Page 40 of Safe Hands

“You were about to.”

Paige smiled. “I think that’ll work.”

“It needs to,” Carly said. “We are closing for a week, and I have to keep members engaged. So yes to trying more video content. Yes to a relaunch event. And…” She hesitated. “I should probably give training a go. See if I can pull in some players.”

Jenna gave a small, satisfied fist pump. “That’s all I ask.”

“No, it isn’t. But it’s all you’re getting.” Carly lowered the laptop lid halfway. “This is for the gym. Do not make it anything else.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Carly smiled, but she didn’t believe Jenna for a second.

Nor, unfortunately, did she quite believe herself.

Football would be useful. The relaunch needed bodies through the door, local teams were the right market, and Jenna could fill a room faster than any advert Carly had written that week. The logic was sound. If anyone asked, Carly could defend the decision with numbers, strategy, and the kind of brisk confidence that usually ended a discussion.

None of that explained the small, inconvenient pull in her chest when she looked again at the frozen image of Lauren on Paige’s laptop: no smirk, just certainty in her hands and voice.

Carly closed the laptop the rest of the way.

“Send me the training details,” she said to Jenna. “And don’t be late for the relaunch planning call.”

“Bossy,” Jenna said, looking delighted.

“Efficient,” Carly corrected.

But when Jenna laughed and Paige started gathering her things, Carly stayed where she was, one hand resting on the closed lid.

15

Lauren

“Alright, just take a breath for me.”

Lauren kept her voice calm and even as she eased pressure through her client’s shoulder, feeling for the tight band of muscle she’d been working on for the last ten minutes.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Perfect. You’ll probably feel this tomorrow, but it’s the good kind of pain. Means it’s done something useful.”

He laughed faintly. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“You can complain next session if it’s awful.” Lauren stepped back and wiped her hands on a towel. “But I think we’ve loosened most of it.”

He rolled his shoulder. “Yeah. That’s actually loads better.”

“Told you.”

She couldn’t help being a little proud.

As he sat up, Lauren moved around the room automatically, tidying as she went. Bottles back in place, paper stripped and replaced, everything reset for the next appointment. By the time he’d pulled his T-shirt back on and fished his wallet out of his gym bag, the room looked as it had before he arrived.

“Same time next week?” she asked.

“Definitely.” He paused at the door. “Cheers, Lauren.”

“You’re welcome.”