Santa Maybe (The Duchess Hotel #1)

Chapter 7

Seven

After leaving the Duchess, Drew sprinted over to Northlife Fitness and ducked into the back entrance of the gym. Once inside the staff locker room, he leaned against the wall, took off his Santa hat, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

What were you thinking?

Being around Rosie had short-circuited his brain. First, he’d offered to be her pretend boyfriend, and now he’d shown up at her workplace dressed as Santa. Which might have been appropriate if it was December, but Christmas was still seven weeks away.

To be fair, when he and Rosie had talked on the phone last night, she’d jokingly suggested Santa pop into today’s lunch meeting. Like an idiot, he’d taken her idea to heart. Her boss’s sudden appearance had thrown him for a loop. Good thing Rosie had been able to handle the situation professionally.

Just as well since her initial reaction to “Santa” hadn’t exactly been professional. Maybe Drew was projecting his own feelings, but the longing in her eyes had made him suspect she harbored some naughty thoughts about Santa. And when she said she’d been a “very good girl” in that soft, sultry manner, he’d struggled to control his reaction. It wouldn’t do for Santa to have a hard-on.

His phone buzzed with a text from his boss, Mario Bonetti—known to everyone as Bones.

Bones: Whenever you’re free, stop by my office.

Drew: Sure. Be there in a few minutes.

Normally his boss wasn’t the type to call anyone in for a casual chat, but maybe he wanted to discuss the December schedule. In anticipation of his Santa gigs, Drew had asked if he could switch to half days on the weekends. He changed into a compression shirt and gray sweatpants, left the locker room, and headed up to Bones’ office, located on the second floor. The door was open, so he poked his head in.

“Hey there. You wanted to talk to me?”

“Come on in.” Bones was at his desk. Though he was nearly sixty, he was still in extraordinary shape and rarely missed his daily workout. In his day, he’d won weight-lifting competitions all over Canada.

Drew plunked down on the chair facing Bones’ desk. “Is this about next month’s schedule? I might have to shift a few clients, but I don’t think it should be a problem.”

His boss gave a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it. You know how December is. Everyone’s busy with the holidays. As long as you pull your weight in January, we’ll be fine.”

January was always their busiest month, when they were flooded with new members intent on tackling their New Year’s resolutions.

Bones continued. “I wanted to let you know Jared’s leaving. He’s moving up to Nanaimo to be the assistant manager of a new branch of Northlife that’s opening in January.”

Jared was leaving? Drew could barely contain his glee. Right from the start, he’d never liked the guy. And when he’d discovered Jared and Evelyn were hooking up on the sly, he’d hated him even more. “Already? He’s only been here since May.”

“Apparently, he and Evelyn are looking to buy a house once they get married. Nanaimo’s a little more affordable.”

“Makes sense. I think everywhere on Vancouver Island is more affordable than Victoria.” While Drew had no desire to move, he could see the appeal. Nanaimo was a beautiful coastal city, located about an hour and a half north of Victoria. “I assume Evelyn’s leaving, too?”

“That’s the plan. Her last day is December thirtieth. I’ll be sad to lose her.”

“But not Jared, I take it?”

Bones laughed. “Do you even have to ask?”

Though he was the one who’d hired Jared to take on the role of fitness manager—a position that placed him in charge of all the personal trainers—the two of them had clashed almost immediately. Bones believed fitness was for everyone, whereas Jared only liked working with people who were already in decent shape. Due to his disdain for the gym’s elderly clientele, the Golden Oldies couldn’t stand him.

Drew felt like celebrating. Working at the gym would be infinitely more enjoyable if he didn’t have to report directly to Jared. Having Evelyn gone made the deal even sweeter.

“Thanks for letting me know. If you need me to take on any of Jared’s clients, I can start in January.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you’d consider applying for his job.”

“Me?” Even when the position had come open last spring, he hadn’t pursued it. Which had led to Bones hiring Jared, who’d subsequently upended Drew’s world.

“Why not?” Bones asked. “You’ve been with us for five years, and you’re one of the most popular trainers here. Your clients love you, there’s always a waiting list for your boot camp classes, and your reviews are consistently high.”

“Thanks.” Drew loved what he did, but a little validation never hurt. “The thing is—I don’t have any management experience, other than a few business classes.”

“There’s not much to it. You’d be supervising the other trainers, so there’d be some paperwork, but you’d still get to spend time on the floor. The job comes with a higher salary and better benefits. It wouldn’t hurt to consider your long-term goals and decide what you want for the future.”

Right now, Drew wanted to keep doing exactly what he’d done for the past five years: teach group exercise classes, train clients, and coach people on fitness and nutrition. But was he being too shortsighted? “Can I think about it?”

“Sure. Just don’t take too long. If you’re not interested, I’ll open it up to the other trainers. But you’d be my first choice.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Good. You also emailed me last week about some new boot camp ideas?”

“Yeah, I was thinking of starting one that incorporates more team challenges because the added incentive makes people try a little harder.” With Bones’ encouragement, he went on to elaborate. Fitness was an industry where you could always keep learning, so he spent a lot of his free time doing research: watching videos, reading articles, and chatting online with trainers from gyms all over Canada.

