Fighting for Love Read online

  Shutting off the shower water, Matt opened the door and guided me back into his bedroom, dripping wet from the shower and from in between my legs. Before we even made it to the bed, he grabbed me by the waist and pushed me down on the mattress, spreading my legs wide.

  “You’re insatiable tonight,” I teased, waiting on him to start another round.

  He kissed me on the lips and brought his hand up to cup my cheek. “Only for you, baby.”

  Thrusting inside of me, he began another round of love making, but this time it was soft and gentle. He was gearing me up for what was to come, and when that happened it wasn’t going to be soft and gentle. I could see the need and rage battling behind his eyes, and with everything that had been going on I knew he needed to feel like he was in control, that I was completely his.

  Keeping the anger inside and not being able to go after Kyle like he wanted to was wearing on him. Matt had always been a protector, and since Kyle was messing with us both, it went against all of his instincts not to be able to defend himself.

  Soon it would all be over and he would get his time to beat Kyle, but now it was all about me and him, making love and fighting to keep that love. It hadn’t been easy, but we were both fighters and I was determined to fight until the end.

  MY WEEK OF STAYING AT home was over and now it was Monday morning, time to get back into the swing of things and actually go into the office. I called Lexi yesterday and told her about what had happened so she wouldn’t freak out when she saw me at work with my hand all bandaged up. I was trying to avoid having the whole office know what I did.

  My whole body was sore from Saturday night’s festivities in the bedroom and from the fight. My hand was bruised and swollen, but I knew that was to be expected since I punched someone in the face; although, I didn’t know it would hurt as bad as it did. At least I could still type and work on the computer. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it was doable. However, the open document sitting in front of me begged to differ because I’d only accumulated about a hundred words since sitting down at my desk two hours ago.

  The article will get done in time. I hadn’t missed a deadline yet, and I wasn’t going to start now.

  Since I stayed with Matt over the weekend, he had volunteered to stay at my house during the coming week since Jace was still gone and I needed to get back to work. He had an hour drive to and from his place to mine when he went to the gym, but he insisted on doing it so he could be with me. Writing the article on him was going to be difficult because he was more than just an athlete, public figure, and talented man; he was a good friend to others, loyal, and a lover. My ten page spread might end up being a twenty page spread by the time I was done.

  I wanted the world to know who he was and the sacrifices he made to get where he was. Out of all the athletes I’d interviewed, none had a life story like his. I didn’t just think that because I grew up with him; it was the truth.

  “Knock, knock,” Lexi chimed, banging lightly on the door.

  Lifting my gaze, I smiled at her as she walked in and took a seat in front of my desk. She wore a pair of gray slacks and a pink, lacy top with her camera around her neck, like always. Today, I settled on a knee-length black skirt, black sandals, and a royal blue sleeveless top with my hair in a messy ponytail. My hand wasn’t up to the task of spending the time to flat iron it.

  Lexi sighed and pursed her lips at my bandaged hand before reclining in the chair. “I’m glad to see you back at work in one piece. It sucks that I never get to see you unless you’re here. Are we still on for a girl’s night this week? Hayley was thinking Wednesday night would be good.”

  “That’ll be great. What did you both have in mind? Dinner and a movie?”

  “You know it,” she remarked excitedly. “I’m thinking pizza and a chick flick. Will and I never eat pizza, and I hardly every get to watch the movies I like.”

  Will was a health fanatic, kind of like Jace when it came to food. Jace didn’t like having junk food in the house except for my chocolate strawberries, but that was rare. Usually, when Lexi went out to lunch with me she would order the unhealthiest plate on the menu just because it was the only time she could really let go and do what she wanted. It was good to watch what you ate, but there was also such a thing as taking it to the extreme. I was a health nut, too, but I had to let myself enjoy some kind of treats or I’d go insane.

