Dirty Fighter: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (20 page)

A
fter we made love
, we should have parted ways, but it was just too hard. He walked me to my room, and I couldn’t resist the urge to pull him inside. It didn’t seem like he wanted to leave and I wasn’t going to force him too.

We fell together onto my small bed and made love for a second and third time. When we finally passed out, exhausted from the sex, the moon was giving up his terrain to the sun. I had only planned on sleeping a few hours before rising to start fixing Theresa; my body had other plans though. As soon as my eyes shut, the world around me collapsed into darkness and I was out cold.

* * *

T
he buzzing was infecting
the air as I woke up, my alarm going crazy. Next to me, Desmond was still asleep, looking even more attractive than ever. I smiled, thinking about how badly I wanted to wake him with a tender kiss. One glance at the alarm clock though had me changing my mind. It was already almost noon.

“Shit!” I all but yelled as I jumped up.

Desmond woke up and asked, “What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s almost noon, and we are running out of time to fix Theresa if we want to win this race!” I said frantically as I looked for my work clothes.

I could feel Desmond’s eyes as they traveled over my body. Spinning around, I caught him in the act.

“Desmond!” I scolded. “We do not have time for this! Not if you want to race tomorrow!”

He smiled, “Not even a little time?”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at his charm. It was a tempting offer, one that I would have taken him up on any other time. Not today, though. Today I had work to do. Bending over and giving him a good show of my rear, I heard him moan in pleasure.

I picked up his shirt from the floor and tossed it unceremoniously at him. He caught it midair, the playful expression still dancing across his lips.

“Get dressed Keys, we have work to do,” I said with a smile as I finished getting dressed.

He sighed, “But it’s so early!”

I rolled my eyes at him, “Is this how you always are? Too lazy to work?”

I knew that wasn’t Desmond at all, but I was hoping my question would pull him out of bed. It worked as his eyes narrowed and the will to be the best at everything rose up inside of him once again.

“You are a cold woman,” he muttered playfully as he pulled on his shirt.

I smiled before opening the door and stepping into the hallway, “I know, but I really am the best.”

I closed the door before he could argue with me. I knew that he would, it was just who he was. I was the same way, and it was great to finally meet someone who was capable of keeping up the banter with me. I wanted to tell him just how wonderful I thought he was, but it would have to wait.

The last thing that either of us needed was an emotional distraction. Who knew if I was even going to be able to repair the damage done to Theresa?

I rounded the corner and saw her sitting in the middle of the shop where we had left her last night. Seeing her brought back the flood of emotions from our time in bed. His touch, his warmth, his dick.

I felt the butterflies in my stomach start to rise up and my garden growing moist at the memories. I quickly shook my head, I didn’t have time to think about his lips or any other part of Desmond’s body, I had work to do.

Right away I popped open the hood and started looking around. The scanner was already in my hand, and I was working loose a bolt when Desmond finally emerged. It looked like he had fallen back to sleep. I couldn’t say that I was surprised; he didn’t really seem like the type to function on little or no sleep.

“You really need to get ready for the rest of the race,” I muttered to him.

“I know,” he replied with a lazy smile as he leaned against the car. “I would just like to know if there’s going to be a car for me to drive?”

“I think so; I am working on the repairs now,” I replied.

“Do you know that the third leg of the race isn’t just one part but two? It's spread out over back to back races during two days. It’s all about speed and points. Whoever wins tomorrow, will have a huge lead in the last race of the competition.” Desmond said.

I looked at him in confusion, “You mean it’s not just one more race tomorrow?”

He shook his head, “Nope, it's actually two races.”

“Well,” I said to him as I wrenched free the piece that Luke had damaged, “It looks like you should get out there and shake some hands or do whatever it is that you do. Here’s the problem.”

He took the piece from me and shook his head, “That son of a bitch.”

I nodded my head in agreement, “You got lucky though, we have a spare. It will take me a few hours to switch them out. After that though, there’s no reason you shouldn’t kick his butt tomorrow.”

Desmond smiled at me, making my heart race, “Thanks.”

