One Last Fight - Part Two (The One Last Fight Series Book 2)

by Ashley, Ava

  “Mic’ll be here?” she asks, pausing in the doorway.

  “Yeah. Come by and meet him.”

  “Okay.” We stare at each other and I want to pull her back into my arms. She smiles like she can hear my thoughts, then slips out the door.

  ***

  Mic’s car is in the parking lot, and I walk into the studio office with a shit-eating grin on my face. He takes one look at me and breaks into his own grin. His looks more like Jack Nicholson though.

  “I thought there was something to this thing with this girl!” He slaps my back.

  “That doesn’t come close to covering it.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll figure out this legal crap.” He nods down the hallway and we walk to Liam’s office. Liam isn’t alone. He has Mike Ruddy and two guys in suits who can only be his lawyers. I sit down, already irritated but determined to work through this. Lily doesn’t need anything else to worry about, and I know they’re itching to air every little personal thing they can.

  Before sitting down, Mic slaps a big folder onto Liam’s desk.

  “I’d like to officially inform you that we will enforce article thirty-eight covering all clips involving the show’s winner.”

  I have no idea what article thirty-eight says. I don’t let myself glance over at him. At first I wonder if he’s blowing smoke, but that would only buy us about an hour before Liam’s lawyers would tear it apart.

  Finally, one of the lawyers reaches for the folder and flips through it.

  “You can, of course, review your own copy of the contract,” Mic adds.

  The first lawyer nods to the second, who takes more paperwork from his briefcase. They mumble together for a few minutes while skimming through it. From what I hear, according to the contract, I have final say in what can air about the winning contestant. Now I remember going over this with Mic. We wanted to make sure that a bunch of dirt or even lies would not be aired about a woman I’m dating. Mic worried the show might slant and edit the footage to make her look bad. If they try to anyway, it could be a nasty lawsuit, and that might even delay the show’s airing if I really sent my lawyers after him.

  Liam and I have a stare down until he says, “So you’ve picked Lily for sure?”

  “Yup.”

  He had to have known that was in the contract all along. Liam is a sharp guy. He may act all smooth and charming, but he’s a businessman and this is about the money. I’m not surprised that he doesn’t appear angry right now. It’s just a move, and he really cares about making a winning show that rakes in the dough.

  “It’s right here. He’s right,” the lawyer tells Liam. “If Lily is declared the winner, Rafe will have final say over what will air about her in the show.”

  Mike makes a disgusted sound. “Who the hell put that in there?”

  I know. Mic said he’d watch out for me. He’s a sharp guy too. I’m sure he wouldn’t agree to this contract without that.

  “We can’t have dirt aired about Rafe’s woman. He has a career to think about too.” Mic rubs his hands together. “Should we discuss it now, or when the show is in editing?”

  I leave that meeting feeling pretty high. I sent Lily a text earlier and she’s waiting for me when Mic and I head outside.

  “Hey there!” I grab her in a hug and lift her off the ground. We twirl around before I set her down. “Lily, meet Mic, my manager and good friend.”

  She gives him a hearty handshake. “I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”

  “You have, huh? Well, that surprises the hell out of me!” He laughs. I slap his arm. Of course he knows how much I appreciate what he does for me, but that’s Mic for you.

  “You seem extra happy,” she says, looking between us. I haven’t explained all of this to her yet.

  “Yeah,” I jump in, wanting to tell her instead of Mic. “Mic here really knows his shit when it comes to contracts. Probably why I pay him so much!” Mic tilts his head my way. He’s already warned me that under my contract I can’t tell Lily she’s the winner until I announce it on the show. “And basically, they can’t air anything about you I don’t approve.”

  Her mouth drops for a second before relief washes across her face. She glances at Mic. We don’t have to hash out the details and what we’re talking about. I can see Lily would rather not say we’re talking about her past.

  “However...” Mic stops us from celebrating. “When you’re ready to go out in public with Rafe, paparazzi will be all over you. There’s a juicy story behind this relationship. Childhood sweethearts, the dad, prison, stripping, the mom, etc. Get my drift?”

