Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

Ellis

Jordan snored softly into the pillow beside me when I woke the next morning. His laptop was open on the bedside table, as were the remains of the Thai food we'd gotten delivered late last night. Jordan had thoughtfully gotten my favorite dish—spicy eggplant stir-fried with chicken and vegetables—without me even needing to ask.

That's something Clayton never would have done.

I rolled over and nuzzled his neck. "Morning, handsome."

His eyes shot open wide, as if seeing me in his bed was the most surprising sight ever. Then his expression gradually shifted, as if he were slowly remembering everything that had transpired the day before.

A smile tugged at his lips. "Morning, El."

"I have to go," I said. "I have a client at the gym, then class, and I've got no clothes here."

He sighed mournfully. "But it's so early. Not ready for you to go."

He tugged me closer, clinging to me, and a rush of warmth flooded me.

For so long, I'd been chasing after the wrong man. The wrong life. It was difficult now to even understand why I'd been so convinced that Clayton was the one. He'd never made me feel this way.

With Jordan, the sexual chemistry was there, but there was so much more, too. So much friendship and loyalty and affection. Jordan looked out for my needs, just as I looked out for his. That's what partnership should be about. Not appearances or careers or how impressive your partner could make you look.

"It's very tempting to call in sick to life today," I murmured, tightening my arms around Jordan.

"It is." He sighed. "But we can't exactly take the day off. Mary Ann is counting on us."

I nodded. "You could come to the gym with me? I have a client, but I can get you started on a light workout?"

He chuckled. "Uh, actually, you gave me a pretty good workout last night."

I grinned, pride bursting inside. I had put the man through his paces in a whole host of positions last night. Jordan had kept up, meeting me with the same fervor I had for him.

I suppose he had earned some rest.

"Fine, but I want a raincheck," I said. "You told me you wanted to get more active again, and those habits won't build themselves."

"Yes, sir," Jordan said with a chuckle. "Once you let me sleep through the night, I'll go in with you early."

"I guess it'll be a while then," I said as I rolled out of bed. "I'm planning to keep you very busy tonight."

I gathered my things, kissed Jordan long enough to ensure he'd regret not joining me, then headed out. I swung by my dorm to grab some clothes for class, then went to the gym.

It didn't take long to get DeShawn started on his weights program. He was a long-term client, and he needed me primarily to guide his workouts and stop him from pushing too hard too soon.

Once that was settled, I went to our gym manager's office and tapped on the door.

Andy Chen swiveled his chair toward me, his compact body illustrating that not only was he the gym manager, but a devoted fitness enthusiast like the rest of us.

"Do you have a minute?" I asked.

"Sure, Ellis. What's up?"

I hesitated, then stepped inside and closed the door. I doubt anyone would be listening to us speak, but this pertained to a legal matter, so I wanted to proceed with caution.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to our FitnessMaster. The gym used to have one, right?"

Andy's brow furrowed under his fringe of dark hair. "Well, we've had a couple of models. Can you be more specific?"

I didn't have to check the lawsuit. I already knew it didn't specify the model. But I'd seen it on the side of the machine.

"The FitnessMaster2000."

"I'm not sure what happened to that one," Andy said with a frown. "What's this about?"

I dropped into the chair by the door. "It's not about our gym. I'm just trying to figure out why a FitnessMaster might have injured someone at another gym. I knew we'd had one here, and I thought perhaps there'd been problems with it?"

"Let me check." Andy turned to his laptop and navigated through menus. "Hmm. Okay, I remember this now. The FitnessMaster was recalled due to reports of the collapsing bench and some instability with the weight tower."

My heart sank. "Was that the 2000?"

"No, that was the original, The FitnessMaster Pro-1. They replaced it with a newer model, FitnessMaster2000. That's the one you mentioned. According to our records, it was provided to us as a replacement after the recall, but we opted to sell it rather than install it into the gym."

"Oh. Hmm."

So, Flex Gym had obviously installed the newer model. That was the model the plaintiff was using when he'd allegedly been injured. But his claims of how the injury occurred were similar to the problems with the recalled machine. So, what did that mean? Was the FitnessMaster2000 as problematic as its predecessor? Or was it just coincidence?

It was reassuring to know that Flex hadn't been operating with a recalled machine. There'd be no hope for Mary Ann's case then. But I wasn't yet sure how this information helped me. I still didn't know if the FitnessMaster2000 was faulty, but if it was a manufacturing issue, as it had been with the original model, surely other gyms would have complaints.

I'd have to make some calls. A lot of them.

"What's this all about, Ellis?" Andy asked, sounding concerned. "Did you know the person injured?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just…a line of inquiry for a case study we're doing at law school."

It seemed wiser not to mention it was an active case. I didn't want to break the legal privilege of confidentiality.

"Ahh." He nodded. "How is that going anyway? You going to become a hotshot lawyer and leave us all behind?"

I laughed. "I love it, but I'll never leave you entirely. I'm way too addicted to the rush of endorphins."

He chuckled. "Aren't we all?"

I checked the time and winced. "Speaking of law school, I gotta go. Thanks again, Andy!"

I ducked out of the office and took the quickest shower possible before changing into slacks and a polo. I'd already learned that working on Callahan's case was not an excuse that would fly with my other professors.

I'd just have to squeeze in those calls between classes and hope that something gave me a lead that would help Mary Ann's case.