Misadventures in the Cage

by Sarah Robinson

  Shouldn’t her happiness come first? Or did family always trump that?

  Josie closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep as she mulled over what to do with her life and who she wanted to be.

  His whisper soft against her ear was the last thing she heard. “Good night, little one.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Josie awoke leisurely late the next morning, not even bothering to turn on her phone and check the messages she was sure she’d missed. She’d definitely missed call time for filming, but she didn’t care.

  Turning over in bed, she realized she was alone.

  “Callan?” she called out, sitting up as she pulled the sheets up over her chest. Glancing around, she spied a note on the bedside table.

  Have to go to an event. Didn’t want to wake you. Be naked when I get back.

  She glanced at the clock. It was almost lunchtime. Finding her phone, she turned it on and waited as all the missed messages and notifications downloaded. Without bothering to check what her brother had said, she shot Xavier and the producers a quick text.

  Taking the day off

  today. Not feeling well.

  She could see the three bubbles appear immediately under her text, showing that her brother was texting her right back, but she didn’t want to see what he said. She turned her phone back off entirely and lay back on the mattress.

  Was she being selfish taking a day off filming right before a huge fight? Ironically, with the man she was sleeping with.

  Josie took a deep breath and reminded herself that Xavier had two other perfectly good assistants and that she worked her ass off for him. Hell, she was on call twenty-four-seven and often up in the middle of the night caring for his drunk ass.

  It was okay to take a break.

  A much-needed one, at that.

  Her stomach growled, and she realized it had been a while since she’d eaten anything. After climbing out of bed, she headed for the kitchen and began rummaging through the fridge to see what she could find. It was fully stocked, and she decided to have a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for lunch.

  Pulling out all the ingredients for the BLT, Josie got to work and decided to prepare an extra one in case Callan came back soon.

  Turned out, she was right on time.

  “Am I smelling bacon right now?” She heard him before she saw him, but when he rounded the corner, he looked like a kid with cake. “I’m an absolute sucker for bacon.”

  “Guess it’s a good thing I made you a BLT,” she said, cutting his sandwich in half and sliding the plate toward him. She cut hers in half next and then took a big bite.

  “Can I just hire you to be my personal chef?” he teased, finishing the first half of his sandwich in record time. “I could eat your food all day long.”

  She laughed, although that did sound like a dream gig. If only she wasn’t going back to her real life after this. “Where did you go off to this morning?” she asked.

  “Media training,” he replied, already biting into the last half of his sandwich. “They’re really trying to up my social media image and all that shit.” He paused, looking at her closely. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be talking about this stuff with you. It puts you in a weird position.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. He wasn’t wrong, and yet, she still wanted to hear about his life. Fuck. That was too comfortable. She needed to set some boundaries.

  “What do you have going on today?” he asked, finishing his sandwich.

  “I took the day off.”

  He lifted one brow. “Really? No cameras?”

  “New deal and terms,” she proposed. “I was thinking I’d just stay here and hide out for a little. Then tomorrow, I’ll go back to my real life, and you—you go back to being the enemy.”

  “I agree to your terms,” he replied almost instantly, as if he didn’t even have to think about it. “But I will be in and out a lot today because of work. I want you, however, to enjoy the day here. Order a massage. Pedicure. Go to the spa. Whatever. My treat.”

  Relief eased the tension in her shoulders as she looked at him for a moment, quietly contemplating.

  “What?” he asked, clearly noticing her silence.

  She shook her head. “I just…I just don’t understand why you’d do all that for me. I’m literally the enemy, and we’ve only known each other for two days.”

  Callan grinned. “Still—no one else I’d rather bury a body with.”

  Josie laughed, smacking him lightly on the chest. “Poor Sienna. I hope she’s okay.”

  “You’ve lost your mind,” he teased, pulling her closer to him and kissing her temple. Leaning down, he found her lips, and she parted slightly as his mouth covered hers. When she started pulling him toward the bedroom, he gently slapped her ass. “I swear I’m going to need a day off after I’m done with you.”

  She wiggled her butt as she glanced back over her shoulder. “There’s always tomorrow.”

  Except, for them, there wasn’t. And her heart ached at the reminder.

  Chapter Twelve

  Despite the fact that he’d had to work part of the day yesterday, Callan had still managed to spend a great deal of time with Josie holed away in his penthouse. They’d watched movies, gotten a couple’s massage, and had more sex than he could almost physically handle. But waking up the next morning, all of that seemed to be erased.

  He found his bed to be empty, the sheets cold. She must have been gone for a while.

  “Josie?” he called out around the penthouse, standing up and going in search of her. He found himself hoping that she was in the kitchen, cooking them breakfast like she had been the last few times he’d found her.

  But no…the penthouse was empty, and he knew that was probably for the best.

  They’d spent their time together, and now it was over. Now he could focus on what he needed to be focused on—work, training, fighting.

  She had been a distraction, one that could have cost him the fight.

  But he was doubling down now.

  Callan lifted his phone to his ear after dialing his assistant’s phone number. “Samson? What’s on the itinerary today?”

