Fighting for Love (5 page)

Yeah, I’ll bet
, I thought to myself.

He didn’t seem like the type to go for the women with brains. “Thank you for the compliment, Garrett. I happen to know many women who are beautiful with brains. You must not be meeting the right ones,” I teased, picking up the glass of water in front of me.

“Obviously,” he remarked, his lips tilting up in a devilish smirk.

Taking a sip of the water, I scanned the restaurant before settling my gaze back on him. “Will we be expecting anyone else? Or did you want to go ahead and get started on the planning? I’d like to know your schedule so I can figure out when and where I need to be, and what I need to do to get the perfect story. I’ll have to run the schedule by my photographer, as well. That way, she can join me and take the pictures.”

“Oh, of course,” he agreed. “And yes, my client should be here soon. He wasn’t far behind me when he called to say he was on his way.” Garrett pulled out a briefcase from under the table and removed a file he had stashed inside. Handing it to me, he said, “This is all the information on where we will be for the next month. I know Mr. Winters said he also wanted to cover the Golden State Tour, so I have the fight schedule in here as well, in case you want to attend. I’ll make sure you have front row seats to all of them.”

The moment he said Golden State Tour my heart completely stalled in my chest and I could feel my face paling with each passing second. With my head tilted down, I opened the file and stared at it in a frozen stupor. I knew what the Golden State Tour was, and now I knew why Garrett’s name sounded so awfully familiar.

How can this be happening?
I wanted to scream.
Please, tell me it isn’t so.

The pounding of my heart grew louder and a sheen of sweat started to form above my brow. Shifting in my chair, I gazed down at the opened file … and right there in front of me was the solid proof staring me in the face.

Matt Reynolds.

It was his practice and fighting schedule, along with photo shoots and various promotional events he had to attend. I already knew his fighting schedule because I’d kept up with how he was doing ever since I left him. Yes, it was kind of lame that I followed his every move, but I couldn’t seem to let go. I was so proud of him when he landed his first fight, and then his second, and so forth. Eventually, his name started to spread and I watched him achieve something I knew he’d worked so hard to accomplish. I knew he had a passion for wrestling and boxing, but I never thought he would go as far as to join MMA fighting. He started all of that up after I left him.

There were a lot of things he began after I left him. I went to almost all of his fights until it got to the point where I couldn’t handle it anymore. It wasn’t the fighting that made me sick to the core, but the countless women I’d see going in and out of his room afterwards. He was known as the ultimate UFC bad boy, the one the ladies loved to tangle and grapple beneath the sheets with … and that was meant to be taken literally. Matt wasn’t the same guy I knew before.

Being a strong willed person was one of my virtues, and I’d handled many hard tasks in my lifetime. However, spending a month with Matt and following him around to get his story was something I didn’t think I could do. Fighting back the tears, I swallowed hard and shut the file slowly, trying my best to hide the tension and keep the bile from rising in my throat.

Holy shit, I feel like I’m going to hyperventilate.
Garrett had said Matt was on his way, and if he was almost to the restaurant I needed to get the hell out of there.

“Shelby, are you all right? You’re looking a little pale over there,” Garrett asked, concern clear in his voice. Peering up at him, I brushed him off with a wave of my hand and tried my best to smile.

“Oh yeah,” I breathed, trying desperately to keep my hands from shaking. “I haven’t eaten today, so I think my blood sugar might be a little low.” I hesitated for a second, wondering if I should just say I wasn’t feeling good and leave. Deep down, however, there was a part of me that wanted desperately to see Matt again.

Then what?
I asked myself.
Is he going to smile and say he missed you over the years? You also just started seeing someone!

Okay, so that’s not going to happen.
My mind was made up and I chose the coward’s way out. Grabbing my purse from under the table, I immediately stood up and smiled apologetically at Garrett. “I’m sorry, but will you excuse me for just a minute? I’ll be right back.”

Garrett stood and nodded his head. “Yes, of course. Hopefully, Matt will be here by the time you get back.”

I’m not coming back
, I wanted to say, but I needed time to think about what I was going to do and how I could get out of writing the article. As fast as I could go, and still look like I wasn’t running for the hills, I rushed to the bathroom and flew into one of the stalls. Tears poured down my cheeks, and it felt like my throat was closing up on me, choking me while my heart ached as if a thousand knives were jabbing into it.

There’s no way I have the strength to see him now. I’m not prepared.
I never planned on seeing him face to face ever again. If I did, how would he react? Would he still be angry with me even though it was ten years ago and he’d obviously moved on … many times? Would my feelings for him come roaring back if he touched me like I was afraid they would?

