She released another fortifying breath before continuing.
“Back when I was still in North Carolina, I moved from Fayetteville to Charlotte because I figured being in a larger city would help me to grow my business. It did. I picked up several regular clients very soon after I started Taylor’d Conditioning.” She cleared her throat. “One of those clients was pretty damn fine. Like, Michael B. Jordan fine.”
“That doesn’t impress me,” he deadpanned.
“Well, it impressed the hell out of me.” She laughed. But then she sobered. “He soon became more than just the hot guy I was training. I hadn’t considered the implications of sleeping with a client. It didn’t seem like a big deal. But it changed everything. The moment we slept together, it was as if something switched, and I went from being his paid fitness coach to the chick he called when he needed a workout, either in bed or at the gym.
“When he hadn’t paid me after a couple of weeks, I sent him an invoice. He actually called me up and laughed over the phone. He had the nerve to say he didn’t think I would want him to pay me because it might make me feel like a prostitute.”
“Motherfucker.” His harsh whisper sliced through the air like a blade.
“That’s not all,” Taylor said with a humorless snort. “The worst part is that several of his friends tried to hire me as their trainer, because that asshole told them that I would probably sleep with them too.”
“Motherfucker. Please tell me you beat the shit out of him, Taylor. Lie to me if you have to.”
“I wish I could,” she said. “I wassoembarrassed. And I was horrified at the idea that I had developed a reputation for sleeping with my clients. What happened with Chad was one of the reasons I moved to Austin. I needed a clean start.”
“Of course his name was fucking Chad,” Jamar spat. “Taylor, you have to know I would never do anything to make you feel—”
“I know,” she said, not even giving him a chance to finish. “I would never compare you to Chad, but letting go of those feelings? Opening myself up to that again? It’s not easy, Jamar.”
“Will you ever be able to do it?” he asked. “The fact is you’renotmy trainer anymore. There’s nothing preventing us from turning this pretend relationship into the real thing.”
He was right. It scared her in so many ways, but she wanted this to be real just as badly as he did.
Taylor had tried so hard to ignore what she was feeling, but why deny it any longer? What was standing in their way, other than her refusal to acknowledge that she was falling for him?
Her heart thudded in her chest as the fragile control she had over her ability to resist him crumbled at her feet.
“Okay,” Taylor said. She looked up at him and nodded. “Okay.”
“What does that mean?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “It means that even though the couch in that pool house is pretty comfortable, I think your bed would be better.”
His forehead fell against hers as a shuddering breath escaped his lips. “We can go there now.”
“We cannot,” she said with a laugh. “You need to hit the gym.”
“You’re not my trainer. You can’t boss me around anymore.”
She quirked a brow, waiting for him to catch up. She recognized the moment he did.
He grimaced. “You’re my girlfriend.”
“Which means I can boss you around whenever I want to.” She reached down and slapped him on his perfect ass. “Get that workout done. Then you can take me on our firstrealdate.”
He pressed his lips to hers in a quick, fierce kiss, then left her standing in the kitchen. Taylor slumped against the marble countertop, a charged buzz thrumming through her veins.
“I guess it’s time to update that dating playbook.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Why did I agree to let you pick the place for our first real date? Remind me never to do that again.”
Jamar did his best to maintain a straight face as he asked, “You don’t like golf?”
Taylor cut her eyes at him as she picked up a driver and walked to the platform overlooking the driving range. Colorful circles of various sizes dotted the greens, each signifying a target for players to score points.
