Trained by Daddy

By Ava Sinclair

For Lila Corbett, the decision to finally join a gym isn't an easy one.

She wants to find just the right environment where she'll feel comfortable as a plus size woman. While Excel Fitness doesn't offer the same amenities as other area gyms, it has something else - a handsome owner who takes a special interest in Lila. And if that weren't enough, his nickname to the patrons - Gym Daddy - makes her inner submissive tingle with forbidden excitement.

While Gabe Hampton spends his day surrounded by hardbodies, his preference is for curvy women and his attraction to Lila is immediate and intense.

A string of bad relationships have left Lila afraid to trust men, but Gabe Hampton is awfully hard to resist and before she knows it, he's giving her very private and personal training. But can she let herself believe him when he tells her he wants to be more than just her Gym Daddy?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pandora's Box Publishing
• Release date: Aug 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223725961

Ava Sinclair

USA Today bestselling author Ava Sinclair has been penning steamy romance for over twenty years, infusing sensual heat into captivating stories that also offer world building, relatable characters, and believable plots to the reader. She lives in on a farm in the Virginia foothill country. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, catering to her cats, and tending her small flock of wool sheep and dairy goats.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Lila

What was I thinking ? This isn’t for me.

I’m staring at a rack of barbells in graduated weights from two pounds up to fifty pounds. I’d had my first misgivings at the gym’s front desk, where I’d redeemed my online coupon for a free fitness assessment and workout. Maybe it had been my imagination, but I’d gotten the impression that the receptionist was already judging me, and I’d felt compelled to apologize for being so out of shape.

It’s been awhile since I’ve exercised, I said. I mean, I bike a little, but...

Don’t worry about it. The receptionist has smiled as she cut me off. Everybody has to start somewhere. Then she’d directed me here to wait for an available trainer.

Excuse me. A woman breezes past me and picks up two twenty-five-pound dumbbells. Her bare, muscular arms are shiny with sweat. I turn to stare as she walks away. Is there such a thing as ass envy? I would love to look like that, but it doesn’t seem possible. She has buns of steel. I have buns of... foam.

I turn my attention back to the barbell rack just as a man walks into the weight room. Forget about staring at the beautiful woman. He has to be the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen. He’s at least 6’2, tanned and sports a close-cropped beard as dark as his thick hair. The t-shirt he’s wearing is emblazoned with the gym logo; the fabric adheres to the well-defined muscles of his broad chest. He looks fierce. Okay. So maybe I will stay.

The woman with the steel buns smiles and calls to him. Hey, Daddy!

I glance at her and then at him. She looks to be about twenty-one. He looks to be in his mid-thirties, just a little older than me.

Hey, Casey, he says to the woman.

How’s it going, Daddy? Another woman walks in and waves.

I’m wondering what’s up with this Daddy stuff when the man spots me. He smiles and I feel a little like sinking into the floor. God, I hope I’m not drooling. Between his looks and the way women are calling him daddy...

He’s coming this way. I try to act cool and affect what looks like a casual stance as I suck my stomach in as tight as I can. He offers me his hand.

Hi, I’m Gabe Hampton.

I return his handshake, watching as his huge, hard hand engulfs my small, soft one.

Sorry about the callouses, he says. His handshake is gentle. Side effect of lifting. You’ll find out.

I will? I look up at him, puzzled.

Sure you will. Gradual lifting is a great way to build strength and muscle tone. We do other things here, but this gym is best known for its weight program.

Hey, Daddy. How’s it going? This time the speaker is a young man who claps Gabe on the back as he walks by. He gives the younger man a playful punch in the shoulder, and I must look confused because he chuckles.

I should probably explain, he says. No, these aren’t my kids. I’m the owner and lead trainer here. I run a pretty demanding program and a couple of years ago, somebody started calling me Gym Daddy since Excel Fitness is kind of like my baby. It sort of stuck. He turns around and there it is - GYM DADDY - printed in all caps across a back any woman would kill to rake her nails across.

When he turns around again, I hope to god he doesn’t see the flush I can feel in my face. What would Gabe Hampton think if he knew the Kindle in my tote bag is full of daddy kink books?

What would he think if he knew I wrote them?

So, how about a walk through before we do your assessment. I want to show you where you’ll be working out. He claps his hands together with the confidence of a man who believes he’s already made a sale. I jump a little at the sound and fret that the wetness forming between my legs will seep through the sweat pants I’m wearing.

Um, yeah? I say.

First things first, though. What’s your name?

Delilah. But my friends call me Lila.

Then that’s what I’ll call you. His blue eyes crinkle at the edges as he smiles. It’s a genuine, friendly smile. Come on, Lila.

He turns away and I follow, trying not to look at the words on the back of his shirt. GYM DADDY. Good lord. My head is already swimming with story plots I have no business entertaining. I have author friends who base stories on real life people. I have a hard and fast rule not to do that, but if there were ever a man who could fit right into a Daddy book, it’s Gabe Hampton.

It’s a nice gym and it’s clear that he enjoys showing it off. There’s pride in his voice as he guides me through a facility that reflects an efficient, Spartan style. I’ve been gym shopping and have checked out quite a few. Some of the others gyms had juice bars and saunas. One even had a boutique selling cute but over-priced workout clothes, all in sizes way smaller than I could squeeze into. Excel Fitness has multiple rooms, each designated to a discipline. There’s the weight room, with hand weights, barbells, and racks. There’s a room for cardio workouts, which Gabe explains are a great balance to lifting days. Here, jump ropes hang from pegs by the door and a row of stationary bikes sit across from a bank of rowing machines.

Assault bikes, Gabe says, motions to where several sweaty people pedaling away. The bikes have huge fans where the front tires. The breeze they generate is strong enough to ruffle my hair.

Assault bikes, I repeat. Sounds needlessly aggressive.

Gabe laughs at this and I’m pleased to have said something he seems to think is clever.

The next room is the largest yet, running the length of the building. It contains an obstacle course with tires, beams, rappelling walls, and rope ladders. Gabe tells me that that obstacle competitions like Warrior and Tough Mudders have become popular, and this room is a favorite with members who want to train for those challenging events. I nod, impressed, as two men navigate the ladders in a race to the finish.

This is new, Gabe says pointing to the wall behind us.

I stare up in amazement at