“Damn, you’re pretty good at that. That’s exactly what I was going to say, because both are true.”

He was shaking his head. “Either of those would be good excuses if you were still my fitness instructor, or if we would be living under the same roof. Since we already established that you’ll stay in the pool house, and since you fired me as a client, none of that matters.”

“I did not fire you. We agreed to terminate our working relationship.” She paused, then asked, “You would really let me stay in your pool house? Rent-free?”

“Hell no. You have to cough up some cash if you want to stay here. Of course, rent-free.” He didn’t even give her a chance to call him a smart-ass this time. “It would make up for you not allowing me to cover your hospital bill.”

“Except that you did pay it,” Taylor pointed out.

“It would make up for the grief you gave me over covering your hospital bill,” he amended.

She rolled her eyes at his attempt to be sarcastic.

Taylor knew she should be grateful for his offer. She was grateful. Extremely grateful, especially if it meant she could pocket the money the property management was providing for lodging. But Taylor also knew she would be remiss if she didn’t point out the staggeringly obvious elephant in the room.

“Jamar, have you thought about the…uh…complications that could…” She was about to say arise, but that probably wasn’t the best word to use in this particular conversation. Come was even worse. “That could occur if the two of us live so close to each other?”

“I only thought about that after I’d already asked you,” he admitted. “Look, I know ignoring this…this attraction between us may be difficult, but I can control myself.”

“Yay for you,” she muttered. “Maybe you can teach me how to do it.”

She felt his deep chuckle through the phone. It sent a tingle through parts of her body that had no business getting tingly.

“I think we can both control ourselves enough to make this work,” Jamar said. “And think about it this way. You staying here makes it easier to pull off the idea that we’re dating. Maybe the Instacouples crowd will report that we’re getting serious.”

“Oh, my parents will just love to hear that I’ve moved in with a man after dating him for less than a month.”

“Do your parents know about us? I mean the part about us dating? Supposedly dating?”

“I assume they do, even though neither have asked me about it. My niece texted me one of the videos of us that’s been circulating.”

He hesitated a moment before asking, “Do you want to tell them the truth?”

“Would you be okay with that?”

“Maybe. I guess. Just ask them not to say anything if TMZ comes calling.”