by Jill Sanders
He sat on a bar stool and looked off towards the stove. He could still picture his mother there, making her fried chicken or baking a pie. He closed his eyes. Why had she betrayed them?
Insanity. Did it run in the family? That was a question he’d been asking himself for the last four years. He’d done everything he could to prove to himself that he wasn’t crazy, but in the end he thought that everything he’d done had taken him one step closer to it.
Then an image of Holly came to his mind. She hadn’t looked at him like he was crazy for wanting to sell his grandfather’s guitar. What he’d seen in her eyes was sadness and understanding. He didn’t know why, but he was finding it harder and harder to be around her. Maybe it was because he knew that she’d had a special bond with his father before he’d died. Or maybe it was because she was a tight little sexy package that annoyed him every time she opened her mouth. He’d even thought about kissing her to shut her up, but thankfully he’d come to his senses before that had happened.
He’d learned to put aside his desires in the last few years. He looked down at his fists and frowned. How many times had he used his hands to try and focus his body and mind? To convince himself that he was something more than a crazy woman’s son? He’d finally learned to discipline his body and his mind. So much so that he’d almost forgotten what it was like to be with a woman or to take something he wanted.
Just then his cell phone rang. When he looked down at the number, he sighed. He had known his agent wouldn’t wait too long. Not even his father’s death could suspend his obligations.
“Hey, Randy.” He rubbed his forehead and thought about the headache that was growing.
“Travis, my man. Where are you at?” Randy always had a way of getting to the point.
“I’m still at home. I have a few loose ends I have to tie up.”
“Oh, man, that doesn’t really work for me. I need you back in Vegas next week. Tuesday night we have a rematch with Steve Cann. Listen, I have it all set up. You’ve got a room at—”
“Sorry, Randy, I won’t be able to make it.” He closed his eyes, knowing what was coming next.
“Man, I understand. It’s just a shame, you know, after all I’ve done for you. Well, if you’ll just send me the money you owe me, then we can part ways.” Travis knew the old drill. There was no way Randy would ever let him go. Not really.
“I don’t have it yet. My old man has me jumping through a few hoops before I can get to the cash. I can pay you off in a few months.”
“Travis, you have until Monday to either show up in Vegas or wire me the money.” Randy hung up and Travis knew he was screwed.
He felt like throwing his phone. He looked across the room at his grandfather’s guitar. Pawning it would only get him a few hundred dollars and a broken heart, knowing something so valuable to him was gone. What he needed was a few thousand dollars, and he had no idea how to get it all by Monday. He knew one thing—leaving town wasn’t going to be a possibility, not this soon.
He felt like punching something. After all, it’s what he’d been doing for therapy for the last four years. He usually felt more leveled after hitting something with his fists. Heading back out to the garage, he pulled out his old punching bag and hung it on the hook on the back porch. Pulling his gloves from his bag, he stripped down to his shorts and started wailing on the bag, trying to come up with a plan.
An hour later, his fists stung, his muscles screamed, and he felt like he could finally focus on coming up with a plan to pay off his agent and get out of the world of underground cage fighting.
·
Chapter Three
“What do you mean he’s taken over?” Holly stood in the front of her store. The workers looked like they didn’t know what to do next. She’d shown up that morning and found them all standing around. She had hunted down the foreman, Roger, who had quickly informed her that Travis was now in charge of the site, and he’d stopped all work until he could inspect everything that had been done so far.
Roger shrugged his shoulders. “He was here before I got here this morning, looking around.”
“Where is he now?” she asked.
“I think he’s upstairs.” He nodded his head towards the stairs.
She marched away without another word. Her anger carried her up the stairs and through the door to her apartment. Travis was standing in the middle of her living room, a clipboard in his hands, and a frown on his face.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She stopped in front of him, her hands on her hips as she glared at him.
He glanced up, then back down at his notepad. “I’m doing what my father asked of me. I’m taking over the project.”
“The hell you are.” She reached for the clipboard. “This is my project. I don’t need you here. Why don’t you go work on the theater or the park?” She turned to go.
“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll deal with those projects as well. But for now”—he walked over and took his clipboard from her—“I’m dealing with this project. And, from the looks of it, you need my help.”
She glared at him. “What do you mean?”
He chuckled. “There are too many issues to discuss standing here. Why don’t we meet at Mama’s diner in”—he glanced down at his watch—“an hour. I have to tell the men the changes that need to be made.” He turned to walk into her bedroom, but she stopped him.
“What changes?” She followed him. “You are not making changes without telling me first.”
He turned and glanced at her over his shoulder, then shrugged. “Fine.” He handed her the clipboard. “These are just a few that I’ve noted so far. I’ll want a more thorough walk through later today when there aren’t workers standing around wasting my money.”
She looked down at the clipboard and started reading. She had to admit that he had a few valid ideas. Some she hadn’t thought of, others she didn’t like, but still, they were good ideas.
“I don’t need a sink in the storeroom.” She moved to mark it off the list.
“You have a fridge in the room. I’m assuming you’re going to use it as a break room.”
She looked up at him and nodded. “So?”
