In Over Her Head: An Anchor Island Novel by Terri Osburn (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

enough to pull up in a ponytail. Today, however, she’d attempted a blowout and applied mascara. There was a truth to dressing the part and for the day she would hire her first-ever kitchen staff, she’d needed the boost of confidence.

To her relief, the interviews had gone better than she’d hoped and come Wednesday the crew—her crew—would be in the kitchen. The rest of the day had been spent working on the menu while waiting for the stove delivery, which miraculously arrived as scheduled. Everything was falling into place easily enough that she couldn’t help but feel a sense of imminent doom.

That was the problem with being a pessimist—even when things were good, Lauren still expected the worst.

By eight in the evening, she’d finished the menu except for whatever dishes would be added from the Marina options. Too excited to call it a day, she visited the gym to work off the adrenaline. When she’d arrived, a man and a woman she’d never seen before were the only others using the facility. Most likely nighttime regulars.

Ten minutes into a light jog on the treadmill, with Beyoncé belting a female empowerment anthem through her earbuds, Lauren had worked up both a plan for the week ahead and a good sweat.

She upped the pace to a steady run and as she glanced up from the control board, she noticed Nick Stamatis stepping onto the next treadmill over. There were eight machines in the row and all but hers were empty. Could he not have picked one of the others?

He offered no greeting and skipped the warm-up levels to go straight to a near sprint. Lauren couldn’t help but notice the set of his jaw and the white-knuckled fists pumping forward and back. The man was pissed off about something.

If this was about their last encounter, then he’d just have to pout because she wasn’t interested in arguing again, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to apologize.

Another minute passed with Nick pumping away like a man trying to outrun a bear and Lauren pretending he didn’t exist. Though she was competitive enough to increase her speed just to prove she could handle the higher pace. Not in the manic way he was, but her pride refused to let him think she couldn’t keep up.

Beyoncé rolled into Ed Sheeran and Lauren kept her pace, eyes on the mirror ahead. She told herself not to watch the man beside her, but Nick was difficult to ignore. The white tank, now covered in sweat, revealed well-defined arms and a healthy tuft of dark chest hair. He had great form so he’d probably run track at some point in his life. For a moment she found herself wondering what he’d look like without the shirt on.

Of course, that was the moment their eyes caught in the mirror and Lauren nearly lost her balance. To save her dignity and put space between them, she decided to move on to another machine, but as she cut the treadmill back to a walk, Nick did the same on his. She pretended not to notice.

Normally, she’d do a full five-minute cooldown, but something told her getting away from the Greek god next door was the only way to lower her temperature. She may not have liked him, but she wasn’t dead. Roxie had been right. The meddling cook was gorgeous as hell and even hotter when soaked with sweat.

Lauren took the machine down to zero and stepped off to grab a spray bottle and a paper towel. When she returned, Nick was standing still, seemingly waiting for her. He said something she couldn’t hear thanks to the music playing in her ears, so she cleaned her machine, ignoring him.

To her surprise, he tugged an earbud away and said, “I know you see me.”

“What the—” Lauren fought the temptation to spray him with the cleaner. “What is wrong with you?”

“Let’s get a drink,” he said.

He could not be serious. “Why would I ever get a drink with you?”

“I hear you hired a staff today. That’s your first one, right?”

Of course he knew that already.

“What about it?” she replied.

“That’s something to celebrate.” Nick pulled a towel off the arm of his machine and wiped his face before wrapping the terry cloth around his neck. “I’ll hit the shower and meet you outside in ten minutes.”

Before she could refuse, he strolled off toward the men’s locker room, leaving her gaping at his back. His wide, muscled back. As if coming out of a trance, Lauren shook her head and said aloud, “There’s no way I’m going to do this.”

She caught her reflection in the mirror and had another thought.

I can’t go looking like this.

Returning the spray bottle and tossing the paper towel, she grabbed her water and phone, then hurried into the locker room to change.

6

Lauren was waiting outside the gym entrance when Nick walked out. He had no idea why he was doing this. He just wanted someone to share a drink with who didn’t care enough about him to blow sunshine up his ass. It was safe to assume Lauren Riley fit that description. She’d changed into black jeans and a Red Sox T-shirt under a gray sweat jacket. Her hair was down and wet, so he assumed she’d also taken a quick shower.

“Follow me,” he said, breezing past her to reach his truck.

“To where?” she asked, holding her ground.

Nick opened his door. “I know a spot.” As he climbed in, Lauren lingered by the entrance, clearly debating whether to join him. Rolling down the passenger window, he said, “It’s not a date and I’m not going to attack you. It’s drinks on the beach. You in or not?”

Because she couldn’t make anything easy, she asked, “What are we drinking?”

“I’m stopping at Louis’ Liquor for beer. If that isn’t your thing, you can get whatever you want.”

“Beer is fine.” She strolled to the black GMC parked two spaces down, climbed in, started the vehicle, then glanced his way with a