Misadventures in the Cage

by Sarah Robinson

  The family dynamics needed some work.

  But what she definitely couldn’t do was sleep with Callan again—like he’d proposed. To get it out of our systems. Honestly, he didn’t know how true that was. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about their night together during the entire press junket. She was supposed to be feeding answers to her brother and helping him with the press, yet all she could do was stare across the stage at the gorgeous man she’d spent the night with, replaying it in her mind again…and again…and again.

  It was just sex, sure. But it was the best sex she’d ever had in her entire freaking life.

  And even then…was it just sex? It had felt like more, if she was really being honest with herself. She’d genuinely enjoyed the evening with him. Their misadventures in the desert, cooking breakfast at three o’clock in the morning—it had been like the longest and craziest date of her life.

  Somehow, she wasn’t entirely sure one night would be enough to get him out of her system. But it had to be. If she chose to go see him tonight.

  That was a big if.

  “Josie?” Xavier walked around the corner. “What are you doing here? The sound man said you turned your mic off. Everyone’s headed to the Bellagio to celebrate. We’re meeting the gang there and going to shoot a scene or two.”

  By that, he meant his groupies. There were at least twenty people following Xavier around at all times, and Josie barely knew them all by name. They came and went as casually as Xavier lived his life—different friends, different flings. He partied hard and expected the crowd he hung out with to do the same. Not everyone could keep up.

  “I’m coming,” she said, quickly trying to straighten out her dress and act like nothing had just happened. “I was just a little lost.”

  “In the MGM? How many times have we been here?”

  “A lot, but you know…” Josie waved her hand. “Too many mimosas over breakfast.”

  Xavier laughed and clapped her on the back. “Hell yeah, you’re coming out with us tonight. We’re going to party it up big. Did you see me in there? This win is in the bag. Walsh was off his game big-time. Clearly I intimidate the hell out of him.”

  Her brother puffed out his chest with pride.

  Josie just nodded, even though she could probably guess why Callan had been a little off today. It wasn’t that noticeable, truthfully, but Xavier was trained to look for weaknesses, and when Callan had hesitated as they’d first walked in, Xavier had pounced on it. She’d seen the moment it had happened. Confidence built in her brother, and here she was finding herself confused as to who she was hoping would win.

  Maybe Callan was right. Maybe that was exactly why they needed to get out of each other’s systems. Even after only one night together, they’d clearly muddied each other’s minds.

  “I can’t go out tonight,” she said. “Maybe tomorrow.”

  “No.” Xavier shook his head. “We’re going out tonight. I’ll send the stylist to your place this afternoon with a couple of choice outfits. We all need to look our best. Keep our image as high as we can right now.”

  She bit the corner of her lip. “Okay.”

  There was no other choice. No other option when it came to her brother and his demands.

  Maybe this was fate’s way of deciding for her.

  Callan Walsh was off-limits.

  Chapter Nine

  “What do you mean ‘take the evening off’?” Samson squinted his eyes at Callan, as if he was trying to see through his bullshit. “We have a fight in five days, and you want to just…take a personal day?”

  “I’ve been working all day,” Callan pointed out. “I’m only taking tonight off to relax and unwind. It’s been a long day. You should do the same.”

  Samson looked confused, his brows pinched together. “You haven’t given me an evening off in the year I’ve worked for you. Something’s going on.” His eyes widened, and he clapped his hands together. “Oh, my God, am I being fired? I’m getting married in less than two months, Cal. How are Elliott and I supposed to pay for all of that without me working?”

  Elliott, Samson’s soon-to-be husband, was his favorite topic to bring up no matter what the conversation. Callan swore the two were perfect for each other, because all they did was fawn over one another. It was sickening to watch sometimes because it was so mushy. Callan was not the ooey-gooey, lovey-dovey type. He had strict rules and boundaries, and he never let a woman cross them.

  But he’d never been in love before, so what did he really know?

  It wasn’t that he didn’t want to find love or settle down eventually. It just wasn’t part of the plan at the moment. He’d been working toward being a championship UFC fighter for years, only finally exploding publicly about a year ago. People called him an overnight success, but the truth was, a ton of effort was behind that success.

  That was the funny thing about overnight success—people always wanted to know his secret, but it was just a decade of hard work and determination.

  “No one’s getting fired,” Callan assured his assistant. “I just want some time to myself. Is that really so weird?”

  “Considering that you’re basically a loner who likes to spend all his time by himself?” Samson shook his head. “No, it’s not that weird. All right. I’ll see you first thing in the morning, then. Remember to post at least three tweets tonight! We need to up your social media game!”

  Callan nodded, ushering him out the door of the penthouse hotel suite he’d be calling home for at least the next week before traveling back to Los Angeles. Finally alone, he went to the bedroom to retrieve his phone and pulled up Josie’s contact information. They’d exchanged numbers last night, and he wanted to find out what time she’d be here so he could have a repeat performance—and more.

  What’s your ETA?

