Chapter 9

During the next weeks, membership increased at the gym, mostly men from neighboring towns. For the most part, it was obvious as to why they joined this gym and not one near their homes: Annabella Reed.

She liked the attention. In fact, Derek thought she was getting a total kick out of flirting with them. Derek had joked, telling her to be kind, that they were likely to get hurt when she winked at them, but she didn’t listen. Nothing inappropriate to her mind, far from it. Even so, her teasing made his blood boil.

Annabella didn’t faint or show any signs of weakness again. As a matter of fact, she was a hard and very responsible worker. She was the first to arrive and the last to leave the gym. She was always encouraging the clients, and she knew how to handle them if something was wrong or they crossed a line.

Derek and Bella never had lunch together again. Instead, she started to bring her own lunch from home, and she ate it at the office. She ate mainly salads.

Every day, Derek would bring a new smoothie that he shared with her before opening the gym.

Since she loved all fruits and vegetables, he would blend strange combinations and have her guess them. One day, it was green grapes, green apples, cucumbers and spinach. Another day, it was carrots, fresh ginger, apples and pomegranate juice.

“You must spend a ton of money on this,” she said as she tasted his latest invention; a grapefruit, radish and pineapple smoothie.

Derek shrugged. It cost a lot, but he enjoyed creating something that tasted good enough to make her eyes roll up into her head. It was his big quest.

Gradually, Annabella won Derek’s trust. Their relationship was cordial and warm. Derek never found much of a reason to laugh. But with Bella, he actually did. She was funny without even trying. Their relationship slowly progressed to friendship. They became good friends. They talked a lot about everything, except feelings and the past.

Bella didn’t like talking about her experience in California, and Derek grunted each time she mentioned his past as a soldier. She used to get nothing but groans when she asked him about girlfriends or relationships.

Derek tried to put as much emotional distance as he could between Annabella and himself. However, keeping his distance was a real challenge. He wanted her bad. Bella looked at him like he was the only thing that mattered in her world. He had to repeat to himself over and over that she was just grateful. Nothing else. He would not, could not, think of Annabella in a romantic way. In that direction lay far too much danger.

He was getting to that point in his life where he wanted to settle down. He wanted to find someone to spend his nights with. Someone that he could hurry home to at the end of a long day. He wanted to walk into his house and feel warmth and comfort. Right now, it was barren, and there was no life.

He sighed. An impossible dream for someone like him. He should get over these yearnings and forget about having a relationship with Annabella the same way he got over everything, by living the present. One day at a time.

Derek looked up to at the faces of the two women standing next to his table.

“The steak is great,” he said. “It’s melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Give my compliments to Tony, please.”

Kat and Mary stood there, glaring at him.

“What? Did I forget my tip the last time I was here?” he joked.

“Ha, ha! Very funny, Derek What the hell are you waiting for?” Kat asked, hands in air, her baby bump pointing at him.