“That I couldn’t. I said I was on my way to a friend’s place.”

  “A friend?” She was mortified when her eyes burned with tears. “That’s all I am to you now? Just a friend?”

  “I don’t know what the hell we are.” Dylan ran a hand over his head. “I’m just taking it day by day, trying to help you through this.”

  Guilt slammed into her like a fist. He was such a good guy, trying so hard to do right by her, and she repaid him by burdening him with her insecurities. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that. I just wanted to let you know it’s okay if, you know, you’re seeing someone else. You don’t owe me anything.”

  “Really?” His eyes narrowed. “So that’s how it is, huh?”

  “Dylan,” she said, when he got up, “where are you going?”

  “To grab a shower before dinner. If I’m not out in half an hour, start without me.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Sabrina was trying to keep her head in the game. It was her third week and sixth session with Blaise, and she knew if she let her mind wander, she’d pay for it with extra laps around the track at the end of her session. But she couldn’t help it. Dylan had left his cell phone on the counter that morning, and she saw Brittany’s name flash across the screen. That had to mean he was still seeing her even though he was sleeping in her bed every night. Okay, so they were just sleeping, but didn’t that count for something?

  “What the hell, Sabrina? Have you heard a word I’ve said?” Blaise demanded, glaring at her from his post above her weight bench.

  “Sorry.” She sat up, reaching for the towel she’d tossed aside. “My mind is somewhere else today.”

  “No kidding.” He sighed. “Look, I only get you for an hour, twice a week. We’ve got to make the most of it.”

  “I know, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Her cell phone rang, and she grimaced when Blaise scowled at her. Dylan’s name flashed across the screen. “I have to take that. Gimme a minute?”

  He rolled his eyes before turning away. “It’s not like I have a choice. You’re gonna take a minute whether I like it or not.”

  Blaise is sexy as hell, but he sure is serious about his training. “Hey, D. What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to let you know I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, okay.” When he didn’t offer an excuse, she asked, “Problems at work?”

  “No, I have a thing with a friend. We made plans a couple of months ago, and I don’t feel right about backing out on her last minute.”

  Her? “You have a date?” She tried to keep her tone neutral.

  “I guess you could call it that. It’s no big deal. I’m really just helping out a friend. She had a work thing and didn’t want to go alone.”

  “This friend wouldn’t happen to be Brittany, would it?” Even though she told herself she had no right to be jealous, she was seething.

  “Uh, yeah, but—”

  “You don’t owe me an explanation. Have fun on your date.” She ended the call, longing for the days when she could have slammed down the receiver for impact. She silenced the ringer so she wouldn’t be tempted to pick up if he called back. Kiara would tell her she was being juvenile, but she didn’t care. It felt good to be angry about something other than her attack for a change.

  “Problem?” Blaise asked from behind her.

  “No, not at all.” Sabrina forced a smile and glanced at the wall clock. “It looks like our session’s almost up. Sorry to have wasted your time today. Are we still good for Monday, or have you decided to fire me as a client because of my A.D.D.?”

  He flashed a quick grin, making her smile back. He held up his index finger. “I’m willing to give you one more chance. But you continue to waste my time and you’re out on your pretty little rear.”

  He was flirting with her, Sabrina realized, blushing. “I’ll remember that.” She tossed the towel over her shoulder. “I think I’ll hit the shower. See you next week, Blaise.”

  “Hey, I was gonna go grab a quick bite at High Rollers. You wanna come with?”

  Ugh, High Rollers of all places? “Um, I don’t know. Are you allowed to see your clients outside of the gym? Isn’t there some kind of policy against that?”

  He grinned before leaning in to whisper, “Don’t tell anyone, since it won’t be announced until the end of the month, but I bought this place. The previous owner’s sticking around for a few more weeks to train me.”

  “Oh.”

  “So? What do you think? You wanna grab a bite or not?”

  She wanted to say no, since the idea of spending time with any man other than Dylan didn’t really appeal to her, but since Dylan was out with someone else, she said, “Sure. Why not?”

  “Great! I’ll change and grab a quick shower too. You’ll probably take a little longer than I will, so I’ll meet you in my office.”

  Sabrina didn’t want to be alone with a man in a car just yet. “I think I’ll take my own car. High Rollers is closer to my place than the gym is.”

  She couldn’t believe she was actually agreeing to go to High Rollers with another man. Was she crazy? Or maybe she was secretly hoping to give Dylan a taste of his own bitter medicine. She could almost hear Kiara saying, “Petty, Sabrina, very petty.”

  “Sounds good to me,” he said, shrugging. “Come get me when you’re ready.”

  ***

  Dylan couldn’t believe he was wasting his evening at some stuffy office party. When Brittany had called that morning to remind him he’d promised to accompany her to her company’s annual banquet, he didn’t have the heart to back out. He intended to tell her he couldn’t see her anymore, but between the dinner and speeches, he hadn’t yet found the perfect moment. The dancing was about to start though, so he assumed he’d be able to get her alone soon.

  His cell phone rang, and Brett’s name flashed across his screen. Dylan smiled at his table mates before he said, “Excuse me, I have to take this.”

