After I finished my admin work, I texted Danny to let him know I would meet him at the gym in an hour. I needed to work off the building tension, and clear my head.

Being attached to the building I lived in made the gym convenient, given my busy schedule, and the top-notch facility was one of the nicest in town. Danny and I worked out for an hour on various equipment without speaking. Danny usually liked to talk—more than any woman I ever met, so his silence was golden. But I knew it would only last so long.

After strength training, we headed to the sauna to sweat out the rest of our previous night. Once we settled in, the questions started. “So what are you going to do? Do you like her? Do you want to see where it could go?” Danny asked without a breath between each question, like he had been storing them up for the last hour.

“Yes to all of the above. But, how? Do I wait till the marathon is over, and she isn’t a client?” I asked.

“Why not have me or one of the other guys take over her treatment so you would be in the clear?” Danny asked, apparently playing a game where we replied in questions.

I ended it when my reply to the idiotic question was a growl, something I’d never done before.

“Wow, you really do like her if you are growling like a damn animal over her.” Danny howled in laughter, and then turned a serious look on me. “Are you holding back because of Craig?”

“Maybe. I keep remembering all the class lectures on sexual harassment. That lawyer and his case studies scared me shitless. Watch what you say. Watch what you do.” I jabbed a finger in the air. “And most of all, watch how you touch your clients.” Sweat beaded on my brow, and I swiped it away from my eye. “I just remember when the spa Craig worked for had to close its doors when those three women sued for sexual harassment.”

“Yeah, I get it. We’ve worked too hard to let some chick steal it away from us.” Danny closed his eyes and reclined against the wooden bench. “That’s when we decided we would never date a client. Protect our assets.”

“That owner still swears he did nothing wrong outside of dating those women. Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t, but the accusation alone shut his doors.” My shoulders tensed with frustration.

“Yeah, his dick just happened to somehow fall in them while they were on the table.” Danny opened one eye to leer at me. “Dude shoulda been more careful.”

“True, but we’ve never had to deal with a situation like that.” I poured water over the hot rocks and watched the steam billow. “Dating a client has never been a problem for us.”

The unspoken until now hung in the air between us.

“Well, then,” he said, “if it were me, which thank fuck it isn’t, I would just be friends with her. Hang out more, but keep it strictly platonic. Maybe she’s wicked annoying and clingy.” He smirked at me. “Not to sound like a damn chick, but friend zone her and see where the connection takes you.”

“I guess I could, but I’m done talking about this.” I opted to change the subject before I gave into the urge to hit him. “What did you think of Alexa’s friend, Addison?”

“She’s a cool chick. She had me laughing at the café while you were rubbin’ up on Alexa. By the way, what the hell was that?” Danny asked, wiggling his eyebrows at me. “You never take your work home with you?”

Fuck, my deflection backfired. I gave him a look that reinforced I was done with the Alexa topic, and he finally dropped it.

“Can we talk about the spa for a second? I need you to post an ad for a new esthetician tomorrow. Elle fired Tiffany today.” I told him about the issues with her drinking and being late. As I knew he would be, he was relieved Elle took care of the termination.

“We also need to hire an assistant for Elle. She’s at the spa sixty plus hours a week. Between her own clients and managing all the girls, she needs help. What do you think?” I hoped he was on board because I hated seeing her so tired when we spoke earlier. Asking her to give up her clients to just do admin wasn’t an option if I wasn’t willing to do it myself. “She called me multiple times while I was in Philly. She’s overwhelmed, and I hate seeing her like that.”

“Absolutely. But why didn’t she come to me? I’d do anything for her.” Danny looked hurt by the news of her calls, but quickly shook it off. “Do you want an esthetician student, looking for experience, who could work ten to fifteen hours a week with Elle?” Danny wanted to work with the schools to get the good estheticians before anyone else had a chance to scoop them up. “Then, if she’s a good fit, when she graduates, we can move her into a permanent esthetician position.”

“Perfect. Can you put an ad for that, too? I promised Elle she would have the final say in who we pick. That cool?”

“Of course. She should have the final say since she’s the one who’ll have to work with her. I’ll post first thing tomorrow, and hopefully, we’ll get some hits before I leave for the day. Maybe we can set up interviews this coming week,” Danny said, excited to get fresh blood in the spa. Switching gears, he asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I may just lay on my couch, be a lump, and get a good night’s sleep.” A yawn hit me, and I stretched my arms above my head. “I’m exhausted from last night. I’m getting fucking old, dude. You?”

“Not a clue, but I need to go out. I laid around all day, and cabin fever was starting to set in before I got your text to work out. Maybe I’ll call the guys and see if they want to grab a drink and watch the game.” Danny hated staying in on a weekend night, but I had no problem with it. My down time was essential to me, and I could use it after the last few weeks of travel and work.

“All right, I’m out of here. I’m starting to melt,” I said, dripping wet from the sauna. Danny agreed and we walked into the locker room to gather our stuff.

“Have a good night, man. Catch up with you tomorrow.” I couldn’t wait to lay low. A quiet night was what I needed.

Chapter Ten

Luke

After my shower, I threw on sweatpants and a t-shirt, planted my ass on my soft, comfortable leather couch, and turned on the Celtics game. My thoughts turned to how I wanted to proceed with Alexa, and I decided to ask her if I could run with her. It was a friend-zone approved activity. If she seemed uncomfortable, I would tell her it was so I could tailor my therapy around her stride, or some other bullshit.

I had just dozed off when my cell buzzed with a text.

Jeff: I need a HUGE favor.

Me: What do you need man?

Jeff: I need you to run with Alexa tomorrow.

 

Was he kidding? Why would he pick me to run with her? And why, when Jeff just handed me my date on a silver platter, was I pissed?

Me: Why can’t you do it?

Jeff: My mom had to be rushed to the hospital for shortness of breath and chest pains. I need to drive to Syracuse tonight.

 

Well shit, I couldn’t be mad at him for that reason. I would just have to come up with another kind of date that didn’t scream date.

Me: Sorry to hear that. Of course I’ll cover for you. Where should I meet her? How many miles tomorrow?

Jeff: Meet her at the Frog Pond at 8am. You’re doing 15.

Me: 15? Oh fuck! I haven’t run 15 in a long time.

Jeff: Don’t embarrass yourself. Thanks guy. I owe you.

 

Seriously, I hadn’t run that far since it started to get cold out in November. It was mid-March. That was five months on the treadmill running ten miles at the most. I had to pull on my big boy pants and push through. Speaking of pants, it was still too cold to run outside without the proper clothes.