Bad Case of Loving You Read online

  It was a rare sensation for him and not an entirely welcome one. It was one thing to decide to make a change in his life, and quite another to be right in the middle of the result with no chance of turning back. He’d always played it safe and stayed in the background, but he was stepping out into public view for F5.

  There was no better cause, but still...

  He was jammed into the back of a cab with Cassie and her husband, Reid, heading uptown, the arrangements for the first pop-up running through his mind one more time. Cassie and Reid were chatting, oblivious to the surprise Theo and Kyle had planned.

  Theo’d had to do something to make up for his complete failure to get Angel to make an appearance at F5 on New Year’s Eve. He didn’t have to be happy that the super model’s publicist had turned the invitation down flat, and he didn’t have to pretend to himself that Lyssa—the woman he’d dated in college who’d abandoned her studies to become Angel—was holding a grudge for some reason. To this day, he had no idea what he’d done or how he could have fixed it.

  But that was old news.

  His life now was all about Flatiron Five and he couldn’t let down the team. They needed the visibility of heavy media attention over the holidays to get the lion’s share of new fitness club memberships in December and January. Without Angel, the New Year’s Eve party probably wouldn’t have the power to deliver that.

  He’d asked Kyle for an idea, never guessing that his privacy would be the price.

  He reminded himself that it was healthy to stretch and try new things.

  On the stroke of the hour, Theo knew the teaser video would post on the F5 official YouTube site—which hadn’t been used much to date—and on the social media accounts. Central Park was in sight when his phone pinged the hour and Cassie’s phone chimed.

  She looked, of course. Cassie never let anything slide.

  “What’s this?” she asked. Being in charge of publicity for the club, she should have known about everything posted on their social media. Theo halfway thought she’d be angry that they’d arranged this without her involvement, but Kyle was sure she’d love the idea so much that she’d let it go.

  Theo watched her, wondering.

  “Do you know anything about this?” she asked but didn’t seem to expect an answer.

  Reid flicked a look at Theo who probably failed to look innocent—the fact that Reid smiled was proof of that.

  Cassie frowned, then started the video. Theo heard his own voice and glanced down to the now-familiar video. It felt like they’d filmed it a hundred times to get it exactly right. Kyle might be a joker, but he was also a perfectionist.

  “I’m Theo Tremblay of Flatiron Five and we’ve got a challenge for you.”

  “Holy shit,” Cassie whispered as Kyle appeared on the other side of the screen. She watched, Reid leaning in from the other side, then jabbed Theo in the ribs. “You sneaks! This is marketing. This is my jam. How could you not tell me?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “It sure is.”

  “Merry Christmas.”

  “Merry Christmas, my ass,” Cassie complained. “And now I’m getting on a flight to Montrose River in three hours and I’ll be offline, as well as stuck in the wilderness. How could you do this? How could you not tell me?”

  Reid was chuckling.

  “You can’t be on his side,” Cassie accused.

  “I have a hearty respect for anyone who manages to keep a secret from you,” Reid said with a grin. He gave Theo a thumbs-up but Cassie was fixated on the video again.

  “Besides, it’s partly his fault,” Theo murmured.

  Cassie spun to Reid. “You didn’t tell them we were trying to get pregnant,” she said.

  “You just did.” Reid shrugged. “I hinted that you’d be taking it easy in 2019. That’s it.”

  “We wanted you to know that we could pick up the slack,” Theo said.

  “I had no idea!” Cassie exhaled. “And now I’m going to miss a bunch of these pop-ups.”

  “Maybe not,” Theo murmured and she spun to face him.

  “Is that why we’re going skating at Wollman Rink?”

  Theo touched a fingertip to his mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

  “Oh my God,” Cassie whispered. “It is.” She turned to Reid. “Is your phone charged? Mine is running low and I want this.”

  “Your wish is my command,” Reid drawled and showed her that his phone was fully charged. “Yours wouldn’t be running low if you stayed off it more.”

