In Her Corner. Vicki Essex
fight.
She kept an inch of warm beer at the bottom of her bottle as the next fight started. She heard the girls with Kyle laughing and giggling. She didn’t want to watch them, but they were loud and boisterous, drawing envious looks from all corners of the bar. The girls hung on Kyle’s every word. The blonde looked especially into him, gazing doe-eyed at him.
The bartender put another open bottle in front of her.
She looked at him quizzically. “I didn’t order this.”
“It’s on the house. I liked the way you handled that jerk earlier. I’ve been looking for a reason to refuse him service and kick him out.” He crossed his thick arms over his barrel chest. “Sorry I didn’t step in fast enough.”
“No need to be sorry, Mr....?”
“Neal.” They shook hands, and he nodded vaguely over his shoulder. “I can see you’re really into the game.”
“Oh, I’m actually watching the fight.”
“I didn’t mean the Yankees game.” He inclined his chin toward the table. “I mean Kyle. Must be at least once a week he comes in with a date or picks up some chick and leaves with them. I’ve got my money on the one in the pink sweater tonight. You?”
Bella wasn’t sure why she felt such disappointment. She’d been warned about Kyle’s reputation, after all. “The blonde,” she said decisively. “Look at those puppy-dog eyes.”
He polished the counter top, chuckling. “I’ll be honest, when he came over here, I thought maybe you were a contender.”
“Oh, we know each other. He’s my wrestling coach.”
“No kidding? You’re training at Payette’s?”
“I’m working there while I train. Kind of like an exchange program.”
They chatted awhile about her background. Neal was more into boxing, but he seemed genuinely interested in her. Platonically, she was certain, if the wedding ring on his finger meant anything.
“Oh, damn.” Neal turned in time to see two of the girls get up from the table and hug their blonde counterpart goodbye. A couple of minutes later, Kyle and the blonde left. Bella’s gaze snagged his as he passed. He averted his eyes, almost shamefaced. “Looks like you were right.”
“What can I say?” She took a long pull of her second beer as the door swung shut. “She seemed his type.”
CHAPTER THREE
KYLE GULPED DOWN the extra large black coffee, head throbbing. He’d managed a few hours’ sleep, but ugh, why had he agreed to do shots of peach schnapps, of all things? He should have stuck to bourbon, but Penny—or Jenny or Patty or whatever the blonde’s name was—had said it was an old man’s drink.
He pushed into Payette’s and came face-to-face with Bella. She flashed blindingly white teeth. “Long night?”
“How late did you stay out?” he asked, deflecting her question. “I thought you said you were going home after you finished your drink.”
She lifted a shoulder. “I wanted to see the Chen-DaSilva fight.” Speculation reflected in her eyes, but she didn’t ask the question he saw there.
Not that he would have answered. His sex life wasn’t anyone’s business.
He changed in his office, downed two extrastrength Tylenol, then went over the schedule. The loud rapping on his door made his head throb.
“Hey, boss.” Wayne grinned, then winced, holding his jaw. “I’m back.”
Kyle acknowledged him with a wave. “How was the dentist?”
“Awful. I swear they were drilling into my brain. They put me on some pretty strong painkillers. I thought I’d let you know.”
“Sure you don’t need an extra day?” He’d fully expected the boxing coach to call in sick. Wayne was getting on in years, after all, even if he didn’t want to admit it.
“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