Chapter 37
CHAPTER 37
SIMON
A s I sipped my coffee in bed, the telltale signs of sunrise glowed on the horizon across the Atlantic. I’d set my alarm for bright and early, wanting to get a head start on the day. I was ready for a successful event representing Fit Gal at the expo, and I’d wanted time to get myself into the right head space.
Of course, now that I had time, Abigail was the only thing I could think about. Yesterday with her at the aquarium had been rejuvenating. An odd way to feel after spending the day with an ex, but Abigail always had made me feel so alive and like I was living fully when I was with her.
She was fun and free-spirited, almost childlike in her excitement sometimes, and her positive energy was infectious. Of course, when she was serious, she had a tendency of being very serious. She’d always been good at putting her head down and working hard.
She was dedicated, intelligent, observant, and efficient in her job now, and she’d been the same in her schoolwork. However, she wasn’t all work, no play. Never had been.
When she cut loose, she left everything else outside of her bubble of joy. She shut out all her stresses and her worries, and she immersed herself completely in whatever she was doing. That was how she’d been at the aquarium yesterday, and it’d been hot as hell.
I loved spending time with her as a general rule, but when she was like that? I couldn’t get enough. It was the one time when I felt like I could let go myself, and it was awesome.
Coolish coffee hit my lips when I took another sip and I grimaced, immediately setting the cup down and climbing out of bed. I’d make a fresh one after I showered, but there was no way I was drinking it tepid.
Padding across the suite to my adjoining bathroom, I opened the faucet and let the water heat up, quickly trimming my facial hair at the vanity while I waited. Steam started rising from the wide shower cubicle and I stripped down, wishing Abi were there with me.
The shower was more than big enough for two and we could’ve had a lot of fun, but before my dick could get excited about the idea, I cut off that train of thought. Ultimately, today and tomorrow were about Fit Gal and I couldn’t afford to get distracted.
Although this was part of our win off the back of the team challenge, the company would also be assessing our performance individually while we were here. I was sure of it. That meant I had to keep my head out of the gutter and do what needed to be done.
After I washed and got dressed, I made another cup of coffee on the little machine in my room and stood at my glass sliding doors, looking out at the ocean beyond my balcony. I’d hardly even had a sip before a knock came on the door between my room and Abi’s.
I grinned as I set my mug down, striding over to open for her. Standing on the other side, she smiled when she saw me, peering up into my eyes between those long lashes that showed only a touch of mascara on them.
“Good morning,” she said cheerfully, brushing past me into my room and pulling the door on her side shut. “How’d you sleep?”
“Like a drunken sailor.” I turned to watch her walking to the counter with my coffee machine on it, my mouth watering a little as I took her in, wearing the athletic gear she’d brought along for the expo.
Abi had become a lot leaner and more toned in the years since high school, and right now, today, she fit the Fit Gal aesthetic like a glove. Her light brown hair was loose and shiny, tumbling past her shoulders in slight waves and held away from her face by a shimmering headband.
She wore white linen pants that didn’t go all the way to her ankles and were high-waisted, with a black crop-top and a white blazer. Although she was wearing platform sandals with it, the outfit looked like she would easily be able to kick off the shoes, slip out of the blazer, and head out to take part in a spirited volleyball game or something similar.
I strode over to where she was standing at the counter, slid my arms around her waist from behind, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before I retreated. “How’d you sleep? I like your outfit, by the way. Very sexy.”
“Thanks.” She chuckled, glancing at me over her shoulder as I went to pick up my own coffee. “I’m ready to play the part. At the end of the day, we are still competing for the client and I still think I’m a really good candidate insofar as the optics are concerned.”
“I could never forget that we’re competing, but don’t hang your hat on the optics being good. As it happens, I agree that you fit the aesthetic, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve yet.”
“Sure you do.” She rolled her eyes before she winked at me. “They won’t get you very far, though. As for your first question, I slept well. Thank you. I’m ready to go do this thing.”
As she said it, she let her gaze drag over my gray slacks with a fitted black tee and a suit jacket ensemble. “If we were competing for Fit Guy right now, you’d have it in the bag.”
I chuckled. “Thanks, but I wouldn’t count me out on Fit Gal either.”
She sighed, the corners of her mouth creeping up into the tiniest hint of a smile. “I would never count you out. Just don’t think I’m going to let you win.”
“Never.”
