When she turned back to Steve to tell him goodbye, he said, “I’d like to go out with you again.”
Now,thiswas awkward.
“Oh, that’s sweet,” she said, internally cringing at how condescending the comment sounded. She might as well have included a pat on his head. “Unfortunately, I’m seeing someone right now.”
While technically not true, the lie slid from her easily. It was too late to back out now from her arrangement with Duncan. He had her scone recipe for God’s sake.
Steve softly smiled. “Understandable. You’re a catch, but if anything changes…” He handed her his card with his correct cell number on it and walked into the large room.
It was the end of the day, and Retta was ready to get home. However, the team was talking amongst themselves and were in no rush to leave.
“What are you waiting for? Go enjoy your evening,” Retta said as she finished up the last part of her shutdown routine.
“Ah, I wish,” Omar said. “But Philippa is dragging us next door for a workout.”
Laughing, Retta looked between the three of them. “Why?”
“She has a little crush on one of the trainers next door,” Cheyenne said.
Retta stilled. “Who?”
It felt like an eternity waiting for Cheyenne to respond with, “The redhead, Trevor.”
Retta relaxed her grip on the counter and smiled. “Is that where you’ve been disappearing off to for lunch the past week?”
Everyone turned to Philippa with smirks.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied as she opened her front-facing camera to smooth down her hair.
“Okay, sure,” Retta said, laughing. “Well, have fun—”
“You should come with us,” Omar said.
Retta made protesting sounds.
“Yeah, it can be part of our team building or whatever you force us to do each summer,” Philippa said.
“I thought you all enjoyed those,” Retta said, frowning.
Omar nudged Philippa with his elbow before saying, “We do. That’s why you should come.”
“You also get a discount since you work in the complex,” Cheyenne said.
Retta wished she could say she agreed to go because she wanted to get a workout in, but in all honesty, she kind of wanted to have the chance to see Duncan after their date several days ago. Why had she so definitively shut down the possibility of sex like she regularly made insightful and mature decisions? Once, an infomercial convinced her to buy two car French fry holders.
“I think I have some clothes in my trunk that could work,” Retta said.
But it turned out that the workout gear she kept in her car on the off chance she’d feel like working out after a day at the bakery had been raided. It had probably happened during a time she’d spilled something on herself and needed a change of clothes.
What remained was a flimsy sports bra and spandex pants she was sixty percent sure were not opaque.
Entering Spotlight Boxing with her bakery branded T-shirt, she stood at the front counter as her team checked in.
When it was her turn, the young woman behind the desk smiled and looked down at her tablet before asking, “Hi, your name?”
“Oh, I haven’t registered, I was hoping to drop in for the class.”
The woman made a single tsk. “Unfortunately, we’re completely full for the six o’clock class, but if you want, we can fit you in for the seven thirty bootcamp?”
