Page 49 of Work It Out
Damn it. “Run,” Rayah whispered.
Vicky didn’t need to be told twice. She did chuckle, though, and Rayah supposed she could stomach Chad for a moment if her misery made Vicky laugh.
“So it’s true,” Chad murmured. “If Victoria Miller is going to be here, too, you need to up your coverage. If they both got hurt—”
“She’s been here less than an hour. How did you even know?”
His look was all condescension.
“Right. Bigbone.”
“Not this time.” He eyed her doubtfully. “I take it you haven’t looked outside recently.”
That familiar sinking feeling hit her again. “I’ve been busy.” She turned again, because she couldn’t not watch Jake. He stood, hands on knees, trying to catch his breath while Shawn taunted him, and Vicky and Pierce glared at Shawn.
“Get un-busy.” Chad moved to stand between her and the door. “Your parking lot is crawling with people taking pictures, some of them with very expensive cameras. And none of them have signed waivers.”
Chad rambled on, but Rayah lost track of what he was saying. Jake had finished another burpee. It must’ve been the last in that set, because he shifted to face the box Pierce had vacated.
“He needs a longer rest,” Rayah muttered to herself. Pierce must’ve said something similar. Jake backed up a step, only for Shawn to gesture at it. Whatever he said, Pierce snapped back at him, but Jake waved him away and squared off with the box.
“I’m serious, Rayah,” Chad droned on. “If someone reports so much as a stubbed toe trying to get a shot of those two through a window, you can kiss your policy goodbye. It won’t matter if they were trespassing and there won’t be anything I can do to save you.”
Chad’s badgering only got louder as she sidestepped him, but she didn’t like the sway in Jake’s stance as he squatted in front of the box, then pulsed as if psyching himself up to make the jump. As she walked through the door, he brought his arms up and launched himself a foot into the air. Problem was, that side of the box had a two-foot rise. The shortfall wouldn’t have been a huge deal if Jake had simply failed the jump. That, however, was not the case.
As his eyelids fluttered closed and his arms went lax, Rayah closed the last few feet between them at a dead run, hitting him in a side tackle that knocked a grunt out of them both. She took care to cradle his head against her chest with one hand, ensuring that he took the brunt of the fall on his shoulder. Still, even coming at him fast, she barely had the body mass to knock him off course. His cheek clipped the corner of the box right before they hit the ground. Her bad shoulder smacked into the wide edge.
Screams bounced around the room, but Rayah barely registered the pain in her shoulder, let alone their audience. Heart pounding, she scrambled to sit up and took Jake’s face in her hands. His eyes were glassy and an angry red blotch decorated one cheek, but she didn’t see any blood. He didn’t do more than moan when she pushed on point of impact, so there was hope he hadn’t broken anything. Pierce wouldn’t be able to say the same when she was finished with him.
She tucked Jake’s head against her chest again with her good arm and went about trying to de-ball Pierce with a glare. “What have you had him doing?”
Pierce went almost as pale as Jake. “I didn’t— He said—”
The door burst open and in poured Blaine, Nate, and Grace, followed closely by Jean and Quin. And about a dozen other people. Though she hadn’t thought it could drop any lower, Rayah’s stomach dug a hole for itself when she realized her hyper-judgmental insurance agent had followed her in in plenty of time to witness the NFL-worthy takedown of her wealthiest client. He was also completely tuned into Shawn’s caterwauling about her not owning so much as a sports bra when he got through suing her for assault, reckless endangerment, and who knew what else.
Jake shook his head and mumbled something about supporting her boobs. The “My fault. All my fault,” was more intelligible, but then he fell into a nonsensical speech about pots of flies, and she turned her attention to damage control.
“Grace, grab a stack of flyers and the man meat.” She pointed to Blaine and Nate. “The guys can try the nice way first, but I want this room and my parking lot cleared out, now. Anyone tries to refuse to leave, call Esther.”
Blaine tried to argue, but Grace being Grace, he didn’t get much chance. She tipped her chin in Rayah’s direction, shouted, “Out,” loudly enough to make even the Army Ranger think twice, then stood by the door with her arms crossed over her chest until the last of the spectators filed past. Well, except Jean and Quin, but even Grace’s powers had their limits.
Chad had his phone to his ear. He paused at the door, covered the receiver, and told Rayah, “Your insurance is suspended until further notice. Clear everyone out of the building ASAP. I’ll be waiting in your office.”
Freaking perfect. “Grace?” she yelled.
“On it!”
“What happened?” Jean demanded.
“He, uh…” Pierce shot a panicked look at Jake.
Surprisingly, when Rayah looked down, Jake’s silver eyes were focused on her and unwavering. And, if she didn’t miss her mark, he looked sad. He couldn’t seem to find the words, or maybe the will, to answer the question.
Vicky broke the tension when she screamed, “You scared me to death,” and whacked him on the arm before answering Jean. “He did a bunch of burpees, then tried to do box jumps. He would’ve smashed his face in if Rayah hadn’t knocked him out of the way.”
“You know better,” Shawn thundered. Turning his ire on Pierce, he demanded, “Did you do any research on his condition at all?”
“Are you kidding me, bro? I told him to rest longer. You’re the one who—”