  Brittany gave him a look but said nothing when he stood.

  Dylan walked away from the table before he answered. “Hey, Brett. What’s up?”

  “I was just about to ask you the same question. Where the hell are you?”

  “I had this thing tonight. I couldn’t get out of it.” He could tell by his partner’s tone that something was very wrong. “Why?”

  “Did you know your girl’s here with some other guy?”

  Dylan told himself to calm down. It could be a perfectly innocent dinner with a client or business associate—it better be. Walking outside where he would have more privacy, he asked, “What are you talking about?”

  “Sabrina’s here with some dude I’ve never seen before. She introduced him as Blaise. That name ring a bell?”

  “Yeah, he’s her personal trainer.” Dylan slammed his palm into the building’s brick wall. “Son of a bitch! Do they look tight?”

  “Uh, yeah, I’d say so. Dude, I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but this guy is moving in on your territory.”

  “Like hell he is.” Dylan had been biding his time until Sabrina was ready to resume an intimate relationship, but he’d never expected her to move on to someone else. He swore softly. “I can’t believe she brought some other guy to High Rollers. Why would she do that?”

  “Maybe she’s trying to send you a message.”

  Dylan paced the sidewalk to burn off some excess energy. “What are you talking about? What kind of message?”

  “Where’d you say you were tonight?”

  “I didn’t.” He sighed. “Brit asked me to this party a couple of months ago. I’d forgotten all about it until she called this morning. I didn’t feel right about backing out on her at the last minute. She sounded so excited. She was going on about her dress and—”

  “Does Sabrina know you’re out with another woman?”

  Dylan tipped back his head. Any other night, he might have taken time to admire the full moon, but nature’s wonders couldn’t take his mind off Sabrina and her date. “Don’t say it like that. It’s just a friendly dinner.”

  “Does Brittany know that?” When Dylan was considering how to defend himself, Brett said, “Is she the girl I met at High Rollers a couple of months ago? The blonde who works in that sports therapy clinic?”

  “Yeah, that’s the one.”

  “Man, she seemed really into you. Have you guys…?”

  “Yeah, but it was nothing.” Dylan felt guilty about the meaningless sex, but he’d never led Brit to believe it was anything more than a hookup, so he reasoned he had nothing to feel guilty about. He and Sabrina had been broken up for a month, and he’d believed the love of his life had cheated on him. He’d needed… comfort.

  “Nothing, huh?” Brett chuckled. “Does Sabrina know about this girl?”

  “She saw us together once at High Rollers. The other night when she asked me if I was seeing anyone, I may have mentioned Brit.”

  “Are you stupid?” Brett sounded frustrated. “I thought you were trying to get back together with Sabrina?”

  “I am.”

  “Then why the hell are you telling her about other girls?”

  “She asked,” Dylan said. Was he an idiot to have told Sabrina about Brittany? “I was trying to be honest with her.”

  “Nicely done. Now she’s out with some hot guy who’s lookin’ at her like he’s about to take her home, and I don’t mean for coffee.”

  “Keep her there.” Dylan was worried about Sabrina leaving with some guy she barely knew after what had happened with Bell, but he was more worried that he may have blown his last chance with her.

  “I can’t keep her here,” Brett said, sounding incredulous. “What the hell do you expect me to do, handcuff her to the table?”

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, Dylan said, “Fine, put her on the phone.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Dylan waited, pacing, grinding his teeth, and clenching his jaw, until he heard muffled voices on the other end. Sabrina sounded annoyed, probably because Brett had ratted her out. Too bad.

  “What do you want, Dylan?” she asked. “I’m in the middle of—”

  “Why the hell are you out for dinner with your trainer?”

  “You have the nerve to ask me that while you’re out with your lover?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” He glared at the two men stepping outside for a cigarette, forcing him to walk the other way for some privacy. “Brittany is not my lover.”

  “You’ve slept with her, haven’t you?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Then she’s your lover.”

  He felt his pulse pounding in his ears, making him worry about his blood pressure. “We’ve had sex, but not in a while.” That didn’t sound any better, but he was desperate to make her see that his date meant nothing to him. “Not since before I started seeing Carly.” Damn, that didn’t make it better.

  “I don’t have time to talk about this now. Blaise is waiting for me, and I don’t want to be rude.”

  “Meet me at home in exactly one hour.”

  “I don’t take orders from you.”

  “Fine, then I’ll go to my house tonight. You’re on your own.” He cursed himself for being so insensitive when he knew she was still feeling vulnerable. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—”

  “It’s okay. Do what you have to do. I’m going back to my date. I’d suggest you do the same.”

  Dylan cursed when she hung up on him. As much as he wanted to call her back, they both needed time to cool off. One thing was for sure, he intended to be waiting for her when she got home, and if she thought she was inviting that muscle-bound douche in for a nightcap, she could think again.

  He was grateful the dancing had started by the time he made his way inside. That gave him an opportunity to steal Brittany away for a few minutes.

  “I’m sorry about that,” he said, taking her hand. “Would you like to dance, Brit?”

  She smiled at him. “I’d love to.”

