The Girl Worth Fighting for (The Girl #2)

by Julia Goda

  I laughed some more. “He’ll get over it. And you’re always welcome at my house if you need a break. Though you’ll probably have to sedate him if you expect to actually stay the night. You know he’ll just drag you back to his bed.”

  Lizzy sighed, resigned. “I know. Fucking caveman.” Now we both laughed. “So what brings you to my office?”

  “I was wondering if you were free for lunch?” I asked, trying to be nonchalant.

  Lizzy smirked at me. “Ah, let me guess. Logan is here.” She threw me a knowing smile, but I kept my face impassive. “So I’m gonna be your excuse for fleeing the shelter so you can escape Logan’s advances again?”

  I kept my eyes on her but didn’t react to her taunting. I knew there was no need to pretend she didn’t know what was going on. We had talked about it more than once. Still, I couldn’t help myself.

  “You know he’s not gonna give up.”

  I shrugged.

  “Rainey, don’t you think—”

  “No, I don’t,” I interrupted her. I had heard it before and wasn’t about to change my mind.

  Lizzy sighed as she gave in. “Fine. Yes, I’m free for lunch. We should ask Bobby to join us. It’s been over a week since we all got together.”

  Bobby was another new friend I had gained this past year. She was an attorney who only worked child abuse related cases. She was a shark, known as such, and always fought for what was best for the children involved. I admired her. I wanted to be her when I grew up.

  “Sure. Sounds great. Chinese?”

  “Ugh. You always want Chinese.”

  “And you don’t?” I raised my eyebrows at her, challenging her to disagree with me.

  “You know I do, but I should really try harder to eat healthier food.”

  “Nobody forces you to order the sticky, unhealthy stuff. Get some rice and veggies.”

  Lizzy’s face turned into a grimace. I grinned, knowing that would never happen. Another thing we had in common: we both loved food and didn’t hide it.

  “Meh. I’ll have a side salad and get a fruit smoothie on the way back.”

  “Yeah. That should make up for it,” I said under my breath, earning me a mock glare. I got up, smiling, and went to the door. “In an hour?”

  “Yeah. Sounds good.”

  I left her office and went to the staff room to grab another coffee. I had a lot of paperwork sitting on my desk and needed more caffeine to get through it. I was still smiling when I turned the corner, but that smile froze on my face when I saw who was standing by the coffee machine fixing his own coffee.

  “Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful smile?”

  Said smile faded quickly at his line and turned into a sneer. “Has anyone ever told you that dumb pick-up lines only work on bimbos and skanks who don’t make enough use of their miniscule brain matter to know better?”

  Logan chuckled at my nasty remark, his eyes flashing with amusement.

  “And you’re extremely sexy when you’re pretending to be a bitch.”

  That did it. What did a girl have to do to get rid of a guy she wasn’t interested in? “Ugh! What do I have to do? What will it take for you to leave me alone?”

  “Go out with me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Going out with you would be the opposite of you leaving me alone, now wouldn’t it?” I replied sarcastically.

  Logan just grinned. “Go out with me. One date. If you don’t want to see me again after that, I’ll leave you alone.”

  I thought on that for a moment. Would it really be that easy? Go out with him once to be rid of him? I doubted it. He wouldn’t just accept it if I told him to get lost after the date. He was too much of a cocky bastard to be rejected like that, which was proven by his smirk and self-assured glint in his eyes as he waited for my answer, my hesitation undoubtedly giving him the impression he was getting somewhere.

  Well, you can stick that grin up your ass!

  “I’m not interested in spending any time with people like you, Logan, no matter how little time it is.”

  His eyebrows went up in question. “People like me?”

  “People like you. Boxers, fighters, athletes in general, musicians, actors. Anyone who strives to make it big, be famous, and become rich. Anyone who is ruthless enough to do anything to reach that goal and throw a tantrum when things don’t go their way.”

  Shit. I was babbling.