Turning back to the machine when her coffee mug had been filled, she pulled it out of the slot and we sat down to go over our strategies for day one for the final time. After that, we made our way to the expo to run the booth.
Since the entire event was focused on fitness and wellness, it was no surprise that there were super ripped people all over the place, all the time. Over the next few days, I saw more abs than I could count. The ab I was most interested in was Abigail , but I didn’t tell her that, in case she thought it was lame. That didn’t make it any less true though. In a sea of perfect people, I only had eyes for her.
Most of the time, Ashley and Blake were at the booth with us unless they needed to attend to other duties, but that didn’t happen often. Mostly, it was the four of us amid the crowd of potential consumers and existing lovers of the product. Blake was entirely focused on the task at hand, but Ashley kept trying to get me over to the side of the booth she was manning instead of letting me stay on the side I’d taken with Abi.
“Hey, Simon, do you want to come help me move these cases of Fit Gal over here?” she asked at one point, and at another, it was, “I need you to come with me to fetch another few cases from the van.”
She also kept trying to switch places with Abi, but Blake kept pulling her back to their side, since many people stopped by the booth specifically to see or speak to them as a pair. They posed for hundreds of selfies, gave interviews to bloggers and vloggers about their product, and participated in a bunch of giveaways being hosted by the expo organizers.
I didn’t play into her attention whenever she was around, but I didn’t overtly reject her either. I didn’t want to lose the client by offending their CEO. Sidestepping her advances was easy enough. It was simpler to avoid her than to confront her directly.
At the end of the last day, a wannabe Hulk Hogan type guy I’d seen hanging around the booth a bit throughout our time here came up again, this time making a beeline straight for Abi. He stepped right up and smiled at her, all his bulky muscle on full display in a tight tank and really short shorts.
“Do you have any plans after this?” he asked her pointblank, completely ignoring both Blake and myself by her side. “I was wondering if I could buy you a drink when you’re done here.”
Abi seemed taken aback, blinking rapidly until Blake stepped in. “She does have plans, but not with you, bud. Keep walking.”
Aggravation rolled through me, my eyes narrowing as I watched him turn toward her with concern etched into his features. “Are you okay? Sorry, that happens sometimes at events like this. You’re a beautiful woman, though. I’m sure you have to deal with being hit on no matter where you go.”
Her cheeks flushed, her eyes still too wide and too stiff. “I, uh, I’m fine. Thank you for pretending we had plans so that guy would leave. I appreciate it. He caught me a little off guard. Those shorts were crazy short, and not in a good way.”
“Happy to help.” Blake smiled and headed off to join Ashley for more selfies, and I strode over to Abi, my spine ramrod straight and the distinct urge to claim her right there racing through me.
“Are you going to tell him that you don’t have plans with him either?” I asked when I reached her, pulling back to look into her eyes. “We still have a beach visit to knock off our list before we leave.”
She smiled, her blues lighting up until they looked like the ocean glittering under the rising sun this morning. “I could totally go spend some time on a beach right now. This expo has been exhausting.”
“You can say that again.” We’d been on our feet all week, had been up late last night preparing the booth for this morning, and we’d been back early to replenish the Fit Gal supplies we were giving away. “I’m beat. Let’s hope we can still catch the last rays of sunshine when we get there, but either way, these feet are going in the sand today.”
She nodded her agreement and got back to it. The next couple hours went by in a flash of people and promotion, and then it was finally over. Blake and Ashley caught us before we could leave the booth, both looking a little worse for wear themselves, but smiling and seeming happy.
“You did a fantastic job here, guys,” Ashley said, looking at me but swinging her gaze toward Abi as well. “In a perfect world, I’d hire you both. You make a dynamo of a team.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect world,” Abi said sweetly. “We have enjoyed working as a team, though. It’s like you said, we all work well together.”
Ashley beamed at her and I nodded my agreement with the sentiment. “It would’ve been great to keep working as a team, but that’s just not the way the world works, is it? It really is quite unperfect.”
Blake chuckled, glancing between Abi and me as he nodded. “Well, that’s true, but we do appreciate your dedication to your team and this project, and we’re looking forward to seeing what your companies come up with next.”
As they spun and walked away, I considered Ashley’s comments. While I wouldn’t have minded entering into a formal alliance with Abigail and Walker and Co, we wouldn’t want to share the client at the end of all this. Abi’s loyalty was to her company and mine was to my father’s.
For as long as that was true, we would always be rivals—no matter how much I wished we could find a way to stay on the same team.