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  Hot CEO

  An Enemies to Lovers Romance

  By: Charlize Starr

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One - Lucas

  Chapter Two - Samantha

  Chapter Three - Lucas

  Chapter Four -- Samantha

  Chapter Five - Lucas

  Chapter Six - Samantha

  Chapter Seven - Lucas

  Chapter Eight - Samantha

  Chapter Nine - Lucas

  Chapter Ten - Samantha

  Chapter Eleven - Lucas

  Chapter Twelve - Samantha

  Chapter Thirteen - Lucas

  Chapter Fourteen - Samantha

  Chapter Fifteen - Lucas

  Chapter Sixteen - Samantha

  Chapter Seventeen - Lucas

  Chapter Eighteen - Samantha

  Chapter Nineteen - Lucas

  Chapter Twenty - Samantha

  Chapter Twenty-One - Lucas

  Chapter Twenty-Two - Samantha

  Chapter Twenty-Three - Lucas

  Chapter Twenty-Four - Samantha

  Chapter Twenty-Five - Lucas

  Epilogue – Samantha

  Specially Selected Bonus Content

  The Football Star's Secret Baby

  Basketball Daddy

  Quarterback Daddy

  Played by the Rock Star

  Touchdown Daddy

  Daddy's Billionaire Friend

  The Rock Star's Baby

  Hungry Mountain Man

  Daddy's Business Friend

  The Rock Star's Pretend Girlfriend

  About Charlize Starr

  Selected Other Books by Charlize Starr

  Join the Heartbeat Reads Readers Club now if you want to receive 3 EXCLUSIVE hot contemporary romance short stories for FREE and get notifications of new releases and promotions.

  Chapter One - Lucas

  I always think the gym looks best this time of day. I’m biased, of course: it’s my gym. I built it from the ground up. Still, there is something about the sun creeping up through the windows as I wake my body up that appeals to me. Maybe it’s the way the bright light hits the machines, making them glisten, the weight racks slowly being lit up by the rising sun and the cardio machines reflecting the rays back out the huge front windows. I wanted windows like that on purpose. I wanted to make the space feel bigger and brighter than it already is.

  It’s early morning, just after 5:00, and I’ve got the place almost entirely to myself. Only a few other dedicated early risers are here with me. There’s a woman sweating on a nearby elliptical, typing into her cell phone as she does. There’s a man reading the newspaper on a stationary bike, an older guy in the corner lifting weights, and there’s me. I’ve always been an early riser, even before my days started keeping me busy enough that this time of day began feeling like the only window there is to have time to myself.

  This time of day, the gym is self-check-in. My desk staff’s shifts don’t start until 7:00, so the usual commotion at the front desk hasn’t started yet. My personal trainers set their own hours based on client needs but never start before 8:00. Paul, my general manager and close friend, is the only staff member in the building this early. He keeps it low-key before 8:00: the music is much softer than the heavy pumping bass that will come on later, the lights are a little dim, and all of the TVs are off. It feels like the gym is waking up, too – greeting the day.

  Of the two locations, this one, the original, is my favorite. I’m proud of the second location and visit it often, but my office is here and I find myself doing most of my personal workouts here. I wonder if that will change once my new, third location opens. I’m thrilled about the expansion and even more thrilled about the new location. It’s an ideal downtown spot: on the waterfront and close enough to the business district to be perfectly situated to catch the before- and after-work crowd. The building is an all-new development – my gym will take up most of the bottom floor, and luxury apartments will fill the rest.

  I’m thinking about buying one of the new apartments myself. My current apartment is fine, but the idea of having waterfront views out one window and views of the downtown skyline out the other – combined with state-of-the-art stainless steel appliances – is too good a package to turn down. Plus, I’d literally be on top of my newest location, which would really help me get it off the ground. I’m counting on it being my biggest opening yet.

  My second location has been such a success that my growing chain is getting national attention. I’ve been featured in magazines across the country, both fitness and financial. Last year, my gyms were ranked among the best conceptual and business models in the area. I was ranked as one of the most promising entrepreneurs under 35, and my gyms won several national-level fitness and health awareness awards. Our membership numbers keep climbing and climbing, and people seem really excited about there being a third location.

  I’m anticipating that the new location will bring in more clients than ever before. It should expand my revenue and my brand by huge amounts – something I’m really looking forward to.

  My treadmill beeps at me, signaling that the cooldown portion of my run is starting. I slow my pace, gulp some water, and take some deep breaths, planning out my day as I end my run.

  Across the gym, Paul waves to me, and I wave back. I need to run some numbers with him before I head back out. I have meetings with investors later this afternoon, but I think I want to head over to the site of my third location before that. I’ve already met with the realty company in charge of the new apartments, but I want to walk around the neighborhood itself and get a feel for it. I’d like to see what else is nearby – what shops and businesses are on the surrounding blocks and what my potential new neighbors are like.

