Trained At The Gym: A Contemporary Reverse Harem Romance Read online

  Contents

  Title

  Copyright

  Books by Cassie Cole

  1 - Katherine

  2 - Katherine

  3 - Katherine

  4 - Katherine

  5 - Katherine

  6 - Brody

  7 - Katherine

  8 - Katherine

  9 - Finn

  10 - Katherine

  11 - Katherine

  12 - Katherine

  13 - Finn

  14 - Katherine

  15 - Katherine

  16 - Katherine

  17 - Katherine

  18 - Katherine

  19 - Max

  20 - Katherine

  21 - Katherine

  22 - Katherine

  23 - Finn

  24 - Katherine

  25 - Katherine

  26 - Katherine

  27 - Brody

  28 - Katherine

  29 - Katherine

  30 - Max

  31 - Katherine

  32 - Katherine

  33 - Katherine

  34 - Finn

  35 - Katherine

  36 - Katherine

  37 - Katherine

  38 - Katherine

  39 - Katherine

  40 - Katherine

  41 - Katherine

  42 - Brody

  43 - Katherine

  44 - Katherine

  45 - Katherine

  46 - Finn

  47 - Katherine

  Epilogue

  Bonus Chapter

  Sneak Peek - Christmas Package

  About the Author

  Trained at the Gym

  By Cassie Cole

  Copyright © 2020 Juicy Gems Publishing

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior consent of the author.

  Edited by Robin Morris

  Follow me on social media to stay up-to-date on new releases, announcements, and prize giveaways!

  www.cassiecoleromance.com

  Books by Cassie Cole

  Broken In

  Drilled

  Five Alarm Christmas

  All In

  Triple Team

  Shared by her Bodyguards

  Saved by the SEALs

  Forbidden Crush

  The Proposition

  Full Contact

  Sealed With A Kiss

  Smolder

  The Naughty List

  Christmas Package

  Trained At The Gym

  1

  Katherine

  We were walking down the street after dinner when one of my little nephews suddenly blurted out, “Aunt Kat! When are you going to have kids?”

  It was just the four of us walking through Denver. Me, my brother Darryl, and his twin boys, Nathan and Ethan. It had been a peaceful—although freezing—December evening until that inquiry. The sudden, blunt nature of the question made me almost trip over my own feet.

  “Nathan!” Darryl snapped. “That’s a rude question to ask Aunt Kat.”

  “Why?” Nathan looked totally confused the way only a seven-year-old could. “Angela down the street has a bunch of cousins. Why don’t we have any cousins to play with?”

  Before Darryl could scold him again, I put a hand on my brother’s arm. I didn’t mind the question, even if it had caught me off-guard. “It’s fine. You see, boys, I don’t know when I’m going to have kids. Someday in the future.”

  “But why?” Ethan asked.

  “I just haven’t found the right guy yet,” I replied. “I’m not in any rush. Besides, I have my record store. It’s like raising a big, brick-walled child.”

  “Business still booming?” Darryl asked.

  Business was booming. Vinyl records were making a big comeback, and my store, Vinyl High Records, was capitalizing on the renewed popularity. My sales had grown every quarter for three straight years, and showed no sign of slowing down.

  “I’m doing okay,” I said. I didn’t like to brag, even to my big brother.

  “You’ve been spending a lot of time there,” Darryl pointed out.

  “We’ve expanded our offerings,” I explained. “Not just a wider selection of vinyl albums, but we’re expanding into audiobooks too.”

  “Audiobooks? On a vinyl record? Will people really buy those?”

  “I sure hope so, because I have a huge shipment coming next week.”

  Ethan tugged on my coat. “Does that mean you don’t have a lot of free time?”

  I laughed. My to-do list was four pages long. As soon as I crossed one item off, two more replaced it. Running your own business meant working sixteen hour days, seven days a week.

  But I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world.

  “I don’t have a lot of free time, no,” I replied.

  Nathan elbowed his dad and whispered, “I don’t think she’s going to like her Christmas present.”

  “Shh,” he replied.

  “Why?” I asked. “What is it?”

  “You’ll see,” Darryl said.

  We rounded a corner onto Magnolia Street, which was a hip up-and-coming part of Denver. The new building on the corner was still under construction, and was going to be huge when it was completed. I glanced in the windows as we passed but there was no hint as to what it would be. Hopefully a restaurant, I thought. I worked a lot of late hours at the store, and it would be nice to have a new eatery to order take-out from.

  Vinyl High Records was the third building on the right. Seeing the store always put a huge smile on my face, even when times were tough. I had built the business from the ground-up. It was mine.

  “Why are we here, Aunt Kat?” Ethan asked.

  I pulled out my keys and unlocked the door. “I’m opening up special for you both. For Christmas, you each get to pick out a record to take home!”

  The boys squealed with excitement and went running into the store as soon as the door was open. I flicked the switch by the door, filling the single large room with light. There were eight rows of record albums, categorized by music genre. Ethan and Nathan ran straight to the back row, which was labeled Rock.

