“Ella, I can’t say this enough. I’m so sorry. I feel like a total asshole for having treated you like that last night. I’m really not like—”
“Look,” she said in a stern voice as she walked into her room. “I’m gonna be honest with you, okay? My gut told me maybe I shouldn’t be looking through your photos. I should’ve gone with it. But I gave into my curiosity instead. So you reacted like you did. We’ve all said or done things in the heat of the moment we maybe later regret a little.”
He was quiet for moment. “Please tell me that giving into your curiosity about seeing those photos is the only thing you regret about last night.”
“Well . . .”
“Well, what?”
There was that harsh tone again, the same one he’d used when he’d walked in on her looking at his photos. So she spoke quickly. “I don’t regret what happened in the library, but maybe I do regret being so eager and willing.” She felt her face warm and turned to make sure her door was closed, lowering her voice. “I mean”—she laughed nervously—“where was my modesty?”
“Are you kidding me?” His harsh tone was a much more amused one now. “That was the best part. I would’ve never expected that from you. You can’t take that back now. I loved it!” He laughed nervously now too. “All right, I need to stop thinking about it. I’m about to leave, and I’ll be in pain the whole drive if I don’t.”
Her face went even hotter, but she loved that he was so comfortable talking to her this way even if it did turn her insides on fire. She’d let him in on the fact that he wouldn’t be the only one in pain since she was still a little sore herself, but she wasn’t quite there yet with being so comfortable talking about this as he was.
Felix told her about where he had to be that day. They were finalizing the contract for his rematch with Grecco. “You’ll be at the gym tonight?”
“Until four,” she said, already excited about seeing him again.
“Shit. I’m busy all day. As soon as this is a done deal, I got all kinds of meetings with my agent, the promoters, and my publicist. I won’t be free until later in the evening. Maybe I can pick you up at your place when I’m all done?”
“Okay,” she said, keeping her voice from sounding as dreadful as she felt.
Ella had already opened her big mouth more than once about her dad being a huge fan. When Memo had come down to the gym and she introduced them, it was one of the things he’d gone on and on about. Felix would likely offer to come inside—meet her dad. Ella still hadn’t even told her dad she was friends with Felix much less seeing him. She didn’t want Felix to know that, even though she’d decided to go ahead with this, a very small part of her still had her doubts it would truly work out in the long run. With this being such a high-profile relationship, things could get hairy if anything went wrong. Her dad had bigger issues he needed to focus on right now. She didn’t need to add any more anxiety that might make those issues worse. She’d planned on talking to Felix about it last night and asking him if he’d be okay if they kept things as hushed as possible at least for a while. But then things ended the way they had.
When she got off the phone with him, she immediately called Carmen. She quickly managed to switch with her, and now she’d be going in for the last class of the night. Next she called her brother. She couldn’t believe this might really happen, but she knew her brother would only reaffirm that this was the right thing to do and he did. Once she got off the phone with Memo, she walked out of her room and into the back room where her dad slept now and had been sleeping for years.
After thoroughly checking his wound, asking how he was feeling and if he’d taken his meds, she got right to it. “Remember that Cold Duck cruise Grayson told us about?”
Her father looked at her strangely, obviously not expecting such a drastic change in subject, but he nodded. Ella smiled. “Remember they were sold out? He got extra tickets for it.”
“Oh yeah? When is it?”
“Next week. It’s a three-day thing. His cousin needs to unload the extra tickets or he’ll get stuck with them. Grayson remembered you wanted to go, so he came by to tell me.” She smiled bigger. “We can go together. I think it’ll be fun.”
Ella reminded herself that everyone was in agreement that this was the right thing to do. She would not feel guilty about sitting here smiling sweetly at him as his eyes brightened a bit. Last night could’ve been so much worse, and he’d agreed things needed to change.
“Let me think about it. I wasn’t planning on a vacation and next week—”
“No, Daddy, if you wait, the tickets might be gone,” she said suddenly, even more determined now that this would happen. “And this isn’t a vacation. It’s only three days. Grayson said it was very casual. You don’t need to buy anything special. Just dress comfortably.” Before he could come up with any other excuses, she stood up. “I wanna go. I’m telling him yes.”
“But wait—”
She gave him a warning look. “We haven’t gotten away and done anything like this in forever.”
They really hadn’t, not since her mother had gotten sick. That seemed to quiet him and he nodded. “Is Memo going?”
She smiled, liking where this was going. “I’ll ask Grayson how many tickets he has and then check with Memo to see if he can go.”
Her call to Grayson went on a lot longer than she’d anticipated. There was far more strategizing about how this would be done than she’d first thought. She’d also likely have to see Grayson a few more times before then to make sure they got everything straight. But at least this would finally be taken care of.
With thoughts of her dad and the cruise finally settled, she got in the shower and thought of what she really wanted to think about: her new boyfriend, the incredibly sexy famous boxer—Felix Sanchez. It still felt too good to be true.
Chapter 15
Felix
The text came in the middle of his meeting with Rene and the promoters. Carmen had asked Ella to trade hours with her, so Ella would now be working until closing at the gym. She asked him to just meet her there instead of her place. Not sure if he’d be there in time, he texted her back, asking for her address just in case.
