Sherryl Woods - Midnight Promises

He’d called his first two clients to push back their appointments and was in the kitchen making breakfast when Karen wandered in wearing one of his old shirts and nothing else. His mouth went dry at the sight of her. He wondered if she’d always have the power to take his breath away.

She wrapped her arms around him from behind. “Do you know how sexy you are when you’re standing in front of a stove?” she asked, resting her cheek against his back.

“You’d be attracted to anyone who fixed you a meal after you’ve spent your days in the kitchen at Sullivan’s,” he teased.

“Nope, it’s you. You’re this gorgeous guy who looks like a cover model with abs of steel and here you are, all bare-chested and wearing one of my aprons. You just can’t get much sexier than that.” She grinned. “It takes quite a man to go with the ruffles, you know.”

He laughed. “One of these days I need to buy one of those manly barbecue aprons,” he replied. “If our friends ever catch me looking like this, I’ll never hear the end of it. There’s fresh orange juice in the refrigerator, by the way.”

“You really do pamper me,” she said, releasing him. She poured two glasses and set them on the table. “When was the last time we had a quiet breakfast, just the two of us?”

“Before we got married, I think. It’s been way too hectic since then.”

“How’d you pull it off this morning? You’re usually long gone by now.”

“I rescheduled a couple of clients.”

“Were they furious?”

“No, which was a good lesson for me. I can make more time for us if I put my mind to it.”

“So can I,” Karen said. “We need to do it more often. It’s good for the soul.” She poured herself a cup of coffee, took a sip and winced.

“Too strong?” he asked.

She laughed. “You can’t help it. I think it’s in your genes that coffee’s no good unless it makes your hair stand on end. I’ll dump in half a carton of milk and it will be fine.”

When he’d set their plates of healthy egg-white, veggie omelets and whole-grain toast on the table, he sat down across from her. “Okay, here’s the deal on the gym. It’ll be a division of The Corner Spa. In addition, there will be six partners, all of us with equal shares.”

“Who?” she asked.

“Cal, Ronnie, and Erik, plus Travis and Tom McDonald, and me.”

“How much money do you have to put up?”

“We’re still finalizing all that, but I’ll be making only a minimal financial investment compared to them,” he said. “My contribution will be mostly sweat equity. The way I understand it, that’s the way it was when Maddie went into partnership with Dana Sue and Helen on the spa. I’ll run day-to-day business operations under Maddie’s oversight—at least initially—and continue seeing my personal-training clients.”

Karen looked surprised. “You’re willing to let Maddie boss you around?”

Elliott chuckled. “What do you think she does now?”

“It’s not the same. You’re an independent contractor, not a spa employee. If you got ticked off at her, you could take your clients to Dexter’s. And speaking of those clients, are you just going to abandon them?”

“No, of course not. I’ll still do the senior classes at the spa and see my regular clients. I’ll just have to lighten the number of hours I spend there, so I can spend the bulk of my time at the gym. And they’re talking about hiring someone to be at the gym whenever I’m not, so the place can be open longer hours. It’s a win-win, Karen. We stand to make out nicely financially with a share of any profits, plus I’ll be able to handle more clients since I can work with men there and still keep the women clients I have at the spa.”

“So, there’s no real financial risk at all,” she concluded, looking relieved.

Elliott knew he could let her go on thinking like that, and, in his mind, it was mostly true, but after what had already happened, he knew he couldn’t let the comment pass.

“I do have to put up some money,” he reminded her. “An initial, short-term investment to get things off the ground.”

She frowned. “So there is a risk?”

“Come on. You know none of us would be doing this if we thought it was risky, but sure, any new business can face unexpected pitfalls.”

“How much money, Elliott?”

“We’re still working that out.”

She held his gaze. “How much?” she repeated, obviously sensing that he was being deliberately evasive.

“Ten thousand, maybe fifteen,” he said eventually, then watched as alarm registered in her eyes.

“Our savings for the baby?” she asked, her voice shaking. “All of it?”

“I know to you it sounds like a lot.”

“It is a lot. It’s all we have.”

“But the payoff,” he began, only to have her cut him off.

“If there is a payoff,” she said direly. “What if there isn’t?”

Elliott felt his temper begin to fray. “Do you have no faith in me? You’re my wife. Shouldn’t you believe in me at least as much as Cal, Ronnie, Erik and the others do?”

“It’s not a matter of not believing in you,” she insisted. “It’s our savings, Elliott. What about having a baby? I thought that mattered to you.”

“We’ll still have a baby, and we’ll have more money than ever to support it,” he insisted.

“Only if this works out the way you envision it,” she said, looking as if she were near tears.

“It’s going to work out,” he insisted. “Have a little faith.”

“I want to,” she said, her expression miserable.

“Just think about it,” he pleaded. “Talk to Maddie or Dana Sue. Ask Erik. You trust him, right? They all have confidence in this.”

“I suppose I could do that much,” she conceded with obvious reluctance. The wheels in her mind were clearly still turning. “What if it goes belly-up, Elliott? Are you protected then?”

“I’ll have to check with Helen, but I think so.”

“Make sure of it, Elliott. What if there’s some humongous lawsuit or something?”

“We’ll have liability insurance,” he assured her. “Stop worrying. Helen will protect us. You can count on that.”

“You know I’d trust her with my life,” she said. “After all, she took in my kids when I couldn’t take care of them a few years ago. There’s nobody I trust more.”

“Then hash all of this out with her. If you’re not reassured that it’s all good, we’ll keep discussing it until you are. I don’t want you panicking, Karen. But you also need to understand that this is our big chance to get ahead.”

“I get that,” she said, sounding resigned but not yet convinced.

He searched her faced. “You and me, we’re okay?”

She met his gaze. “We’re okay,” she said, though slowly.

“You don’t sound very convincing. What’s that about?”

“The issue is bigger than the gym, Elliott. We haven’t been communicating, not the way real partners should. And I know you try, but I don’t think you really understand how panicked I get about money.”

“Didn’t I just say that I get it?” he asked in frustration.

“But then you ignore it,” she argued. “Promise me when it comes to things that are important, we’ll do a better job of communicating.”

“We were communicating very well through most of the night,” he replied, trying to spark a smile.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. You never told me you were seeing Frances at those classes for seniors. You know how much she matters to me. It just makes me wonder how many other things you’ve kept from me. Your father—”

“My father has nothing to do with this,” he said curtly, bristling at the unfair comparison. “As for me keeping anything from you, that’s a bit of an overstatement, don’t you think? We hardly ever spend any time together. Sometimes days go by before we have a real conversation. By then, I’ve forgotten things I meant to tell you. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”