kitchen table. One had a bottle of wine in it. I pulled it out and held it up to her. “A little early, isn’t it?” I smiled.
She grabbed it from me. “That’s none of your business, but if you must know, it’s for later. I figured I might as well celebrate my new job while I packed.”
“So, you’re taking the job?”
