Chapter 12

“I’ll teach you.”

I couldn’t find the words to object. Honestly, I didn’t want to, either.

“Okay. So, how do I start?” I said instead.

He motioned to the padded block at one end of the machine.

“Sit here.”

I obeyed.

“Put your feet here.”

I put my feet where he indicated and strapped them in.

Barnett bent over me and checked the straps on my feet. My heart fluttered at the smell of his sweat and the feel of his arms as they wrapped around me. This felt just like when Barnett coached me in hockey, except somehow more…intimate.

“Good. Nice and tight.”

Like the back support belt, I said in my mind.

“Now, I want you to grab this.”

He leaned over me and handed me what looked like a pole on an elastic string.

“And we’re going to turn this on to keep track of your progress.”

Again, he leaned over me to press some buttons on the monitor by my feet. I tried to pay attention to what he was doing, but it was hard to concentrate with him so close to me. I could practically feel the testosterone rolling off him as he took charge of my workout.

My mouth suddenly went dry, and my groin grew so wet that I wanted to cross my legs to hide myself from the world. Knowing that it would only draw more attention to me, I resisted the urge and forced myself to focus on Barnett’s words rather than his proximity to me.

“Now, you’re going to push back with your legs—” he put his hands on my hips and guided me as my feet pushed me backward— “and pull your arms to your chest. Good.”

He moved one hand to my midsection and gently nudged my back.

“Keep your core tight.”

His breath hit my ear as he spoke to me, and I nearly shivered.

I followed his directions.

“Good.” His hands released me, and I mentally whimpered at the loss of contact. “Now, pull yourself forward, back toward the machine.”

Despite being disappointed that he no longer touched me, I obeyed.

“Good. Just keep doing that, back and forth. One count going back, two counts going forward.”

I completed a few reps under Barnett’s watchful eye. He circled me like a predator sizing up his prey, causing ripples of excitement to run through me. He stopped me every once in a while to fix my posture or positioning, sometimes even challenging me to go faster.

“Faster,” he’d say in a firm yet kind tone. “Faster.”

And faster I went, not wanting to let him down. The burning in my legs, calves, and core were nothing compared to the burning in my groin as he continued to issue his commands.

“Keep those knees tucked in.”

“Elbows, too.”

“Keep your arms raised.”

“Watch that core.”

By the end, it wasn’t just the exercise that had me sweating up a storm.

• * *

Although I immediately posted the video after my workout, I didn’t check on any of the notifications until after I was done with Arthur that day. By the time I did, I was shocked to find that I had thousands of likes, shares, and comments. All within a matter of hours.

I was pleased, of course, but confused. What had made that vlog take off so much more quickly than the others?

I scrolled through the comments looking for a clue, and immediately I spotted it. Most of the comments, as always, were from women. This time, though, they weren’t asking for advice about getting back into shape or providing supportive remarks about my journey back to my hot self.

OMG who’s that hot guy?

That your personal trainer? Where’d you find HIM? XOXOXO

Isn’t that Barnett Cogsworth? The former hockey star? How’d you snag him?

THAT IS FREAKIN BILLIONAIRE BARNETT COGSWORTH!!!

I scrolled back up to the vlog and hit play on the video. There he was, Barnett Cogsworth, offering to teach me how to use the rowing machine and then proceeding to show me…very personally.

God, I must have forgotten to take that part out. I should have told him to stay out of the shot, too. Or at least warned him that I was filming in the first place.

Of course, all these people now thought that he was my trainer. At least, that was what I hoped they thought. With how close we got during the lesson, one might have thought that we were something else.

No, no one would possibly think that we were anything more than a trainer and trainee, not when he was married to someone like Julia. That didn’t make this situation any more comfortable, though.

If Barnett saw this video and all the people who were commenting based on his presence in it alone, he would think that I was using him get more viewers. I couldn’t let him think that.

I should just delete the video, I thought. Then again, it is my most popular one to date. Won’t that just look suspicious?

Maybe he hasn’t even seen it yet. Maybe he won’t want me to take it down, I continued. But after all he’s done for me with this apartment, I at least owe him an apology for not mentioning that I was filming at the time.

I mean, I should’ve at least done that. What was I thinking? I sighed and shook my head. I was thinking that my hormones were in charge.

This battle in my head continued for several minutes as I paced back and forth, barefoot, on my new apartment’s plush carpet. I finally decided that I needed to call Barnett and talk to him about the video before he found out on his own. It was the least that I could do.

Clutching my phone, I did some deep breathing to calm my nerves before I dialed his number. My hand shook as I listened to the ringing.

“Hello?”

Even over the phone, his deep voice made me quiver.

“Hi, Barnett. It’s me, Anna.”

“Hi, Anna. What’s going on? The apartment giving you any troubles?”

“No, no. Everything with the apartment is perfect.”

“Then how can I help you?”

“I…well…”

Pull it together, I told myself. Don’t waste his time.

“You know that vlog I do for my workouts at Stand Up?”

“Of course.”

“Well, it seems that you appeared in the one I did for the rowing machine this morning.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, and I just wanted to apologize. I should have told you that I was filming. It was stupid and inconsiderate of me to forget.”

“Okay.”

I hesitated.

“Do you want me to delete it?”

There was a pause.

“Did you hear me, Barnett?”

“Yeah, I heard you. Why would I want you to delete it? I train you, that’s a fact, and I don’t need to hide it from anyone.”

I let out a small breath of relief. At least he didn’t think that anyone would misinterpret the video.

“So, you don’t think I’m using you to get attention?”

“No.”

There was another pause.

“Did you really think I didn’t know that I was in the video?”