He chuckled. “What if you have an employee who wants a cup of tea? Where would they get the water?”
She frowned. “The bathroom is a few feet away.”
He made a tsking noise and shook his head. “A proper break room needs a sink and a microwave along side the fridge.”
She frowned, looking down at the list. Okay, so he had a point. “Well, I don’t want two bathrooms downstairs. I only need one.”
“You only needed one when you had a bookstore. From what I’ve heard, this is going to be a coffeehouse and wine bar now, as well as a bookstore.” When she nodded her head, he continued. “You’ll have more customers in here at one time and state law requires that you have both male and female restrooms for every one hundred and -fifty people. Once it’s done, downstairs will be zoned for up to two hundred occupancy. You need two restrooms.” He took the list from her.
She looked at him and frowned. “How do you know that?”
He glanced up at her. “My father was an architect. He made me take some online classes right out of high school.” He turned and walked into what was going to be her new master bathroom. “This was a waste of space.”
She followed him. “My bathroom?” She looked around the large room and imagined how it would look a few months from now. There was going to be a large garden tub, a huge glass-walled shower with stone tiles, and a double sink with marble countertops along the inside wall. The large frosted window would let in natural light and give the whole room an updated look.
“You don’t need near this amount of space. A simple shower/tub combo would have been better.” He started writing it down.
“Don’t you dare change a thing in here.” She reached for his clipboard, only to have him pull it away. “We’re keeping this room the way I want it.”
He held the clipbo
ard away from her. “I say we change it to a tub combo.”
She reached for the clipboard again, but he held it out of her range.
“We don’t need you around here. Everything is going just fine without you. Everything stays the way it is.” She glared at him and held her hand out for his clipboard.
His eyebrows shot up, and then a slow smile crossed his lips. She tried not to focus on the fact that he had sexy lips. She hadn’t realized they were so close to one another, not until she felt his breath on her face and realized she could see the dark speckles in his eyes. She held perfectly still and held her breath, not wanting to move or make a sound.
Before she could respond, he’d dropped the clipboard, put his hands on her shoulders, and pulled her closer. Then his lips were on hers and she lost all of the fight she’d had moments before. When his hands tightened on her shoulders and his mouth softened over hers, a moan escaped her closed lips, allowing his tongue to dart inside her mouth for a taste. He tasted like sugar, and his lips were warm and soft against hers; she couldn’t stop herself from holding him closer. His shoulders were strong and she enjoyed the play of muscles down his arms as her nails dug into his shirtsleeve.
He pulled away for a moment, his dark eyes scanning her face as he stilled a breath from her lips.
“You set me off.” He shook his head. “God help me.” His mouth descended again, but just then they heard the door to her apartment open and they jumped apart quickly.
By the time Roger walked into the room, Travis had his clipboard in his hands and was frowning down at his list. Holly still hadn’t fully recovered, so she was looking out the window, trying to look like she hadn’t just been kissed until her toes had curled.
“Is everything okay in here, boss?” Roger stopped just inside the doorway.
“Yeah, gather the men. I have a few changes.” Travis looked at her. “I’ll see you at Mama’s in an hour.” He dismissed her without another word. She stood in her bathroom and watched the two men leave her apartment and wondered what she was going to do now.
She looked around the rooms for a moment until she felt her body stop shaking. Then she walked down the street to the clinic in hopes that Melissa, her best friend, was at work so she could get another woman’s perspective on what had just happened.
What the hell had he done? Why had he let his guard down around her? He tried to concentrate as he told Roger and the men about the changes he wanted. For some reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to make the changes that he knew were needed in Holly’s bathroom, even though the current plans would waste a few thousand dollars.
Forty minutes later, as he walked out of the construction zone and headed down the street towards the diner, he tried to build up his defenses again. He did the breathing exercises he’d learned. He focused his mind and tried to clear all bad thoughts from it.
Man, he wished he had a cigarette. He stopped on the sidewalk and blinked a few times. That was the first time in almost three years that he’d thought about smoking. This town was a bad influence on him. He needed to finish his job and get the hell out of it quickly.
When he walked into Mama’s, he tried to hide the groan that almost escaped him. In the back corner booth were two of his close high school friends, Billy Jackson and Corey Park. They were the two guys he’d gotten in the most trouble with in his life, and he’d been avoiding the men since his return. There were so many stories of the three of them causing problems that he didn’t know where to start. He had hoped to be in and out of town before either of them knew he was back.
But as he stood in the doorway and the door chime faded, both men looked over, and he saw acknowledgment cross their faces. When Billy stood and waved him over, he knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid talking to them. He glanced over and saw Holly sitting at a table across the room on the other side. He walked towards the back booth and nodded to where Holly sat, waiting for him.
“Hey,” he said as he shook hands with Billy and Corey.
“Man, we didn’t know you were back,” Corey said, patting him hard on the back. “We’re sorry about your old man. He was really cool to us.”
“Yeah, he always helped bail us out,” Billy piped in. “Why don’t you sit? We were just having some lunch then we were going to head to Corey’s old man’s cabin and party.”
