Summer Kisses (296 page)

Katherine’s eyes got wider as I pushed the intercom button. “Attention in the gym, please.” I had
her
attention now, at least. I noticed in my peripheral vision a few cell phone cameras had come out. “I am entirely, one-hundred percent in love with Katherine Mendoza. I love her because she’s smart, she’s funny, and she has a wicked sense of humor. Not because of the way she looks—though, God! Look at her! She’s a goddess! Not because she can save this club, but because she makes me happy, and I love her. Just as she is!”

Katherine’s stunned expression turned to an embarrassed grin when everyone in the club started clapping and cheering.

I dropped the intercom with an unfortunate squeal then half-jogged to her and yanked her into my arms before she could get it in her head to flee again. “Dammit, woman,” I said softly. “Didn’t you believe me when I said I love you?”

She wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my chest. I bent my head to kiss her temple. Air finally rushed back into my lungs moments before I would have passed out from lack of oxygen.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “When I made that remark to John, I was being sarcastic. I didn’t actually mean it.”

She shook her head, her forehead brushing my chest as she did so. “No,
I’m
sorry. I overreacted. I called a couple of times, and when you didn’t respond, I jumped to the wrong conclusions.”

“Check your phone, you silly woman.”

She stuck one hand into her pocket without releasing me with the other. After checking the screen, her only response was, “Oh.”

Katherine leaned back and finally met my eyes. The pain, relief, and hope in them broke my heart. I kissed her, lingering over her lips for a long moment, much longer than was probably proper in a business setting. But, for once, business was the last thing on my mind.

But as she pulled away, I realized I couldn’t forget about business entirely. “How would you feel about coming upstairs and helping me figure out how I’m going to save this place?” I asked.

She didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I wondered if she resented my even asking.

But what would I be without the gym? Everything I had was wrapped up in this. I would be a guy who was in better-than-average shape but who’d lost everything else. What would I have to offer Katherine if this went any farther south?

She nodded, finally. “Is John going to continue to be...” She gestured awkwardly, which I read to mean something to the effect of “...a major ass?”

“Not if he wants to continue to have my business or my friendship.”

She smiled in relief.

I took her by the hand, and she followed me up the stairs, never letting go as we made our way up to my office.

John was still sitting at my conference table. “Katherine, I’m sorry. I...” He took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t be so frickin’ worried about image. I don’t want to see Quinn go down in flames.”

Katherine squeezed my fingers. “I’m sorry, too. I was out of line. And I don’t want to see him lose his business either.”

John let out a long exhale. “What the hell are we going to do?”

Now that the two people closest to me were on speaking terms, it did seem time to try to find a solution.

“This is a PR nightmare,” Katherine said as if we weren’t already aware. “Between the bad publicity and the loss of investors... I feel like I’m not doing a very good job here.” She bit her lip, and I rushed to reassure her

“It’s not you. It’s Amanda Shoemaker.”

“Yes, well, she’s making me look like an idiot. We need to find a spin... some sort of hook.”

Katherine collapsed in one of the chairs and kicked her shoes off while digging out a notebook. “Why will people want to come to
this
gym instead of one down the street?”

“Same reasons people come to any gym,” I said. “Why do
you
go to the gym?”

She glanced at John for a second before a grin pulled at the corner of her mouth. “In the hopes that you’ll take your shirt off.”

A surprised laugh burst out of John.

I shot her a pointed look. “I was thinking more for the up-to-date equipment, clean facilities, amenities, and the like.”

She shook her head. “That’s enough to bring in people who like the whole gym experience.” She started scribbling in her notebook. “You taught me exercise doesn’t have to be horrible, but I don’t get on the treadmill for any reason except that it helps me get in shape. I don’t
enjoy
it.”

I was about to protest, but she continued. “I
enjoyed
hiking. I enjoyed scuba diving. I suspect I would enjoy rock climbing. I enjoy walking around my neighborhood.”

She had a point, and I knew she wasn’t alone in feeling that way.

