hate the business part of the gym,” he admitted. “Erin has a natural skill for all of that. Bringing her into the business was the second smartest decision I ever made.”
“And the first?”
“Marrying her.” He expected her tease or poke fun at him, but she didn’t. She seemed to be pleased with his answer.
“I always thought she would end up following in Dad’s footsteps. I think that’s why she liked Teague. He reminded her of Dad. At first,” she added.
“But later?”
“Later, she figured out what a colossal dick he was. Not that she’ll ever admit that,” Ruby insisted. “She hates to speak badly of people. She always wants to believe the best of them. She went out of her way to end things on friendly terms with him.” Reaching into her purse, she said, “I’m glad she found you. She deserves to be with someone who loves her the way you do.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond to her unexpected compliment. Finally, he said, “I would do anything for her.”
“I know you would.” She unwrapped a stick of gum and popped it in her mouth. Turning her attention out the window, she stared into the early morning darkness. “Andrei loved me the same way,” she said, her voice so soft he barely heard the words. She glanced back at him and advised, “Remember how our story ended.”
For the rest of the drive, he could think of nothing else. She didn’t mean the drug addiction part of their story. She meant the part where Andrei died and left her behind. He couldn’t allow his story with Erin to end that way. He refused.
When they reached the Warehouse, he walked her through his morning routine for opening up the gym. In a few days, he would expect her to take over that duty. He showed her the supply closet and the laminated checklists Erin had put together for cleaning the equipment, washing laundry and more.
“Towels get washed three or four times a day, depending on how quickly the hampers outside the locker rooms fill up.” He showed her the correct settings for the washer and dryer as well as the types and amounts of laundry detergents, bleach, and everything else Erin had on the laundry checklist. “Brooms and mops are over there.”
“Do I need to mop the whole place?” Ruby asked, eyes wide at the prospect of having all that square footage to clean.
“No, we only mop if someone gets sick or there’s a spilled drink or something like that. We have a cleaning that comes in every night to clean and sanitize the floors, mats, equipment and locker rooms. Paco stays late for that.” He led her to the private bathroom he had installed for Erin when she started working at the gym. “There is an extra key to this door in Erin’s top drawer. Make sure to lock it when you’re done. The guys here are fucking animals.”
“Duly noted,” she said, making a face.
“Kitchen and break room are here.” He showed her to the large lounging space at the rear of the gym. “Fridge. Water. Coffee. Cups. Plates. Silverware. Pots. Pans.” He opened and closed cabinets and drawers to show her where to find things. He tapped a laminated sign on the fridge about labeling food. “Erin cleans out the refrigerator every week. She keeps labels and markers here.” He pointed to the metal basket fixed to the side of the appliance. “If it’s not labeled with a name and the date it went into the refrigerator, it gets thrown away.”
“Good. God.” Ruby shook her head. “I thought she was bossy when we were kids, but this is bananas.”
“In her defense, this place was a pigsty before she came in and laid down the law.” He rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing at the memory of her gagging the first time she opened the refrigerator in here. “Her rules and organization can be a bit much sometimes, but her system works. Look at this place. It’s spotless.”
“Fair enough,” Ruby said.
He continued the tour by taking her to each piece of equipment, all of the weight stations, the mats, the sparring rings and the cages. “Everyone who trains here is supposed to clean up after themselves. Most of them do, but they get fatigued and forget. If you see a station that’s been used and not cleaned, spray and wipe.” He pointed out the bottles of cleaner and the stacks of paper towels placed near every station. “The biggest issue