Chapter Eighteen - Samantha

I can’t get Lucas off my mind. I know it’s beyond ridiculous, but I think I’m falling for him. Every time we jog together, every time we talk, makes me like him more and more. I’ve been thinking about him during the day and wanting to spend even more time with him, to talk to him more.

I know I shouldn’t be falling for someone who might be putting me out of business. I keep telling myself not to be foolish or naive. I keep telling myself not go any further. I even remind myself, bitterly sometimes, that I should be careful because I might find out at any moment that he’s still just playing the competition and everything might blow up in my face. But I’m willing to take that chance because I don’t want what we’re building here to stop. It has been a long time since just thinking about someone made my heart race the way it does with Lucas.

I am a businesswoman, after all, so I’m used to weighing my risks when it comes to new ventures and strategies. I figure it’s worth it because I can’t get hurt any worse than I might already have anyway. The worst that could happen is Invigoration putting the center out of business, which might have still happened with the waterfront development even if his gym hadn’t been a part of it. The best that could happen is something more with Lucas, and I’m still not sure how that fits into everything with the center, but I think I’d be willing to take the risk and figure it out.

My whole staff is talking about it. Every time he swings by the center or takes a class, everyone is all whispers about it like it’s high school all over again. I guess I don’t blame them for talking – I would be talking about it too if I were them. It feels absurd, but it also somehow feels easy and right. It feels natural. I feel like I can be myself around Lucas. I can really talk to him.

***

“Are you sure we even need this?” Marc asks, stopping in my office midday with a stack of the flyers we’ve printed. The flyers are to test customer interest in our new service. They’re going out in the mail and going to be placed in stacks in our front lobby. We’re going to take some to local businesses this week. I’ve already started an email campaign asking for the same information.

“What?” I ask, looking up from the spreadsheet I’m making to calculate our results. The flyers and emails also ask people to suggest a price range of how much they’d be willing to pay for the extra services. I’m hoping that with them, we can bring in a few hundred dollars more per month, covering the rent increase and getting us back on track.

“Can’t you just charm Lucas into, I don’t know, not building a giant mega-gym across the street from us?” Marc asks, grinning at me.

I flush and shake my head. “Something else would just go in instead. Maybe something even worse, and it would drive our rent up even more. At least now we know the beast we’re dealing with,” I say.

Marc shakes his head at me like he doesn’t buy that. “Something worse than a mega-gym that might steal away all our customers? If it was just offices or a store, it wouldn’t do that,” Marc points out.

“Well, then we’ll just have to keep our clients,” I say, “and offer something different to get them in here even more.”

“Sure,” Marc says, “but I still think you could get him to move it if you asked right. If you know what I mean.” He finishes the thought with a dramatic wink, making me laugh.

“Please get out of here and go stuff envelopes with those before your next class,” I say, laughing.

Marc grins and gives me a salute. “On it!” he says, turning to leave. I laugh again, watching him. I think my face is still a little red.

I don’t think charming Lucas into moving the gym location is something I could do. I know how much he loves this neighborhood. He’s even planning to live above the new location, and I know how much work he’s already put into the planning. It’s already half-constructed. Still, I wonder if it would be out of line to ask him for business tips or to get his feedback on things. I have no interest in turning my center into a corporate machine, but being able to pay all the bills, the staff, and myself, would be good.

I’m turning the thought over in my head when there is a knock on my office door. I startle a little. My staff never knocks – I’ve always told them all they don’t need to. Cheryl usually calls me to tell me if anyone else is visiting and wants to meet with me, and she hasn’t called, so I’m not expecting anyone. I turn quickly.

“Hi,” Lucas says, standing in my doorway, smiling at me. I grin back, glad to see him as always. He’s wearing jeans and a button-down shirt today, and he looks fantastic in it. He’s giving me this look he’s been giving me lately, the one that makes me wonder what it would be like to kiss him. The one that makes me want to find out.

“Hi!” I say, hearing the surprised note in my own voice.

“Do you have a minute? Cheryl let me back here,” Lucas says.

I nod. “Of course. What’s up?” I say. Lucas normally calls or shows up to take a class. He’s never been in my office. It feels strangely personal that he is now. Not that I keep anything more personal than mugs and a few pictures in the office. It’s mostly my highly organized binder system holding all of the information I use to keep this place running.

“I wanted to see if you were free tonight,” Lucas says, eyes on me intently.

“For a jog?” I ask.

“For a date,” Lucas says.

I feel my eyes widen and I bite my lip. I think I should say no, that I should say we should keep things a business or at least friendship. I don’t want to say no.

“Oh,” I say, trying to keep my cool and not to seem like I’ve been wanting this for weeks. “Yes, I think I’d like that.”

“I would too,” Lucas says, seeming so confident in a really sexy way, a way that really makes me want to kiss him. “I’d really like to take you out.”

“Tonight?” I confirm.

Lucas grins at me. “Tonight,” he says. He’s so handsome, and right now, his smile is making his eyes seem to light up. As if maybe I’m making him really happy by agreeing to go out with him. I like the thought of that very much. I like that he asked, and I like that he surprised me in my office like this. Lucas is still so full of these surprising gestures, these unexpected things I really like.

Maybe I shouldn’t have any expectations at all for tonight. Maybe I should let it all be a surprise.