“Treadmills?” Tom finished, his eyes sparkling with an invitation.
I grinned back. “Why yes. It was to the treadmills.”
He held out his arm and I took it, shivering a little to be pressed so close against his skin, as we headed to the back room. An army of treadmills awaited us. Most of them were already in use, but fortunately, there were two open side-by-side. I climbed onto the nearest one and set the pace for a brisk walk, smiling as he climbed up on the one beside me and did the same.
I eyed up his speed and bumped mine up another point, so I was technically going faster.
“No headphones?”
“Nah, I just watch T.V.”
He glanced over at my machine and bumped his speed up by two. We were both jogging now. Both deliberately pretending we weren’t matching each other’s speed.
“So what about you?” I asked, a little breathlessly.
“What about me?”
“It can’t be easy for the famous Thomas Larchwood to go out for a casual day at the gym. What’s your story? Personal trainer? Martial arts?”
I pressed up my speed by three more notches and started to run. A second later, he was running beside me.
“It’s easier than you’d think,” he panted. “I try to go at least four times a week. If I run into trouble or paparazzi, I can usually just rent out the back room or just workout at home.”
I flashed him a sideways gym. “You could always buy it.”
He chuckled and bumped up his speed some more. “Is that a challenge, Jenna?”
“Think of it as an invitation.”
We were both sprinting now. Too out of breath to talk.
I pulled in quick gasps of air, well aware that I was past my usual time limit and way over my usual speed. I glanced at him again out of the corner of my eye, only to see him doing the same thing to me. He maintained direct eye contact as he pressed up the speed another level. As he did so, I could have sworn I saw him wink. Not to be outdone, I knocked mine up another two levels. All my concentration now was focused on not falling off the machine as I literally ran my heart out. He pressed his up as well, and a few seconds later, I heard him breathing heavily beside me.
The glances we shot each other now were furtive, growing more desperate. As we finally passed over the three-mile marker, I swallowed back my pride. I didn’t want to be the girl who died on a treadmill.
“Hey, Tom?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m done with the treadmill.”
In unison, the two machines turned off at once. Our hands shot to the railings so we wouldn’t go flying right off, and we were careful not to look at each other until we’d gotten ourselves at least a little under control. The second the room stopped spinning, I hopped down and headed straight for my towel, patting off my face and gasping in silent breaths. A moment later, he joined me.
At first, neither one of us said anything. We just stood there, admirably nonchalant, trying not to breathe too loudly. Then he peeked at me from beneath his lashes.
We burst out laughing.
Gasping for air, collapsing on the bench, burying our faces in our towels to smother the sound. It was the first time I’d heard him really let loose, and it was utterly adorable. His hair dripped down his face, and without his usual guards up, he looked almost like a kid again.
“Have dinner with me,” he blurted.
The laughter stopped, and I stared at him in surprise.
Dinner? Like, a date dinner? What happened to the no fraternization policy? What happened to the rules?
My mouth opened to answer, but I was temporarily speechless. When I didn’t say anything, he was quick to clarify.
“For work. A work dinner,” he said swiftly. “We can go over the finer points of the merger to review before you submit it to Macer tomorrow.”
My face fell, but I nodded quickly, looking down to hide my expression. “Oh, I see. Well, in that case, yes, of course. That’s probably a good idea.”
I glanced up to see him biting his lip. Some of those old walls were up, and just like usual, I had no idea what he was thinking.
“Where to?” I asked, trying to sound more enthusiastic than I really was.
“Bello,” he answered without hesitation. “I’ll pick you up at seven. Wear something nice.” And without another word, he turned on his heel and walked away.