Chapter Twenty-Two
“Oh my Gosh, Annie!” Penelope whispered loudly in my ear, making me jump.
“Who was that drop-dead gorgeous man you were talking to?! How do you know him and does he have a brother?!”
I laughed, but I felt distinctly uncomfortable. I glanced towards the front door Mason had disappeared through a moment ago.
“Come on, spill! Where on Earth did you find that Adonis?!”
I sighed because that was exactly what I had called him in my head when I had first seen him.
Adonis.
“He...when I went looking for a gym that offered, you know, private self-defense lessons, I went to Blacksteele Gym-”
“Oh my God, that’s where I’ve seen him! Last month’s issue of Men’s Fitness! I knew I recognized him! Oh my God, Annie! So the CEO of Blacksteele Gym, hottie of the year, Mason Blacksteele himself, is your personal trainer?!”
###
Penelope didn’t even allow me to speak.
While I helped a customer, she went to root through our collection of magazines, strewn across a coffee table against the far wall.
She came back as the latest group of customers shuffled off with giant pieces of cakes and tiny cups of coffee, and she slapped the magazine down on the counter top in front of me, making me frown.
I wiped my hands on my apron, then picked up the magazine.
Mason Blacksteele was staring up at me with those piercing dark eyes of his. His arms were folded and his muscles bulged impressively for all the world to see since he was sans his shirt in the picture. Only a pair of rugged looking blue jeans adorned his Adonis body, draping temptingly low on his narrow hips.
It was funny, I knew him in real life and yet, this picture made him seem decidedly bigger in life, even to me.
“You seriously haven’t seen this?!” Penny demanded, clearly frustrated at my blank expression and my lack of answers. “Mason Blacksteele, just turned 40, April 8th. An Aries.” She snatched up the magazine and opened it.
I blinked at her. She really had his stats.
“So he’s about three years older than you.” Penelope murmured to herself as she scanned the article she had evidently already read. “And he does have a brother, an older brother; Colter Blacksteele. 42. Born December 27th; an Aquarius. He runs the whole Blacksteele Empire; all Mason has is the gym, I guess. And a club that went out of business a few years ago, remember Deluxe?”
“No.”
“Exactly. Anyway, sadly the big bro is married, but Mason states clearly, in this article, that he is single. He made the sexiest bachelors in Atlanta list, too. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him right away. I guess I didn’t recognize him with his shirt on.” She sniggered. Bored with the article, however, she pushed it back at me.
“So?! Tell me everything!” She demanded.
###
“There-there’s nothing to tell.” I insisted, blushing powerfully to give myself away. “He’s just my personal trainer now.”
“Wow.” Penny stared at me in genuine awe, and for some reason, this irked me a little. “That must be...expensive! And amazing! Tell me everything!”
“It is.” I lied. “Expensive, I mean.”
I went into the kitchen just to get away from Penny right then. I wasn’t even sure why I was feeling so secretive, other than perhaps that it was a personal issue and Penny could be a bit pushy and nosy about things. It was no secret that she thought I should be dating someone about three months ago.
“So I’m gonna take off after close-up today.” I told her. “I’m sorry but I won’t be able to make movie night tonight.”
“What?! Oh no! But you said you’d be there. I was counting on you as a buffer...”
“Between you and Charlie?”
She rolled her blue eyes guiltily away from me. “He...I...wait, so why the sudden cancel? Oh my God, you’re going out with Hottie McMuscles, aren’t you?! You sly fox, you!”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Hottie McMuscles? Well, I’m sure he’d be flattered to hear that. And yes, if you must know. It’s a business dinner, though, so don’t start your evil plot hatching just yet, okay?”
“Fiiiine, but since you’re bailing on movie night, I expect details, dammit, details!”