  “I’m used to it, Mic.”

  “Lily might not be.”

  Lily shrugs. “We’ll deal with it when we need to.”

  Mic nods. “Tough lady, huh? Well, it seems like we should go to lunch to celebrate this victory,” Mic says, his hands out towards us.

  “Ah, hell, I have to get back to have my day with...” I have to think about who it is today. “Heather.”

  “Damn. Well, you gotta work. Guess I’ll take Lily out and we can swap stories about you.”

  The two of them look way too pleased about that. So I let them take off and go back to the beach house by myself. Liam meets me as soon as I come in the front door.

  I brace for a confrontation but he seems more weary than ready to fight.

  “You know I have to take care of myself and Lily,” I tell him as we start walking.

  “I get it. I have a job to do but I’ll work around it.” He sounds genuine. “I’ll make this show a hit, Rafe. We’ve got plenty of drama between these girls without that. So, Heather’s waiting in the big room. Did you see my text?”

  I pull out my phone. The text says to come ready and dressed for training. I give Liam a quizzical look. We reach the big room by then and I spot Heather sitting on a couch dressed in a black tank top and shorts—very short shorts. Her long blond hair is back in a low ponytail. She’s alone and that’s when I realize I’m running late.

  Liam finally explains. “Heather wants to learn some MMA from you. We’ve got the weight room set up with a mat. Ready to go?” He glances at my outfit.

  “This should work.” I’m in a T-shirt and shorts. The three of us head over to the workout room and I ask Heather, “So what made you think of this?”

  “It’s your passion,” she says with a bright smile. She’s been the most competitive woman on the show all along, at least when it came to winning the athletic competitions. “And I want to learn.”

  “Great. This will be fun.”

  We stretch and start off with some easy maneuvers, and then I focus on showing her some self-defense moves. The cameras roll while we go through the steps again and again. It feels good to be absorbed in this, and Heather turns out to be a good partner. She’s tough and a quick learner. But then suddenly she lets me flip her over and pin her.

  I start to pull back when she grabs my arm. She’s staring up at me and I finally realize her game face has completely changed to something else entirely. Shit. I jump to my feet.

  “Let’s try that again. Stay focused so I can’t get the upper hand so easy. But you’ve been doing really well. Good work.”

  We work for another two hours before I can tell she’s getting tired and frustrated. But man, she really is competitive. I’m impressed.

  “Hey, looks like we’re about done, but you did great. You’ve got some natural talent.”

  “Thanks. You really helped today. I can’t believe how much I learned!”

  “I’m actually impressed at how quickly you learn,” I tell her, and then decide to go over a few things before we leave. It feels really good to help someone learn these techniques.

  Liam pops into the room. “And now the surprise!”

  I keep a straight face, knowing he’s trying to get a reaction for the cameras. Besides that one awkward moment, this has been fun. I had hoped to keep things that way for my day with Heather.

  “We’ll give you
two an hour to prepare, and then we have a limo waiting to take you away for a romantic evening.” Liam claps his hands like an excited two-year-old.

  “Where are we going?” Heather asks.

  “It’s a surprise! But we need to leave at exactly four. We can’t be late.” Liam points at me and tries for an ominous glare with one eyebrow down before leaving. Heather grins at me.

  “I wonder what they have in store for us.”

  “You didn’t pick?” I’m surprised, and a little let down. I’ve been wanting to get back to Lily.

  Heather dabs her face with a small towel, but I still think I see her look away like she doesn’t want to tell me the truth. “I don’t know either.”

  Bullshit. But that’s okay. I can still get through it.

  “Well, we better go shower.” I nod at her and we agree to meet by the front. I’m in a hurry to get out of there, but mostly because I need to put some distance between us. I jog out to my BMW and race back to my house. Before taking a shower, I send Lily a quick text.

  Couldn’t talk today. Heather wanted to learn MMA technique. Hope your day is going well.

