Her aerobic capacity was up. Her upper-body strength had already improved. She’d obviously lost weight. She was handling the nutrition plan well and had been sticking with daily journaling, short-term goal setting, and counseling. He’d done a boatload of research on cardio training and muscle toning for women, along with the newest motivation strategies. He’d picked the brains of a couple of his friends now in sports medicine. He’d even taped a few episodes of Dr. Phil.

“We’re doing five days on, one light day, and one rest day. She has access to me round the clock.”

“Oooh. Every girl’s dream,” Lola cooed.

Tyson stared at Theo, his head cocked to the side, his dark eyes quite wide. “One hundred pounds, though, man. I still say better you than me.”

Ramona closed the meeting, sending the trainers out into the gym, but stopped Theo at the door.

“Got a minute?”

He leaned on the table edge and crossed his arms over his chest. “Absolutely.”

Ramona smiled at him. “You know, you’re the best trainer I have and the only one I could have trusted with this. I wanted to tell you I appreciate how hard you’re working.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

“Look, Theo. I realize you’ve got your sights set higher than the Palm Club. I knew that when I hired you three years ago.” Ramona’s warm brown eyes crinkled with her smile. “You’re going to handle Lucy and all the media attention beautifully. And I know that when it’s over and you’ve got your money, you’ll leave here and finish med school. How close am I to being right?”

Theo let go with a laugh. Ramona was so easy to work for that he sometimes found himself thinking of her as more a friend than a boss. But at her core, she was a shrewd businesswoman. When she held out that one-hundred-thousand-dollar bonus as bait, she knew he’d bite, and she even knew why.