CHAPTER 9 KAYLEE
“When are you taking me to Tight Fit?” I ask the next morning before the others join us out on the patio. We’re each enjoying a Diet Dr Pepper and handfuls of cereal straight from the box as we stare out over the gorgeous view of forest wilderness.
He shrugs. “Today?”
I nod. “Sure. I started working on some kids’ fitness programs and I’m really excited to dig into it more. I think if I had an in-person view of what the gym looks like, I’d have an easier time picturing how this is all going to work.”
“That makes sense. Craig is in on Tuesdays, too, and I’d love for you to meet him.”
“He runs the place?” I ask.
He nods. “He’s a good guy. I’ve known him since kindergarten.”
“Should we see if the others want to come, too?” I ask.
He shrugs. “We can, but I’d rather have time with just you.”
My chest warms at his words. “I feel the same way. I like having everyone here, but I really loved it when it was just the two of us.”
He presses his lips together. “I missed you this morning when I woke up.” His voice is soft and tender.
“I missed you, too. It felt like something was wrong from the start of my day and I haven’t been able to shake off that feeling.
” I’m really hoping it’s not a bad omen, but I’m a little scared it is.
I don’t mention that part to Ben. I blow out a breath.
“It would probably be nice to invite everyone and hope they decline.”
He chuckles, and the slider door opens.
We both turn to see Luke step out. “Good morning,” he says, and he walks over to the railing to look out over the view. “Incredible place you’ve got here, man. Thanks for having all of us.”
Over the next few minutes, everyone else comes down to join us as well. The boys are both awake and the moms are getting breakfast together and it’s a whole lot of chaos, but it’s family.
Still, it’s less relaxing when it was just Ben and me in our idyllic little escape together. This is nice too, though.
Everybody else decides to stick around Ben’s place for the day to check out the grounds, so it’s just the two of us heading into Great Falls.
I wore a dress to look nice when I meet the people I’ll be working with as I plan the kids program at the gym, and I kick off my shoes before I put my feet up on his dashboard, as has become a habit whenever we’re in the car together.
We sing along to the country playlist he made.
We’re three-quarters of the way into the trip and he just sang every word to Taylor’s Red album when I finally pull my legs down and sit up a little straighter. I turn the volume down, too.
“So why, exactly, did you claim to hate country music when I first met you?”
He chuckles. “It wasn’t a claim. I did hate it for a long time, but a pretty girl seemed to change my mind on it.”
“What made you hate it before?”
“An ex who made me hate a whole lot of things,” he admits.
“Ahh,” I say. “Tatum?”
He clenches his jaw a beat. “Who else?”
As close as we’ve become, I’m still learning new ways she left him damaged. And to make him turn away from country and to Nickelback? The horror.
I can’t help a giggle when Nickelback starts playing after Taylor’s album ends. It’s actually…not so bad. We’re expanding each other’s horizons, I suppose.
A short while later we pull into the parking lot of a standalone building with the logo of Tight Fit splashed across the top in neon lights. It’s trendy and modern and totally out of place in this town.
The parking lot seems pretty full for a Tuesday morning—surprising considering this seems like a fairly blue-collar area.
“Is this all employees or is your gym always this crowded on a Tuesday morning?” I ask.
“It’s usually like this.” He glances at his watch. “It’s probably a mix of work from home people and others coming in after shift changes.”
We walk into an upscale lobby that reminds me quite a bit of Ben’s place. It’s industrial and modern—very utilitarian in design.
A woman probably around my age with long, blonde hair sits behind a counter tapping on her phone, and she glances up when she hears the door. She does a double take when she sees who’s standing in the lobby and practically throws her phone down on the desk.
“Mr. Olson,” she says, standing nervously and offering a flirtatious smile. “Lovely to see you again.”
I force my claws back in as he slides his hand into mine.
“Same to you, Shawna. Is Craig in by chance?”
“He is,” she says. “I think he is in a training session with a client.”
“No need to bother him right now. I’m sure I’ll see him when I’m walking through,” Ben says. “Thanks for your help.” He shoots her a smile, and she melts back into her chair.