  I clamped my mouth shut, wishing I hadn’t opened it in the first place. It was none of his business why I didn’t want to go out with him.

  Jerk.

  His eyebrows stayed raised, now in disbelief. “Wow. That’s a little judgmental, don’t you think?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t care. It’s my rule. You don’t have to like it.” Now, go away.

  Logan’s eyes were still on me, narrowed now, scrutinizing, reading me. “So what you’re saying is, you’ve been hurt by someone who falls into that category; my guess would be by a boxer, judging by how instantly your friendliness turned into indifference and rejection the second you learned I box. You’ve been hurt by a boxer and promised yourself to never go back there again.” His eyes didn’t move from my face, and I knew I hadn’t been quick enough to hide the pain in them. I turned my back to him and busied myself with emptying the last of the coffee in the carafe into my mug, then got on to the task of brewing more. It was a rule at the shelter: if you dare take the last coffee, you better make sure you brew more. I tried to ignore feeling Logan move in closer behind me, but it was hard since I could literally feel his hot breath on my neck.

  “What did he do? Cheat on you?”

  I laughed a bitter laugh and shook my head. “No, he didn’t cheat on me.”

  The air in the room turned heavy. “Did he hit you?” His voice was now a low, angry growl. Flashes of shouting and glass flying, smashing against the wall, ran through my mind’s eye. I closed my eyes tightly to shut them out. I had to get out of here, away from Logan.

  I opened my eyes and turned around. I was now almost nose-to-nose with him. He was too close. His bright blue eyes were piercing mine as if they were trying to see into my soul to find all the answers there.

  Not a chance.

  I grabbed my mug from the counter and rounded him while I said, “It doesn’t matter, Logan. What matters is that you can give up. It’s not gonna happen.”

  He shook his head in frustration. “Why won’t you answer my question? Did that motherfucker hit you?” His eyes were blazing with fury. I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but it still made the hair on my neck stand on end. I straightened my shoulders and narrowed my eyes at him, determined not to let him get to me. My life was none of his motherfucking business.

  “It doesn’t concern you. You’re not part of my life, so you don’t get to know shit.”

  “I can see you think that,” was his cryptic answer.

  “So you’re gonna leave me alone?” I asked hopefully as I stopped in the doorway and turned around.

  He shook his head again. “He live in Boston?”

  Yeah, he did. Not that I kept track of him, but I knew he would never leave this city. It’s where he grew up. It was in his blood. But I wouldn’t share that with Logan. I stayed silent as I glared at him. This guy was unbelievable.

  His eyes roamed my face and his stance relaxed. Then he answered my question. “Not a chance. I’m gonna let this go for now. But get me, Rainey, I might not yet know what exactly that scumbag did to make you dislike ‘people like me’ so much, but I will find out. And once I do, I will prove to you I’m better than him. Right after I pay him a visit and teach him a lesson. Now that I know it’s not me you don’t like but what I do for a living, I’ll do anything I can to make you realize I’m not like that asshole who screwed you over.”

  I shook my head and laughed bitterly once again. “Good luck with that.” Then I turned around and went to my office, closing the door firmly behind me, but not before I heard him shout after me, “Mark my w
ords, Rainey Miller. I have connections. I will find out.”

  Dread settled in my gut at his words, but then I took a deep breath.

  Cocky bastard.

  Fine, let him try. He won’t get very far.

  The only people who knew about my past and who I was were my mother, Ben, and Lizzy. My mother didn’t talk about our past to anyone but Ben and me, ever; Ben would never cross paths with Logan; and Lizzy would never tell. I was carrying my mother’s maiden name as my last name; she had changed it back as soon as the divorce was final, as per my father’s request in the settlement, so Logan had no way of finding out anything I didn’t want him to know.

  Relieved and reassured, I pushed him out of my mind and dove back into work.

  Logan

  Logan watched as Rainey walked through the door and to her office, and kept watching as she closed the door behind her without sparing him another glance.