  I step off the treadmill and wipe it down before heading to the showers. The sun is even brighter in the sky now, making the gym seem more vibrant and more awake. To my left, the woman who had been on the elliptical heads off to the sauna room and the older guy re-racks his weights and moves to start cardio on one of our new intense stair-climber machines.

  After my shower, I head back to the offices and find Paul again. He’s writing today’s training appointments on the large whiteboard in the personal training suite, and I grin at how packed the schedule is. There’s a waiting list to get time with my personal trainers. It’s been full for months.

  “Looks busy today,” I say, glancing at the board.

  Paul turns around and grins at me. “Every day,” he says.

  Paul and I have been friends since college. We were both business majors with a passion for fitness and athletics. I had a full scholarship for track and field, and Paul had been on the baseball team. We’d started a campus intramural sports program together and it was so successful that it still runs today, more than ten years later.

  “That’s what I like to see,” I say.

  “Looking good out there this morning?” Paul asks, nodding toward the main floor of the gym.

  “Looking great,” I say. “How much longer are you staying today?”

  “I’m heading out around nine, and Victoria’s in after that. Why?” Paul asks. Victoria is one of my assistant managers. She’s a fairly recent hire, and my clients and staff all really like her.

  “I wanted to go over some budget things before we b
oth head out,” I say.

  “No problem,” Paul says, nodding. “Just let me just finish this up.”

  “Is Molly getting the kids off to school today, then?” I ask. Molly is Paul’s wife. We were all friends in college, and Paul and Molly started dating in junior year. They got married a few months after graduation and have three kids – all girls.

  “Yeah, I’m on pickup duty today,” Paul says, laughing. He tells me all about his youngest daughter’s upcoming play as he finishes the board.

  The budget looks great when we go over it. Payroll came in under budget and our membership numbers have jumped again. Even with the funds going to the new location, we’re well ahead of where we were last year at this time.

  I’m feeling pleased and confident as I head out and get in my car to drive over to the new location. This is going to be our best year ever as a business, and I can’t wait to jump in and get our new club up and running.

  Chapter Two - Samantha

  Ava Marie spins on her heels in front of the class, demonstrating her dance moves for the rest of the group. At ten, she’s the oldest and most experienced kid in class today, so I’ve dubbed her my assistant for the morning. I grin as I watch her. She’s a little wobbly on the spin, but the determination her face makes it look pretty close to perfect to me.

  I don’t normally teach my own classes anymore – I have my hands full enough with keeping this place afloat. I’m teaching three sessions today, though. My regular children’s instructor, Julia, is out for the day with the flu, in which case I always substitute. Honestly, it makes for a nice break. I have an unhappy budget to reconcile sitting on my desk, an unfriendly letter from the landlord about a rent, a meeting I need to schedule, and a dozen other things I have to sort by the end of the week. I’d much rather lead classes. It’s a lot less stressful and it puts me in a much better mood.

  Leading this morning session of the children’s flexibility and movement class makes me remember why I started my fitness center in the first place. The group is high-energy, with a lot of chatting between moves and making silly faces in the mirror as we go along. It’s nice to get my morning going this way. Typically, I get in my own workouts later in the day, jumping in on classes or putting music on for my own dance routines after the center has cleared out for the day.

  “You can do it, Meagan!” Ava Marie says, walking through the class and encouraging the other kids.

  I smile again, watching her. “Alright, one more sequence and then we’ll start cool-down, everybody!” I call out. I demonstrate the sequence slowly, counting out the beats as I do. My muscles stretch out as I move, and I wince a bit. They’re a little tighter than I’d like them to be. It’s from all the stress lately, I’m sure.

  The kids follow my lead through the last sequence, their footsteps heavy on the wooden floor. I can hear several of them counting to themselves or saying moves out loud as they go. I watch them finish, then turn the music down so we can cool down.

  “Ava Marie, can you get the lights?” I ask. She nods and bounds over to turn the lights down to the dim setting we use for cool-downs.

  “Can we do the Mozart one, Miss Samantha?” Benjamin asks.

  “We sure can. Everybody go ahead and sit down while I put it on, okay?” I switch the upbeat CD in the old player for the classical music one. Julia has track 9 highlighted and starred on the back, and I’ve heard her play it for the kids at the end of class before. I put it on and turn back around to lead cooldown breathing.

  “Yeah!” Benjamin says in a whisper, beaming when the music starts.

  I lead the class through several minutes of deep breathing and relaxing cool-down time, feeling like it will do me as much good as it does them. When we’re done, parents have started to line up at the door. Ava Marie turns the lights back on as the kids start to pack up. They talk amongst themselves as they pack, shouting goodbyes to me as they go. I walk over towards the door to make sure they all meet up with an appropriate adult.