  He pressed Send and waited for the three bubbles to appear to show she was writing back. After a minute of silence, he gave up and put his phone back down. He needed a shower before she got here anyway, so he might as well knock that out of the way.

  He stripped himself of his clothes and walked to the shower, turning on the water once he reached it. He tried not to think about the fact that the last person to shower in here had been Josie. The very image of her wet, naked body dripping with water flashed in front of his eyes, and his cock hardened in response.

  Stepping under the warm stream of water, he gripped his shaft with one hand and pumped slowly as he thought of her. Perfect, kissable nipples that budded beneath his tongue, begging for more attention. An ass he could grip with both hands and feel the delicious weight in his palms. Eyes that pierced straight through him and sent shivers across his entire body.

  Everything about her was sensual and warm.

  He stopped pumping before he came, wanting to save his orgasms for later. He wanted her.

  A ping sounded from the other room, and he knew he’d received a text message. Quickly rushing through the rest of his shower, he finished cleaning himself and then turned off the water. He reached for a towel and wrapped it around his body as he stepped out and headed for the bedroom. Picking up the phone, he scrolled to his text messages.

  Can’t tonight.

  That was her entire response. No explanation. No apologies. Nothing but rejection.

  He didn’t respond at first, leaving her simply on read status.

  Admittedly, he wasn’t used to rejection, and he certainly wasn’t used to being told no. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, and he decided then and there that he wasn’t going to accept it. She wanted to come over tonight as badly as he wanted her to—he knew that from their exchange earlier today. She’d been practically panting, begging for him to take her right then and there in the hotel conference room hallway.

  Taking the chance, he texted back with the passcode for the elevator to get to the penthouse and told her he’d leave the front door unlocked. And then added:

  Come when you’re free later.

  She responded almost
immediately.

  Maybe.

  Chapter Ten

  “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Josie took the shot glass out of Xavier’s hand and emptied its contents into a nearby plant. Cameras were pointed right at her, but she didn’t even see them anymore. She was so used to living her life on camera that it was easy to pretend they weren’t even watching. “I think it’s time we head home.”

  “Killjoy.” Xavier slurred his words, leaning an arm across his sister’s shoulder as he pointed to the rest of his crew. “You all want to keep going, right?”

  A few random girls with thigh-high boots and miniskirts were clinging to him like molasses, and they all chimed in with their agreement, begging him to stay.

  “I could head back,” said Tyson, one of his friends and crew members who always traveled with them. “Josie, you taking Xavier home?”

  She nodded. “I’ve got him.”

  “I’ve got myself,” Xavier argued, wagging his finger in her face. “I’m a mother fucking badass, and we’re going to tear. This. Bitch. Up!”

  He was yelling now, and the crowd at the club around them was getting hyped up with him, cheering him on. It only fed into his mood—and his ego—encouraging him to get even more dramatic and put on more of a show.

  Hell, that was their whole life. Xavier putting on a show for the world.

  It was what he did, and now it was what she was doing alongside him.

  “It’s almost one o’clock in the morning,” Josie argued, trying to stifle a yawn she felt coming on at the very mention of the late hour. “Time to head back to the hotel.”

  “Jos, just because you don’t have any fun doesn’t mean I can’t have fun,” Xavier babbled.

  She huffed. “I have plenty of fun.”

  He laughed. “Bullshit. You’ve got a stick so far up your ass, you don’t know how to stand on your own two feet without it.”

  “Xav, seriously. It’s time to go.” He was becoming belligerent, and this was the part of the evening she hated most. He always got like this and acted like an asshole, but normally it wasn’t directed at her.

  “And you know what else?” Xavier continued on. “You’re not even that pretty. Guys at the gym are always asking about you, and I’m like…why? What the hell do they see in my mouse of a sister? You’re only famous because of me.”

  She swallowed hard, trying not to let tears sting her eyes, like they were threatening to.

  “I’m going to ask you one last time to come back to the hotel, or I’m going to freaking leave you here,” she ground out, barely able to open her clenched jaw. “Now.”

  “Fuck. Off.” Xavier stumbled over to one of the random groupie girls and started making out with her. The cameras turned to pan in her direction, wanting to get her reaction to his comments.

  She slammed her glass down on the table between them, making a loud thunk. That was it. She was leaving.

  God, sometimes she hated Vegas, and she hated this fucking reality television show.

  “He’s all yours, T,” she told Tyson before handing her microphone to a cameraman and walking straight out of the club.

  The moment she stepped onto the sidewalk, the cool Las Vegas night air hit her, and tears welled in her eyes. She tried to hold them back, but they flowed down her cheeks anyway.

  Glancing down at her phone, she scrolled back to her text messages with Callan. It’d been hours since he’d last texted her that he still wanted to see her tonight. She was sure he was already asleep, having given up entirely on her.

  But maybe he wasn’t?

  Pulling open the Lyft app so she could remain private, she called a car to take her back to the MGM. She didn’t need her personal driver telling anyone where she was going.