She never responded.
He’d almost forgotten about it until he wrapped up his last meeting of the day with Adelina.
“Are you doing anything tonight to celebrate the contract being final?”
Not since Ella had begun to consume his every thought and he’d begun spending every night on the phone with her had he been with Adelina again. Her lashes draped over her eyes in slow motion as she smiled at him sinfully. They both stood up at the same time. In his other life—the one before Ella—he might’ve made the most of that conference room table. She’d since mentioned that they were the last two in the office. She’d even asked him if he minded waiting for her when they were done so they could walk out together.
The only things he could think of now were what time it was and if he’d make it to 5th Street before Ella’s last class was over.
“I’m free if you wanna go celebrate with a few drinks,” she said, licking her lips then added. “Or any other way.”
“Actually, I’m not,” he said, looking down at his phone to check the time and see if Ella had responded with her address. “I’m meeting someone but thanks.”
Deciding to keep it to himself for now, he didn’t elaborate further. Adelina would find out soon enough about Ella. Everyone would.
After walking her out, he thought about calling Ella, but he had plenty of time to get to 5th Street, and she was probably busy with her class. So he hurried to get there instead. Felix had some major ass-kissing to do because he didn’t care what she said. He’d been in the wrong, and he couldn’t wait to show her how sorry he was and make up for it.
He walked in just as Gio and Hector walked out.
“Why are you here so late?” Gio asked.
Hector laughed, answering Gio before Felix could. “Why do you th
ink?”
“That’s right.” Gio said, his eyes going wide. “Abel and Noah said formal training starts soon.”
“Real soon,” Felix said. “Like next week and Noah is saying he wants to start the boot camp part of it in Big Bear, not here. I’m a little out of shape, man. And that guy’s gonna kick my ass up there, but I gotta do it.”
“I gotta start clearing my schedule then, brother.” Gio smiled. “Noah wants me up there too. We’ll both be kicking your ass in Big Bear.”
Felix groaned but laughed. “I already told him I want to do most of the training down here. I just got done talking to my publicist and told her to keep all the promoting on the west coast during my training. Since that means Hollywood, there’s no sense in going up and down that mountain, interrupting days of training, when it’s right around the corner from 5th Street.”
“And Ella,” Hector said, giving him a knowing look.
“That too.” Felix admitted with a shrug. “Speaking of, she’s still here, right?”
“I saw her out here earlier talking to some cop,” Gio said. “But I don’t know if she left.”
Felix’s attention was immediately piqued. “A cop?”
“Yeah, the same guy who always comes and talks to her,” Hector said, raising a brow. “But she’s up there now. I saw her earlier.” He jingled his keys at them. “I gotta go. Charlee’s craving corn on the cob.”
Felix smirked, waving him off, and then turned to Gio. “Was she out here long?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Gio said, pulling his own keys out of his pocket. “It’s just the only time I saw her today. But it was only for a couple of minutes when I stepped outside to take a call.”
Gio had to go too, and Felix made his way into the gym, getting stopped several times by trainers and starry-eyed gym members on his way to the back where Ella’s class was. He took a deep breath before walking in quietly to the class. A few heads turned, but they were in the middle of the yelling and fighting off the guys in padded suits. His eyes met with Ella’s and she smiled.
All the irritation he’d begun to feel about her having been out there talking to Grayson again disappeared instantly. How he ever thought this girl anything less than exquisite was beyond him. She was the same girl he met that first night with the same ponytail, wearing the same kind of simple cotton T-shirt and yoga pants like the ones she’d worn that first day he’d laid eyes on her. Yet she was a breathtaking sight now. She walked over to him, and the moment she reached him he reached out for her, pulling her by her delicate waist with one hand, and kissed her deeply.
For a moment, he forgot where he was. No one else existed but the two of them. He kissed her long, unable to get enough until she pulled away wide-eyed but smiling.
“Felix,” she whispered, licking her lips, then looked around casually—nervously.
All right, so there were a lot more eyes on them now. He didn’t give a shit, but he didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable. So he settled for a hug instead of kissing her again like he wanted to, squeezing her tightly. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he whispered in her ear.
Again she pulled away gently but slipped her hand in his then started toward the door, very obviously avoiding looking back at anyone in the room. When they were out in the hall, she turned to him with a twinkle in her eye but still very surprised. “What was that?”
“That was hello.” He smirked. “Why? Did that bother you?”
“No,” she said quickly. “But I was gonna talk to you about this last night until . . .”
It was enough to wipe the smirk off his face. “Baby, I’m so sorry—”
“Stop,” she said quickly. “We’ve been over this already. There’s no need to apologize. That’s not why I brought it up. I was just gonna say I didn’t get a chance to tell you that I think we should keep this under wraps just for a little bit. I don’t want things to get crazy too fast.”
He searched her eyes for a moment, and before he could think of a better way to ask, the words blurted out. “Did Grayson come see you today?”
“He did,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
“Why?”
