Spencer shrugged as she resumed walking. As she passed Rebecca’sdesk, she heard the question, “But how do you feel now?”
Spencer stopped and turned back to face Rebecca, was surprised tosee her face the picture of genuine curiosity, so she thought about it, thenanswered honestly. “Accomplished. Proud of myself.”
“Good.” Rebecca nodded. “That’s really good. That’s what you want.That’s excellent.”
Their gazes held. Rebecca fiddled with a pen while Spencer spunher water bottle in her hands. It felt like a long time before Spencer finallyforced herself to move. With a quick wave, she said, “Well. See you Monday.”
“Yeah. Definitely. Have a great weekend.”
Once in the locker room, Spencer just stood there with herforehead pressed against the metal.Whatthe hell was that?Why was she unable to simply walk past Rebeccaand not give her the time of day? God, Rebecca made her feel… Spencer fumbledfor the right words. WhatdidRebecca make her feel?
“No,” she said aloud. Standing upright suddenly, as if the lockerhad zapped her with an electric shock, she spun the dial on her lock andquickly gathered her things.
No, that was not a question she wanted the answer to.
Slinging her gym bag over her shoulder, Spencer exited the lockerroom, then the gym, keeping her eyes straight ahead and making sure she didn’tface Rebecca again.
“Have a good one,” said the young girl at the front desk.
Spencer lifted a hand in a quick wave, but didn’t look at her. Shejust kept walking, picked up her pace as if making a clandestine escape and thefront door was her finish line. The front door meant safety and freedom.
She pushed herself through the door and exhaled a breath ofrelief.
* * *
Rebecca only had two clients that Saturday morning. One was aregular and one was making up for a missed session during the week. She didn’tmind working on weekends if it was in the morning and she could be done andstill have some of her Saturday left.
Seeing Spencer had thrown her off a little bit. Not only was itunexpected, like she was out of context, but she looked… Rebecca shook her headnow, just as she’d done several times during her session with Serena Carter,her make-up client, trying to rid herself of the picture of Spencer after aspin class. Black yoga pants, a close-fitting turquoise T-shirt, and a sunnyyellow hat, her blond hair in a ponytail and sticking through the hole in theback. But it was more than the clothes. It was her face, all flushed andglistening. It was her eyes, which seemed to hold a glimmer of satisfaction,maybe even a little pride. It was her bare forearms (Seriously, Rebecca? Forearms?) and herfeminine hands and…
She must have groaned aloud because Serena looked up at her fromthe bench where she was doing flies. “Am I doing them wrong?”
“No, no. Sorry. Just, um, clearing my throat.” Rebecca forced asmile onto her face. “You’re doing them perfectly. Five more.”
Later, as she was walking out toward the front door, done for theday, Sherry skidded up alongside her so they could walk together.
“Big plans today?” she asked.
Rebecca wrinkled her nose. “Not really. Gonna go hang with Nickand Michelle for a bit, but it’s just casual.”
“You playing Aunt Rebecca already?” Sherry asked knowingly.
“Absolutely.”
They pushed through the front doors and Sherry said, “Your littleblond cream puff was in my spin class this morning.”
Rebecca shot her a look of irritation. “She’s not my cream puff.And I saw her.”
“She did really well. Looked like she was going to keel over atany moment, but stuck it out. You tell her to come?”
“Nope.” Their cars were parked next to each other and they eachstopped at their respective driver’s side doors. With a shake of her head,Rebecca said, “I don’t really talk to her outside of the bride class.”
Sherry stared at her for a beat over the roof of her car. Finally,she said simply, “Mm-hmm.” Then opened her door and got in.
Poking the inside of her cheek with her tongue, Rebecca kept hereyes on Sherry’s car for a moment before getting into her own. She hated thatlook. The one that said Sherry knew something she didn’t. Or worse, Sherry knewsomething Rebecca was trying to hide. Whichever, it made Rebecca feel exposed.Vulnerable. She didn’t like either of those feelings.
Shoving her keys into the ignition, Rebecca started her car andheaded home. She was looking forward to spending some time with the Scarfanos.More than that, she was anxious to stop thinking about Spencer Thompson.
She’s apushover. A very attractive pushover. A very attractive, off-limits pushover.Jesus, Rebecca, get your shit together.