It was the same story. Corey’s father owned a hunting cabin along the lake. He couldn’t count the times the three of them had partied there with girls, booze, and occasionally drugs. From the sounds of it, Corey and Billy hadn’t changed at all in the last four years since he’d left town.
“I can’t, I’ve got a meeting.” He looked over to where Holly sat, watching them. Her blue eyes searched his from across the room. He knew he’d thrown her off balance earlier. Hell, she’d thrown him off balance by kissing him back. It would have been better if she’d pulled away and thrown another one of her power punches in his direction. He would have felt safer than he did now.
“With the book nerd?” Corey chuckled. “Man, you have changed.”
He looked at his friends. “Some of us are trying to better ourselves.” His friends laughed.
“Well, the invitation is always open,” Billy said, sitting back down as the waitress delivered their food. “Stop by sometime. We’re sure glad to see you back in town.”
He nodded, then turned and walked over to where Holly sat, a plate of French fries in front of her, untouched.
“Sorry I’m late.” He sat down, putting the clipboard on the table next to him.
“It’s okay.” She looked off towards his friends. “Are you going to hang with those two again?” she asked, frowning.
He looked towards his old friends, who were now making a scene by squirting ketchup at one another. “Hadn’t planned on it.” He frowned and turned back towards her as the waitress came to take his order. He ordered the potato soup and a salad. He knew he had to cut back on calories since he wasn’t training right now. His stomach growled and demanded that he order more, but he’d learned to discipline himself.
“What other changes have you made?” She reached for his clipboard and he let her take it. He sipped his water as she read over the new list.
He’d crossed a few items off and had added a few others during his meeting with Roger. He felt the building was in good hands after talking to the contractor. At least his father had done his research and hired the best around.
She frowned as she read over his list. He liked the little crease that appeared between her eyebrows. She had a cute little dimple near the corner of her mouth that he wanted to taste again. If he focused, he could still taste her sweet lips on his, feel her soft body next to his. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on something else.
“I guess I can live with these changes.” She interrupted his thoughts. He looked over at her. He’d been expecting a fight from her.
“Really?” He sat back as his food was delivered.
“Sure. I mean, some of these Roger had suggested.” She pointed to a few items on his list. “Here, he wanted the bookshelves to go along this back wall instead of this one. We’d talked about redoing the fireplace and converting it to gas, so that was already in the works.” She glanced up at him. “I thought about adding a small stage, here.” She pulled out a floor plan from her bag and pointed to it. He scooted closer and looked down at the paper, trying to see where she meant.
“In the back corner?”
She nodded and looked at him.
“Why did you kiss me?” The question threw him off balance. He continued to look at her, not knowing how to answer it. “I mean, I know why I kissed you back. It’s been almost a year since I’ve gone on a date. But why did you kiss me?” she asked again.
He was mesmerized by her eyes, and he couldn’t stop himself from watching her bite her bottom lip with worry. “I wanted to.” He shrugged his shoulders. She sighed and leaned back when he made no move to explain himself further. “A stage for what?” he asked, ca
using her to blink a few times and refocus on the meeting.
“Bands, poetry readings, book signings.” She shrugged and reached for a French fry. “There are lots of reasons to have a small stage.”
“I guess we could make it work. I’ll talk to Roger after lunch.”
“I can do it.” She took another fry and nibbled on it. The slow motion was hypnotizing him.
“No, I’ll do it. I’m in charge now.” He leaned in and started eating his soup and salad, wishing desperately for a cheeseburger instead.
“Is there something wrong with the soup?” she asked. He realized he’d been frowning down at his bowl.
“No, just wishing it was a cheeseburger instead.”
She smiled. “I know what you mean. I had a New Year’s resolution that I’ve been good at keeping so far. I’ve only eaten fish this year, no other meat.” She shook her head. “I’m dying for a burger or a chicken breast. But I’ve lost ten pounds so far and kept it off.”
“I try to save meat for when I’m not training.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Boxing?” When he just looked at her, she blushed a little. He liked the look of her cheeks turning pink. “I saw you hitting the bag yesterday.”
He smiled a little. “Yeah, I’ve been fighting the last few years. It helps me stay focused.” He frowned, remembering his conversation with Randy.
“Really?” She leaned forward a little. “Where?”
He shook his head, wanting the conversation to end. “I’ll talk to Roger about adding the stage.” He tossed a few dollars on the table and stood up.
“Don’t bother. I’m heading over there now.” She looked at him.
“No, you’re not. A construction zone is no place for a woman.”
She laughed at him. He looked down at her like she was crazy.
“Listen.” She stood and crossed her arms over her chest, and he realized how much smaller she was than he’d thought. The top of her head reached just below his shoulders. She was already thin and the fact that she’d just confessed to losing ten pounds this past year had him frowning. She didn’t need to lose weight; if anything, she could stand to gain a few pounds. He liked his women soft. “I’ve been on site since the first sledgehammer was swung. I have no intention of leaving it until it’s finished. This is my store, my apartment. If you want me to leave, you’ll just have to get used to disappointment.”