He has that same effect on most women, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s been with her, if he knows her intimately. He’s from this town, she’s from this town…do they have a history?
Does it matter?
She’s younger than him, but age doesn’t appear to be a factor to him when it comes to women. The thought that maybe she’s seen him naked and he’s seen her, too, slips into my brain and I can’t make it go away.
He’s been with a lot of women. He’s admitted that. But I’ve never really acknowledged that fact in my own mind before until I saw the way she looked at him like she wants him naked on her desk right now.
I try to shake off the thought. I’m sure there are lots of women between my age and his that he hasn’t slept with in this town.
Okay, maybe not lots…but it doesn’t matter.
Jealousy isn’t a good look, and what he did in his pre-Kay days doesn’t matter anymore.
He’s with me now. He’s holding my hand now. He loves me.
We walk through the doors and into a hallway with locker rooms on either side. Instead of going to the locker rooms, though, Ben walks through a door marked Employees Only.
We move through a large open area with tables for group work and the executive offices along the wall, and on the far side of the room is a door that leads us out into the gym.
He opens the door, and it’s organized and neat—like the lobby, it’s very utilitarian.
Everything is well marked and branded in a way that screams Ben Olson.
Everything is red and black down to the treadmills, and I can’t help but wonder if he changed the colors from blue and orange after he left Chicago or if he just happened to choose red and black.
I can’t exactly put my finger on what it is, but the place is put together in a way that makes working out look like fun, and that is absolutely in line with who Ben is as a person.
Treadmills line the center of the room and they’re pointed at huge television screens, and over half of them are taken.
There’s a kids’ section across the room sort of sectioned off by itself.
My eyes zone in over there since that’s sort of going to be my department.
A woman in a red Tight Fit shirt bends down to show one kid the correct form for jumping jacks while another kid nearby plays with foam mats.
There’s a small bounce house set up in the corner, which is such a Ben thing to put in his gym.
He wants to make working out fun, a goal we share when it comes to kids.
We walk near the classrooms where a bootcamp for women is currently in progress in one room and ballet for toddlers is happening in another. “Different instructors rent these spaces from me,” he explains as he gestures toward the classrooms.
We peek through the windows at a group of six toddlers all in their soft pink tutus. Their moms sit across the room, leaning on a wall as they watch their girls twirl and run toward the wooden barre attached to a mirrored wall.
My chest gets a little twinge in it as I think for a moment about how I won’t have little girls to take to ballet classes.
I glance up at Ben.
But I have him. He’s all I need.
We turn away from the ballet class and survey the gym.
It’s in full action. People run on the treadmills or talk with trainers.
Others lift weights or use rowing machines.
We walk around, and Ben nods his hellos to all the employees as if they’re old friends, but that’s just Ben.
He’s old friends with everybody he’s ever met.
He has this way about him that makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the world to him.
And I can’t help but wonder who really holds that title for him. I can’t help but want it to be me.
And that desire only builds stronger as we move over toward the kids’ section.
The woman in the Tight Fit shirt is now working with a little boy who looks to be about six or seven, and I can’t help but wonder why he’s here and not at school.
Maybe he’s homeschooled and his mom is working out on the other side.
Ben walks over and the kid’s jaw drops practically to the ground.
“You’re Ben Olson,” the kid says in total awe.
“That I am. You want to toss a ball around?”
The kid’s eyes practically bug out of his head. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely, kid.” He walks over to a bin by the wall and pulls out a football. He stands a few yards away from the kid and tosses a perfect spiral that falls right into his arms.
The kid tosses it back, and it doesn’t make it all the way to Ben. He picks it up and walks it back over to the kid. “Put your fingers like this,” he says, showing the boy how to grip the football. “Good,” he says with a nod of approval. “Now hold your arm like this…”
I tune out the rest of the explanation as I simply watch.
That same twinge I felt when Ellie scooped up Nolan into her arms at Jack and Kate’s rehearsal dinner and just a moment ago at the ballet classroom pulses through my chest again.
I can see Ben as a wonderful father teaching his little boy how to throw a football—just like he’s doing with this boy.