  He had been fascinated by her from the moment he laid eyes on her, before she had even noticed him. There was something about her. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but she unearthed feelings in him he had never felt before. He had walked into the common room that day almost a month ago and had stopped short at the sight in front of him. Rainey had been sitting on the couch with her guitar on her lap, a handful of kids sitting around her, their amazed and admiring eyes watching her in awe as she played and sang a beautiful song. She was so lost in the song that her eyes were closed and the emotions were playing across her face: pain, heartbreak, confusion, then relief and peace. Then she’d opened her eyes and his breath had left him. They were deep blue, like the sky, with a hint of violet around the edges. He could tell it took her a second to find her way back to reality. Then a huge smile split her face and that tinge of purple spread with the sparkle that lit her eyes. Coupled with her raven black hair, those eyes were magnificent.

  And he’d been a goner.

  There was something in her eyes, a vulnerability that spoke to him, pulled him in, that he felt he had to protect.

  Right then and there, Logan knew he had to get to know this woman, that he would do anything in his power to be close to her. He hadn’t known the song she’d played, had never heard it before, but he had listened to it every day since, trying to figure her out.

  It usually wasn’t hard for him to get the woman he wanted. He wasn’t a player, far from it. He respected women too much to use them like that, but he’d never really had to chase any of the women he’d been interested in.

  Rainey was different.

  For the first time in his life, he had to work for it, prove himself, and he was only too happy to take on that challenge. Though he had to admit it was getting slightly frustrating. A month of flirting and being charming, teasing, helpful…nothing had helped him in cracking that hard shell Rainey had surrounded herself with when it came to him. He’d been watching her constantly, trying to see a pattern, trying to find a weak spot that would let him get through her defenses, but he’d been unsuccessful to say the least. That initial spark he had seen in her eyes when they were introduced had not only disappeared, it had turned into extreme dislike and distrust, almost hostile. He’d had no idea what had caused that instant animosity when she’d learned his name. They had never met before, he had been sure of that. There was no way he would have forgotten those cerulean eyes. Or that raven black hair. Or that absolutely heartbreaking smile.

  No, they hadn’t met before.

  So why was it that she was dead set against getting to know him? For weeks, Logan had racked his brain, not coming up with an answer or even the slightest clue. He had played with the idea of asking Lizzy. Rainey was her friend and Logan had caught Lizzy looking at either Rainey or him or both of them knowingly more than once. So he knew she knew why he wasn’t getting an in, but Logan wasn’t going to ask her just yet. He hadn’t given up on getting through to her.

  And today, for the first time, she had given him a clue.

  It wasn’t about who he was.

  It was about what he did for a living.

  I can work with that.

  He smiled to himself.

  Then his smile vanished when he remembered the pain that had flickered through her eyes when he had hit the nail on the head before she could hide it. Someone had seriously hurt her. The thought of someone physically causing her pain lit a fire of fury in his stomach he had trouble controlling. She hadn’t denied it. She also hadn’t admitted it. In fact, she hadn’t acknowledged his question at all. Still, someone had hurt her one way or another, he was sure of it. Hurt her so much that she was closing herself off from letting people in. No, wait. The only person she wasn’t letting in was him. She was open and caring with everyone else around her, smiling, laughing, teasing, and advising in that caring and passionate way of hers. Though there was something about her she was keeping to herself, he could tell. He had watched her closely and intently. With the kids, she was always open, her smiles always reached her eyes. But when she interacted with the adults, her smiles were just that little bit less bright, the spark in her eyes that little bit more dimmed. She was a private person. But she was always kind, respectful, and sincere, and everyone loved to be around her. The kids at the shelter adored and respected her, trusted her, and her co-workers sang high praises all the time, talking about how involved she got, how passionate she was about every single child who showed up at the shelter, how she worked long hours and weekends to give the kids a sense of safety and home, a place where they could go and feel loved and appreciated, where they knew they could find support and let their guard down, even if just for an hour a day. He admired that in her, how she could make disillusioned street kids trust her, quickly, how she could make them feel loved and cared for.