He leaned over and kissed me gently, and I felt myself blush. He was so much more than I had ever hoped for.

“See you soon,” he whispered to me before walking away.

I watched him go, and when the shop doors closed behind him, I let out a sigh of relief. He was the most distracting man that I had ever met. Everything about him made me feel like a giddy schoolgirl again. It was wonderful and infuriating at the same time.

As the part in my hand started to feel heavier, I was pulled back into reality. I needed to get Theresa fixed, no matter what. I needed to show Desmond that I could make up for what Luke had done. More so, I needed to show Luke that I was better than his petty little tricks.

* * *

“
A
re
you sure she’s ready?” asked Desmond.

I rolled my eyes, “I promise you, she is ready. I have checked and double checked, and I tested her out yesterday. What more do you want?”

Desmond smiled at me, “Nothing, everything is perfect. I just don’t want to risk any more damage.”

I knew that he was worried. I had placed a guard at the shop twenty-four hours a day since the last time I had gone over Theresa, but it was still frightening since Luke was able to get to her so easily before.

I had done everything I could, even making more modifications as I went. For Desmond to do anything but win this leg of the race would be almost unheard of. Theresa was now capable of out running every other car there.

“Desmond, I know that you are worried, but I have put every precaution in place. All you have to do is go out there and show those people who the best driver really is, okay?” I said reassuringly.

He smiled at me and clicked his seatbelt, “Okay, I trust you. After all, you are the best mechanic that I have ever known.”

I laughed, “You know that I am going to tell José that you said that, right?”

Desmond grinned, “I think he will understand, he’s not as pretty as you, and that’s a hard thing to compete with. Plus, there’s that thing you do with your tongue.”

“Desmond!” I scolded him before playfully reaching through the window and slapping his arm.

The announcer called for the drivers to make their way to the starting line and I saw him let out a nervous sigh. I couldn’t help but be worried right along with him. This part of the race, he had told me the night before, was the most difficult.

It would push both the car and the driver along the way. It was about speed and precision as the track looped around several miles of steep and dangerous terrain. Most of the race was only going to be watched on giant screens placed around the stadium.

Not being able to see Desmond and Theresa as they went, made me more than a little nervous. Up until that point, I could watch to see what modifications needed to be done to shave off valuable seconds along the way.

A camera view though wouldn’t give me the information I needed. Instead, I would be sitting with the rest of the crew, waiting and watching to see if the past few days had paid off or not.

“Don’t worry, you’ve got this,” I said to him reassuringly.

He smiled and leaned out. I knew what he wanted, and I was more than happy to give it to him. I bent down and kissed him tenderly. The motion was almost as natural to me as breathing now. His lips felt like they had found a home when they met mine. Everything about our relationship was different and new for me. He had been such a pleasant surprise. I knew that we were going to need to talk about what would happen after the race, but it could wait. The next few days were going to be life changing, for both of us.

“Thanks, Amber. I don’t know what I would do without you.” He cooed as he started the engine.

“Well, Luke would have a better chance at winning that’s for sure,” I replied playfully.

He glared at the road ahead, “That bastard is done winning.”

I smiled. Knowing how he felt about the other driver and knowing that I too, wanted to see him get knocked from his high horse.

“Go put him in his place baby, leave him in the dust,” I said encouragingly.

He smiled at me before pulling away. I knew that as long as Luke hadn’t done anything further to Theresa, there was no way that he was going to win the next stage of the race. Between Desmond’s exceptional driving skills and my own adjustments to the car, no one would be able to beat them.

As I joined the rest of the staff to watch the race, the only concern I had was for myself. When the race was over, would Desmond and I just part ways? Would our romance just be called a summer fling or would we be able to make it work off the track as well as we had on the track?

I had questions that needed to be answered, but they would just need to wait until after we kicked Luke’s butt and put him in the loser’s ring where he belonged.

I had never before known a man that was so dark and shady as Luke was and I was positive that by the end of the race, everyone would know what a slime ball he really was. That was a project that I had already started on, a little extra surprise for everyone. Luke would never be able to race again, a fate worse than death for anyone on the racing scene.