  “Gym from nine to twelve, and then we have lunch with the reporter from the LA Times doing the spread on you,” Samson began to rattle off the schedule. “This afternoon is the People magazine photo shoot with you and Gray. Tonight is dinner with some corporate bigwigs from the UFC and then an after-dinner strategy session with Ferguson.”

  Callan took a deep breath and blew it out. “All right. Let’s fucking do it. Meet me at the gym at quarter to twelve.”

  “Got it, boss.”

  “Also, place my lunch order at Niro’s.”

  “Steak and pommes frites? Well done?” Samson asked.

  Callan laughed and shook his head. “Medium, you psycho.”

  “I’ll convert you to well-done steaks one day,” Samson joked and then hung up.

  Callan grabbed some workout clothes, shoved them into his bag, and then headed down to the UFC training center.

  “Hey, Walsh,” Ferguson, his trainer, said as he entered the center. “Ready to hop in the cage?”

  Callan nodded, passing him and heading straight for the locker rooms. “I’ll be right out.”

  In the locker rooms, he paused after he finished changing and looked at himself in the mirror. He had bags under his eyes that normally weren’t there. Probably from the lack of sleep the last few days. He definitely needed to get more sleep this coming week if he was going to get proper workouts in.

  There was a bite mark on his shoulder, and he smiled, remembering where it came from. Josie was wild in bed, and he’d loved every second of it.

  Five minutes later, he was warming up on the sandbags. With each punch, he felt himself getting back into the groove of things. Being in the gym and training was his way of relaxing and centering himself, and there was nothing he liked better than the feeling of his muscles being pushed to their limits.

  After a qui
ck warm-up, he began sparring with Ferguson in the main cage—the center octagon at the training facility.

  “You’re off your game today, Cal,” his trainer pointed out after he was able to land a punch square in Cal’s shoulder that he hadn’t blocked in time.

  Callan shook it off and took a few deep breaths, trying to re-energize himself. “I know. I’m just tired. I need more sleep.”

  “Remember what we have going for us that your opponent doesn’t?” Ferguson asked.

  “Aside from not being a fucking drunk who drives his car into mothers and children?”

  Xavier Gray was an asshole, and Callan still couldn’t believe he was related to Josie. She seemed nothing like him in the least, and she also didn’t seem like the type to tolerate his shitty behavior. How could she work for him?

  She was so much more talented than to be an assistant for the likes of him. That was what he couldn’t figure out. Why was she wasting her time at this dead-end job she wasn’t passionate about when she had real talents, like cooking, that she could utilize?

  “Cal. Focus. Earth to Cal!” Ferguson snapped his fingers in front of Callan’s face. “Are you even paying attention to me?”

  Callan realized that Ferguson had been talking to him for the last few minutes and he’d been completely tuning him out. “What?”

  “I’m only going to say this one time, so you better listen up.” Ferguson stepped closer to him, irritation coursing through his knit brows and clenched jaw. “If you lose this fight, everything you’ve worked for over the last ten years is over. This is your first, and maybe only, chance to be named a champion, to receive the recognition in this field that you’ve been working toward. Gray? He’s already established. He has enough belts on his wall to last him the rest of his life. Winning this fight would just be another one in the bucket for him. But for you? This is your big break, Cal.”

  Callan nodded his head, more than understanding what his trainer was telling him. He had worked his way up the circuit over the last few years, but he had yet to compete in any major championships or challenges. Sure, he was undefeated, but that meant nothing if you’d only been playing in the minor leagues.

  This was his opportunity to kick his career up into the majors. This was his opportunity to win his first championship—his first belt.

  “So whatever has you distracted,” Ferguson continued, “whatever has you not sleeping—fix it now. Get it out of your fucking life. You’ve worked too hard to let something trip you up at the finish line.”

  “Got it.” Callan rubbed his hands through his hair and tied it up into a ponytail. “It’s already gone. I’m focused.”

  Ferguson lifted one brow as if he didn’t entirely believe him. “I’ll see you tonight for our strategy session. Get in a good workout before the photoshoot this afternoon. This is your second chance to intimidate Gray and get into his head. Remind him who’s going to kick his ass in that cage.”

  Callan understood. As much time as he spent training and working out, a good portion of winning was in mental fortitude. Showing himself to be unshakable in front of his opponent in the days leading up to a fight was all part of the mental warfare needed to win.

  He’d nearly fucked that up at the press junket, being unnerved by Josie’s presence, but he wasn’t going to let that happen this time. He was going to show Gray exactly how strong he was and how he never backed down from a fight.

  Chapter Thirteen

  It was one thing knowing that Callan was going to be at the photo shoot. Josie had been prepared for that. It was a joint photo shoot between both opponents, as they were both part of a feature on the hottest UFC fighters.

  But knowing he was going to be there and that she’d have to ignore him was entirely different than actually being there in person and watching him get the most sensual rubdown she’d ever seen in a public setting. It was clearly a type of karmic torture for something horrible she’d done in a past life.