  “I guess you weren’t kidding when you said they love vinyl.”

  Darryl chuckled. “They like to watch them spin around on the player. To them, that’s more magical than music coming out of their phones.” He raised his voice. “Make your decision quickly! Mom said Christmas dinner would be on the table at six!”

  The two of them were too busy rifling through square album covers to notice he had said anything. Darryl shook his head.

  “Alright Kat, while they’re picking out their gifts I’ll show you what I got you for Christmas.”

  “Show me?” I asked. “Where is it?”

  My big brother took my hand and led me two doors down the street, on the other side of the local coffee shop. I was shocked when he stopped in front of the large, glass doors. It was closed since it was Christmas Day, but on the other side of the glass I could see rows of treadmills and ellipticals in the darkness.

  I gazed at the sign above the door.

  ROCKY MOUNTAIN FITNESS

  “A gym?” I said. “I don’t understand…”

  Wordlessly, he handed me an envelope. I opened it and pulled out the paperwork. My eyes scanned the words.

  “Darryl! I told you I didn’t want a gym membership!”

  He held up a finger. “No, you told me that Rocky Mountain Fitness was too expensive for you. So I took price out of the equation by buying you a twelve-month platinum membership.”

  I gla
red at my brother. “This is kind of like that crappy commercial where the guy gets his wife a Peloton bike. Are you trying to tell me something?”

  “Aww, come on, Kat. This is nothing like that. You told me your New Year’s resolution was to get back into an exercise routine, like when you were in college. And you said your last doctor visit wasn’t great. I’m helping you accomplish your goals.”

  He was right: my health wasn’t what it used to be. My doctor said that my blood pressure was beginning to climb, and I was becoming more and more insulin resistant. She claimed that in another year I might even be pre-diabetic. Despite that, I continued eating fast food for lunch every day, and there was always a tub of ice cream in my freezer.

  I knew I needed to make some changes in my life. It was just so hard getting started. Especially considering how busy I was.

  I glanced at the paperwork. There wasn’t a price listed, but a regular membership cost three hundred dollars a month. I didn’t even want to think about how much a platinum membership was.

  “I don’t need an expensive gym membership to start exercising again,” I argued. “I can go for a jog outside for free…”

  Darryl barked a laugh, which let out a big puff of white in front of his face. “It’s minus-twenty out here right now. You’re literally shaking! It’s too easy to put it off until the weather gets warmer, which could be months from now. Besides, the gym is right down the street from your store. You’ll have no excuse to be lazy.” He grabbed me by the shoulders and looked at me patiently. “Everything is in place for you to get back in shape, like you’ve been talking about for years. The membership starts on New Year’s Day, and even comes with a free personal trainer. You’re going to crush it, Kat. I just know it.”

  Darryl had always been the most supportive person in my life, especially after our parents died. He was the shoulder to cry on when I was down, and the person who pushed me forward when I needed it. And that was exactly what I needed right now.

  I wrapped my arms around him. “This is really sweet. Thank you.”

  “What are big brothers for?”

  “Besides giving wedgies?”

  “Hey. It’s been years since I gave you a wedgie.”

  We began walking back to my store. “So this was why the twins thought it was a bad gift? Because I don’t have much free time to go to the gym?”

  Darryl winced. “Well, yeah. I had hoped a membership to a gym close to your store would make it easier to go, but if you don’t have much free time to begin with…”

  “I can make the time,” I quickly said. “Being close to work does help.”

  Deep down, I knew it was a lie. There was no way I could fit the gym into my current schedule, except for maybe half an hour here and there. But it was a sweet gift, and I wanted Darryl to know how much I appreciated it.

  As soon as we got back to the store, the twins held up vinyl records and started shouting about what they wanted. Nathan handed me an album with an artistic rendition of a golden flame on the cover.

  “You listen to Audioslave?” I asked.

  Nathan grinned. “Yeah!”

  “They get their great taste in music from me,” Darryl bragged.

  “More like they get it from their cool aunt. I seem to remember you listening to Hanson when you were a boy.”

  “Hey! Hanson wasn’t that bad.”

  As we argued over who had the more embarrassing taste in music, I started thinking about the big gym down the street and whether this would finally be the year I stuck to my New Year’s resolution.

  2

  Katherine

  I thought about the gym for the next week.

  Fitness was a huge part of my life when I was younger. Darryl was the nerdy child, and I was the athlete. I played softball, and was on the neighborhood swim team in the summer. Then I ran cross-country in high school. I wasn’t good enough to compete in college, but I continued running every day while attending the University of Colorado.

  Until my parents’ car accident.

  I don’t remember much from the months after they died. It was all a blur. The cruelest part of the whole thing was that although they did not survive, they lived long enough in the hospital to rack up a massive medical bill. I took a semester off college to go home and help Darryl sort through their financials and sell the house. By the time everything was settled, most of their money was gone.