A
s I approached
the starting line, my heart did a little flip, but it was different from the other times. This part of the race was going to take all my concentration. It was going to be fun more than anything, though. It had been a long time since a track had actually challenged me and I looked forward to pushing my skills to the next level.

Amber had said she’d made more modifications to Theresa in the past twenty-four hours. She had told me what to look for, but I hadn’t had the time to take a test drive before the start of the race.

“Don’t worry, you will pick up on the modifications pretty quickly. Just look for more power and a bigger boost when you gun it.” Amber had told me.

I had looked at her, shocked, “How could you possibly have given me a more significant power boost?”

She smiled slyly, “I have my ways. Don’t worry; it’s nothing that she can’t handle. The only question is, can you handle it too?”

I rolled my eyes, knowing she was giving me a hard time. “I can handle anything you’ve got baby.”

Amber laughed and put her arms around me, kissing me tenderly and reminding me of all the things that I wanted to do to her. It was too late, though, we had a race to win. Glen called out the track details and gave word for the drivers to start their engines.

The countdown had begun, and the flag was being lowered. I gunned my car, racing to the front of the pack right away.

It didn’t take long for me to see Amber’s improvements for myself. The group of other racers fell behind me as I took the lead and approached the first set of winding turns. I knew what to expect, but it was still thrilling to witness them first hand.

This was a track that only a few drivers ever got to experience, and now I was one of them. Nothing could ever replace the feeling in my body at that exact moment. Nothing else seemed to matter.

I was driving better than ever before, and Theresa was running at speeds she had never known. My mind, typically so carefree during racing was captivated by the track. For the first time since I had met her, not even Amber could break the spell that the track had on me.

As I approached the tunnel, a long and narrow passage that was separated into two sections, I shot through it without fear. It was only wide enough for one car to pass, but I had no worries at that moment of another driver sneaking up on me.

As soon as the tunnel fell into my rearview mirror though and the road parted once again, I saw a familiar black car approaching my flank. Instantly, my blood started to rise, and I had to fight the urge to slam on my breaks.

The impact would destroy Luke and his car, but my own Theresa would be damaged in the process. Unlike Luke though, I wasn’t crooked. I wouldn’t try to sabotage the race; I was good enough to win without resorting to cheating.

He was gaining on me, pushing forward until we were running side by side. For several seconds we rode like that, him glaring at me and me giving him a hateful smile. Soon enough, the second tunnel passage came into view, and I knew that something was going to have to give way. We couldn’t both fit through. He gunned his car, gaining precious inches over me. Still, I wasn’t going to give up, not after everything he had done to me.

The tunnel came closer to us, both refusing to back down from the challenge and give over the lead to the other. My mind raced, thinking about the damage a collision would cause. With the track that we were on, the other drivers wouldn’t see the accident until it was too late.

This race would go down in history as the largest racing disaster known to the United States. I had no choice, I had to ease off the pedal before someone got hurt.

Just as I made the decision, another thought flashed through my mind. This one was Luke, standing once again in the winner’s circle. I clenched my fist, I couldn’t let him win, not again. Not after everything that I had worked for. Not after everything that he had done to Amber and to me. She would be devastated if I gave away first place. Just then, I recalled what she had told me about the new modifications she had made.

“You will have more go power primarily. With the additions, if you wallop the gas, it will give you a burst of extra speed. Basically, we are as close to NOS as we can legally be without breaking any of the racing guidelines for cars. It took some crafty footwork, but you are still legal and inspected by the board as such. I didn’t want to give anyone a reason to think that we were cheating you know,” she had said.

“Wow, that’s impressive!” I replied, looking at the inspection paper.

“Thanks. I almost lost my temper with the inspector a few times. You know, he’s one of those men who don’t think a woman should leave the kitchen. He wasn’t happy to see that I had outsmarted him each time he tried to cite me.”

