Black Belt Knockout

by Winter Travers

  Hell, this was insane.

  I was insane.

  Roman was just downright whacked in the head for even thinking of this.

  He threaded his fingers through my hair, splayed his hand on my waist, and pulled me close. “You’re mine.”

  I moved in, closing the space between us, and pressed my lips to his.

  This may have been insane, but I had never been so happy in my life. This moment with Roman was right up there with giving birth to Sam.

  “You married me,” he whispered against my lips.

  “I did. Is that okay?”

  He wrapped his arms around me and spun me around. His laughter filled the small chapel, and all I could do was smile.

  I was Mrs. Roman Yeck.

  Elvis rushed us out of the chapel and into the reception area where Priscilla took five photos and handed Roman a receipt and a small SD card. We stepped out onto the strip a married couple, and all I could do was laugh.

  Roman tucked me under his arm, and we headed back into the direction of our hotel. “Is this what you meant when you wanted to go out and have some fun?”

  “Um, not exactly.” I don’t think anyone’s first idea of fun was a surprise wedding in Vegas.

  “Ring fits you perfectly.”

  I looked down at my hand and smiled. “It sure does.” I didn’t want to sound like a sap, but that right there made this all feel right.

  It felt like we floated back to our hotel, both of us with goofy smiles on our faces, and unable to keep our hands off each other.

  Roman slid the keycard into the door, and I pulled him into the room. He pinned me against the wall and buried his face in my neck while his hands worked the skirt of my dress over my ass. His hand palmed my bare butt cheek, and his breath caught. “You mean to tell me you didn’t have underwear on this whole time?”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and shrugged. “I figured you never wear underwear, so I thought I would give it a try. It’s rather drafty.”

  Both of his hands grabbed my ass, and he lifted me up. “Never tried it under a skirt. I have to imagine it would be.”

  I rested my forehead against his. “You’re silly.”

  “And you’re sexy as fuck.” His lips possessed mine, and he moved to the bed. We tumbled onto it, arms and legs intertwined.

  Our clothes flew off as we rolled around, and Roman landed on top of me. “Say it.”

  By now I knew what he wanted. “I love you.”

  “One more time.”

  “I love you, Roman.”

  He pressed a kiss to my lips, and mumbled, “I love you forever.”

  Forever sounded pretty damn good to me.

  *

  Chapter 28

  Roman

  “They’re here.”

  “What?”

  “Your boxes from Vegas just showed up.”

  It was half-past four, and I had just finished working out. It was over three weeks since Vegas, and everything was good between Sage and me beside the fact no one knew we were married. “Put ‘em off to the side. Sam and I can put them together when I get back from Miami this weekend.”

  “Oh, you can’t do them tonight?”

  “I have a meeting tonight with SKW.” And then I was off to Miami in the morning.

  “That’s right,” she mumbled. “But you’ll be at the doctor appointment tomorrow, right?”

  Son of a bitch. “I thought that was Monday.”

  “No. It’s tomorrow. We find out what we’re having.”

  “Shit, Sage. My flight takes off at ten tomorrow. What time is your appointment?”

  “Eleven.”

  Double shit. “Uh, let me see if I can get a later flight. SKW books all of my flights for me but I’ll just skip the one they booked and get a later one.”

  “What? No, it’s fine, Roman. I don’t want you to waste your money.”

  “It’s not wasting money.”

  “I’ll just get Molly to come with me.”

  “Not happening, Sage. Let me book a different flight, and I’ll call you back.”

  She sighed. “Fine.”

  “Ten minutes. I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  I quickly hung up and started searching for a later flight. I don’t know how I could have messed up the day of Sage’s appointment. We had both been looking forward to this, and now I almost fucked it up.

  Five minutes later, it looked like I wasn’t going to be able to get out of this.

  I pulled out the contact number I had for SKW and listened to the ringtone.

  “SKW. We’re here for all of your sport karate needs.”

  “Yes, this is Roman Yeck. Can I please talk to Robert Barnes?”

  “He’s out of the office today, Mr. Yeck.”

  Shit, shit, shit. “Um, by chance do you know who puts together my scheduling? I’m having a bit of conflict right now.”

  “Certainly. Just let me take a look.” She put me on hold for a minute then came back on the phone. “It looks like Lauren Radcliffe takes care of all of that. Let me see if I can connect you with her.”

  After another minute-long hold, Lauren was on the phone. “Roman! How good to hear from you.”

  “Hey, Lauren.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “It’s about tomorrow. I have an appointment scheduled for eleven tomorrow morning I can’t miss. Is there any way I can fly on Friday morning instead? I just checked for a later flight tomorrow, and there aren’t any.”

  I heard the rustling of paper, and Lauren hummed under her breath. “Oh no. You have an interview with Karate Illustrated and Karate Weekly.”

  “They can’t be rescheduled to Friday?”

  “I guess I can give them a call, but I really am not going to make promises here, Roman. You signed on with SKW, and these are your obligations.”

  “I more than understand, Lauren, but this is very important.”

  “Give me five minutes. I’ll call you back.”

