In Her Corner

“I heard Bella Fiore started yesterday. I wanted to meet her, make sure she stays on top of her stand-up game. Don’t worry—I won’t use any heavy machinery today.” He headed off.

Kyle watched from his office, tensing as the former heavyweight boxer introduced himself to Bella, shaking hands and talking enthusiastically with her.

He forced himself to look away. He didn’t know why he was being so nosy. It wasn’t as if Wayne would ever do anything to make anyone feel unwelcome. He was really a sweet guy despite his hulking frame and nickname, “Crusher.”

In fact, if there was anyone he had to worry about, it was Bella. Thinking about how she’d dealt with that jerk at the bar last night, he should probably warn the boxing coach about her. He should probably warn all the guys....

What are you, their mom? Everyone knew the potential consequences of flirting with coworkers. It would be embarrassing and condescending for everyone if he had to reiterate the policy.

As the week went on, though, he became convinced he’d have to sit down with Bella and talk to her about her conduct. Besides being a very attractive woman and the first new female employee at Payette’s in over a year, she was effusive to a fault.

She was too eager to please, dropping whatever she was doing to help a client or trainer. She’d step right up to clients that weren’t hers and correct their techniques and forms without being asked. She boldly approached regulars and offered her training services. She didn’t seem to understand that a lot of these guys came in for a simple workout, or else had trainers already. People might misinterpret her intentions.

Sooner or later, she’d start stepping on toes. If she scooped one of the other trainers’ clients or had a misunderstanding with someone...well, he didn’t want to deal with the interoffice fallout. He’d have a talk with her.

On Friday, she came to his office to show him the programs she’d put together for her classes. He only half listened to her as she outlined the exercises.

“So, with Orville and Tito doing conditioning with me, and Wayne filling in with sparring and stand-up, I was wondering if we could schedule some mat time on Wednesdays and Fridays.”

“I’m sorry?” He’d only caught the word we, and it’d jolted him.

“I came here so you could train me, Kyle?” Her prompt rose in a question. “I arranged the schedule with the others so we’d have time—”

“I’m kind of busy with these new recruitment programs,” he interrupted, tapping the binder of marketing plans on his desk. “The week after next we can start.”

Her expression closed, and her mouth firmed into a tight line. He thought she’d leave. People usually did when he put his foot down.

“No.” She placed her notes on his desk and primly settled her palms on top, pressing down firmly. “That’s not acceptable.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s—”

“Not in our agreement. I was promised one-on-one time with you. I’ve been here a week and you’ve barely given me the time of day.” Her dark eyes held his, hard and unblinking as a jade statue’s. “So, what’s the problem, Coach? Did I say something to offend you?”

He took a deep breath. “I’m concerned about the way you conduct yourself around here.”

She absorbed his words slowly before narrowing her eyes. “How’s that?”

“You’re too forward.” It wasn’t what he’d meant to say, but now that it had come out, he was committed to it. “You can’t go around offering your training services to every single client. Most of the regulars already have coaches. They don’t need you to confuse them, and it won’t help you get along with the others. On top of that, you’ve been greeting clients at the door. That’s Liz’s job. It’s what she’s paid to do. You’ve only been here a week and I’m concerned you don’t know enough about how things work here to give them the information they need.”

Her blazing green eyes seared a hole right through him. “I think I said hello to two people who walked in. Two. And that was only because Liz was in the bathroom and they were standing there, looking lost. I didn’t see any of the guys rushing out to greet them, so I said hello. Now you’re telling me that’s wrong?”

“You should’ve gotten a senior staff member. But that’s not the only thing.” He took a deep breath and plunged forward. “You’re too friendly with the guys. Some of them might get the wrong idea.”

He only realized how bad it sounded after the words left his mouth.

Her voice pitched down an octave. “Excuse me?”

“This is a gym full of guys, and some clients get it in their heads that... Well, see, there was this one guy who tried to ask Liz out, but she wouldn’t date him...”

“And you blame Liz for that?”

“No!” He massaged his scalp. He was making a mess of this. “All I’m saying is, you’re a...a woman, and if you act friendly...”

She slowly leaned forward in her seat. “I’m friendly because I’m actually a nice person. I talk to clients because I want them to get the most out of their time here. That’s how a Fiore gym is run. We learn from having lots of different trainers, lots of variety and techniques. We don’t isolate every single student and tell them they’re only allowed to work with one person. We certainly don’t isolate the women from the men because we don’t trust what they’ll do to each other.”

“Look, it came out totally wrong, and I apologize. Of course we want diversity in our trainers and clientele. That’s half the reason you’re here. But this is a professional gym. Some of the guys work on hourly fees, and they can’t risk losing a client. I’d just appreciate it if you stepped back a bit.”

She sat back and rolled her eyes. “No wonder you’re losing customers.”

He flinched as though she’d slapped him. “You need to remember—” your place “—that you’re a guest trainer here. Temporary. Just because you’ve been doing this a long time at your family’s studio doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing here.”

She studied him coolly, glass-green eyes slicing him to ribbons. “You don’t want me here, do you?”

A hard lump formed in his throat. “That’s not it.”

“You obviously don’t like me.”

“That’s not true.” And it wasn’t. He simply didn’t know how to handle her. Her temperament, her energy, her drive—they were all good things professionally speaking, but they were nothing he was prepared to deal with. And that was what really bothered him.

Bella’s words were as sharp and precise as a scalpel. Her composure was unexpected and it threw him off balance even more. “I came here to train with you, Kyle. Not with your staff, not in your gym. I came for you. But if you can’t work with me, then all you have to do is say so, and I won’t waste any more of my time or yours.”

“That’s not what I want.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath. “I’ve really messed this up.”

She waited expectantly.

His chair creaked as he swung it to the left, tilting back with a long sigh. “I don’t want you to go. I do have a lot to teach you, and I think you have a lot to teach our clients. You’re a talented fighter, and you can bring a lot to this gym. I wouldn’t have agreed to have you here otherwise.”

“Except that I’m a Fiore.”

“I won’t lie to you. Your family name and reputation does have some draw. Since we posted that picture of you up on our website, we’ve had twice as many cold calls from guys who want to train here.”

“And still you think I’m only here to flirt with your employees and steal clients?”

He grimaced. “I didn’t mean for it to sound that way.”

She didn’t look impressed. “Answer me this. Will you or won’t you make time to train me?”

He wiped a damp palm over his mouth. “I can spare you two hours this afternoon.”

She nodded stiffly. “All right. Are we done?”

For now. “Yeah.”

Her chair scraped back loudly, and she marched out of his office. The knot in Kyle’s gut loosened. That had not gone the way he’d hoped. And he’d come off sounding like a complete asshole.

You let a girl push you around, his father’s voice mocked from the back of his mind.

Kyle ground his teeth and pressed his thumbs against his closed eyelids. Whatever his issues, he couldn’t afford to have Bella leaving with a negative impression of what Payette’s had to offer.