  That’s why he hadn’t understood how she could be so hostile towards him.

  But now he knew she treated him like that because she had been burned by another boxer. What was it she had said? People like you. Boxers, fighters, athletes in general, musicians, actors. Anyone who strives to make it big, be famous and become rich. Anyone who is ruthless enough to do anything to reach that goal and throw a tantrum when things don’t go their way. That was it. The man she’d been with had done everything to reach his goal, to become famous, rich, and had left her when he succeeded. Or he never made it that far and had changed, maybe even blamed her or some shit like that. He was sure some version of one or the other was true.

  Determined to figure out which one it was, he started to smile again. The boxing community in Boston was big, but Logan had connections. Good connections. He would find out which asshole had hurt the woman he was falling for even though she wanted nothing to do with him, and then he would teach him a lesson and prove to her he was nothing like that, that he would adore the ground she walked on, that he would never sacrifice her for anything.

  Chapter 3

  Rainey

  “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THAT man is delicious. If he weren’t almost seven years younger than me, I would give it a shot. If he were interested in me, that is. Which he isn’t, of course.” Bobby’s eyes came to me with a knowing little glint. I rolled mine in response.

  “How do you know how old he is?” Lizzy asked Bobby.

  We were all sitting at a table at the Red Lantern, enjoying the most delicious Chinese food in all of Boston. It wasn’t anywhere near the shelter, but it was definitely worth the drive. The Red Lantern was smack in the middle of the Back Bay district of Boston, only a few blocks from where Lizzy and Cole lived. I loved walking around this part of town with its shops and restaurants, watching the hustle and bustle of the city. People watching was one of my favorite past times. I would get a coffee and just sit on a bench somewhere and make up stories about the people walking by. Sometimes I would bring my guitar and strum it while I watched people walk past me. It was relaxing, letting your head clear of all thought and just watch and observe and come up with silly stories. It was something my mother, Ben, and I used to do a lot when I was a teenager.
We would wander around downtown Boston and come up with the most ridiculous stories about the people we passed. It had been fun and had taken my mind off of the sadness that had enveloped me after my father left us.

  I snapped out of that bittersweet memory when Bobby answered, “I asked him.” She shrugged.

  I had to smile at her despite the topic we were discussing. Bobby was another no-nonsense woman. If she wanted to know something, she would ask you, a personality trait that was necessary when you were a lawyer, I suppose. She was straightforward and brutal sometimes, but on the other hand, she could be extremely soft-spoken and empathic, especially when she talked to the children she represented. Aside from my mother, she was the strongest and best woman I knew.

  “You would,” I mumbled under my breath, making both her and Lizzy snicker. Bobby still had that certain glint her eyes, you know, the one where you know exactly that someone is up to something and it somehow involves you? Yeah, that one. I had been looking forward to a nice lunch out with my friends, but now I wasn’t so sure that had been a good idea. She kept her eyes trained on me, observing.

  I sighed. “Do we have to talk about Logan? I’m starting to lose my appetite here.” I sounded like a whiny teenager. “How about we talk about Cole and how he’s absolutely driving Lizzy nuts to the point that you threatened him with moving out?” I tried to divert the attention to Lizzy, who was narrowing her eyes at me. But unfortunately, my tactic didn’t get me anywhere, as I realized when Bobby waved the comment off, saying, “We’ll get to that. We all know she wouldn’t really go through with it, or rather, Cole wouldn’t let her. As much as I enjoy watching the two of them banter and bicker, it’s nothing new. Your love life takes priority over that right now.”

  Lizzy’s eyes had narrowed further and were now on Bobby, but she didn’t say anything, knowing damn well Bobby was right in her assumption.

  “Who is talking about my love life? I don’t have a love life.”