  Within twenty minutes, she was back in the hotel lobby, heading toward the elevators. She wasn’t entirely convinced about what she was going to do, but she had no plans to turn back now.

  Punching in the code he gave her for the penthouse, she was soon on her way up to his floor. Sure enough, his front door was unlocked just like he’d said it would be. The living room she had been in just under twenty-fours ago was now dark, with one lone light on in the corner.

  She closed the door behind her and locked it, sliding off her shoes so she could tiptoe quietly to the bedroom. When she opened the door to the bedroom, it cast a lighted path across the room and the bed. Callan’s bare abs were draped in the light, as he was lying on his back across the bed, but the rest of him was covered in darkness.

  Relief flooded her at the sight of him—a crazy feeling for someone she barely knew, but what she did know was that she needed him right now.

  After slipping out of her dress, she tossed it over a chair and then slid into bed next to him, only wearing her bra and panties. She curled into his side but didn’t wake him.

  He stirred and threw an arm around her, wrapping his body around hers. “Mmm, I knew you’d come.”

  “I said maybe,” she teased, trying to remain lighthearted, even though she felt like the weight of the world was sitting on her chest.

  Callan buried his face in her neck, kissing her gently and holding her even tighter against him. “Is everything okay?” he asked. “I wasn’t expecting an early morning wakeup call.”

  She nodded, but a lump began to form in her throat.

  “Josie?” Callan wasn’t buying her simple head nod. “What’s wrong?”

  He lifted her up and turned her around to face him, wrapping his arms tighter around her once again.

  “Nothing,” she insisted, though nothing about her tone sounded genuine.

  Tears began to collect on her lashes, threatening to spill sideways onto the mattress beneath them.

  “You’re crying,” he said, barely above a whisper, as he touched her cheek with the pad of his thumb. He wiped at the tear that slid down her nose. “What’s wrong?”

  “I didn’t come here to tell you my life problems,” she said, swallowing hard and trying to take a deep breath. “I just needed some company.”

  “Well, lucky for you, we offer extra services besides just amazing sex here,” he teased, kissing her cheek. “I’ve heard our listening package is rated quite high.”

  She chuckled, sniffing back her tears at his humor.

  “I just think I’m ready to quit some days,” she admitted. “Like today. I’m so, so close to quitting the show, and then I just…I can’t.”

  “Why can’t you?” he asked. “Your boyfriend won’t let you?”

  “Boyfriend?” Josie’s brows pinched together as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. “I’m not dating anyone.”

  “You’re not dating Xavier Gray?” he asked, looking surprised.

  Josie grimaced, nausea entering her psyche at the thought. “My brother? Hell, I fucking hope not.”

  “You’re his sister?” Callan clarified. He must have remembered her having said she worked for her brother. Her guess was he’d assumed that her brother was in management for Gray—not Gray himself. To be fair, she and her brother looked nothing alike. “And you’re his assistant. Okay. I got it now. That makes more sense.”

  “Did you really think I would have come here last night if I had a boyfriend?” That was a little insulting. She’d never cheated on anyone and wasn’t the type to be even interested in that.

  “No,” he countered. “That’s why it was confusing. It didn’t match the person I knew. Then again…I’ve only known you for one day.”

  Strange how comfortable one could get with someone in a day.

  They had buried a body together, so there was that.

  “That’s kind of weird, isn’t it?” Josie asked him, curling tighter into his chest.

  He looked down at her. “That we’ve only known each other for one day?”

  She nodded. “It feels like longer. It feels…”

  “Comfortable,” he finished for her.

  She hadn’t been sure what word she was going to use, but when he
said that, she knew he was right. Things were somehow comfortable between the two of them, as if they just…fit. She’d never felt that type of connection with someone before, and it was freaking terrifying to her that she was feeling it now. Not only did she have no idea if he was feeling the same depth of feelings she was, but this also couldn’t work.

  He was still the enemy.

  She couldn’t cross that line.

  Although, here she was, in bed with the enemy…quite literally.

  Callan leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips, soft and inviting. She suddenly wanted more, wanted him, wanted to forget this night had ever happened and wash it away with the pleasure only he could bring her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she deepened their kiss and pulled him to her as tight as she could.

  “Mmm,” he moaned against her lips, reaching down and sliding her panties off.

  He pressed her back into the mattress, climbing over her as he positioned himself between her legs. Moving against her slick entrance, he slid inside her with one long thrust. His mouth captured hers, and they kissed as he pumped in and out until they were both shaking and trembling as their orgasms passed through them. He buried himself deeper, releasing.

  It crossed her mind for a moment that they hadn’t used a condom, but she pushed the thought aside.

  Collapsing onto the mattress next to her, he pulled her body against his. “You’re amazing, Jos, and you deserve to be happy in your job and in your life.”

  She was still panting as she came down from her high, so she didn’t respond, but she did squeeze him tighter against her, loving the feel of his body wrapped around hers. Every part of her knew he was right. What was she doing still working for her brother or doing that show? Why was she putting up with his shit day in and day out?