by Alexa Davis
I was becoming nauseated. Never again would my mouth water as I passed one of this guy’s billboards. I’d just have to remind myself what a prick he was. “He’s always nice to me,” I said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to what I was doing.”
“I don’t mind, and no offense about Charlie – he’s just way too uptight for my liking.”
“I’m sure he’d be crushed to know that you’re not a fan.”
He laughed again. “You’re adorable. We should hang out sometime.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Probably not,” I said.
He looked surprised. It was no surprise that he wouldn’t be used to women turning him down. Like I said, he was sex on a stick dipped in colorful ink…but I wasn’t interested. I looked at him for a few minutes, waiting for him to get the hint and walk away. When he didn’t, I went back to work and tried to forget that he was there.
“So, you live in Vegas, Karli?”
“Yes,” I said with a tortured sigh. I didn’t look back up at him that time.
“Hmm, I can’t believe I’ve never seen you around.”
“Maybe there was a mirror in the room and you just didn’t notice me.”
He laughed again. “Oh, I would have noticed you.” I scrubbed the mat harder and scooted away from him another foot to concentrate on a dirty spot there. I hoped he was finished with his stupid questions and remarks, but unfortunately, he wasn’t. “So, Karli, have you caught any of my fights?”
I looked up at him, smiled, and said, “I don’t think so. I’m sure I would have remembered.”
He grinned again. “I’m sure you would have.”
Wow, this guy’s arrogance might just surpass anyone I’ve ever met. “I’ll have to catch the next one, after my father teaches you how to fight.” The look on his face was classic. I wished I had a picture of it.
“Your father?”
I smiled sweetly and looked over toward where my father just walked in the door.
“Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, Sweetheart,” my dad said. Then he looked at Nick and said, “Why aren’t you geared up and ready to go?”
I smiled at Nick again and went back to work. It might be a good day after all.
********
By the time I finished cleaning the octagon, Nick was geared up and Dad was sparring with him in the practice ring. A few of Dad’s other fighters had wandered in and I thought right then might be a good time to escape to the office and get some work done there.
As I passed the ring, I tried not to look at Nick, but in spite of the fact that I’d only known him five minutes and he already annoyed me, I couldn’t not look. He had changed out of his gym shorts into a pair fighter shorts. The front of his thighs looked like steel and as my eyes made their way up across his shirtless, washboard abs and very well-developed chest, I actually shuddered.
Thank God Dad had him dodging punches so he didn’t see me looking. I wouldn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing I found him attractive.
Once in the office, I tried to shake off that image and concentrate on paying bills. I was in the middle of that when my phone rang. It was Michaela. “Hey, girl,” I said as I put the phone to my ear.
“Don’t ‘hey, girl’ me, I’m mad at you.”
“For what?”
“Sneaking out as soon as I got drunk last night.”
I sighed. “You were with Trent, and Lisa and Danielle were with you, too.”
“It’s still not nice to sneak out on a person.”
“I’m sorry,” I told her. “But in my defense, I wasn’t sneaking. I said goodbye. You may have been a little too drunk to remember. But you were safe.”
“That’s not the point. You keep sneaking out. When are you going to do something crazy and have some fun?”
“Tell you what, let’s do brunch at Bouchon in an hour. I’ll buy and even have a bloody Mary or two before I come back to work. I never drink while I’m working. Crazy, huh?
She snorted. “That’s not what I had in mind and you know it.”
I laughed. “Well, that’s all you’re going to get for now; take it or leave it.”
“Can I have the lobster?”
“Whatever your heart desires.”
“Fine, I’ll meet you at the Venetian in an hour.”
“Make it two. I have to finish a few things up and then shower. I smell like bleach.”
“Okay, eleven it is.”
I hung up with her and got back to paying bills. I was in the zone with the sounds of men grunting and weights dropping in the background almost completely blocked out when I glanced down at the time at the bottom of the screen. It was ten fifteen. Damn!
I shut down the laptop and took the back hallway to the locker rooms so that I didn’t have to go through the gym. I bypassed the men’s locker room and went to the private one in back that I finally talked Dad into designating women only. We hadn’t gotten around to posting a sign yet, but my father’s gym was mostly men, anyways.
I stopped at the door and knocked on it. I thought I could hear water running inside. I knocked again when I hadn’t gotten a response and waited several seconds before pushing open the door. The room was steamy and I didn’t want to surprise someone half-naked, so I said,
“Hello?”
My heart nearly stopped when who other than Nick Storelli stepped out of the shower stall. He was as naked as the day he was born and beads of water dripped from the curls in his wet hair and rolled down his hard chest and abdomen. As if by a will of their own, my eyes followed them and landed on something I never should have seen, but couldn’t not look at. He had an erection and it was as big as the rest of him.
“Well, hello there, beautiful.” I forced my eyes up to his face. He was grinning.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Taking a shower. I had a great strength work-out this morning so Charlie said I could go get some lunch.” He put his arm up on the tile of the shower and said, “What about you, gorgeous; what did you have in mind?”
It was the first time in a long time that I was absolutely speechless. There was no way in hell that I was telling him what was on my mind…but I’ll be damned if I could think of anything else to say.