  “I’m still working.”

  “Until the airport,” he stipulated. “Then you’re on vacation for one whole week.”

  “Vacation! With this going down.” Cassie was obviously frustrated. “But I agreed to take a break before I knew about this. Can we come back Thursday instead of Friday?”

  “I’ll see what I can do.”

  Satisfied, she turned to Theo. “Theo! How could you?”

  “We had to. We need the visibility over the holidays.”

  Cassie winced. “Angel isn’t coming, is she?”

  Theo shook his head. “Her publicist blew me off. I tried four times.” As usual, he left out the detail that he’d known her once. It didn’t seem to be relevant to Lyssa and he refused to let it be relevant to himself.

  “Bitch,” Cassie said under her breath.

  “Hey!” Reid protested. “She could have other plans. People get to have lives, Cassie.”

  “I know. I just thought it was a great idea. Also, it was the first idea that Hunter brought to the team, so I wanted him to have the positive reinforcement.”

  “It was a good idea,” Theo said.

  “And really, it would have been an hour of her time, and great exposure for everyone involved.” Cassie shook her phone at Theo. “But this is brilliant. I suppose you have them all planned?”

  Theo nodded. “We’ve each choreographed three routines, and will use the same four songs.” Cassie opened her mouth but he continued, guessing what she asked. “We got permission to use the music. We’ll perform each one three times, all different locations. We’ve got permits and permissions from all the sites, and two video teams who will splice the official versions as quickly as possible after each pop-up.”

  “It must be costing a bomb.”

  “Not too bad. A lot of club members were hot to participate, never mind the staff.”

  “Still...”

  “Tyler signed off on it.”

  Cassie was predictably outraged. “Ty knew and I didn’t?”

  “He had to approve the budget.” Theo met Reid’s gaze over Cassie’s head and Reid grimaced, shaking his head. “It was a surprise for you,” he told Cassie again. “Don’t worry, there’s still a lot you can do.”

  “Really?”

  “I was wondering if you wanted to lead the one at Radio City Music Hall on the 29th.”

  “Just like old times. I’ll have to learn the moves.”

  “It’s Whitney Houston, I Want to Dance with Somebody.”

  “Your theme song,” Reid said and Cassie laughed.

  “Now we have to come back Thursday.”

  “I’m on it,” Reid said, reclaiming his phone.

  “Excellent.” Cassie looked at Theo with narrowed eyes. “If you tell me that Damon knew, I just might have to hurt you.”

  “He might know because he listens,” Theo had to concede.

  “Thank you very much,” Cassie huffed and Reid chuckled again.

  Theo figured he might as well spill it all. “Chloe knows, because she was working with Tyler when we presented the proposal. Hunter knows because he helped with the choreography and Nate knows because he arranged the locations, as well as the video team.”

  “And Sonja knows because Sonja knows everything,” Reid guessed and Theo smiled.

  “Pretty much.”

  “I cannot believe this,” Cassie muttered. “You bunch of sneaks.”

  “Cheer up,” Theo said. “You’ll be up close and p
ersonal with the first Manhattan pop-up.”

  “And here I thought you just wanted to humiliate us by making us go skating.”

  Reid scoffed. “You thought Theo had a sentimental reason for going there, and you wanted to dig out his secret.”

  Theo was startled, because he did have a sentimental reason for choosing Wollman Rink as the location for today, but was intrigued that Cassie blushed. “I like to know secrets,” she admitted.

  “Which is why it’s completely amazing that they managed to keep this one from you,” Reid said. “Kind of like a personal challenge and a triumph.” He gave Cassie a hug. “Look at it this way: you can assess how well Sonja’s training is coming along.”

  “As long as you’re not all planning to ditch me,” Cassie said to Theo.

  “Never,” Theo said. “You more than pull your weight, Cassie. Everyone knows you need a little break.”

  “It really is a present,” she said, eying him.

  “It really is.” He smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

  Her eyes lit then. “You know what happens next?”