Her eyes suddenly twinkled, confusing him. “My dad and I are going on a cruise next week. It’s called the Cold Duck cruise because this local band he likes does it every year and they’re the entertainment the whole cruise. Grayson is the one who told us about it because his cousins have been doing the cruise for a few years.” She wrinkled her nose, distracting him momentarily from his irritating thoughts of Grayson still being such a part of her life. “It’s kind of an older crowd, I guess, my dad’s age. Grayson’s never been on it because it’s not his thing, but when he heard my dad was into Cold Duck, he told him all about the cruise and what his cousins had told him. My dad was instantly interested. But this year’s was sold out. Last night Grayson let me know his cousin has extra tickets he’s trying to sell, and I told my dad. So we’re going.”
“Last night?”
Her expression fell a little. “Yeah, he was there when I got home.” She paused, breaking the eye contact for a moment. “He said he was in the area when the earthquake hit and he stopped by to check if we were okay. My dad called out for help when he heard Grayson at the door. If Grayson hadn’t been there when he did . . .” She shook her head and their eyes met again. “Anyway”—she sighed—“it didn’t look life threatening or anything, but it was a pretty bad gash and was bleeding a lot. Grayson took us to the emergency room in his squad car so we could get there faster then picked us up later when he was off duty. But he mentioned the tickets, and I told him I’d talk to my dad about it, so he came by earlier to see what my dad had said.”
Felix was trying real hard not to focus on the negative. The guy had helped out his girl in a time of need. Felix should be thankful to him. But just last night she’d said Grayson would likely think it awkward to show up at the gym to visit, knowing her boyfriend was there. So now because he helped her out he’s back to showing up here already? He couldn’t have just texted her to ask? And another thing . . . He clenched his jaw in an attempt to cool his rapidly heating insides. “He went back to your place last night?”
She nodded. “Yeah, we didn’t have a car at the hospital since he dropped us off but had to leave. He was on duty at the time, and they were flooded with earthquake-related calls, but he was almost off, so he said he’d be back to pick us up.”
“Ella,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I don’t wanna sound ungrateful to this guy. He helped you out last night, but you said it yourself he’s a persistent one. He knows you’re with me now, right?” She nodded immediately. “Is he still gonna be showing up here all the time?”
She shook her head, but he saw the flicker in her eye. Even she wasn’t sure if he was or not. The worst thing was starting next week Felix would be gone. A lot. He didn’t want to have to be dealing with this shit especially now when he was supposed to be focusing on training. So he needed to get something straight.
He cradled her face gently, hoping this wouldn’t come out wrong and kissed her first. “I don’t want you to think that, like Grayson, because of last night I’m changing, okay? It’s not about that at all. But this guy is your ex, a very recent ex, one who I’m certain still has feelings for you. It makes me”—he took a deep breath—“uncomfortable to know you and him are still this close.” Her eyes widened a little, so he went on before she’d interrupt him. “I know you’re just trying to stay amicable and all, and I trust you, but I don’t trust him. He could’ve texted you today. He didn’t have to show up here.”
To his relief, she nodded in agreement. “I know,” she said. “He said he was in the area, but this is his area to patrol, so he’ll always be close by, and I’m not trying to stay that amicable with him. I’ll have to talk to him again soon about the cruise tickets because I have to pay him for them. When I do, I will bring this up. I just hesitated today when he texted me to say he was outside because of last nig
ht. I didn’t want it to sound as if I’m saying, ‘I don’t want you showing up unannounced unless you think I might need you,’ because what if he hadn’t last night. You know?”
She gave him a pleading please-understand-and-don’t-be-mad look. Felix smiled. How in the world could he be mad at her ever? He smiled, kissing her softly.
The class started to let out behind them, and Felix pulled his hands away from her face. Ella said goodbye to all of them. They walked back into the room. Felix watched as Ella took charge of closing it all down. He waited until they were finally alone in the classroom to ask her something else that had been bugging him for a while. He’d already blown it last night. The last thing he wanted to start was an argument or even tense discussion, but he had to know.
She walked to him where he sat on the edge of the desk in the corner of the room. “I’m ready to go,” she said.
He reached out his hand to her and pulled her to him between his legs then kissed her softly. Pulling back to look at her, he almost decided not to ask but he had to.
“The day Grayson showed up here and you jumped in his car and left with him, Hector said you’d told Drew you were considering going out with Grayson again.” She stared at him blankly. “And you confirmed that was true but that you wouldn’t after the stunt he pulled. Why?”
“Why what?” she asked.
“Why were you considering going out with him again? Is it because you still had feelings for him?”
Felix saw the clarity wash over her slowly. She reached out and touched his face. Her touch alone was enough to calm the tension he’d begun to feel about what her answer might be.
“No, I don’t. I told you he can be persistent. He’d been asking if we could do dinner or a movie just as friends sometime. I kept telling him I didn’t think it was a good idea, but he wouldn’t let up. I hadn’t even mentioned to him that I might be considering doing so. I just told Drew about it when she asked more about him. She did offer to do a double-date thing, but that’s not what I was considering—dating him again. So I’d told her that was out of the question.” She smiled sweetly, tilting her head. “If I still had feelings for him, I wouldn’t be here with you. I promise you.”
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