  Another knock came at the door and it was Stacey who entered, holding a cup of coffee and a notebook with her glasses perched on top of her auburn hair and a pencil sticking out from on top of her ear. She was our receptionist and had been working for the magazine for twenty years. She was also one of the quirkiest women I knew and always dressed the part by wearing extremely bright colors; hence the reason she was dressed in a pair of tight green pants and a bright yellow tunic-style top.

  “Good morning, Ms. Monroe,” she greeted brightly.

  “Hey, Stacey, how are you?” I asked.

  “Oh, I’m fine. I just wanted to tell you that someone’s here to see you. I told him to wait out in the lobby until you were ready for him.”

  “Did he give you a name?”

  “Yes,” she replied with a smile. She looked down at her notebook and said, “Let’s see … he said his name was Caleb Rhinehardt.”

  Lexi practically growled, jumping out of her chair. “No, Stacey, she can’t see Mr. Caleb Rhinehardt. That’s not even his real name.” She turned to me and glared. “We really need to call security on him. He shouldn’t be here.”

  Stacey’s blue eyes went wide. “Oh my goodness, do I really need to call security?”

  I said ‘no’ at the same time Lexi screamed ‘yes.’

  “No,” I told her more firmly, shooting a glare at Lexi. “Send him back here, Stacey. I need to end this anyway.”

  Stacey nodded unsurely and left the room, leaving Lexi there to gape at me in horror. “Shelby, no,” she hissed. “You need to stay away from him. He’s only going to cause more trouble.”

  About that time, Kyle sauntered into my office dressed in a pair of faded denim jeans and a red T-shirt, and shut the door. He glanced back and forth between me and Lexi with a smug expression on his face. Instead of having dark blond hair like he did before, it was now bleached-out and white like Matt had first described him to me. His eyes were still the same, one dark and one light, but the addition to the skin underneath his dull green eye was a welcome sight. My hand might hurt like hell, but at least I knew his face had to hurt, too.

  “Good morning, Lexi,” he said to her, and then turned to me, “and to you, love.”

  “Ugh … what do you want, Kyle?” I asked in disgust, “Another bruise to go under the left eye? You have a lot of nerve coming here.”

  He shrugged and took a seat in one of the chairs across from me, gazing around my office while Lexi moved as far away from him as she could. “Well, I see you still have a job after being arrested for assault. I figured a place like this would look down on people like that. So, anyway, I was wondering how your night in jail went.”

  Sitting back in my chair, it was now my time to look smug. “Oh, it was wonderful considering I didn’t spend a night in jail,” I informed him happily. His smile faded. “Yeah, you see, the moment I got to the station I was free to go. It appears my name is just a little more credible than yours. It’s over, Kyle. Whatever game you’re playing is done.”

  Kyle rested his arms on my desk and leaned forward, staring at me with his two-toned eyes. “No, love, it’s not done yet. There’s still one part of the game we haven’t played.”

  Like hell.

  Slowly standing from my desk, my whole body trembled in rage as I towered over him. I was done with his games and so was Matt. He couldn’t hurt us anymore.

  “Before I call security to get your ass hauled out of here, I want you to know something. I don’t give a flying fuck what you or anyone else who’s working with you has planned. You’re a sociopathic prick who gets off on tormenting
others for your own personal gain. It’s sad, and it’s pathetic.”

  Storming over to the door, I opened it wide and snapped, “Now get out. I have nothing more to say to you, and if you show up here again or at my house I will file a restraining order against you. You may have a good lawyer, but I have one that’s even better. You’ll never step foot in the ring again if you mess with me.”

  Getting to his feet, Kyle slowly stalked toward the door and stopped in front of me. Keeping his voice quiet, he leaned in and whispered, “You are so sexy when you’re pissed. I’m rock hard right now just looking at you. I hope you liked the pictures of me tasting that sweet body of yours. I know I do.”

  “You disgust me,” I growled.

  Out of the corner of my eye, Lexi moved over to my desk and picked up the phone. “Yes, this is Lexi Martin. I need security up in Paige Monroe’s office immediately. We have a pest problem and he doesn’t want to leave.”

  Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “I guess our time is up, love. Have a good rest of the week.”

