Chapter 3
Kolton
Sweat trickled down my back and neck as I pulled out of a lunge and moved forward into another one.
I felt the burn through my glutes and thighs, across my shoulders and forearms, right down to where my fingers wrapped around the handles of the dumbbells.
I didn’t mind a little pain, not if it made me stronger.
Not if the pain proved to me that I’d come this far and survived.
I finished my last set just as the music pumping through the speakers switched to my favorite song.
It gave me renewed energy, made me feel like I could force my weary body through another grueling workout, even though I’d already been at it for nearly an hour.
I was almost done—and I had plans I’d do well not to miss.
So I set the dumbbells back in their spots on the rack and made my way toward the leg press machine.
Only, I didn’t quite make it before the song caught me and pulled me away. I couldn’t help it—I looked into the floor-to-ceiling mirrors and danced the way I did in the privacy of my home.
My house didn’t have the same feel; it was small and lacked the large mirrors. Here, I could almost pretend, with my reflection dancing along with me, that I was on stage with Sloane Rivera—the most beautiful, talented, and amazing woman in the world.
“I fell in love,” I sang along with her voice as it, “when you gave me a thousand reasons to run. I stayed,” I continued, twisting my hips and moving my feet in time with the beat, “even after the mask came off. But now I’m gone—because this world is too big to stay small with you.””
One more twist, and goosebumps rose along my arms and neck as I belted out the chorus with the music. “I’m gonna be brave. I’m gonna be brave.”
The music cut out, but for a few seconds, my mind kept going, my body moving to the beat. It wasn’t until the clapping and cheering started that I froze, then whipped toward the door to the gym.
“Bravo!” my coworker, Van Thaylor, shouted as he clapped.
I dragged a hand through my damp hair, wishing the leg press machine was big enough to hide behind.
Van smirked, then moved into the room, revealing another coworker, Joss Monroe, as he said, “Where’d you learn to move like that? You look like one of those social media influencer people who post videos of themselves dancing online.”
“Actually,” Joss said, rounding Van and standing at his side, “it kind of reminds me of the dance they did in the music video for that song.”
Someone had to have turned up the heat in the gym—I felt like I was burning alive. I tried calculating the possibility of me getting past the two of them if I ran for the door.
“I didn’t know you could dance like that,” Joss said, the corners of her lips creeping up until I had to look away or be faced with that smile being plastered on a white-faced clown in my nightmares.
“It’s just something I do sometimes.” My pulse thrummed through my ears, and I swore it was saying the word liar as it did. I loved dancing, and I did it every chance I got—in the privacy of my own home. Dancing in public was something I had to give up years ago.
“Coulda fooled me,” Van said, his smirk still in place. “You’re good, man. Makes me think you chose the wrong career.”
Rubbing at the back of my neck, I said, “Thanks, I think?”
“Van!” Joss slapped him with the back of her hand. “Quit being a jerk! You’re making him all shy and embarrassed.”
“He’s always like that.”
“Van!”
He rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to me. “Lee’s looking for you.”
“Oh yeah?”
Joss nodded before snagging my towel off the bench beside her and tossing it my way. “He’s been trying to call and text you for almost twenty minutes. When Van mentioned the music”—she grinned—“Lee sent us to check the gym.”
“I told him, when Sloane’s playing, Kolton’s not far away.”
That had a smile crossing my lips. “You know me too well.”
It was the truth. Sloane’s music was like medicine for my soul. I loved every one of her songs, every single lyric she’d ever uttered. I would have died for a chance to read her grocery list—that’s how much I loved everything she wrote.
“Better not keep the boss waiting,” Van warned as I wiped my face with my towel.
My smile was erased as I pulled the cloth away. “Is it bad?”
Joss’s face pinched with concern. “Of course not, sweetie.” She squeezed my arm, then cringed when her hand came away damp from my sweat.
“Did you actually do something wrong?” Van asked. “Kid, you’re so strait-laced, you’d be the last of us to get into trouble. Although, I wouldn’t push your luck.”
“Think he has time for a shower first?” Joss asked Van, wiping her hand on my towel, only to cringe again and stare at her palm like it was covered in filth.
“If it was anyone else, I’d say no,” Van said, taking a step toward the door. “But since Kolton is Kolton, and the boss loves him so much, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
He shot me a wink and Joss let out a laugh. “You might want to clean up first.”