  I don’t know when she’ll answer so I send a second one: Liam cooked up some surprise so I don’t know what I’m doing for the rest of the day. I’ll text when I can. Miss you sexy. Thinking about you.

  It’s almost forty minutes later, when I’m on my way back over to the beach house, that Lily texts back.

  We’re surfing!!!

  I smile and it turns into a laugh. Man, I’d love to be out there with her. She might be having too much fun to be thinking about me.

  You and the girls? I ask.

  Yeah, Liam arranged a day for us. This is awesome! I can even stay on the board now!

  Lucky. I shake my head and wonder why Liam didn’t have a surfing day with me and the remaining contestants. Maybe it’s just a photo op so he can have some bikini shots for the show. Maybe it’ll be the opening.

  Bet you look hot as fuck out there. You have the best body ever. Always have. I want to see you in your bikini.

  She sends a photo a few minutes later of her in a little red number. I hadn’t actually expected one so it really turns me on. She’s tilting her head and giving the camera a suggestive pout. It’s like she’s sending that look right at me. And it’s working. Damn! I have to settle myself down before doing anything else.

  I send a couple more texts but then I see Heather step out of the house and the limo is already waiting. I lock my car and head over.

  She’s beaming at me, wearing a long, formal dress and her hair up. I embrace her and kiss her cheek, trying to cover the awkwardness I feel creeping in. It’s more than awkwardness, I realize as we get into the limo. I feel dishonest. I have to be here for the show, but I don’t like it right now.

  Heather talks nonstop on the drive, which helps, especially as the ride stretches to over an hour. Maybe she doesn’t notice how quiet I am or how I watch the scenery out the window. Where on earth are we going? Then we arrive... at an old-fashioned train station.

  “What is this?” I ask. We get out and she doesn’t answer. Yeah, she had to have known where we were going. But she gets really excited as we hear a train whistle. A voice on the loudspeakers announces the dinner train is now boarding.

  This is pretty romantic, and it makes me wish I could take Lily. But I try to smile at Heather and offer her my arm. She takes it and we walk through the station. People stare. I’m used to that. But today it might be because we’re dressed up, and not because I’m Rafe Maddox. Heather looks stunning, too. I have to give her that. She’s glowing from the attention, and I feel bad that she’s not here with a man who’s excited about her.

  And Lily’s out there surfing, probably in a bikini with water glistening all over her wet skin. Damn. This train thing is cool and all, but I’d rather be out there in the waves. It’s hard not to think about it all through the dinner, even while Heather and I chat and watch the beautiful countryside slip by. The train is fancy, too, and set up like a real steam locomotive from the eighteen hundreds. When it gets dark outside, we stroll around the train to check it out.

  An announcement says we’re ten minutes out from the station so we head back to our table. But Heather stops me with a hand on my arm.

  “Tonight was perfect.” Her eyes are a pretty hazel color, something I didn’t notice before. But I feel bad about the glow in them. “You know I love you, right?”

  I freeze. It’s the first vulnerable or needy move on her part, and it takes me by complete surprise.

  “I, uh... Heather—”

  The conductor interrupts me. When the voice cuts off again, I nod behind us. “Let’s get back, okay?” I don’t know what to say to her to make her feel better. Her face flushes and I decide the best action is to just move on.

  And of course it’s quiet and awkward on the drive back in the limo. Shit. I should have her leave the show instead of Kara, but Kara wants off for the same reason: to get away from this forced awkwardness. Goddamn, I wouldn’t mind getting away from the show either. Too bad I can’t kick myself off!

  Heather opens some champagne and finishes a bottle by herself. Lily is on my mind but I don’t want to text in front of Heather. I finally try to make small talk as we head back into town. It’s pretty late when we arrive back at the beach house.

  I get out to hug her good-bye. We don’t speak. After she goes inside, I stand there a minute, feeling drained. Maybe it’s a few minutes. The front door opens again and I brace, thinking fast about what I’ll say to her.

  But it’s Lily. She hurries down the steps and flies into my arms.

  “Holy fuck, it’s been a long night,” I say, then I wince at my own words. “Come over to my place to sleep.”