  One semester away from school turned into two, and then I dropped out completely. I was emotionally shattered that year. I could barely muster the energy to get out of bed, let alone put on workout clothes and go for a run.

  The only thing that pulled me out of my funk was Darryl convincing me to follow my dream and open a record store with the remainder of our parents’ money. Since then, I’d poured all of my energy and sweat into the business. There wasn’t time for anything else.

  The week after Christmas passed quickly. Every day I walked right by Rocky Mountain Fitness and tried not to look inside. I just didn’t have the time. I didn’t want to get my hopes up over nothing.

  One night I opened my journal to write down my New Year’s Resolutions. The last entry I had made was from almost a year ago, on the first day of this year:

  1. Start running again

  2. Lose twenty pounds

  3. Eat healthier

  4. Be happy with who I am

  I tore the page out of the journal, then re-copied the same four resolutions on a new page.

  My biggest victory of the week was buying a salad for dinner on the way home one night. But when I was done it felt like there was still a huge hole in my stomach, and I eventually caved and made myself a big bowl of ice cream. I skipped the chocolate syrup though, and decided that was enough progress for now.

  On New Year’s Eve, I finally stopped and looked inside the window of RMF. People were exercising on treadmills and ellipticals. Everyone looked so fit and healthy.

  I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window. I wasn’t fat, but my jeans were visibly tight and my face was fuller and rounder than I liked. I was no longer the lean, athletic girl I had been five years ago. Deep down, I wanted to become that better version of myself again. Maybe this was the push I needed.

  If only I had the time…

  I walked into Vinyl High Records, which was already open. Paul, my one and only employee, gave me a wave from the front desk while he helped a customer. He was your stereotypical stoner from Boulder, a chubby guy who had on the same hoodie every day and always wore strong cologne to cover up the smell of weed. But he was a hard worker, and he was a genius when it came to music.

  “Gunship has way more melody than most electronic bands,” he was explaining to the customer, who was listening to an album with a pair of oversized headphones. “Especially on vinyl. Hear that synthesizer in the background? So much crisper than on a digital copy.”

  The customer took off his headphones. “You’ve convinced me. I’ll take it.”

  “Nice, man!” Paul said. “And if you liked that, you should listen to this new Lazerhawk LP…”

  There was a good crowd in the store already. That was a pleasant surprise. I had expected our business to slow down after Christmas, but instead we had a lot of people coming in to spend gift cards they had received. They usually spent more than their gift card amount, and brought friends with them, too.

  I asked a few customers if they needed any help, then went into the back office to drop off my bag. Aside from helping customers and ringing up sales, the majority of my work was managerial in nature. Accounting, marketing on Facebook, inventory management. Everything that a small business entailed.

  Not only that, but I had to decide what music to carry in the store. We couldn’t just take the newest Top 100 list and buy ten copies from each band. Vinyl listeners skewed toward a few genres: classic rock, electronica, jazz, and some heavy metal. So I had to take existing lists and whittle them down before deciding what inventory to order. Paul was good at recommenda
tions for electronica, but I still needed to make the final decision. Not to mention listening to all the other genres. In the end, I probably spent twenty hours a week listening to music.

  I pulled one of the latest albums off a stack on my desk, removed the vinyl LP from the sleeve, and plopped it onto my vintage TEAC TN-400S turntable.

  While listening to the album—which was not very good, I realized with annoyance—I did some end-of-year accounting that I had been putting off. Reviewing business transactions in Quickbooks and categorizing them for my quarterly tax estimates. As I worked, my mind drifted to Rocky Mountain Fitness. Could I find the time? I usually arrived at work around eight in the morning, and stayed until nine or ten at night. If I could force myself to wake up early, I could squeeze in a workout before work.

  Of course, thinking about waking up early was always easier than actually waking up early.

  At noon, I took over on the register so Paul could grab a quick lunch. When he came back I took my own break. There was a great sandwich place down the street, and I had a craving for their turkey-and-swiss.

  Rocky Mountain Fitness was on the way. As I passed, a good-looking guy was exiting the front door. He saw me, and held the door.

  “Coming this way?” he asked in a deep, inviting voice.

  “Yeah,” I said automatically. “I am.”

  And just like that, I walked into the gym. My gym.

  I was in a lobby area. There was a front desk to the left, and locker room entrances to the right. Straight ahead, a little kiosk was positioned on the way into the gym proper. A woman walked by and scanned her bracelet at the kiosk, which flashed green with approval.

  “Welcome to Rocky Mountain Fitness!” a cheerful, athletic woman said behind the desk to my left. “How can I help you?”

  “Um. I’m, uh, well, I was just looking around.”

  “Would you like a tour? Once you see the facility, you will definitely want to sign up for a membership!”

  “Actually, I already have a membership,” I said. “I was gifted one for Christmas, I mean.”