She loves it... but

The gym was mostly clean and smelling of new paint rather than male sweat. Kat and an Indian woman whose name turned out to be Usha were doing last minute cleanup when Rick arrived.

He introduced himself to Usha and surreptitiously checked her out. She was tiny and way more slender than he usually liked, but her face was stunning and her long hair gleamed black. She wore a sari that showed off a tiny waist with a pierced navel.

"We're not ready for a party," Kat told him when he showed her the flyer.

"Well, we're having one."

"I love parties." Usha had a charming accent and her face glowed with excitement at the idea. "And if it's ladies only, we can really have some fun."

"Ladies only plus Rick," Kat said.

"We can buy cheap wine and some cheese and crackers," Rick said. "They key thing is to have fun demos and to get them taking ownership."

"Tell you what, Rick," Usha said. "Kat and I will plan the party. You stick to marketing stuff."

Zing. Well, that put him in his place. Still, it sounded like Usha was on his side and they really needed the party.

"There's a slight problem," Kat said. "I don't know how to box."

That would be a problem except Rick had seen her fight. "It's like karate except you don't get to use your feet. I know a guy who fought in college. He can give you some pointers tomorrow and we can look to hire some serious woman's boxing coaches once we have some members enrolled. For tomorrow, just roll with it. The key is to make it look good. And if that means more karate and less standard boxing, I doubt many of the customers will know the difference."

"If you say so."

He did say so but only because he had to. It was too late to get cold feet or to try some other approach. It was this or fail and Rick was all done with failure.

"I have to head home," Kat said. "My asshole boyfriend is whining about me not spending enough time with him. He'll whine even more when I tell him I'm going to an all-girls party tomorrow and he's not invited."