She neversmells bad.
It was a strange thought that jumped into Rebecca’s head. Not forthe first time. As a fitness instructor who worked in a gym, stinky, sweatypeople were part of her everyday routine and, wow, some were so much worse thanothers. So much worse.
But not Spencer.
Like now. She was on the floor, up on her toes and forearms,struggling through a sixty-second plank that she wasn’t going to make. Rebeccahad put the bride class through the wringer today, and all five of them wereflushed and drenched in sweat, including Spencer, who collapsed to the floorwith twenty seconds to go, still smelling like sunshine and coconuts.
“No.” Rebecca dropped down to her knees, her face very close toSpencer’s. “You’re almost there. Come on. Get up.”
“Fudge nougat,” was what Rebecca was pretty sure she heard Spencerwhisper, and with a sound that was more a whimper than a groan, she pushedherself back up.
Before she knew what she was doing, Rebecca slid her palmunderneath, set it up against Spencer’s abs, which were quaking with exertion.“Tighten this. Right here. This is the sweet spot. This is your core. This iswhat you’re making stronger.” As if suddenly realizing she was touchingSpencer, Rebecca blinked several times and snatched her hand away just as thetimer went off.
All five women lay on the ground sucking in ragged breaths as ifthey’d just run a marathon.
“I know it may not feel like it, but I’m seeing some significantimprovement. How do you guys feel?” Rebecca shifted her gaze from one to thenext. Lucy stayed face-planted on the floor but lifted an arm and gave Rebeccaa thumbs-up, which made her laugh. “You worked hard today. Good job. I’ll seeyou Wednesday.”
It was the fourth week of bride class, and September was closingin on them quickly. Rebecca had to admit to some pleasant surprise that allfive women had stuck with the class and all five of them put in 100 percent.Some, a little more. And Rebecca hadn’t been kidding. She was seeing results.Willow had gained some nice definition in her legs. Bella’s endurance hadgreatly improved. Both Brittany and Lucy were lifting heavier dumbbells thanwhen the class had started. And Spencer…
Rebecca shook her head as she left the gym floor and headed up toher desk. She was still way too aware of Spencer and didn’t know how to shakeit.
Off-limits.
It was the phrase she kept using, every time she found herselfdwelling. She’d actually needed to scoot into the client locker room last weekand had heard Lucy and Spencer talking about their upcoming weddings. Lucy wassaying something about necklaces for her bridesmaids and Spencer had laughedthat musical laugh of hers and Rebecca had smiled wistfully and pushed back outthe door without them seeing her.
Off-limits.
Spencer had become a regular in Sherry’s spin class, going at leastonce a week—if not twice—in addition to the bride class.
And it was showing.
“Nope. Nope. Not doing this,” Rebecca muttered to herself, as shegathered her things. “I have a date. Let’s put our focus there.”
As if privy to Rebecca’s train of thought, Sherry came up to her.“Good luck tonight.” She gave Rebecca a one-armed hug. “Text me with a report.”
“It’s just coffee.” Rebecca shrugged in a manner she hoped cameacross as nonchalant.
“Are you nervous?” Again, reading her thoughts.
Rebecca sighed. “A little. Yes. I mean, I’m hoping this oneactually shows.”
Sherry grinned. “What are the chances of two separate women from adating site standing you up?”
Rebecca arched a brow. “Wearetalking about me here.”
“Good point.”
They both smiled and Rebecca slung her bag over her shoulder. “Seeyou tomorrow.”
An hour later, Rebecca had gone home, showered and changed, andwas back near the gym, sitting at a small table in Grounded and nursing a mochalatte. It was a bit closer to her place of work than she’d like, but her date,Zoe, was a paramedic and only had a short time to sit with her. Grounded wasthe best location for her.
There was only one photo on Zoe’s dating profile and it didn’treally pull Rebecca in, but she liked her details. She liked that Zoe lovedanimals, hated politics, and was into biking, golf, and hikes. Everything hadbeen in complete sentences (Rebecca surprised herself when she realized what aturn-off it was if a profile was in fragments and had misspellings). When Zoehad invited her to coffee, Rebecca figured, “why not?”
She walked into the coffee shop on a little wave of energy. Zoewas small, but large, if that made any sense. It was the only way Rebecca coulddescribe her. Petite in stature, large in personality. It was obvious immediately.In the way she waved at the baristas. In the way she scanned the shop andseemed to make eye contact with everyone. In the way her gaze landed on Rebeccaand stayed there.
She approached confidently, hand outstretched, friendly smile onher face. She was dressed in her uniform…black pants and shirt, several patcheson it embroidered with various logos and phrases, and a gold name tag that said“Hernandez.” Her dark hair was short, her eyes a deep brown and accented bythick lashes, and she was cute in a boyish sort of way. “Rebecca?”
“Guilty as charged.” Rebecca stood, shook hands. Zoe’s grip wasunsurprisingly firm. As she sat, Rebecca asked, “Did you want to get somecoffee?”