  “How much are you teaching today? I’ve got Zumba at 3:00. Will I be seeing you?” Meagan’s grandfather, Richard, asks me.

  I shake my head. “Just Julia’s classes, so unless you’re taking school-time yoga or the kids’ dance workshop today, you won’t have me,” I say, laughing. He smiles. Meagan’s family members are some of my best clients. They only live a few blocks away, and they come down all the time for a variety of classes for various age groups.

  “Ah, well. Marc’s great, but I always enjoy it when you teach,” Richard says.

  “I’m sure I’ll be in there sometime soon. It is almost flu season,” I say. I’m always busiest that time of year – not because we have more classes but because my staff is out more often, putting more on my plate to cover.

  “Are you doing flu shots here again this year?” Richard asks as Meagan slides up beside him, bag packed and a juice box in hand.

  “I’m still trying to finalize that,” I say. It’s one of the things I need to get squared away this week. I’ve got calls out to several local clinics to try to get it arranged. “I’m really hoping to. I should have information about it soon.”

  “Sounds good!” Richard says. I say goodbye to him and Meagan as well as the other students and their families before they leave. I start cleaning up the room a little, noting that it could probably stand to be swept quickly before the next session.

  “Hey, Sam?” a voice says, startling me. I look up to see Marc walking into the room.

  “What’s up?” I ask. Marc is new in the city. He’s only lived here for about a year, but he fits right in with the neighborhood and my staff.

  “I just heard something in line for coffee this morning I thought you’d want to hear,” he says, picking up an abandoned water bottle as he talks. Something in the tone of his voice worries me.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  “That new apartment complex they’re building across the street? I heard there’s one of those gyms – Invigorate, or whatever they’re called – being built on the lower level,” Marc says.

  I groan. Perfect. “Oh, no. Really?” I ask, picturing the sprawling and sparkling Invigoration Club I pass on the highway sometimes.

  “Apparently,” Marc says, shaking his head. I sigh.

  Suddenly, my looming meeting with the landlord seems even more daunting.

  Chapter Three - Lucas

  I realize that the building is going to be spectacular when it’s done as I walk the grounds of the development. Large windows line every floor, catching the light and making the building reflect off the water. There’s landscaping occurring on the grounds as well, creating patches of shade and color. The whole effect is bright and colorful. It will be perfect for a gym. For my gym.

  Next to the complex, several other new developments are springing up. The beginnings of a store of some sort is being built so close to the water’s edge it almost looks as if it could fall in. Just past that, there is land marked off for a coming project. The development of this whole stretch of waterfront land is new. It’s been cleaned up in recent years, changed from what was once the site of a rundown factory in a bustling up-and-coming neighborhood.

  I walk to a coffee shop just a few doors down from the building that will soon house my gym and hopefully apartment too. It’s busy, and many of the people in line seem to know each other, chatting about their days as they wait. People sit at the scattered tables, some on laptops, some reading, some sitting and talking. It smells amazing, and I think that if the coffee tastes as rich and full as it smells, this could easily become a new favorite spot of mine.

  The menu board offers a variety of coffee drinks at cheap prices as well as delicious-sounding types of sandwiches and pastries. I buy a large coffee with steamed milk and a house-made granola bar when I get up to the counter. There aren’t any available tables, so I decide to walk the neighborhood some more with my coffee.

  The first sips prove the coffee does, in fact, taste as good as it smells. I grin, taki
ng another sip. I take a bite of the granola bar, which is also excellent. I wonder if they’d be interested in doing any cross-promotion with me once the gym is in. Homemade healthy treats like these would be a hit with my clients, and I’ve found that good coffee is always a hit with pretty much everybody.

  I make a mental note to look them up when I get back to my office later. I continue my walk around the neighborhood, taking in the mix of shops and businesses. Some are small, local independent stores and others are recognizable chains, which gives it an eclectic, bustling vibe. Every business I pass looks busy, making me even more sure this will be the perfect neighborhood for my third location. There is a lot of good energy happening here, and I very much want to become a part of it.

  I circle back around toward the development and notice a building across the street I haven’t before. It’s an older building, and the sign over the front door reads Lakeview Community Fitness Center. I frown. My real estate agent hadn’t mentioned there was competition in the neighborhood, let alone right across the street.

  From the looks of the place, it’s clearly older than the revitalization efforts in the area. I’m not sure why my agent wouldn’t have mentioned this. My neighborhood research is typically really thorough. Maybe it’s a children’s gym, or maybe they specialize in seniors. Neither age group is really my demographic, although we’ve been getting more and more kids in at our second location. I’ve been thinking of putting in rooms with smaller-sized equipment for kids at my locations going forward. Still, any similar business in the neighborhood feels like something I should really know about.

  I toss the paper from my bar in a nearby trash can and take another long sip of my coffee before deciding to go in and check the place out. If there’s going to be competition for our new location, I need to know what I’m up against.