  I tossed my phone on the desk and buried my head in my hands.

  “What’d you fuck up now?” Kellan asked.

  “I fucked up the day of Sage’s doctor appointment. We find out what she’s having tomorrow, and right now, it looks like I’m not going to be there.”

  “Miami doesn’t start until Friday night. What’s the problem?”

  “Karate Illustrated and Karate Weekly.”

  Kellan whistled and shook his head. “Damn, brother. Those are some pretty big magazines.”

  No shit. “I know.”

  “So what are you going to do?” he asked.

  “I just talked to see if she can move them to Friday.”

  “And what if she can’t? You know you can’t fuck over SKW, brother.”

  “I know, Kellan.”

  He clapped me on the back. “Look, I’m sure Sage will understand if you explain it to her.”

  “You mean she’ll understand after I’ve promised her for the past four months that I’ll always be there whenever she needs me? Yeah, not likely. I’m not missing something unimportant. I’m missing finding out if we are having a boy or girl.”

  “Not gonna blow smoke up your ass, man. She’s gonna be pissed. Now it’s gonna be about how you make it up to her.”

  My phone rang, and a number I didn’t know flashed across the screen.

  “Hello?”

  “Roman? Lauren Radcliffe here.”

  “What’s the word?” Here we go.

  “Karate Illustrated was willing to move, but Karate Weekly needs to have the interview turned in by five P.M. tomorrow for publication on Monday.”

  Fuck. “There aren’t any flights leaving later than ten, Lauren.”

  “Well, I’m sorry Roman. But even if there were, I doubt you would be able to make it in by three o’clock for your interviews.”

  “Lauren, I can’t miss this appointment.”

  “And you can’t miss these interviews either, Roman. It looks like you h
ave a decision to make. If you’re not in Miami tomorrow, you’re putting your sponsorship on the line.” She disconnected the call, and I hung my head.

  “Did it go how you expected?”

  “Sage is going to kill me.”

  *

  Sage

  The bell above the door dinged, and I looked up to see Roman walk through. Hmm, this didn’t look good.

  “Hey, ninja,” I called.

  He walked up to the counter and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “Hey, baby.”

  We just stared at each other. I already knew what he was going to say. After he had hung up with me, I had searched for later flights and hadn’t been able to find one.

  “So, about tomorrow. I can’t get a later flight, and I couldn’t get the interviews moved.”

  “It’s okay.” I tried to sound upbeat like I wasn’t about to punch him in the face.

  “Is there any way you can see if they can move your appointment to Monday?”

  I shook my head. After I had searched for flights, I had called the doctor's office to move the appointment. No dice there either, not unless I wanted to reschedule it for a month from now. “No, they don’t have anything.”

  “Shit.”

  “It’s fine, Roman. It’s only about a half an hour appointment. There’s no reason to mess up your whole weekend over that.”

  He grabbed my hand. “Sage, it’s important. More important than anything else.”

  “But you can’t mess up your sponsorship.”

  He looked away. He knew I was right. As much as he wanted to be there tomorrow, it didn’t make a difference. “Have Molly go with you and record it.”

  “I’ll just facetime you.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll be flying while you’re in your appointment.”

  “Of course. You’re right, I’ll just record it. It’s not a big deal at all, Roman. Go and do what you need to do.”

  He looked down at me. “Why do I feel like you don’t really mean that?”

  “I do mean it.” Maybe in a teeny tiny part of my heart, I meant it.

  “I love you, Sage.”

  A sad smile crossed my lips. How many times had I heard that before with Jack before he let me down? “I love you, too.”

  “Make sure you tell Sam as soon as I get back on Sunday, we are putting those trophies together, okay?”

  I nodded my head. “Will do. He’s been bugging me about them ever since we got back, so it’s a relief that my landlord called and said there are packages waiting for me.”

  He looked around the café, then moved around the counter. His fingers laced through mine, and he pulled me into the storage room.

  “I hate you looking like this, baby.” He tucked my hair behind my ear.

  “Looking like what?”

  “Sad. Pissed. Ready to rip my balls off.”

  Hmm. And here I thought I was hiding all those feelings pretty well. “I’m fine.”

  “To anyone else you are, but I know you. Don’t be mad at me.” He rested his forehead against mine, and I closed my eyes.

  Such an easy request, but it was so hard to actually do. “By Sunday, I’ll be better.”

  “You’re killing me here. I tried everything I could.”

  He had. “I know. I promise by Sunday, I’ll be better. Just blame it on my crazy pregnancy hormones, okay?”

  “I could get Kellan and Molly to watch Sam tonight, and you can come with me to this photoshoot I have tonight.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. He has karate tonight, and then I promised him pizza and a movie after.” That promise had also included Roman being part of them, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. He already felt guilty enough. “Now, go. I have work to do, and I’m sure you need to get ready for this weekend.”

  “I’ll call you every day, okay? Probably ten times a day.”

  That sounded nice. “Sam and I will be waiting to hear how you did.”

  “Now, can I kiss you?”

  “If you must.”

  He chuckled and kissed me.

  Kissed me like he was never going to leave, like I was the most important person in the world.

