CHAPTER SEVEN

“You’re still here?” Duke’s voice booms loudly from behind me. “The gym closed over an hour ago.”

“Oh!” I almost jump out of my seat. “You startled me. I’m trying hard to earn that raise, you know.” I turn to look at him. A stray lock of his dark hair brushes against his forehead. He looks tired and worn. It makes me feel bad. As much as the brash, cocky Duke can be annoying, I prefer that to seeing him so defeated.

He taps his chin and I can’t help but notice how muscular his arms are. The white sleeveless tee he is wearing showcases his tats and powerful muscle bulges perfectly.

“I’m glad you’re still here, Allie. I want to talk to you about your raise.”

“Oh?” I arch my brows. “Did you change your mind about giving me the raise you promised?”

“Not at all, you more than deserve it and then some. I know how hard you’ve been working.”

“We have both worked our asses off!” I agree. Duke and I have been sending out fliers, calling clients…everything we can to turn things around. We’ve worked hard, but I have to admit it, it has been fun too. The more I’ve gotten to know Duke, the more I’ve come to see his real personality—the good guy underneath the rough exterior.

“But unfortunately,” he says, his voice cracking, “Brian Sterling from corporate called me earlier today…”

“And?” I brace myself. Somehow I can just guess what he is going to say and I am dreading it.

“Unless some miracle happens, they’re closing this branch down at the end of the month.”

“Oh no, they can’t do that!”

“Sadly they can. I was so sure our last open house would turn things around.”

“Me too,” I frown. “We spent so much time planning it.” Over a hundred people had come to the open house we’d just held, and we had thought it would be a big success. We’d had all the trainers there, a DJ, fun snacks, the opportunity to take a mini fitness class, and more. I suck in my breath and exhale deeply. Just thinking about the dismal results is depressing. “I was hoping for a lot more sign ups.”

“It sucks, all those people and we only got fifteen sign ups.” He put his head down. “I don’t get it. They all seemed to really enjoy it.”

“And the worst part is, though we had fifteen new people sign up, we had that many plus a few more of our prior members try to drop out last week.” I pick up a stack of papers from my desk and wave them in the air. They were letters from members quitting or requesting to get out of their contracts. “The contracts are air tight, though. They can’t get out of them.”

“Yeah,” Duke mutters, “but I don’t feel right making them fork over their monthly fees if they don’t want to be here.”

I wince. I don’t blame Duke for feeling this way. The ‘7 Days’ policy specifies that members can be let out of their contracts at the manager’s discretion, but if Duke lets them all out, our branch is going to fail even faster.

His mouth tightens. “Everyone is working so hard to make this place successful. I hate failing them.”

“Oh Duke, it’s not your fault.” I feel terrible.

“I’m going to go for a run—let off some steam. Want to join me?” he asks softly.

“No, I need to finish up here.” I look up at Duke. His eyes are so sad, yet so deliciously green.

“Ok, well, Allie, I was thinking…would you…” his voice trails off.

“What?”

“Nothing, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As he leaves, I wonder what he was going to say. He was probably going to talk about me being his mate again, which was so ridiculous. For a second, his eyes flash before me. I have to hand it to him—the man has beautiful eyes, not to mention a gorgeous bod. The more I worked with him, the more I saw that, like Noah had suggested, Duke came on strong, but he had a quieter, softer side to him too. I had actually come to like the guy.

I glance back at the papers on my desk. It’s so depressing. If we can just come up with a way for the gym to make a little money to give us time to turn things around…I pick up a piece of the banana bread I’d made and begin munching on it. It is so yummy.

And then suddenly, an idea hits me. The gym has a food license and sells healthy sandwiches and smoothies. What if we added my specialty brownies, breads, and cakes? One thing I know is that even the fittest folks love to eat. If we run several sales and raise enough money, we could talk to corporate and maybe convince them to give us another month—more time to try and turn things around. And we could kick it off with another open house.

Excited by the idea, I rush to Duke’s office, hoping to catch him before he’s left for his run. As I near his office I stop in shock at what I see through the glass partition. He is standing there, his back to me, totally naked. His broad, muscular backside leads down to a firm waist and a round, muscular butt.

“Rrrrhaaaa…rrrhaaaaa…”

My mouth drops open at the loud, guttural noise coming from deep within his being. Before I have a chance to say anything, his body seems to start pulsing. I can hardly believe my eyes as thick, black tufts of fur start sprouting from the nape of his neck, along the length of his arms, down his back, and along his butt cheeks and crack. Suddenly, a thick tail juts out from his ass, growing rapidly, like a snake uncoiling. I have never seen a shifter shift before. It is shocking—so unbelievable. Trembling, I try to back slowly away.

But he must have heard me. He turns towards me and half roars, half growls again. I don’t recognize him anymore. Long, sharp teeth jut from his mouth and cup shaped hairy ears have formed on the sides of his head. He is covered in shiny, black fur. He falls to the ground, sharp claws digging at the linoleum floor, and eyes me. Oh, those eyes, that brilliant shade of green…Duke’s eyes.

I freeze as his muscular dark frame slinks through the office door opening and pads towards me. I can’t move a muscle. I feel the bristle of his long, thin whiskers against my arm, and then his whole body as it rubs against my side and my leg. It feels warm…tender, even. Tentatively, I reach my hand out towards his furry coat. I lightly stroke the side. It is soft, luxurious—beautiful. I want to bury my face in it. I lower myself to the floor and he moves in closer. His panther is so sleek and beautiful. We sit quietly, me lightly kneading his fur, while he nuzzles gently against me. I can’t believe I am doing this. I am in awe of this gorgeous creature, and yet, I am stroking him like it is the most natural thing in the world.

“Rrrrrpurrrrr.”

He is almost purring, a throaty sound, as he nestles against me. It feels so good and so right. Then, he suddenly pulls away, lifts himself up, and runs on all fours towards the back of the building. I quickly follow, only to see him push open the back door with his body weight and run off into the night.

It’s so strange. Just a few weeks ago, I thought Duke was one of the most brazen, rudest men on earth, and now I just don’t know what to think. I am smitten with his panther…and I am seeing through the brash façade this man projects to the decent, kind being inside.

As I walk back to my office, his piercing, panther eyes are seared into my brain. I think of caressing his dark fur and then the fur changes into his hair and I see his handsome face. The thought of his intense green gaze floats through my mind. And it’s not just his eyes, I have to admit, I find his muscular body insanely hot—those buff biceps and ripped abs and that ass…oh God, that ass!