  “No, actually, I don’t.” Something about her expression warned Theo, but he also knew it was too late.

  “The gloves are off in terms of getting you on a billboard,” Cassie said with purpose. “I’ve been letting it slide, wanting to respect your privacy and all, but that’s all over now.” She pointed at him. “You’re next and I’m coming back from vacation with a slogan.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to work on vacation,” Reid said.

  “I get to think,” she said ferociously and Theo wished Reid luck if he meant to interfere with that.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Reid said smoothly and gave her a kiss.

  Theo bit back a smile and directed the cab driver to a spot beside the rink. Once he’d spotted Sonja, he easily picked out the rest of the team. Cassie waved him off and Reid paid the fare while he put in his earphone. “Looking good?” he said to Sonja.

  “Get your skates on,” she replied immediately, excitement in her voice. “Let’s do this thing. We are so going to defeat Kyle.”

  Theo laughed, hoping they would. He was still nervous but that would pass once they got started.

  He was ready for this.

  Lyssa paused to look over Wollman Rink, still snared in her memories of that day with Theo. The weather had been just like this day, sunny but cold, with a few snowflakes falling. There’d been snow on the ground, too, and a number of people skating. It had been a Saturday, just like this one. Theo had been flying back to the UK that night and she’d been booked on a train home to Pennsylvania. They’d stolen a night, and stayed at the Park Plaza, completely absorbed in each other. Skating had been their last two hours together before heading their separate ways.

  A cab parked at the curb and three people got out. Lyssa barely noticed them, then looked again, her heart jumping to her throat.

  It couldn’t be Theo.

  Could it?

  But it was.

  He was here on this day, their anniversary in a way. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

  And it might not be a bad thing. She hurried toward him, noticing that he sat down quickly to put on his skates. She thought of and discarded a dozen ways to say hello, then saw him touch his left ear. He murmured something then scanned the rink, before stepping onto the ice.

  He was wearing a headset, and talking to someone.

  Lyssa stopped cold.

  The couple who had been in the cab with Theo stood at the edge of the rink, apparently having no intention of skating. They were watching Theo avidly and the guy had his phone in hand. Lyssa looked back toward Theo, just as another guy skated toward the middle of the rink and put down a boom box.

  The F5 pop-up, right here and right now.

  Lyssa felt a thrill of anticipation. She scanned the perimeter of the rink, easily picking out the three guys with bigger video cameras, now that she was looking. Another guy circled the boom box, as if he was going to pick it up, but instead he turned it on.

  Uptown Funk started to play, the volume loud enough that everyone on the rink could hear. They stopped skating and pivoted to look, just as Theo began to dance, lip-synching in time to the music.

  “This hit, this ice cold,” he seemed to sing. He flung off his leather jacket, revealing the F5 logo on the front of his black T-shirt. Lyssa shivered, thinking he had to be cold, but that wouldn’t last. Two more skaters dropped their coats, and joined him, one on either side, mimicking his moves, and the crowd began to laugh.

  Lyssa smiled. He’d learned a lot since she’d taught him to skate.

  So hot.

  There was a crowd around Theo for the chorus, a crowd in black F5 shirts dancing in unison. They’d formed a triangle and were facing outward in three directions, like three arrows. Theo was at one point and the video camera guys swooped around him and the other two point-leaders.

  The guy in the couple who’d arrived with Theo was filming the pop-up with his phone and the woman was clearly thrilled. Onlookers pulled out their phones as more skaters joined Theo. The other skaters drew back to the perimeter of the rink and she saw the flashes from cell phone cameras.

  Girls, hit your hallelujah. The crowd sang along. They laughed as a Chinese dragon joined the dancers on the ice, with eight pairs of skates beneath it, and danced in and out of the triangle. There were flames of orange cellophane coming from the dragon’s mouth and there must have been a fan hidden inside the mouth—when they lip-synched the line about a dragon wanting to retire, those flames blew through the air.