  That was all well and good until he lifted his head, told me he loved me, and left.

  *

  Chapter 29

  Sage

  “Are you ready?”

  I lifted my head from the exam table and nodded. “Just let me turn on my phone.” After I turned on the camera and pointed it at the doctor, I nodded my head.

  The doctor beamed and turned to the monitor. “Well, the little baby decided that it really wanted us to see that, drumroll please,” she tapped her fingers on the counter, “it’s a boy!”

  My heart soared with happiness. We were going to have a little Roman Yeck running around.

  “Congratulations, Mommy, and Daddy!” The doctor sang.

  I turned the camera to face me and smiled. “It’s a boy,” I sobbed. “I love you.” I ended the video and cried my eyes out.

  I was so happy, yet I never felt more alone.

  *

  Roman

  “Roman, we need to get you to the hotel. Your interview starts in forty-five minutes.”

  I ducked into the car Lauren had waiting for me at the airport. “Fancy,” I mumbled.

  “SKW is sticking a lot of money into you. They give you the best and expect double the return.”

  I looked at the luxury car and grimaced. “Not sure I’m worth a decked out Cadillac.”

  “Oh, but you are.” She threw me a wink that crossed the line of friendly representative.

  I scooted to the other end of the seat and pulled out my phone. I had seen that I had a message from Sage when I landed, but I hadn’t been able to watch it. After I put on my headphones, I hit play.

  My breath caught when she turned the camera to the doctor, but the whole world stopped when she put the camera on herself. It’s a boy. I love you.

  I watched the video three more times before I called Sage. It rang and rang, but she didn’t answer. I turned toward the window, my back to Lauren. “Hey, baby. I got your video. We’re having a boy. I’m so happy, Sage. I miss you so much, and I’ll call you when I get to the hotel. I love you.”

  I disconnected the call and turned back in the seat.

  “A boy, huh?” Lauren had a smug smile on her face. “So that’s the appointment that was so important today.”

  “Pretty sure that has nothing to do with you.”

  She tsked and looked up. “It doesn’t, but I’ll let SKW know where your priorities lay. You made the right decision, Roman. It may not feel that way right now, but karate has always been there for you. Who’s to say this girl will always be there for you.”

  I growled low. “She’s not a girl. She’s my wife. And it would be in your best interest to never speak about her again.”

  “Wife? Wow. Do you really think that makes a difference? Silly boy. You’ll see in time who’s right.”

  “Do you really think karate is the most important thing to me? My family will always come first. No matter what.” This bitch was getting on my nerves. If she thought I would always choose karate, she had another thing coming.

  She spread her arms. “Where is your family right now, Roman?”

  I leaned forward in my seat. “If you think for one second you are going to sit there and act like you’re better than me, you’re more fucked in the head than I thought. I see how you look at me. I don’t miss the glances and winks. I also saw the way you looked at my wife. If you think for one second I would ever choose you over her, you’re dead wrong. Where Sage looks at me with love and respect, you look at me like a piece of meat. I had that fifty times over in the past. You think I’m going to throw away the best thing that has ever happened to me for you? I love karate, and it will always be part of my life, but Sage, Sam, and the baby will always be more important than any photoshoot or tournament. They are my life. Karate takes a fucking back seat from here on.”
I sat back in my seat, plugged my headphones back into my ears, and closed my eyes.

  Whatever else this bitch had to say, I wasn’t interested. She didn’t know me. Sage was my life from here on out.

  If SKW didn’t like the fact I had a family and priorities that weren’t karate, then maybe we weren’t as great of a fit as I first thought.

  *

  Chapter 30

  Sage

  Dammit. I had missed his phone call.

  “Sage, Earth to Sage.”

  I looked up from my phone and smiled at Hadley. “Sorry.”

  We were at the café, sitting at one of tables by the window. Molly had given me the whole day off, but I had still ended up back here.

  Roman must have called when I was ordering, and I still had my phone on silent.

  “Everything okay?”

  I shoved my phone into my purse. “Yeah, just missed a call from Roman.”

  She waved her hand at me. “Girl, go call that man back. I know those ninjas have the patience of a two-year-old. I’ll still be here. I gotta pick up a dozen cookies for Dante anyway and drop them off with Kennedy.”

  I rolled my eyes at the mention of Dante but grabbed my purse. “Just give me five minutes, ‘k?”

  “No problem, girl.” She pushed back her chair and headed to the counter.

  I swiped over Roman’s name and walked out of the café. It rang twice before he answered. “Sage?”

  “Hey.”

  “Baby, we’re having a boy.”

  A huge smile spread across my lips. “Yeah, we are,” I whispered.

  “I miss you so much. I wish I could have been there. You looked so damn adorable.”

  I had looked like crap, but I would let that slide. “I miss you too. How is everything going?”

  “It’s fine. About to go in for an interview with Karate Illustrated.”

  “Is that the really big magazine?” Not gonna lie, after he had told me he wouldn’t be able to make it today, I had done a little research on what was keeping him away.

  “Yeah. In all things karate, they’re well known.”