“This is also what our research was showing us.” She turned back to her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers. “What about making this club different?” she asked.

“What do you mean,
different
?”

“What if you had hiking trails and climbing walls and a place to scuba and make the club itself smaller? More geared for winter workouts. Though you could have cross-country skiing and...”

At that point, John got into the game. “You have more land than you could ever use with a club. You could have biking trails and maybe rent bikes and rollerblades, and there’s already a small lake. It could be enlarged to allow for scuba and rowing.”

I suddenly saw this entire project through much different eyes.

I started dialing the phone. “I have a friend from the Chamber of Commerce who owns a chain of bike shops. We talked a few weeks ago, and he was looking to expand.” I flipped the speakerphone on, feeling hopeful at the way things were falling into place.

It didn’t take long to get Bob McCarthy on board after I explained our concept. I kept the details about our loss of investors to myself, but Bob was an incredibly smart guy.

“My brother-in-law made a mint in the dot-com nineties and got out before it crashed. He’s offered to help invest my expansion, but he’s looking for something bigger than a couple of bike shops. Are you going to need any further investors?”

I caught Katherine’s eye across the table, her smile warming me from the inside out.

How could an hour start off so badly then end up being one of the best of my life?

Quinn, John, and I had been very busy getting the new vision for the club off the ground. We had investors in place. Amanda had to print a retraction about most of the things she said and publicly admit that she’d had Quinn’s member database hacked. Rumor had it she was no longer working for the paper and that she’d moved out of state.

The new club would be opening by next spring, but already the publicity was doing great things for the existing clubs.

Our marketing campaign was an unmitigated success. Ben-III had no choice but to keep me on as creative director. I’m pretty sure Will, Sherri, and several others threatened to walk, but no one would admit it. It’s good to have supportive friends and colleagues!

Will kicked Matt to the curb—
Hallelujah—
and now he and John were officially seeing each other. John was still mostly in the closet, but I suspect before too long that he’d open the door. Once he dropped the attitude, I could see why Will had spent so many years pining for him. They made an adorable couple.

On almost every front, things couldn’t be going better. I’d even lost ten more pounds for a total of nineteen. Quinn and I had done every manner of exercise activity, and I was easily in the best shape of my life. I was almost ready for the reunion. Almost, but
not quite.

On the night I’d been dreading, I opened the front door to Quinn, who looked ever-so-dashing in a black suit that fit him to perfection, a crisp, white shirt complete with onyx cuff links, and a burgundy silk tie.

“Wow!” he said.

I turned around slowly so he could get a gander at my back.

“Wow!”
he said again.

I couldn’t help but smile. I felt pretty “wow” at that moment. The dark blue dress was made of slinky fabric that draped over my curves in the most flattering way possible. It had a vee neck that showed off my assets fairly well and a draped back that dipped low. The hem was only a couple of inches off the floor, enough to show off my silver, high-heeled, strappy sandals.

Quinn leaned forward and pressed a kiss against my lips. “You’re going to knock ‘em dead.”

“You, too.” I brushed my hand over the lapels of his jacket as if to remove lint. Not that there was any to remove. I wanted an excuse to touch him.

“Ready?” he asked.

“No. Let’s stay in.” A herd of unruly butterflies took flight in my mid-section.

“Nice try there, but you’re going.”

He took me by the hand and opened the door. I’d expected to see his pickup parked in my driveway. Instead, a capped and uniformed driver stood beside a shiny black Lincoln Town Car.

“Nice,” I said as Quinn took the key from my trembling fingers and locked the door.

“Didn’t want to see you break your neck trying to get in and out of the truck in heels.” He pulled me to him. “Besides, tonight is your night. You’re the belle of the ball, and you should feel like it.”

So yeah. I was definitely the luckiest girl in the world. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face as he led me to the car and then waited for me to slide in.

We made the trip to the reunion hotel in fifteen minutes. Despite Quinn’s considerable attempts at distraction, they were still fifteen
long
minutes.

