Gabe:We’re working.
Fabian:Have fun! But not too much fun.
And then he followed it with an animated GIF of Robert De Niro pointing at his eyes and then the camera with the captionI’m watching you.
With a weary sigh, Gabe turned back to his laptop. Fabian was right. He had to stay focused on the project. In this placefull of memories, it was easy to forget the rest of the world still existed, and he needed to remember that he was here to do a job, not have a sex vacation with his childhood best friend. But despite his determination to keep his eyes on his own screen, Gabe’s gaze kept wandering across the table to Michelle. After a while, he leveled a glare her way. “This isn’t working.”
She blinked up at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Youknowwhat.”
Michelle glanced down at her cleavage, impressively displayed by the skimpy top. Her lips curved in a sly grin. “Oh. Am I distracting you?”
“Yes.” He ground out the word through clenched teeth and she laughed.
“Don’t you work in a gym? I’m sure you see sexy people in spandex all the time.”
They’re not you, he thought, but didn’t say it.
Actually, fuck it. What did he have to lose?
“They’re not you.” His voice was gravelly with desire. Shit, she turned him on so quickly.
Michelle gazed at him from under her lashes. “You can’t keep your eyes off me.”
He shot her a look full of exasperation. “Michelle, I’ve been attracted to you since we were fourteen. I’veneverbeen able to keep my eyes off you.”
Her lips pressed together and she looked down at the laptop. “Maybe you were better at hiding it.”
“Maybe you were better at ignoring it,” he retorted.
She shrugged. “Maybe both. Get back to work.”
Gabe tried. He really did. But the questions were frustrating him, and he had approximately eleven million emails coming through. He didn’t know how much time had passed before Michelle spoke again.
“How do you feel about some rebranding?”
Gabe looked up just as Michelle spun the laptop. Now the screen showed the Agility logo in red instead of blue, with a white star worked into the design. And while the website still retained some of its original blue tones, there were some bright pops of red balanced by green, white, and gold.
“How did you do that?” he asked, surprised by how much better it looked.
“A quick mock-up in Photoshop,” she replied. She tapped the touch pad and the flags of Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Haiti appeared on the screen. “Incorporating the color scheme and design elements of the flags is a subtle way to get the background of the owners into the branding.”
Gabe nodded. “Makes sense.”
She tapped the touch pad again and the picture from the “About” page appeared in a collage with some screenshots from Agility’s Instagram account.
“You two are also trainers, right?” she asked.
“I’m a physical therapist and Fabian studied sports medicine and business. But yeah, we’re also trainers.”
“Let’s show you both in action. Working with clients. Helping them achieve their best bodies and selves. Not posed and looking at the camera, but in the moment, doing what you do best. Which is not, I’m sad to say, modeling.”
“Hey, I did a little fitness modeling back in the day.”
“I believe it. You have a fantastic body. But this, Gabe, is your moneymaker.” She reached across the table with the pen and dug it gently into his cheek, where his dimple would be. “You’re not even smiling in this picture.”
He glanced at the photo of him and Fabian on Michelle’s screen. He’d felt so uncomfortable during that photo shoot, from the way they’d styled his hair to the tight outfits to the awkward poses.