  “Okay.”

  And funny enough, we actually do just fall asleep together as soon as we land in my bed. It still feels so damn good to have her in my arms.

  I wake in the morning and feel like I didn’t move all night. Lily is curled up with her back against me, and I roll over to spoon her. As soon as my hand touches her hip, she pushes back into me. I’m rock hard in one second flat and go for a condom. When I roll back toward her, she slides out of her panties and rocks against my cock, asking for it.

  “Is that what you want?” I ask, but I don’t tease or hold back. We both need it hard and fast and loud. I wait until she climaxes before I let myself come.

  It’s so crazy wild that I fall back and just about black out again. I guess we do fall asleep again. I wake when she’s running her hand over my arm and chest.

  “Want some breakfast?” I ask, rubbing my face and sitting up. She smiles at me, her hair all messy and spread out over the pillow, her face sleepy still. Her eyes are gleaming and happy. I want to brand that image in my brain forever.

  “Breakfast sounds good,” she finally says.

  Then I get what her smile is about. It’s her day today. Life is looking up.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lily

  On the walk over to the beach house, I tell Rafe, “So about today...”

  “About today?” He’s holding my hand and watching me with those brown eyes all warm and tender, and it’s hard to think straight.

  “I wanted you to pick, but it’s not because I’m some pushover, and I won’t always give you what you want.”

  He laughs. “Oh, yeah? Where’s this coming from?”

  “I don’t care what other people think,” I say with a shrug. “But I wanted you to know. You haven’t gotten to pick much of anything on this show, and I wanted you to get a break and day you enjoy.”

  Rafe’s eyes graze over my body. “Oh, I’ve enjoyed plenty.”

  I swat him for that.

  “But seriously,” he adds, “thank you.”

  “And I’m guessing you picked something I’ll like too.” I watch his face while talking. He won’t tell me anything yet, but maybe his expression will. He can tell I want clues and looks up, making a big show
of not revealing anything.

  It’s ten when we go inside and find people arriving at the big room. We have to go through the motions of announcing my day for the show, and Rafe doesn’t reveal anything there either.

  He finally tells me, “I have to set up a few last-minute things, so do you want to meet for lunch and start our day?”

  “Sure, sounds good.” I want to lean in and kiss him but hold off because we’re in front of everyone. He nods to Liam, so I head upstairs to take a shower and get ready. A short while later, Rafe texts and asks me to come back over to his place for lunch.

  “So you have no idea what you’re doing?” Kara asks as I’m about to walk out our bedroom door.

  “Nope. I told him to pick, and he decided to keep everything a secret.” It makes me smile big time. He’s having too much fun with this, which was the point. “I’ll fill you in later.”

  “I might be here,” she says with a sly smile.

  “Well, have fun and tell me about it too!” We wave good-bye. I’m in a hurry to meet Rafe again, and see if I can start figuring out what we’re doing. He knows it’s driving me nuts.

  I head over to his house dressed in a tan summer dress and flats. The show has been sending us everywhere in a limo, but I hope we can take Rafe’s car this time. I love his convertible!

  He throws his front door open and pulls me in for a kiss. I don’t even see what he’s wearing because he’s so fast. It’s a deep, passionate kiss, and I’m ready to skip lunch and get naked. Then I smell it...

  Rafe sees my expression change.

  “Smells good, doesn’t it? Come on back.”

  “Is that...?” It smells just like the lasagna one of our neighbor ladies used to make. I would always invite myself over when she did.

  “Your favorite lasagna. Yup. I tracked down Judy to get her recipe, and it was actually really simple. She said that’s why it’s so good.”

  I walk into the kitchen and lean over the steaming pan of lasagna to inhale the wonderful scent. He pulls garlic bread out of the oven and gets salad out of the refrigerator.

  “Wow, Rafe, you really do know how to cook.”

  He gestures toward the table, and when I sit down he pushes my chair in for me, then pours me a glass of wine and fixes my plate. He won’t let me do anything.