  “Don’t believe me: just watch,” Theo seemed to sing, and he invited the crowd to join in with a gesture. They were clapping and singing along, all around the rink. The dragon blew flames straight up on the second time through that verse. Several of the skaters did jumps and spins as the others danced. Finally, they all formed a circle around the dancing dragon and released streamers as they skated around and around together. There was a whirlwind of color, orange and red and yellow against their black shirts, then they all halted in unison.

  The dragon dove into the circle and slid across the ice to emerge beside Theo, blowing a huge plume of cellophane flame.

  “Just watch!” Theo mouthed, punching his fist into the air.

  The music ended and the crowd cheered. Lyssa wasn’t the only one applauding like mad. The skaters looked to be out of breath, but happy, and they were quick to put their coats back on. Meanwhile, cartons were pushed onto the ice, each marked with the F5 logo. Theo took charge of one and began to give out prizes from it. People opened them as they walked away and Lyssa saw that they were black T-shirts with logos. A blond woman was standing beside a sign with a huge QR code and giving out coupons.

  The video guys were packing up. The crowd was milling around the prize stations and talking, then slowly dispersing.

  Lyssa took a breath. She’d made an entire career of answering the door when opportunity knocked and even though she dreaded doing this, she knew it was the right choice and the right moment.

  She went down to the ice and hovered at the end of the line leading to Theo, her heart hammering.

  This was her chance.

  After all the planning, it was over so fast.

  And it had gone amazingly well. Theo was so relieved. The team clapped each other on the back, their excitement the perfect echo of his own. Someone brought him his coat and he tugged it on, then dug into the box of T-shirts to hand them out.

  It was great to see the expressions of the people who had witnessed the pop-up—they were laughing and smiling, taking pictures. He saw a lot of Sonja’s coupons in hands and also people scanning the QR code that she’d had blown up to poster-size for a discounted membership. Cassie was avidly going through something on her phone, probably checking the early results. She was smiling, so that had to be a good sign. The T-shirts went like lightning, more than one person wanting a picture with him.

  That w
as kind of strange, but to Theo’s relief, by the time his heart had returned to its usual pace, the crowd had dispersed. The pop-up was over and it was just another beautiful winter day at Wollman Rink.

  They just had to do it eleven more times.

  He bent down to pick up the empty carton and a woman cleared her throat behind him. “I’m sorry. The T-shirts are all gone,” he said, casting a quick smile over his shoulder. Then he froze.

  “I wasn’t looking for a T-shirt, Theo,” Lyssa Monroe said softly as the bottom fell out of Theo’s world. She smiled, clearly seeing his shock, and waved her fingertips at him. “Hi. You’re a tough guy to find.”

  It was Lyssa but not Lyssa. She seemed more petite than he recalled, although she’d always been shorter than him. Of course, the skates gave him extra height. Her complexion was more pale and she was thinner, plus the strands of hair escaping her hat were more platinum than her hair had been before. The trapper hat was totally the Lyssa he remembered, a huge fur thing that almost obscured her face, but made her look impossibly cute. He could see the freckles on her nose and guessed that she wasn’t wearing any make-up.

  There was a new wariness in her gaze, though.

  And rightly so, to Theo’s thinking.

  “You could have just called,” he said, knowing he sounded hostile.

  “You have an unlisted number.”

  He looked at her, surprised she’d checked. “You could have called the club.”

  She shrugged, her gaze steady. “I wasn’t sure you were a partner. Not until I saw the video today.”

  That couldn’t be true. He’d called her four times since September. If she was going to lie to him, then there was nothing to talk about.

  She’d never been a liar—or at least not a good one—so her decision to lie now really angered Theo. “I see. I trust you’ve been well,” he said, not trusting himself to say her name. “It looks like all your dreams have come true.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t be silly, Theo. You of all people should know that fame was never my dream.”

  “Then why become a supermodel?” He flung out a hand, that old argument heating his words all over again. “Wasn’t fame and fortune the whole point?”