Man at Work Read Online Free PDF Page A

“I don’t have the energy to
whip your ass.” Phil bent over, palms on knees as his labored
breathing filled the air. “How do you manage to run Sampson’s,
cheat at racquetball, and teach all those classes?”
    Gabe grinned and wiped beads of sweat from
his upper lip. “You should have seen this little old lady in my
class earlier this week. She had more energy than you. She was
feisty and blue-haired. Kept all of us on our toes.”
    Phil reached for a towel and mopped the
sweat from his brow. “I hope when I get that old, I have a woman
like that by my side who can keep up with me.”
    “ You’re too busy catting
around. Besides, you know there are no old freaks out
there.”
    “ Hello? I’m dating one
now.”
    “ Hah hah! You and your
cougars.”
    “ Don’t knock it ‘till you
try it.”
    “ No thanks.” Gabe dropped
his racquet into his gym bag. “I’ll let you do all the research. I
prefer a woman I have something in common with.”
    “ I have lots in common
with Louise.”
    “ Ugh, even her name sounds
old.”
    Phil chuckled. “I’m an equal opportunity
lover.”
    “ At least tell me you’re
getting your senior citizen discount.”
    “ Hey, don’t blame me if
you’ve dropped out of the dating game.” Phil slung his designer gym
bag over his shoulder. From his brand name shorts to his expensive
sneakers, Phil was always dressed to impress.
    “ I haven’t dropped out,”
Gabe defended. “I just haven’t found a woman worth my
time.”
    “ C’mon man, you’ve got
plenty of females throwing themselves at you. You don’t have to
find time—they’re worse than termites crawling out the
woodwork.”
    Gabe was quiet as he walked toward the
locker room. What Phil said was true. He hadn’t found the right
woman, but women had no problem finding him. It was so bad that he
couldn’t walk through the store now without the cashiers ogling
him. Some were coy, managing to coincidentally be around whenever
he was conducting class. Others boldly gave him ‘the look.’ It was
the same look that had been getting men in trouble since the dawn
of time. Even if he was stupid enough to mix business with
pleasure, he couldn’t risk being slapped with a sexual harassment
suit if things went wrong. He’d worked too hard to build the
reputation of Sampson’s.
    “ I’m beginning to think
you’ll never meet a woman worth your time,” Phil continued. “Other
than your casual flings, you haven’t shown interest in anyone in
years.”
    “ Maybe the ones I’m
interested in aren’t interested in me.”
    “ Bullshit!” Phil stopped
in front of a wood grain locker, and dropped his bag on a nearby
bench. “What woman have you been lusting after that hasn’t returned
the attention?”
    Gabe shrugged, punching in the code to his
locker combination. “I haven’t exactly been lusting after her.”
    That was a lie. Ever since he’d brushed up
against Candace in class the other day, and ended up with a
hard-on, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. His body had never
craved a woman so bad. She’d lit a slow burning fuse that refused
to be extinguished.
    “ Well, give up the
details, man. Who is this mystery woman? Where’d you meet
her?”
    “ Her name is Candace
Jones. She signed up for one of my classes last week.”
    Phil sat on the bench and began removing his
sneakers. “That’s what I’m talking about. You don’t need to look
for women. They find you.”
    “ This is exactly why I
didn’t want to mention it.”
    “ No, it’s best you did.
What’s she like?”
    “ Gorgeous. Smart-mouthed.
Intelligent. Legs for days.”
    “ Just like you like ‘em.
This is actually very fortunate. Now, you can easily get in touch
with her.”
    Gabe pulled a valet bag with deodorant and
aftershave from his locker. “How?”
    Phil shook his head and stood up. “Man, you
really are rusty. She was in your class, right? You know we keep a
list of all the class attendees. They fill out a