Page 35 of Mr. Red

“For starters, you stop thinking abouthim.You think aboutyouand the fun moments you had.”

“What if he goes back to Texas and doesn’t stay?”

“Ugh.” Paige sits back in her chair with an abrupt bounce.

“I don’t normally do casual. I’ve always waited for a relationship. I couldn’t say no to trying with him, though. He makes me feel like it’s safe to give up control.” I look around and lean in. “Let me tell you, it was so nice to let go. But now I’m wondering what’s going to happen.”

Paige puts her hand on my shoulder. “You’re going tobe fine. Giving up control and going out of your comfort zone is okay.”

“It’d be nice to see you in love again.” Lana smirks.

“We’re not talking about love!” Paige looks ready to pull her hair out.

“You don’t know that.” Lana gives attitude back.

“Okay, you two. We’ll see what happens.” I grin. “Listen, we have a lot of work to do. Let’s go over the plan.”

“The no control thing was short-lived, huh?” Paige sulks.

“Someone needs to have a plan.” I pull out my laptop and show them the color-coded calendar I made. “We have three more weeks until we close. I can make some calls to start interviews with trainers; we need to find someone to fill in for me and Jason. The first week I was thinking we could keep the short hours and remodel what we can. Paint, new equipment, new flooring. Those sorts of things.”

“I’m waiting to update the computer system and tables in the spa until we have more business,” Paige pipes in.

“Okay, new paint and flooring will be a good start with the spa. Paige, you have the color scheme picked out?”

“I’m still thinking about finishing touches. I’ll make my own chart so you guys can see the brilliance of my brain.”

“I’ve been waiting to see if for years,” Lana says under her breath.

I start laughing. Paige shoves Lana.

I clear my throat. “That’d be helpful, Paige. Lana, I’m assuming you want to wait until updates are done?”

“For the videos, yes. I’ve been working on the logo and business cards. We’re keeping the name, right?”

“Yes,Prestige Fitness Club and Spais going to become prestigious once again. Plus, we don’t want to losethe clients we already have. I think it’s a good move. Once we re-open, we’ll have to stagger our hours so an owner is always there. Can you look over this schedule and tell me if I need to make any changes? Lana is purple, Paige is yellow, and I’m red.”

“Am I glowing yellow again today?” Paige asks, flipping her hair.

I concentrate and close my eyes while focusing on my breathing. Then I look up. “You’re blue. Someone’s relaxed. I think you might like Jake more than you let on.”

“Oh, please.” She swats her hand.

We spend the next hour going over the plan for our gym opening. I didn’t have it fully thought out because I was distracted with Matt. It’s all coming together, though.

My career and personal life are looking up.

At least, that’s what I was thinking.

Chapter 22

Scarlett

It’s been five days since my encounter with Matt, and I haven’t heard from him. Not even a text from the gigantic dick-a-saurus.

I sent him a text the day after we hooked up:

Hey, Matt, thanks for the other night.