  The woman spreading oil on Callan’s body had big blond hair, giant tits that she had to have paid for, and an ass that she’d jammed into the shortest shorts possible.

  And she was enjoying every second of her job.

  Josie was too far away to hear what they were talking about, since she was over by her brother, who was getting the same thing from another giant-titted blonde. But she could see the woman whispering to Callan every few moments, and then he’d laugh or say something back, and every single smile on his face was like a cheese grater running over her heart.

  She wanted to slap the smile off his face and remind him exactly whose legs he’d been between less than twenty-four hours ago.

  Okay, to be fair, he wasn’t fucking the woman right in front of her. Hell, he probably wasn’t even really flirting. But that damn oily goddess was flirting. She was flirting within an inch of her life. The way she squeezed her arms together in front of her to push up her boobs even closer to Callan’s face…or the way she kept dropping the oil bottle and having to turn around and pick it up, conveniently putting her ass on display. Josie wasn’t an amateur. She could tell a hustler from a mile away, and this woman was all about that groupie—

  “Josie, for Christ’s sake,” Shondra Gray interrupted her thoughts, waving her hands in front of Josie’s face. “Have you even heard a word I’ve said?”

  She realized she hadn’t even noticed her mother was talking until just this minute. “Uh, can you repeat that last part for me? I got the rest,” she lied.

  “I was saying that we should get some dinner tonight. Just the two of us.” Shondra crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing her daughter carefully. “Xav’s got strategy sessions after this, and it would be nice to just do something—you and I.”

  “Sure,” Josie agreed. “Let’s do it. Off camera?”

  “No, we’ll film the dinner. But in the meantime”—Shondra lowered her voice and leaned in—“you realize you’re eye-fucking the competition, right? The cameras can see you.”

  Josie nearly jumped ten feet in the air. “What?”

  “I didn’t stutter,” her mother replied, lifting one brow in the air as she surveyed Josie’s expression.

  From the heat searing her face, she could just imagine how red she must’ve been. “I wasn’t.”

  “It’s fine with me. Just don’t let your brother see.” Shondra glanced over to where Xavier was openly flirting with the woman oiling him up. “I already have enough to worry about with your brother.”

  She nodded but didn’t respond to her mother’s comment. Instead, she decided to change the subject. “Is he done being mad at me yet?”

  “Xav?” Shondra shrugged. “He’ll get over your day off, but that doesn’t make what you did okay. We’ve got to stay focused right now, honey. There’s no time for a sick day right now.”

  “I’m feeling a lot better today.” Josie kept up the pretense of her lie, reassuring her mother.

  She began to realize that she was lying a lot. It seemed to roll easily off her tongue, and that worried her. It was as if she’d gotten used to living an inauthentic life, and it didn’t even faze her anymore to go against her own value system.

  “Good. I have someone I want you to meet.” Shondra motioned across the room to a man in a suit who was discussing something heated with the photographer. “Follow me.”

  Like the dutiful daughter, Josie followed her mother over to the two men.

  “Jamie, have you met my daughter?” Shondra asked, interrupting the man’s conversation with the photographer.

  Dark eyes turned up to look at her, and a smile cast across his face as he reached a hand out. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.”

  Josie took his hand, shaking it. “Josie Gray. I’m Xavier’s assistant and younger sister.”

  He did a double take, glancing between Xavier and her. “You two look nothing alike,” he remarked.

  “Thank God,” Josie said with a laugh, poking fun at her brother.

  Jamie’s grin doubled, and
he chuckled. “I’m Jamie Sessions, head producer of Lion Head Studios.”

  “Oh.” That was the name of the studio that had just recently purchased their show and was marketing them to E! News. “It’s great to meet you.”

  “We’d like to talk to you about upping your role in the show,” Jamie continued, pulling her and her mother aside slightly. “We have a proposal for you.”

  “What kind of proposal?” her mother asked, always in manager mode.

  Josie was immediately skeptical because there was no doubt whatever the proposal was, it was first and foremost good for the studio and likely to be shitty for her.

  “An episode where you’re the frontrunner.” Jamie crossed his arms over his chest. “Poll numbers make it clear—fans are interested in you. Viewership is going down for the show in general, but we think getting a younger audience invested in you, Josie Gray, will bring in a whole new fan base. After all, you have nearly two million Instagram followers.”

  She shrugged, not thinking that much about her social media platform. She posted pictures and people liked them. It wasn’t that difficult, but he was right. People did seem fascinated with her life and wanted to know what she was doing every day.

  “So…what would the episode be about?”

  Jamie glanced across the room. “Have you ever met Cal Walsh?”

  Josie kept her face as straight as possible. “Not personally, no.”

  Another lie. So easy.

  “We want you to go on a date with him.” Jamie grinned like it was the smartest thing he’d ever said and was impressed with himself. “We’ve talked to his manager, and they’re going to pose the idea to him as well.”

  She coughed, trying to stop herself from laughing, because if that wasn’t the funniest twist of events, she didn’t know what was.

  “And you can’t tell your brother about it,” Jamie said. “The whole point will be that it’s behind his back. That’s the story we’re going to run with.”