The driver came around and opened the door, allowing us to slip out. Quinn held out his elbow to me, and I took it. My hands shook as I moved my small, blue, beaded handbag from one hand to the other as we stepped toward the ornate front doors. I reached for the polished brass handle to pull open the door and Quinn “tsked” me.

“Allow me.”

I pulled back my hand. My palms were sweating, and my hands shook a little, but I couldn’t help but smile. He opened the door and out stepped Tony Canfeld. Or maybe I should say
waddled
. Tony had packed on a few pounds and lost a lot of hair since high school. Neither the bald head nor the pudgy face suited him.

He wore an ill-fitting white dress shirt and the waistband of his khaki pants fought with gravity and the sheer weight of his belly hanging over. His shoes were scuffed, and what little hair he had was in need of a trim.

Without noticing me, he turned his head and yelled to the woman behind him. “Hold on babe. I need to get my smokes out of the car.”

I slipped past him, taking a moment to watch Tony’s “babe” shift from one foot to another and sigh. Her dark eyebrows and roots gave her teased platinum blond hair away as being from a bottle. The dress she wore was a little too short and a little too low cut, and her makeup was a little too brassy. She was pretty in a slightly desperate sort of way. Having been on the receiving end of Tony’s “affection,” I felt bad for her.

Which didn’t keep me from feeling exceptionally happy I’d come. But it did keep me from reintroducing myself to him so he could see what he missed out on. It was enough that I knew how far I’d come.

Quinn and I moved past them, and I couldn’t help but smile as Tony’s date nearly tripped over her heels as her eyes followed us. When we got out of earshot, I said, “That was Tony Canfeld. This night is already so worth it.”

“Wow!” He chuckled as he stroked my fingers still wrapped around his elbow.

Signs directed us to the ballroom where large round tables were set with china, silver, and crystal. Each table had white taper candles under hurricane shades sitting on top of mirrored glass, which reflected the firelight like a million twinkling stars.

It didn’t take too long to find my nameplate, along with one for Quinn. Next to my place sat a card for our class valedictorian, Marion Hilten, who stood as I neared the table.

She came up and gave me an impromptu hug. “Katherine, you look fabulous.” She took my hand and surveyed me with kind blue eyes.

“So do you.” She’d outgrown her bad skin and slightly out-of-control hair. In high school, I’d envied her rail-thin figure, but she’d softened into mild curves in the past decade and a half.

“Marion Hilten, this is Quinn Mitchell. Marion and I spent our school years competing for the honor of first in the class. She was graced with a strong affinity for physics, unfortunately. Whereas, I was
not
. My only ’B‘ put me firmly in second place.”

He smiled and held out his hand to Marion. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She smiled back. Quinn could pretty much charm the pants off anyone. Marion seemed to be no exception.

Though if her pants came anywhere near him, I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions.

We took our seats, and she whispered in my ear, “Very nice. Does he have a brother?”

I giggled, feeling most of the pressure that built up over the past months fade away.

“What have you been up to?” I asked as a few other people sat down at the table.

“I work in the aerospace program at NASA.”

I found absolutely no surprise in that and smiled. “I guess it was a good thing you were the one good in physics then.”

A speaker squealed, and Bizz made her way up to the podium at the front of the room. She messed with a little black receiver hooked to her waist, and the squealing stopped. “Sorry about that.” She adjusted the lapel mike at her collar before pasting on a big smile. “Hi class of 2000! I’m Bizz Cooper-Robertson. Welcome!”

Quinn reached over and took my hand.

I winked at him to let him know I was fine.

Bizz pointed to an older man with silvering hair standing in the crowd, who held a large box. “My husband, Dr. Randall Robertson, is coming around with packets for each table. We’re going to do a little getting to re-know you game!”

The entire room groaned in unison, and Bizz’s face fell.

“Here’s your packet,” Dr. Robertson said, handing me a manila envelope, decorated like there was a Pinterest award on the line. I thanked him and accepted the packet. On stage, Bizz detailed the rules of the game, and I recognized that this was going to take a while.