I was already shaking my head, my feet moving to follow Van. “It’s alright. I’ll just do it now.”
I didn’t like to let people down—didn’t want my boss to think poorly of me. If it’d already been as long as they said, then that was twenty minutes too long. I needed this job, and I damn well wasn’t going to let a little sweat get in the way of me keeping in my boss’s good graces.
Lee Bridgewater was at his desk in his office, looking more haggard than the last time I saw him. He glanced up when I knocked, and something resembling a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“There you are.”
“You wanted to see me, boss?”
Lee nodded. “Come on in, have a seat.”
Tension tightened every one of my muscles while my stomach churned. I sat in a visitor’s chair across from his desk and wiped my palms on my shorts.
He scrubbed a hand over the short beard on his jaw, his emerald-green eyes locked on me, and I swore he was staring into my soul and finding all my faults.
Not that that was too hard. The man had a way about him, and I’d opened up to him more than I had anyone else in this world.
He knew my fears and phobias and likely figured out the cause.
“You've been here over a year now,” he said after a long, uncomfortable silence, and the cooling sweat on my body made my skin itch as I waited for the worst. “Always been reliable, trustworthy. Been handling our installs like a pro.”
A lump formed in my throat. “But?”
His brow furrowed before a light shake of his head tossed that look aside.
Did he just roll his eyes? I swear he rolled his eyes.
“But,” he said, leaning his elbows on his desktop, “I think it’s about time—”
Here it comes.
“—that you got your first client.”
My heart seemed to stop, then the hamster wheel in my brain started spinning and I blinked at him. “I’m sorry, what?”
Thunder rumbled through the room as Lee let out a laugh, and thank fuck I wasn’t scared of that.
His smile widened, steadying my nerves just a bit. “You’ve officially got your first client. With Rylan sidelined, I had to shuffle things around. Since you passed your tests, it’s time you took on more of the heavy lifting.”
“What about Van?” I asked, unable to believe his words. “Shouldn’t he—”
Lee held up his hand, stopping me, and I felt like the biggest asshole in the world when he spoke. “Got Van helping me out around here.”
Around here.
Van had been helping Lee with Kelly O’Connor, the girl we’d pulled off a boat bound for hell last year. It was the one and only time I’d carried a gun in the line of duty because, as Lee reminded me, I’d only just passed my firearms test to be allowed to carry a weapon on the job.
You don’t board a boat full of sex traffickers without being fully armed.
I didn’t care to think about that. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure the shot I took killed someone, but I doubted he could have survived falling into the icy Lake Michigan after he tumbled over the side of the boat.
So.
There was that.
“And you want me…”
“To take this new client. Got a meeting with them tomorrow morning. I want you there. We’ll meet the client and find out who you’ll be protecting.”
“You mean, you don’t know?”
“Oh, I know.” Lee shook his head, and his gaze darted away from mine. “Just can’t tell you yet.”
“Why not?”
“NDA. You’ll have to sign one, too. They want it kept quiet until your first public appearance.”
Stifling the urge to scratch at my skin, I chewed on the inside of my cheek instead. “You really think I can handle this?”
“I don’t think you can handle this,” he told me, and my heart sank to the floor before yo-yo-ing back up to lodge itself in my throat when he continued.
“I know you can. You’ve been due for this.
Rylan’s injury just expedited my timeline a bit.
I have no doubt you’ll do just as good, if not better, than you have on all our installs. ”
“What about the installs?” I asked, still unable to believe this was really happening. “Who’s going to do those?”
The look he gave me reminded me of my dad right before he told me to stop worrying so much. “That’s something for Joss and me to worry about. Van will still be around, and we’ll look into hiring some staff so we can continue to grow.”
This was really happening. I was really doing this.
Fuck. How was I going to—
“Maybe don’t tell your sisters yet,” Lee said, and it was like he was reading my goddamn mind.
“Right.” I scrubbed my palms down my thighs. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
Speaking of…
“You need anything else from me, boss?”
He shook his head. “Be here in the morning. Dress nice, and we’ll head over there together.”
I nodded, then wiped my hands down my thighs again. I pushed to standing at the same time Lee did.
“Congratulations, Kolton.” He stuck out his arm and took my hand in a firm grip, grabbing my shoulder with his other hand and giving a squeeze that almost felt like a hug. “You deserve this.”