As he left the office, Bones’ offer lingered in the back of his mind. Should he be thinking about the future? By not pursuing a management role, was he coasting through life without challenging himself?

He needed to ask someone for advice. Though he had no doubt his fellow trainers would support him, they wouldn’t understand his anxiety over taking on the role. And right now, his older sister, Kate, would be busy teaching preschool.

For a second, he was tempted to call his mom. But his parents had never supported his career. He could still remember the way they’d reacted when he’d come home for the summer after his first year at the University of Victoria. With pride, he’d told them that he’d decided to gear his studies toward landing a job in the fitness industry.

His mom had regarded him with disbelief. “Are you shitting me? You’re paying good money to take gym classes?”

“That’s not all I’m doing,” he said. “I’ll be learning how the human body works. Studying subjects like anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology.”

“Then you should be getting a medical degree,” his dad said. “That way, you could make real money instead of being an underpaid gym rat.”

Never mind that a medical degree would mean more years of school and thousands more dollars. “This is what I’m passionate about,” he said. “For once, it would be nice to have your support.”

“If by support, you mean money, then you’re shit out of luck,” his dad said. “You’re paying for all of it yourself.”

Like he hadn’t been doing that already? His parents hadn’t put a dime toward helping him or his sister attend university. “I’m fine with that.”

His mom snorted in derision. “You’d better be. Thanks to your dumb-ass father and his idiotic attempt at accounting, we’re still paying off a huge tax bill.”

And just like that, his parents were at each other’s throats, revisiting the same time-worn arguments they’d had for years.

A rough voice jolted him from his memories. “Drew? You okay?”

He startled, then turned to face one of his coworkers, who was standing at his locker, retrieving a gym bag. “Sorry. Did you ask me something?”

“You were spacing out just now. You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Enough wallowing. For now, he had to focus on today’s clients. But if he had the chance, he’d call Rosie later and ask her opinion about Bones’ offer.

* * *

His last client of the day was Hannah, the de facto leader of the Golden Oldies. At age seventy-eight, she was still in remarkable shape and rarely missed a workout. Usually she scheduled her sessions in the afternoons when the gym was less crowded, but due to a conflict, she’d switched to a later time slot.

Unfortunately, at six thirty on a weeknight, Northlife Fitness was buzzing with activity. Over in one corner, the teens attending Jared’s speed training class were doing sprints on the gym’s track. Most of the machines were in use. Classic rock blared from the speakers, and a Montreal Canadiens game played on the big-screen TVs. Drew had carved out a space for Hannah on one of the mats so they could work on her kettlebell routine.

“Just ten more reps left,” he said now. “You’re doing great.”

She went on to do twenty, which was typical of her. When she was done, she turned to him with a sly smile. “That young lady’s got her eye on you.”

He chuckled. Ever since Evelyn had dumped him, Hannah had taken it upon herself to find him a new girlfriend. “Which young lady?”

“Over there by the lat pull-down machine. I caught her staring at you three times.”

He followed Hannah’s gaze. To his surprise, Rosie stood beside the machine, wiping it down with a towel. His mouth went dry at the sight of her sexy curves, accentuated by her black crop top and bike shorts. Before he could turn away, she caught his eye and waved at him. He beckoned her over.

She approached him and Hannah. “Hi, Drew.”

“Hey, Rosie. You came back. I thought you were going to wait until January.”

“Even if I’m busy, I figured I can squeeze in one or two workouts a week.” She smiled at Hannah. “Sorry to interrupt your session with Drew. I just wanted to say hi.”

“I noticed you staring at him, missy. Why not ask him out? He’s single, you know.” Hannah was nothing if not blunt.

Rosie’s eyes sparkled with affection. “Didn’t he tell you? We’re together.”

Though she’d tossed the words out casually, hearing them was a balm to Drew’s soul. Knowing Hannah, she’d share this news with the other members of the Golden Oldies, which meant everyone at the gym would know about it in a few days’ time.

Hannah harrumphed. “Drew Richardson. You never breathed a word, even when Maribeth tried to set you up with her granddaughter last week. If you have a girlfriend this lovely, you need to show her off.”

“I like the way you think,” Rosie said to her. “It was nice meeting you, but I’ll let you get back to your workout.”

“Wait,” Drew said. Maybe he was being greedy, but he wanted more time with her than just a quick interaction at the gym. “After you’re done, do you want to get a drink? Or some hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate sounds marvelous. Could we meet up in a half hour? I need to finish on the weight machines and grab a shower.”

“Perfect. I’ll meet you at the smoothie bar.”

As she walked away, he stared at her ass. Clad in black spandex, it was far too tempting.

Hannah harrumphed again. “Save it for later, lover boy. I want to finish up before I’m in the grave.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Let’s move on to the exercise ball.”

For the rest of Hannah’s workout, his focus was off. To make up for it, he promised to comp her an extra session. She dismissed him with a smile and told him to have fun with his girlfriend.

His girlfriend .

Even if it wasn’t real, he liked the sound of it.