Cash wasn’t sure what had come over him as he pulled into the lot of another gym thirty minutes outside of Haven. Why in the world did he let his hormones make decisions? Hadn’t he learned his lesson from his ex-wife?
Obviously not, because he was gearing up to take his first-ever hot yoga class. Maybe if Jade saw he was serious about getting her to work for him, she’d reconsider. This was purely business. Never let it be said he wasn’t persistent.
After grabbing his water bottle, Cash stepped from his truck and pocketed his keys. He’d been to this gym years ago, before he opened his own. There had been several on his research tour when he was scoping out ideas to start up his dream business.
Cash never looked at other gyms as his competition. He wasn’t in the business to get rich or scheme people into diets that didn’t work. No, he legit wanted to help people better themselves and live healthier lives.
He couldn’t pinpoint what made him want to be a gym owner and trainer. Cash had always just enjoyed lifting weights and working out. He’d found no better therapy as he’d gone through the divorce and the ongoing issues with his father.
Added to that, there was something to be said about people who consistently saw one another in a setting where everyone was trying to improve. It was like a bond that only that group could understand, and many of his clients had become friends. The people he saw and worked with every day were folks he genuinely cared about.
Maybe that was something he and Jade had in common. She seemed to love teaching this class and he’d heard her talk of marathons in the past. Someone who cared about their body was pretty damn sexy.
Though Cash never put a woman’s worth on what she looked like. Health came in all different sizes and shapes. Someone could be healthy and weigh much more than an unhealthy person. Just taking pride in their appearance was what Cash found to be a total turn-on.
And Jade seemed to check off nearly every box in that turn-on category. Oh, she claimed she hated her body because she thought she was too flat-chested and her hips were too wide, but he couldn’t find a damn thing wrong with her, and he’d definitely taken time to explore.
When Cash stepped into Fit and Trim, he was immediately greeted with a welcome from the young guy behind the front desk.
“I’m here for the yoga class,” Cash stated, resting his water bottle on the counter.
The young man laughed. “You’re brave. I tried that once and nearly passed out. But good for you.”
Fabulous. Just what he wanted to hear. Despite the warning, Cash was ready to tackle something new and convince Jade to work for him, so taking an hour to admire her wasn’t a bad way to spend his afternoon.
When Jade hadn’t responded to his detailed dinner and dessert messages, Cash decided to see her another way. Besides, shouldn’t he check this out for himself instead of taking other people’s word for how amazing these classes were?
Hot yoga classes were growing more and more popular in the area, and he wanted to keep his gym thriving with new and fresh ideas. The fact that Jade could be there as well added the proverbial icing on the cake.
Their physical relationship aside, Jade would be an asset to his business. Now he just had to continue working on convincing her.
Cash paid the one-time fee for the class and headed in the direction the young man pointed. He put his shoes, socks, keys, and cell in a locker in the changing room and grabbed a towel from the bin as he followed the signs to the back of the gym, where the classes were located.
He found the large steel door at the end of the hallway and wondered just what he’d experience on the other side. Passing out in front of Jade and a full class wouldn’t bode well for his self-esteem.
Cash turned the handle and slowly opened the heavy door. The hot studio was . . . well, hot. His first deep breath in was quite stifling, and just stepping inside was enough to melt the shirt off his back.
A little sweat never hurt anybody, but this was going to be quite a different experience.
There were blue mats lined up in two neat rows on the dark wood floors. Some of them had orange balancing blocks, others had towels and water for people already claiming their spots. Cash wasn’t sure if he wanted to be up front to watch Jade or in the back, where he could hopefully go unnoticed. All of the heat aside, he had never done yoga in his life and he had no doubt he would stand out as a newbie. He just hoped he didn’t fall and knock over the others like a row of dominoes.
For the first time in Cash’s life, nerves settled in deep.
Cash closed the steel door behind him and spotted Jade across the room, chatting with another lady. He didn’t want to alert her to his presence, so he quietly made his way to a mat in the back corner.
He set down his bottle and unfolded his towel, laying it
like the others were. Sweat already trickled down his back.
How long was this class again? An hour? He should’ve brought a gallon of water to stay hydrated.
“New here?”
Cash glanced to the middle-aged, petite lady beside him. “Is that obvious?”
“No,” she replied. “I’m just at every class Jade teaches and I didn’t remember seeing you before.”
His eyes darted over the lady’s shoulder and noted Jade had moved on to talk to someone else, moving closer to him now.