CHAPTER FIVE
NICK
I couldn’t help but laugh at the way Karli scrambled out of the locker room without saying a word. I know it was mean to stand there like that while shock and embarrassment colored her pretty face, but I figured it was no meaner than her letting me run my mouth about Charlie and not telling me she was his kid.
I would have never guessed Charlie’s DNA got anywhere near her blood. Karli’s mother must have been fine because even though Charlie was in great physical shape, he was not a pretty man.
He’s bald and his nose…well, I’m not sure what his nose was supposed to look like. I’d guess from looking at it now, it’s been broken at least a few times. I still doubted it ever looked as good on his face as Karli’s does on hers. His lips are small, and they make a tight line when his mouth is closed. Karli’s lips, on the other hand, look like they were made for kissing, and her skin looks as smooth as silk. Charlie’s…not so much. Karli had honey-blonde hair that just touches her shoulders and bounces when she walks and pretty hazel eyes surrounded by dark lashes.
The only thing she and Charlie appeared to have in common was that they were both fit. Even in a baggy t-shirt and cut-off sweats, I could tell she had a killer body. What I could see of her legs only made me want to see more, and her arms were toned and shapely like maybe she saw as much time in the gym as I did, if not more.
After she ran out, I had to take another shower – a cold one. Lusting after the boss’s daughter could be dangerous, especially when the boss was a grumpy, old coot like Charlie. By the time I dressed and went out to get some lunch, it was almost time to get back.
I bought a turkey sandwich from the deli down the street. As I ate it, I thought about Charlie’s lectures
on eating right. I doubted that he’d approve of the mayonnaise, oil, and vinegar on my sandwich or the chips I shoveled down with it.
Martin never worried much about what I ate. As long as I wasn’t packing on too much weight, he was happy. The differences between him and Charlie were going to take a lot of getting used to.
I finished my lunch and got back to the gym with five minutes to spare. Because it was Sunday, there were only a handful of people there. I looked around for Karli and even though I figured she’d still be mad at me, I was disappointed when I didn’t see her. I wondered if she’d left for the day – and then wondered why it seemed to matter so much.
My eyes landed on Charlie. He was staring at me like he wanted to rip my head off. When I left for lunch, we were okay, as much as we ever are. I knew immediately that he must have talked to Karli.
“There are men’s showers. The one in back is reserved for women only,” he said as I walked up.
“Okay, sorry. There wasn’t a sign on it.”
“Karli ordered one. I guess we should write one out and hang it up on the door.”
“Yeah, it would save your daughter an eyeful next time.” As soon as I said that, I realized what a stupid mistake that was. I’m not used to meeting fathers and I could tell by the look on his face that Karli hadn’t told him the whole story, but I just did. Damn, I was batting a thousand with these people.
“An eyeful? You walked out naked?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then how did my daughter get an eyeful?”
Shit. “It was a poor choice of words,” I said. “I doubt she saw anything.”
He raised an eyebrow, but I got the feeling he didn’t believe me. Damn, Karli! She must have just told him she saw me go in or something. Great, Nick, open mouth, insert foot. “Gear up. We have a visitor here from back east today. I think I’ll have him spar with you.”
“Sure,” I smiled at him. It was worth a shot. He didn’t smile back. I sighed and headed back to get my gear, and while I was strapping on my headgear, I looked up into the eyes of Attila the Hun. If this was the “visitor,” then I could rest assured that Charlie didn’t believe me about Karli not seeing anything and he wanted me to die. Attila smiled.
“Hey,” I smiled at him in an effort to befriend the giant, just in case I ended up in the ring with him.
“Hey, I’m Kevin.” Can I call you Attila? I laughed at my own joke. The giant was looking at me now like I was crazy.
“Sorry, I was just thinking of something else. I’m Nick; welcome to Vegas.”
“Excited to be here.” I couldn’t place his accent.
“Where are you from?”
“Philly. Charlie is an old friend of my dad’s. I’m looking for a new trainer, so Charlie invited me out.”
Damn. I knew Charlie had a great reputation in this business, but so far, I wasn’t impressed enough to move thousands of miles to train with him. Today, I regretted driving across town for it. “You holding any titles?”
“Nah, I haven’t been in any real fights yet. Not legal ones, anyways. I was doing some underground fighting and making a ton of cash, but my dad found out and just about kicked my ass. Said I’d ruin my reputation and my skills. He called Charlie that night and two days later, here I am. Charlie’s such a nice guy.”
I looked over at Charlie. He was glaring at me. Karli seemed to love him and this kid seemed to think highly of him. I was starting to wonder if he just didn’t like me for some reason. That was hard for me to imagine because I, too, was a nice guy. I laughed at myself again. Charlie’s glare deepened as he said,
“Let’s go, boys; get in the cage.”
Kevin and I got up and went over to where Charlie stood. Kevin smiled at him and Charlie smiled back, so I tried it. The smile fell from his face as he pulled open the door of the octagon. He seemed to hate me. We all stepped in and Charlie shut the door behind us. There were two other trainers and a few people working out solo in the gym, and they all stopped what they were doing and came over to watch.
