6
ISABELLA
It was my first day on the job forParker’s Get Fit, and so far, it was more than a little surreal. I never thought I’d be working in an office that had a wall of windows looking down on a gym full of muscular men pumping iron and building mass.
If I didn’t watch out, they were going to inspire me to get down there myself. And that couldn’t happen. Not only because I had more than enough work to do here as it was, but also because I wasn’t the type for gyms full of pretty, shiny people who looked great in their workout gear and somehow managed to keep all their makeup from sweating off.
When I exercised, it was in the comfort of my own home, in front of a yoga routine on the TV, and with the promise of curling up with a good book after. That was my idea of a reward activity, not any of those things down below that made a person keep exercising as areward.
Doing my best to ignore all the activity downstairs, I turned my back on the windows and studied my makeshift office. I needed to get it set up today, but the furniture had to move. I didn’t know who had been in here before me, but evidently it had been someone who wanted their desk facing the gym and their small sitting area right at the back.
I doubted I would ever have the time or the need for a sitting area.Thatwould be going against the windows.Ha. Take that, Inspiration to Get Me Down There. I can’t be inspired if I can’t see the floor.
I almost laughed evilly, but I held it back. There were far too many windows in this place to comfortably risk doing anything that would make me seem less professional.
Studying the available space, I decided where I wanted what and then took off my jacket and rolled up my sleeves.Time to get to work.
I had a meeting with Parker later to discuss our first steps, and I’d be damned if my office wasn’t ready by then. At least, that was the plan. I quickly figured out it wasn’t going to work, though.
After twenty minutes of huffing, puffing, and realizing that I hadn’t done nearly enough yoga to have actually gotten strong from it, the furniture was in almost the exact same place it had been before. I’d managed to move a couple of the armchairs in the sitting area closer to the wall, but the sofa was being stubborn and refused to move. I was starting to wonder if it had been nailed down.
The coffee table had a glass top that was balanced, seemingly precariously, on top of four metal pins. Whenever I tried to drag the table, the glass wobbled with the movement, and since destruction of property wasn’t my thing, I didn’t know if moving the damn thing was even possible.
But it had to go because it was standing exactly where the center of my desk was going to be. If I ever managed to move the desk so much as an inch, that was.
Like the sofa, the thing seemed to be nailed down. It wouldn’t budge, regardless of which position I used to try to pull, push, or tug it. I grunted in frustration, my cheeks hot and my shirt starting to stick to me from the exertion.
And yet, I’d made almost no progress.
Stuffing down the urge to kick the paneling at the side of the desk, I took a step back and planted my hands on my hips.I need a better plan.
As I turned in a slow circle, my gaze dropped to the gym bunnies below once I was facing the windows again. There were two burly dudes working out near the wall of weights I looked down on, and without even really thinking about it, I tapped on the window and motioned for them to come help me.
They frowned, exchanged a glance, and then shrugged at each other before heading toward the stairs.There. Help is on the way.
When they appeared at my door, I flashed them a grateful smile. “Thanks for coming up. I’m new around here and I’m having a heck of a time moving all my furniture where it needs to go. Do you think you could make ‘helping a girl out’ your fun activity for the day?”
The first guy nodded easily, taking a few steps forward until he was in the office. “Sure thing. Where do you want it?”
I explained my plan about moving everything around so the desk was at the back and the sitting area at the front, and while they seemed confused about why I’d want my desk so far away from the action, they nodded and sprang into action. The second guy followed his friend in, joining him to continue what I’d started by carrying all the furniture from the sitting area to the side to make space for the rest of the move to happen.
Like someone had waved a magic wand, the sofa suddenly unglued itself from the floor when they lifted it without any trouble at all. Similarly, the glass top on the coffee table seemed happy to have them move it instead of me, not even wobbling a little as it followed its sofa friend to the wall.
I sighed, coming to the inevitable conclusion that it had been me, not the furniture, that had been the problem.Maybe I should get my butt down there after all.
On the other hand, there were two of them and only one of me. I would’ve been able to get it done myself if only I’d had an extra set of hands.
I directed the guys when they started moving the desk into place. It probably made for quite a sight, me with one hand waving around in the air, issuing instructions to two men wearing nothing but tight tiny shorts as they shuffled back and forth, trying to get the desk in the exact right place. As luck would have it, that was how Parker found me, with two sweaty half-naked clients of his moving my furniture around.
I didn’t notice him at first. I only snapped my gaze toward the door when he let out a soft sound of amusement. When I looked over, my first thought was—again—about how incredibly attractive he was. The man didn’t seem to believe in wearing suits to the office, which I supposed made sense considering that he also still did a fair amount of training and hands-on work with the members.
Did I really just think about him beinghands-onwith amember?The image that popped into my head when the thought struck was most definitely not of him giving a pep talk to a client or showing them how to use his equipment.
It was of him completely naked, with all those muscles of his bulging while he had his hands on his own member.That’s without me even getting started on the mental images of him showing someone how to usehis equipment.
Why all these everyday phrases were suddenly taking a sexual turn in my head, I didn’t know.Actually, that’s a lie. It’s because of him. I know it’s because of him.
Parker with his sexy smirk and his tight-fitting T-shirt, his auburn hair slightly messy and damp like he’d just had a shower. His warm brown eyes crinkled at the corners as he took in the scene playing out in front of him. When he caught me looking at him, the smirk melted into a teasing grin.