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I groaned. “This is too much.”
“Five minutes at this speed. That will teach you to lie around tanning and eating food, which raises your cholesterol and blood pressure.”
Jay was the only one I took shit from mainly because he toughened me up when I first became CEO. He wasn’t only my trainer, but my confidante. Plenty of times in the early days I sat in his office after a tough workout, crying. He was kinder then, now he was just a bastard giving me a taste of my own medicine.
I watched the counter as the numbers decreased and prayed for it to hit zero before I fell flat on my face and was shot against the wall by the speeding treadmill. Jay stood there with his bulging muscular arms crossed, watching me struggle to maintain the speed. When it finally hit zero, I was thankful and practically blind from the stinging sweat that leaked in my eyes. I wiped my face with the small towel I had hanging on the arm of the treadmill.
“Before you left, this would have been simple.”
“I was on vacation.”
“Your stamina and endurance dropped. Did you meet anyone?”
“No,” I lied.
“Too bad.”
He knew what my deal was. I didn’t date, I had no friends, and I spent my off hours by myself. In a way, Jay was a friend even if he was one I only saw at the gym.
I wiped the sweat from my arms. “I have no time for relationships.”
He sighed. “That’s your problem. You don’t make time for them. They don’t form themselves.”
“What about you?”
“I have friends. I date. That’s the difference.”
“Why do you nag me about this all the time?”
“You’re a gorgeous woman wasting her life thinking that no one will want you because you have a reputation. Find someone out of the industry.”
I snorted as I stepped off the belt. “That doesn’t change who I am. I’m a bitch. I know that.”
“You set your own parameters. Don’t let others do it for you.”
“I need to shower. I have a meeting at four.”
Jay waved his hand. “Go then. I have a client coming in fifteen. Wednesday, we skip the weights, and you do cardio until you get back up to speed.”
I groaned as I headed to the shower. By the time I got back to the office, most of my employees were finishing up for the day. I preferred a late afternoon workout. Even though Jay put me through my paces, I felt energized for the next few hours, I would be at my desk.
I smiled at Marina when I came to collect my messages. “Why don’t you go home for the evening?”
She once again gaped at me. “You’re sure you don’t need me?”
“No. I can handle anything that comes across my desk.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
She handed me my messages, and I went in my office to make calls. An hour later, the place was deserted when I came out for a cup of coffee. I liked when it was quiet; it gave me time to think. However, before vacation, it was all about work, now my mind drifted to Austin’s sleek muscular body.
He was doing to me exactly what I hadn’t wanted to happen, distracting me. I loaded the Keurig and hummed while it brewed my cup. I inhaled the aroma as I removed the mug.
My cell rang as I headed back to my office, and I swiped the screen with my thumb. “Samantha Stone.”
“Join me for coffee.”
“You don’t give up, do you?”