Charlie had us meet in the middle and more for Kevin’s sake than mine, he went over the ground rules. When he finished, he stepped back and said, “Okay, boys, go for it.”
Kevin and I started circling around each other. I didn’t really want to hit this kid. He was built like Shrek, but up close, he looked like Shelon Cooper from the Big Bang right in the face. I was about to throw out a punch and aim for the head gear when Charlie sarcastically said,
“You boys gonna dance pretty like that all day?”
With a roll of my eyes, I threw out a right cross. The kid was fast for being so big. He pulled back before I made contact and surprised me. He came back with a quick right jab that connected with the pad on the right side of my face and made my ears ring.
I brought up my left hand in an undercut to his chin. Even with the head gear on, it snapped his head back. He looked like he was seeing stars, and while he was trying to clear his head, I decided to take him down.
I swept out my right foot, but before it caught his legs, he moved and simultaneously threw out a hard left hook. It connected and knocked me sideways. As I stumbled and tried to stay on my feet, I caught Charlie’s eyes. He looked disgusted with me.
Kevin and I circled around each other again and I let him throw out another punch. I dodged it and used his own momentum to shove him forward. He went headfirst into the side of the octagon and down on one knee. I was on him before he could stand up, but he felt like a damned brick wall. We wrestled around a bit, but he was back on his feet faster than I would have given him credit for.
I rolled away from him and got back up on mine. He was ready, and as soon as I stood up, he landed a well-placed punch to my head gear right over my mouth. If this was a real fight with no gear, it would have split my lips wide open. As it was, it brought me down to my knees. Kevin took advantage of that and went down with me. We grappled on the floor for a while, neither of us ever getting into a power position before Charlie broke us up.
We both got some water. I was sweating buckets, but instead of wiping it off, I left it covering my body. It would make it that much harder for the kid to get a hold on me and this time, I meant to take him down to the floor and get him to tap out.
When Charlie said the word, we once again circled around each other. I waited for him to make the first move and was happy when I saw it was a roundhouse kick. I grabbed his leg as it connected with my side. It felt like holding onto a tree trunk and took all my strength to use it to take him to the floor. I got on top of him as soon as he was down and straddled his torso. His legs were so damned long that it was hard to keep a handle on them.
Before I knew it, he’d brought them up and used them to flip me over onto my back. I rolled away from him, but he caught me by my right leg. I heard Charlie scoff, and that encouraged me to move fast and get back to my feet. As soon as I was, Kevin was back on his, too.
I was blown away at how fast this kid moved. He blew toward me like a hurricane this time, and as soon as I was within his reach, he started firing off shots. He seemed to be in some kind of zone and was coming at me over and over with his right hand, hooks, jabs, cross. I dodged most of them, but I was so busy bobbing and weaving that my own shots were coming up short.
I finally crouched down as low as I could get so his punches were missing me and went for his torso. I got in a few good shots before he spun away. I moved back toward him and walked right into a left cross I hadn’t anticipated. It caught me in the side of the head gear and I went down face first into the mat. All I could hear for a second was the blood swishing around in my ears before Charlie’s voice began to penetrate.
“Nick… Hey! Can you hear me?”
I lifted my face up off the mat. I was dizzy, but I managed to nod. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” I was starting to think Kevin was more like Lenny from Of Mice and Men than he was Attila the Hun. He didn’t really want to hurt anyone; he just didn’
t know his own strength.
“It’s okay,” I managed. “I’m all right.” I pushed up to my knees as Charlie looked at Kevin and said,
“Go ahead and de-gear. I need to talk to Nick for a minute.” Once Kevin was gone and I’d made it to my feet, he said, “You just got the shit kicked out of you by a nineteen-year-old kid.” He didn’t mention that the kid was a fucking giant, but I also knew that shouldn’t matter. I was shooting for the most coveted title in this business in a matter of weeks. There is no way this kid should have been able to take me down.
I was suddenly too ashamed of myself to speak. I nodded as Charlie said, “If you don’t want to go down in the first round against Chavez and spend your holidays licking your wounds, you are going to have to buckle down and get serious, Nick. That means you need to listen to everything I’m telling you and take it to heart, or you need to find a trainer that you trust. I can’t work with someone that doesn’t trust me.
“You look at me and see a broken-down, old man. I look at you and see a stupid kid with a lot to learn. If we’re going to work together, we are going to have to meet somewhere in the middle. Bottom line is if you want to win, you have to get back in touch with the type of hunger that kid just used to kick your ass.”
He was right, and I knew it. I’d spent the past week and a half whining about how mean Charlie was when instead, I should have been going out of my way to access that world of knowledge he held between his ears. I held out my hand, and Charlie looked at it.
“Can we start over?”
I finally got a genuine smile out of him. He took my hand and said, “I’m not going to coddle you the way that Martin did. I’m not your daddy.”
I laughed. I was glad he wasn’t my daddy, mostly because if that was the case, the thoughts I was having about his daughter would be really, really wrong.
CHAPTER SIX
KARLI
I was still fuming when I got out of the car in front of the Venetian. I’d changed my clothes in the office at the gym before I left, but I still smelled like bleach.