Forbidden - Karla Sorensen Page 0,21

the front desk. “I just know he’s cheating on me.”

Early arrivals for my six o’clock class started filtering through the front door, and I greeted them with a smile.

“But you can’t be sure,” I told her. “You just suspect based on a couple of … vibes, right?”

My sisters always came to me for no-nonsense relationship advice, and honestly, sometimes I thought my ability to be no-nonsense was because I’d never gotten myself tangled up in any of the dramatics. Or any body parts, really.

Vibes had never been my forte, or at least … not until Aiden walked through the door. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was creating all sorts of those in my own imagination.

Emily paused to swipe a member’s card as he struggled to check in with the scanner on the desk. He thanked her with a smile, nodding to me as he passed. I pulled my favorite black and pink wraps from the top drawer and unraveled the tightly wrapped ball.

“They were strong, though,” she said, leaning against the desk. “Heavy eye contact.”

Yeah. Heavy eye contact. I shifted uncomfortably. “What else?”

Emily hummed. “Really loaded subtext in the things they said.” Her face got serious. “They were saying one thing, but you knew they meant something else.”

“And that’s a sign of …?” My voice trailed off.

“Sex, for sure.”

Sweat popped along the back of my neck because check, check, and check. One-sided vibe, courtesy of me.

Someone else walked in, and I stifled a groan at the sight of him. I know, customer service and all, but this guy was the bane of every female trainer’s existence. He stood too close, talked too much, stayed after class too late, and had a seriously annoying tendency to stare at either our tits or ass through the entire class.

Talk about getting a vibe from someone. This guy was the absolute king of inspiring douchebag feelings.

“Mike,” I said politely. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

He slicked his tongue over his teeth. “Where’s Kelly? I didn’t know you were teaching tonight.”

Not surprising. Mike did not seem to stay too late or talk too close with me. He favored Kelly, probably because she was petite, and he could stare down at her chest from his lofty five-foot-six.

Also, Kelly was friendlier than me.

In her absence, he did a thorough examination of the bubbly blond behind the desk. The way he looked Emily up and down had me clearing my throat. I held his gaze steadily when his attention was back on me.

“She hurt her ankle.” I continued wrapping my knuckles, angling the wraps around my wrist, and then back around my palm. Flexing my fingers, I gave him a tiny smile. “You’re stuck with me tonight.”

“You’re new,” he told Emily.

She gave him a friendly smile, but not quite as friendly as the one she’d given everyone else. Emily, apparently, was a very good reader of vibes and heavy eye contact. “Started a couple of weeks ago.”

He nodded. “Sweet. Another reason to love Tuesday nights.”

Because he wasn’t looking, I rolled my eyes. “You better go stretch, Mike. I have my angry rock playlist, which means you need to be all warmed up and ready to get your ass kicked.”

He snorted as he walked past, and I had to grit my teeth.

Someone was going to get a lot of extra burpees tonight, and it wasn’t me. As the manager, I might not be able to be outright rude to him, but I could make him curse the day he was born.

Emily shook her head. “So creepy.”

I finished wrapping my other hand and sighed. “He is. Unfortunately, he’s never done anything blatant that would get him kicked out. Next week, if you’re here with Kelly, and he’s the only one left, don’t leave until she does. That’s one of our unspoken rules. No female trainer here alone with someone new, or someone like jackass over there who’s just kinda slimy. Got it?”

She nodded. “Got it. Thanks, Iz.”

I picked up my bottle of water and tipped it back to take a drink. That was when I saw her eyes widen again and her back straighten. Mid-swallow of cold water was when he decided to speak from right behind me.

“I hope that rule applies to you, too,” Aiden grumbled.

The choke came first, and I slapped a hand over my mouth, but in the process, I tried to exhale.

Which brought water right up my fucking nose.

The cringe on Emily’s face was more than enough for me to know