  He led her to the dance floor and settled into a comfortable rhythm. “I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch lately. I’ve had a lot going on.”

  She laced her hands behind his neck. “With work?”

  “Uh no, with Sabrina, actually.”

  Her body tensed as her green eyes narrowed to slits. “Your ex-girlfriend? The one you broke up with right before we met?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “When I met Dalton that night at High Rollers, he mentioned his sister’s name was Sabrina. That was her, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah, that was her.”

  “I guess I don’t have to ask what you see in her.” She lowered her eyes to his tie. “She’s gorgeous.”

  He hated the way her eyes shone with tears. He’d never meant to hurt her or make her feel inferior to Sabrina. “Truth is, I started dating way too soon. I wasn’t over Sabrina yet. I thought if I started going out with other people, that might help take my mind off her, but—”

  “It didn’t work.” She sighed. “I know. I could tell your mind was always somewhere else when we were together.”

  “I really am sorry.” His apology was inadequate, but he didn’t know what else to say. Brittany was a sweet girl, but she wasn’t the girl for him. “I didn’t want to leave you high and dry tonight, but maybe I shouldn’t have come. Maybe I should have just told you on the phone that I’m trying to work things out with Sabrina.”

  “It’s okay.” She stepped back, letting her hands fall to her sides.

  “At least let me take you home.”

  She shook her head. “That’s okay. I have a lot of friends here. I can catch a ride with one of them.”

  “Brit, I brought you. I’d feel bad just leaving you here to find your own ride home.”

  “Just go. I’d rather find my own way home.”

  ***

  Sabrina tried to pay attention while Blaise told her about his plans for the gym extension that would include a boxing facility, but she was still seething over that phone call from Dylan. How dare he get mad at her for being out with someone else when he was the one who’d called her mere hours ago to tell her that he had plans with another woman!

  “That sounds great,” Sabrina said, taking a sip of her club soda. No alcohol for her tonight. Not because Dylan would be disappointed in her if she chose to drink or because she didn’t trust herself to stop at just one—she was driving. That was her excuse, and she was sticking to it. “How did you get into boxing?”

  “I was a latch-key kid,” he explained, shrugging. “Me and my brother were pretty much on our own after school from the time we were legally old enough to be on our own.”

  “That must have been rough,” Sabrina said, grateful to focus on something other than her own problems. “Your parents were working a lot?”

  “Yeah, my old man was a long-haul truck driver, and my mother was a cleaner at a flea-bag motel.” He flashed a quick grin that lit up his handsome face. “It wasn’t glamorous, but it put food on the table, so I have to be grateful for that. Anyways, my parents sent us to this local community center where they had an after-school program. When we were still lingering long after the after-school program shut down, this guy took pity on us.”

  “Who was he?”

  “He ran the fitness center and turned out he was an amateur boxer. He mostly trained for fitness, you know kickboxing and stuff, but he had a ring for guys who wanted to mix it up. Once he got me and my brother inside that ring to blow off a little steam, it was game over.”

  She smiled at his infectious grin. If she wasn’t already head over heels in love with her insufferable dictator, she could see herself falling for Blaise. He was sexy, in a rough-around-the-edges bad-boy kind of way. “What do you mean?”

  He laughed. “We were always getting into it at home. My mother could barely pull us apart. When they put us in the ring, we could take our frustrations out on each other without breaking a lamp or having the landlord pound on the door ‘cause we were making too much noise.”

  “I guess boys will be boys, huh?” she asked, digging into her chicken salad. “Did your mother approve of your new interest?”

  “As long as she wasn’t getting called down to the school ‘cause we were in trouble, she was happy.”

  Sabrina laughed. “I guess when you’re raising two rowdy boys, you have to celebrate the small victories.”

  “Exactly.” He grinned before taking a bite of his chicken sandwich. “Then my brother started running with the wrong crowd, eventually lost interest in boxing. I never did, though. It was in my blood.”

  “It must have been tough to go pro.”

  He wiped his mouth on a paper napkin. “You’re in the business. You know it’s not easy to break into any sport at that level. I just took it one fight at a time, worked my ass off, and prayed a lot.”

  Sabrina was surprised he was so religious. Even though she’d spotted the cross tattoo on his bicep, she wouldn’t have guessed his faith was such an important part of his life. “I guess that’s how all professional athletes made it. I’ve talked to hundreds, and they all say the same thing. Some have a story similar to yours. Their sport saved them from a life of crime or—” She blushed when she realized what she’d implied. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s okay,” he said, raising a hand. “I know what you meant, and you’re right. I didn’t have many options. I always struggled in school. If I hadn’t met Charlie when I did, I might have ended up like my brother, in and out of jail or living on the streets.”

  “Do you still see your brother?”

  “He crawled out of the woodwork right around the time I started making a mil a fight. I gave him money, and he’d come back a few months later looking for more. That cycle continued until I couldn’t take it anymore. My manager said I had to keep my head in the game or I would lose everything I’d worked so hard for. I couldn’t let that happen, so I cut him loose.”

  “That must have been a difficult decision.” While Sabrina had always been close with her family, her recent estrangement from her father helped her understand why Blaise had to cut ties with his brother.