I had laughed at the visual. I had no doubt that Amber had given him more than just a small piece of her mind along the way. You couldn’t help but love the woman, she had more fire than anyone else on the racing scene. It was refreshing and a little intimidating for a lot of the men too.

Men who had been mechanics for years found themselves being bested by the young and vivacious woman who was now on a leader’s team. It wouldn’t stay that way for long though if I didn’t put my trust into her skills and give Theresa everything that I had. With a heavy sigh, I knew that it was time to make a decision.

I pushed down on the gas pedal until it wouldn’t give any more. I felt Theresa lurch forward with more power than I had ever known before. I briefly glanced at Luke and enjoyed the shocked look on his face as he disappeared behind me.

I took the lead just in time to shoot through the final tunnel. It was a lead I would need to hold onto. That wouldn’t be hard if I kept pushing the car but I also didn’t want to blow her up, not when we were so close to winning. As soon as the tunnel was clear and I knew we had a good lead, I let off the gas some.

The finish line came into view, and my headset once again picked up Glen’s familiar voice, he was bragging about the burst of speed that the crowds had just witnessed via helicopter camera. I smiled when I heard him name off Amber as my lead mechanic in charge of all the great improvements the group was seeing on Theresa. Just as I was starting to relax, I saw Luke catching up to me.

“Not on my life scumbag,” I muttered to myself.

I let him approach as we went into the final quarter mile. He looked at me and smiled as he took the lead. He was a fool. He only took the lead because I wanted to make him an embarrassment. As the final few seconds approached, I once again gunned Theresa, and she jumped forward, taking first place and beating out Luke by a cars length.

The crowd went wild all around me. I could hear them roar outside the car as I came to a screeching halt. I was all but pulled from Theresa and hoisted onto the shoulders of my teammates before being carried to the winners circle.

I saw Luke in the distance, climbing out of his own car. He threw his helmet to the ground and glared at me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I could tell it was full of colorful language. He walked away from the group and just before I was about to let my attention leave him and wander to my victory, he paused and turned back around.

I watched as a suspicious looking man approached him. Luke’s face changed, it went from blind anger to pure hatred in a few seconds. I suddenly wished that I was closer to him, to hear what he was telling the man.

Something about the dark smile that crossed his face made my blood run cold. He was far more dangerous than I had realized. As the two men talked, I watched in veiled horror as Luke pointed to someone in the distance and nodded his head before the stranger disappeared from his side. I followed his finger to where it was pointing in the crowd.

To my horror, I saw the woman at the end of his hatred. It was Amber. Whatever he had planned, he was going to hurt her in the process. I wouldn’t let that happen, though. I would protect her from everyone else.

Tapping on the shoulders that were carrying me, I was set down and quickly surrounded by reporters. I looked around but couldn’t see Amber anywhere. I knew that I couldn’t just run away from the winner’s circle.

It would cause a media storm like none other if I did. It would draw attention to the relationship with my mechanic that I didn’t know if she even wanted yet. Plus, it would call out Luke, and that was something I wasn’t ready for. When I brought him down, I wanted it to be on my own terms, not because he thought he could threaten the woman I cared about.

Glen found me, and I quickly pull him in close so the reporters couldn’t hear me.

“Glen, you need to find Amber, I think Luke has something planned,” I whispered.

Glen looked surprised, “You think he would try to do something to her?”

“I don’t know, but I didn’t like the way he was looking at her,” I replied, looking around. “Please, just find her and stay with her until I can get away.”

He nodded his head, “Sure man.”

I knew that he had never seen me so worried about a woman before, but Amber wasn’t just another girl. I was pretty sure that I was falling for her. The last thing that I was going to let happen was for Luke to come between her and me. Even if he was just sending a man to give her a hard time about being a female mechanic, it didn’t matter. Suddenly, I wanted to protect her with everything I had. Suddenly, she was becoming even more important to me than Theresa. That was something I had never thought was possible.

Theresa, until that point, was the only woman I had ever loved after my own family. Now, I was wondering if Amber was going to be more. Which meant that I would have to tell her the truth about who I was and where I had actually come from.