He’s patient as he explains, and he is making it fun and entertaining so the kid will retain the information.
And the kid looks at him like he’s a damn hero…which, in a lot of ways, he is.
He’ll never get to see his own child look at him like that, though. How he can be so good with kids and at the same time be so damn scared to have one of his own? It’s the reality, and it’s so damn sad it breaks my heart.
He spends a good amount of time with the kid before we move on toward some of the other stations.
Eventually he stops next to an attractive, fit man who looks to be close to his age.
He’s got dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes and he looks a little like the guy who plays Lucius Malfoy in those Harry Potter movies but with shorter hair.
He’s explaining something to the male client he’s working with, and Ben doesn’t interrupt, but as soon as he walks over, both men stop what they’re doing and turn toward him.
“Ben Olson,” the Harry Potter guy says, drawing out the words. “What the hell are you doing in town?” He claps him on the shoulder the way old buddies do. This must be Craig.
“Here for my annual visit and wanted to show off the place to my girl. I’m hoping the surprise visit doesn’t catch you off guard and make me look bad,” Ben ribs him. “Kaylee, this is Craig.”
Craig laughs. “Like you could ever look bad,” he says, and in that moment, he sort of reminds me of a greasy salesman. I’m not sure why, but I’m not getting a great vibe from him. He turns toward me. “Nice to meet you.”
“You as well,” I say politely, but the way his eyes flick down to my chest makes me feel like my words are total lies.
“How long you here for?” Craig asks, turning back to Ben.
“Staying for Mom’s wedding and heading out before camp,” he says, not mentioning the fact that we’re planning a wedding while we’re here, too.
It strikes me as a little strange since these two are supposedly so close, but there are other people around and it does make sense to keep it as quiet as we can for now.
“I saw your mom last week when I was picking up some groceries. She seemed happy,” Craig says.
Ben lifts a shoulder. “I wouldn’t really know.”
“You haven’t seen her?” He seems surprised.
“We stopped by last week, but she ambushed me with Tate, so we bolted. Same shit, new summer.”
Craig laughs. “Sounds like Darlene. You know much about the guy she’s marrying?”
Ben shakes his head. “Haven’t even met the guy yet.”
Craig nods. “You around to tip back a few later? Or you heading back to the estate?”
“We’re not staying long. Why don’t you let me take over here and you and Kaylee can talk about the kids’ division I told you about?” Ben suggests.
I don’t exactly like the idea of alone time with Craig, but this is part of the reason why we came here.
Ben starts talking to the man working out, and Craig nods over toward the kids’ section.
I follow him over. The little boy Ben was tossing a football with isn’t over here anymore, and the section is sadly empty.
I feel like we could do so much with the space to liven it up and make it fun and exciting for kids—to make it a real place for kids to get some exercise so it’s not just a daycare.
My mind is turning over with possibilities. Even the bounce house has potential as a place where kids could actually exercise without realizing that’s what they’re doing.
“What’s your game?” Craig asks.
My brows dip in confusion. My game? Like what sport do I like to play? “Uh…soccer?”
Craig huffs out a sharp laugh. “That’s not what I meant. What are you doing with Ben?”
“Excuse me?” I say, my hand flying up to my chest in defense.
“Everybody wants something from him,” he says coolly. “What is it you want?”
I raise both brows at his insinuation. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“I’ve been around a long time. Long before he broke into the league.
We grew up together, friends since kindergarten.
I don’t want anything for him other than his best interest. What about you?
” He stares directly into my eyes as he speaks, and it’s a little unnerving.
“You’re pretty much brand new to his life, aren’t you? ”
I offer a short, insincere smile. “I’ve actually known him over a decade. Maybe you two aren’t quite as close as you seem to think you are.”
He raises a brow at me, and I think he’s about to say something, but he seems to think better of it. “About the kids program,” he says.
“Right. I have a few ideas—” I begin, and he cuts me off.
“So do I.”
What the hell is this guy’s problem? It’s like he doesn’t want anybody to be involved in the gym at all…and all that does is raise a whole bunch of red flags.