AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“See how easy it’s starting to feel? How much more confidence you have in your endurance?” Luke said, grinning. “And that translates into every aspect of your life. We do the hard things here, in training, so you can be prepared to do the hard things elsewhere.”
“God, please don’t start with another running metaphor,” Lydia said as they stopped outside Fitness Forum. “Just say good job and give me a high five.”
Luke feigned disappointment. “Too bad. I had a really good one saved up. But I guess you’ll have to wait until next time to enjoy it because I’ve gotta run—literally. I have that bank appointment.”
“Oh, that’s right!” Lydia said. “Go, go! You should have just canceled this morning so you could prepare!”
Luke shrugged. They’d already had to move her long run from Saturday to Thursday this week, so he wasn’t about to cancel. Instead, they’d squeezed in the run before she had to go to work, in preparation for the gym being shut down all weekend so the staff could update their workplace safety certifications. “I think I’m as prepared as I can be. But some luck couldn’t hurt.”
To his surprise, Lydia hugged him. It was short and sweet, and a little sweaty, but it didn’t fail to stir up all sorts of thoughts of steamy kisses outside pubs and in warehouses. Kisses that weren’t supposed to mean anything. Kisses that he’d banished from his mind.Poof, gone.
If only it were that easy. Luke had been pondering that warehouse kiss every night for the last two weeks. You didn’t just kiss someone for no reason after agreeing not to. So what was the reason? They’d both agreed to wipe the slate clean after the night they slept together, but the warehouse had felt different than that night. There was no pub, no alcohol, no flirty atmosphere to blame their actions on, and still they’d been drawn together. So, what did that mean? He sometimes wanted to ask her. But hell if he was going to be the one to ruin this partnership. She’d taken it back anyway—the kiss—almost immediately. That probably meant something too.
“You don’t need luck,” she said with a certainty he wanted to bottle for emergencies. “You’ve got this.”
“I’ve got this,” he repeated, flinging the door to the gym open. He shivered as the cool AC hit him. “Do you have your workout plan for tomorrow?”
Lydia waved him off. “I have it memorized by now. Hurry up. Before you’re late.”
Luke rushed down the hall to his office, grabbed his change of clothes, and took the quickest shower of his life. His slacks clung to his legs as he emerged from the locker room and grabbed the thick file folder from his desk. He’d already emailed Mrs. Amisfield all the documents, he just figured bringing hard copies was a good idea. Luke touched his pockets. Phone. Wallet. Business plan. He hurried back down the hall, and was surprised to find Lydia still chatting with Jules at the desk.
“You’re going to be late,” Jules chided.
“I’m going!”
“You’ll do great!” Lydia shouted after him.
He checked his watch. Maybe Lydia was right and he should have canceled the run. But he’d figured spending the morning with her was a good way to take his mind off the appointment and his nerves.
By the time he got off the subway, he had no choice but to run. He skipped up the station stairs two at a time, until his thighs were burning, and rushed down the street to the bank. Damn this August humidity. He wafted the file with his business plan across his face, trying to cool down. He’d needed some extra time for market research, but today, if everything looked good, Mrs. Amisfield would officially be submitting his application for a business loan. The fact that he was about to be that much closer to his goal of opening his own business felt a little surreal, and he took a second to let the thrill of anticipation settle over him.
Then he dabbed at his forehead with the back of his hand, checking his reflection against the glass door, and strode into the bank, summoning everything calm, cool, and collected in his arsenal. He crossed the lobby to check in with the front desk.
“Luke Townsend,” he said. “I have an appointment with Mrs. Amisfield.”
“Wait here,” the clerk instructed before wandering off to inform Mrs. Amisfield of his arrival.
Luke shifted from foot to foot, a familiar bout of nerves rattling around his gut. He probably should have eaten something after the run. What if his stomach growled obnoxiously in the middle of their meeting?
“Luke?”
He turned at the sound of his name.
Mrs. Amisfield stood outside her office door. She waved him over, and Luke hurried across the bank.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, slipping into the office and sitting down. “I got caught up at work and there were a million people on the platform—”
She sat across from him and held her hand up. “Not to worry. We’ve all been bested by the traffic on the subway.”
Luke relaxed a little. She didn’t seem put off by his disheveled appearance, but when she looked up at him, he recognized something in her eyes. It was thatyou-were-closeface. He’d been given that look by coaches over the years. Heck, he’d given it to his own clients time and time again when they got within reach of their goals, when the finish line just slipped through their fingers. He saw it in the pinch of her thin lips, in the tilt of her head, in that way her brows sank. This was the consolation face. He’d tried and failed.
He knew it before she even opened her mouth.
“You know, for your first crack at a business plan, this was well put together.”
But?He wanted to shout the word. Or was ithowever? Maybe even a littlein spite of. How was she planning on breaking the news to him? He felt like a fool for running all the way down here. “It didn’t make the cut,” he said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt.
He must have failed at hiding the disappointment because Mrs. Amisfield sighed. “I’ve been looking at the numbers and based on what you have here, I can tell you that you’re not going to get approved for your funding.”
