Page 4 of Snatched
Inside the training studio, he sets down a tablet. “So. Elena. Talk to me.”
“About?”
“Your dating life.”
“Uh….” I stumble over my words. Why, when just two hours ago I was telling men ten years my age off during a tense board meeting, am I suddenly tongue tied?
“Well, let’s just say it’s been awhile. If you know what I mean.”
A smile washes over his face. “That’s…interesting. But I’m kidding. Tell me about your current fitness routine. Obviously. Sorry…I’m not good with jokes.”
I open my mouth.
And something unhinges.
“Oh. Right. Well, I do yoga twice a week but sometimes I cancel it because work drains my soul and then I try to go on dates but all the men my age want women who are twenty-seven and flexible and can do handstands on TikTok—no offense—but I’ve been looking into strength training because that’s apparently better for longevity and oh, by the way, my last relationship was extremely disappointing in bed, which maybe isn’t something you need to know but here I am saying it out loud?—”
His eyebrows lift slowly.
I slap my hand over my mouth.
“I don’t know why I’m talking.”
He laughs. It’s low and warm and does things to my internal organs.
“It happens,” he says. “People talk when they’re nervous.”
“I’m not nervous,” I lie.
“No?”
I stare at him.
He stares back, eyes soft, not mocking.
So I confess, “Okay. Fine. Maybe a little.”
He gives a small smirk. “Relax Elena. We’re going to have a great time. And you know what? Training is supposed to be fun.”
“Fun? Really?”
“Yeah. Or else you’ll get bored. It’s easier to combine discipline with fun.”
“That’s…an interesting concept. I never thought of it that way.”
“Let’s warm up.”
We start with treadmill intervals of walking and jogging.
It’s humiliating how fast I realize I’m winded.
Colt jogs beside me effortlessly, his steps light and rhythmic.
“Your form is good,” he says. “You just carry tension in your shoulders.”
I glance sideways. “Don’t we all.”
“Thirty-nine isn’t old by the way,” he adds casually, adjusting my incline like he didn’t just drop my age into conversation.
