As soon as we exited the building Noel started to fan herself.

"Lawd have mercy! That man was a walking wet dream. I look forward to seeing sweat drip down his body on Tuesday,"

"Noel! Good grief, could you wait until the door’s least closed all the way."

The woman had no filter and no shame.

"Honey, I don't care if he heard me. Hell, I hope he did. I would not put up a fight if he came out here and threw me over his shoulder."

'Why do I hang out with you?"

"Because you know your life would be boring without me." She bumped her hip to mine and laughed.

We made our way to your cars and said our goodbyes before parting ways. As I eased onto the street the ring of my phone cut through the music playing through the Bluetooth. I checked the screen  and groaned. It was my mother. I was not in the mood for her today. I was never really in the mood for her if I was being honest. I knew that If I didn't answer not only would she call back, but I would get even more crap for not answering her the first time. I hit the answer button and prepared for war.

"Hi, mom."

"Penelope, what took you so long to answer?"

Always straight to the point my mother. 

"I'm driving home from the gym mother."

Maybe hearing that I was at the gym would placate her a little.

"It's about time. Maybe if you would have gone to the gym when Alec was around you'd be married by now. I'd have grandbabies."

I had no idea why she wanted grandkids. I wasn't sure she liked me most of the time. I'd be afraid to see how she acted with my kids.

"Mom, can we not go there today?'

"I'm only telling the truth, Penelope."

Time to bring this chat to an end. 

"How's dad?" 

"He's fine. He's out working on one of his cars."

"Tell him I love him. I'm driving so I better go."

"Well then, I guess I'll speak with you later. I hope you plan to continue with the gym. There may still be hope for you finding a husband after all."

With that, my mother hung up the phone.

***

The rest of the weekend flew by and before I knew it, it was Tuesday. Work was busy. I worked as a web designer and developer. I had a few projects that were due by the end of the week. I was ahead of schedule, but I liked to make sure my work was done and done well before I delivered to the client.

My desk phone rang and startled me from my work. When I looked up at the clock, I realized it was four-thirty. I had my headphones in and was so focused that time just flew by.

"This is Penelope."

"Girl, why aren't you answering my text?" It was Noel.

"Um, I'm at work?"

"Don't you get a break or something?"

"I got caught up in my work. What do you want?"

"I'm calling to make sure your butt is at the gym tonight at six-thirty. We have a date with Reed."

"You are delusional you know that?"

"You love me, though. Make sure you leave work by five so you can change and get to class. You can't leave me hanging."

I rolled my eyes towards the ceiling. I was not looking forward to this. I didn't care how hot Reed was. In fact, that probably made it worse. I didn't want to look like an idiot in front of him, and there was no doubt I would.

"I'll be there," I grumbled.

At six-twenty I pulled up in front of the gym. Noel was waiting for me by the door.

"I was getting afraid that you were going to bail on me."

"Naw, I knew you’d only make it worse the next time I came if I did."

"True," she said with an evil grin on her face.

We headed into the gym and checked the chart for what room the class would be in. There were ten other women setting up their equipment when we entered the room. Reed was speaking to a tall brunette.

So that was his type. Figures.

I must have imagined the jolt I felt when we shook hands. Or maybe it was one sided. The wink was probably just him being nice. In this industry he had to be social and kind to everyone. I shook my head. Why was I even thinking about this? I was not in the market for a man, and if I were he would be out of my league.

We placed our things in the back of the room. Noel was scanning the room trying to figure out what we would need. We headed over to a rack of hand weights.

"Hey ladies, I'm glad you made it."

My back straightened. His voice was as smooth and sexy as I remembered.

"Hi Reed, we're not sure what we need. Can you help us?" My back was still to Reed, but I glanced at Noel from my peripheral. She was smiling and batting her eyes — shameless.

"Sure, you’ll need some weights," I felt heat close to my back and then his arm was grazing past mine, lifting weights off of the rack.

I turned, and he was standing a few inches from me. He smiled down at me and handed me the weights.

"Th-Thanks," I said sounding out of breath.

We hadn't even started the workout, but my heart was doing a workout of its own.

He walked us through what else we would need. Once we had everything we settled at the back of the class. When the class began, I was able to forget about Reed's sex appeal and focus on the exercises. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the toning much more than the cardio hell Noel had put me through.

Reed made his way around the class helping people with their form. We were doing lunges when I saw him headed towards me. I tried to focus on the ground in front of me. Maybe if I didn't make eye contact, he wouldn't see me. Right? Nope.

"I'm going to adjust you so that your form is correct. You don't want to injure yourself."

I gave a small nod of my head.

He moved behind me and adjusted my leg.

"Okay, now lower." He lightly placed his hand on my hip as I lowered.

I held my breath. My mind couldn't think, let alone breathe.

I felt warm breath close to my ear.

"Much better. The more you do these the more comfortable you’ll get." With that, he made his way back to the front.

Thankfully he didn't touch me for the rest of the class. I don't think my body could’ve taken it if he did. I knew it was his job to help, but no red-blooded woman would be immune to his touch.

By the end of the class, I was dripping with sweat. I knew my hair had to be a frizzy mess. I needed a hot shower and my bed, stat.

"Let's go see what other classes they have this week. Maybe we can try Zumba next."

I followed Noel to the front desk where there was a board with the class schedules.

"How about we try Zumba on Friday? It will be a nice start to the weekend."

"That's not my idea of a nice start to a weekend, but I guess."

"How did you ladies like the class?"

Just when I thought we escaped.

"I loved it," Noel gushed.

"And you Penelope?"

He remembered my name. I was both surprised and kind of impressed.

"It was ok. It was better than what Noel tried to put me through."

He let out a laugh at my reply. When I looked up, he was smiling at me. That smile, ugh.

"What are you ladies going to try next?"

"Zumba this Friday. You don't happen to teach that too, do you?" Noel asked.

"No, afraid not. I'm not much of a dancer, but I will be around. You know you do get a free training session when you sign up at the gym. If you ladies want, we can set up a session for each of you."

"That would be awesome!"

This startled me. I didn't want to have a one-on-one session with him.

"Can we do it together?" I blurted out.

The smile on Reed's face seemed to dim, but only for a moment.

"Sure, if that's what you ladies prefer."

"Yes! That is what we prefer." I wasn't letting Noel throw me under the bus with this one.

"How about this Saturday at nine am? I know I have an open slot then."

I looked at Noel for confirmation.

"That would be perfect!"

Smiling green eyes captured mine, "Saturday it is then. I look forward to seeing you."

His words sounded like they were addressed to both of us, but his eyes were set on me.