  As soon as he walked out, I slammed the door and released a shaky breath. He didn’t react the way I thought he would and that scared me. I figured he would get angry and lash out, maybe even show a little bit of fear, but that wasn’t what I got. I believed I could scare him, but not a flicker of concern had shown in his eyes.

  “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Lexi warned.

  Leaning my head against the door, I closed my eyes and murmured, “Neither do I, Lex, but what can we do?”

  “I don’t know what you and I can do, but I do know what Will can do. I haven’t told him about Kyle, but once I do he’ll be ready to go. We’re going to need his help.”

  Will was a lawyer, and a good one at that. I couldn’t take any more chances.

  “Call him,” I told her. “Let’s see what he can do.”

  AFTER TALKING TO WILL AND explaining our situation, he said there was really nothing that could be done unless I feared I was at risk of bodily harm. I didn’t have the fear that Kyle would physically hurt me and I didn’t want to lie because it would make me just as bad as him.

  “So, there’s nothing Will can do then?” Matt asked.

  “Apparently not,” I grumbled into the phone.

  Lexi and Hayley would be arriving any moment for our girl’s night and I was trying to get everything cleaned up in a hurry. Matt was livid when I told him about my visit from Kyle, but if I really wanted to pursue a restraining order against him then there was a chance he wouldn’t get to fight him. Matt needed that fight and I couldn’t deny him that.

  “Did you want me to come over later tonight after Lexi and her sister leave?”

  “Yeah, that would be great, but you can always come a little early so you can meet Hayley. She’s completely different from Lexi, but I think you’d like her,” I said.

  “Okay, just text me when your movie’s almost over and I’ll head down that way. Have fun, and don’t do anything stupid like punch someone. That’s my job,” he teased.

  “I’ll try not to,” I replied with a laugh.

  As soon as I hung up the phone, Lexi and Hayley came bounding through the door with a bottle of wine, pizza, and a stack of movies. It was only six o’clock in the evening, but both of them were already in their pink and black zebra printed pajamas with their blonde hair in ponytails.

  “It’s party time,” Hayley shouted.

  “Wow, look at you two,” I gasped. “Does this mean I have to go put my pajamas on too?”

  Lexi smiled and shook her head. “No, you don’t. I wasn’t feeling too good today, so when I showed up at Hayley’s to pick her up she decided to do the same thing.”

  “Uh-oh,” I responded, taking the pizza out of her arms. “Are you going to be okay? Do you need to go back home?”

  She scoffed and waved me off. “Of course not, I’ll be all right. This is my only night to eat pizza until we do this again. I love Will to death, but I can’t stand the healthy kind of pizza he likes to eat. That boy is seriously missing out on some good food.”

  Laughing, Hayley set the movies and the wine down on the counter. “I don’t know how you do it, sis. I’m going to eat and drink whatever the hell I want and no one’s going to tell me I can’t.” Lexi rolled her eyes and filled a plate full of pizza before sitting down at the table.

  “So, how have you been?” Hayley asked, nudging me in the side. “I hear you and Matt are getting hot and heavy again. I can’t believe no one told me you dated a famous fighter.”

  “It was a long time ago when we dated,” I informed her. “And he wasn’t a fighter then. He was just a normal guy.”

  “Well, either way I can’t believe I didn’t know,” she scolded me. “I’ve been dying to see you and talk to you since all this shit with Caleb …” she said, and then caught herself. “Oh wait, never mind, his name is Kyle. I can’t believe he fooled me after all this time.”

  Fetching the corkscrew off the counter, I grabbed the bottle of white wine and opened it, pouring us each a glass. “How did you become friends with him to begin with?” I asked. “Josh isn’t friends with him, is he?”

  Hayley shook her head and grabbed a glass of wine. “Oh no, Josh and Kyle aren’t friends, especially after what happened. Josh wanted to kick his ass for you, but we figured Matt would do that all on his own.” She took a sip of wine. “I was introduced to Kyle by a girl who took some of my hip hop classes about a year ago.”

  “Wait,” I interrupted her. “Who was the girl? What was her name?”

  This could be the break we needed to figure out who was scheming with Kyle. Maybe Matt would recognize the name.

  Furrowing her brows, Hayley took another sip of wine and pursed her lips. “Hmm … let’s see. I haven’t seen her in months because I don’t teach classes anymore, but I’m thinking it was Maria … Mary, maybe. Anyway, she wanted to set him up with me, but when I said I was taken she asked if I had any single friends. I introduced him to a couple of my girls, and we all hung out on the weekends, but he didn’t like any of them until he met you … or at least that’s what I thought.”

  “Can you think of the girl’s last name by any chance?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I honestly don’t know it. Why do you want to know her name?”

  Lexi joined us in the kitchen and I passed her a glass of wine. “Matt and I think his sister might know who’s helping Kyle. Someone took the pictures of us together, and if we had to guess we’re speculating that it could be a girl Matt slept with at one point or another.”

  “Wow, that’s craziness,” Hayley muttered. “I’ll get you the girl’s full name. I just need to look through my records of all the people who signed up for my classes. Can you give me a couple of days?”

  “Yes,” I shouted happily. “We just want to get to the bottom of everything, and figure out how to handle it.” Taking my glass of wine, I lifted it in the air and tapped it to Hayley and Lexi’s glass. “To finding out the truth,” I toasted.

  All I wanted was for it all to end. Matt and I deserved a second chance to start over, to be happy, but how could we when at every corner someone tried to break us apart? It was one thing to fight for what you wanted, but another to fight for keeps.

  SHELBY TEXTED ME AT NINE o’clock and told me to head on over since Lexi wasn’t feeling good and needed to go home. By the time I got to her house and parked the truck, all was quiet and the lights were turned off. Both of the front doors were unlocked, so I walked inside and locked them behind me, not too happy that Shelby had the doors unlocked while she was alone in the house. The only light in the room were the candles Shelby had laid out on the kitchen counter and table.

  “Angel, it’s not really smart to leave your doors unlocked at night. Anyone could come in.”

  “You mean someone like you,” she murmured from the doorway to her room. “Don’t worry, I only unlocked them when I heard you pull up in your truck.”

  The second my
gaze found her, standing there in black see through lingerie, I wanted to carry her into the bedroom and wrap those long legs of hers around me. Smiling, she glanced down at my pants before lifting her gaze to mine. By the glassy look in her eyes and the empty bottle of wine on the counter I’d say she was feeling pretty good.

  “Are you drunk?” I asked.

  She laughed, but it was that deep, husky laugh of hers that she always used when we were in bed together. “Actually, I’m not, but I’m feeling good now that you’re here,” she said, rubbing up against me. She nodded toward the empty bottle of wine. “Lexi accidentally tipped over the bottle so most of it went down the drain. I did get two glasses of it though.”

  Wrapping my arms around her waist, I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, and down her neck to her bare collarbone. “What did you girls do tonight?”

  She moaned when I nipped the skin on her shoulder. “We ate some pizza and talked,” she replied breathlessly.

  Sliding the strap off her shoulder, I pulled her lingerie down, exposing her left breast, and wrapped my lips around her nipple. In between sucks, I asked, “Is … that … it?”

  “No,” she groaned, digging her nails into my biceps. “We took some goofy pictures together like we used to do back in the day. Do you want to see them?”

  “Not yet, angel. I want to make love to you first. After that you can show me whatever you want.”

  Lifting her under the legs, I carried her into the bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. It was my turn to show her a good time.

  “SO WHERE ARE THESE PICTURES you took?” I asked. “I have to see what you girls consider to be fun.”

  Standing naked in front of her dresser, she fumbled through her drawers and pulled out a little pink T-shirt and a pair of light yellow boyshort underwear. “You’ll have to upload them onto my laptop. I didn’t have a chance to do it because someone was awfully persistent on making love to me the moment he walked in the door,” she added teasingly.