It doesn’t matter. I’m not staying and I’m not doing the article on him. End of story.

Wrapping a heap of toilet paper in my hand, I used it to dab under my eyes and wipe the tears and mascara away. No one was in the bathroom, so I left the stall and checked myself in the mirror to make sure I looked presentable. I didn’t want Laura or anyone else at the front to see me running out of the bathroom with tears streaming down my face. As soon as I made it out of the restaurant and into my car, I was going to call Bryan and tell him he needed to find someone else to do the spread. If I had to explain to him what happened with Matt ten years ago that was fine with me. I would do anything to get out of writing the article.

Taking a deep breath, I calmly opened the bathroom door and started straight for the exit. I was almost there when I heard my name being called behind me, “Shelby, are you going to be all right? Where are you going?”

I must’ve taken too long in the bathroom because Garrett was right there.

Still walking toward the door, I fetched my cell phone out of my purse and glanced at him over my shoulder. Waving my phone in the air, I responded with the first thing that came to my mind, “I missed a call from Bryan and I didn’t want to be rude. He hates it when I don’t return his calls right away.”

As soon as I got outside he was definitely getting a phone call from me. However, the second I turned my gaze back to the door I ran straight into what felt like a brick wall.
Thwack.
Before I could stumble and fall, a large set of hands grabbed me by the arms, steadying me, and I grabbed onto his shirt so I wouldn’t fall.

“Whoa, thank you. That wouldn’t have been good,” I chuckled, feeling embarrassed. My cheeks burned and I was pretty sure my face had turned blood red.

The hands on my arms tensed – clenching tighter – and after that it was like everything moved in slow motion. My eyes found his broad chest where my hands gradually loosened their hold on the black T-shirt he wore, but I couldn’t seem to fully pry my hands away. Slowly, my gaze slipped up to his firm jaw that tensed and clenched when I settled on his lips.

I recognized those full lips, especially the way they felt against mine many years ago.

It wasn’t until I reached his sea green eyes that everything came crashing down. I couldn’t speak and I couldn’t move; I was frozen. All I could do was stand there with his hands on my arms and my body flush with his. His lips were set in a firm line, and for a moment, I saw something flash in his eyes that made my heart jump … it was longing. Except it only lasted for a second before his whole demeanor closed up tight and he shut me out.

“Shelby Dawson,” he whispered low; close by my ear. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Shivering, I wanted to say,
That was the plan
, but I couldn’t tear my gaze away from his face long enough to even form a coherent thought … much less speak.

HOLY FUCK!

The second she crashed into my arms I thought I was seeing things. There was no way she could be the same Shelby, but it was. For ten years she had been a memory that plagued my mind, except now she wasn’t just a memory. She was the girl I grew up with … and the first, and last girl I had ever been in love with. Now she stood in front of me and it was like everything disappeared and I was taken to a time ten years ago.

Her hair wasn’t the same light brown as before, but a deep, chestnut brown with golden pieces here and there. The cream colored dress she wore looked sexy as hell clinging onto every curve of her body, along with the knee-high brown boots that made her about three inches taller, bringing her face almost level with mine. She had thinned out a little, her face was not as full as it used to be, but her eyes …

Dammit, her eyes were exactly the same as I remembered. They were a chocolate brown, just a tad bit lighter than her hair, with specks of gold and green. If I wasn’t careful I’d get lost in them again, and the last thing I wanted was for her to know that even after ten years I still thought about her from time to time.

“Matt,” she whispered, breaking me out of my trance.

Immediately, I let her arms go and took a step back, the awkward silence hanging heavy in the air. When Garrett waltzed over and slapped me on the back I could tell Shelby was only holding on by a thread. Something wasn’t right with her, I could feel it, and it wasn’t just the normal awkwardness you’d get after you broke up with someone.

From the expression on Garrett’s face he could feel my tension, but he laughed it off and said, “Well, I see you met the beautiful Shelby who writes as the illustrious Paige Monroe. How about we go and get something to drink while the lady makes her phone call?”

Wait, what? Shelby is Paige Monroe?

“Thank you, Garrett,” Shelby cut in before I could say anything. Hesitantly, she met my gaze briefly before turning back to my agent. “If you two will excuse me, I’m going to go outside and make my call.”

She brushed by me quickly and rushed out the front door. Again, I watched her as she walked away, but this time she actually turned her head and glanced back at me. From the look of raw emotion on her face I knew right then that she wasn’t planning on coming back inside.

Do I let her go again when I know she’s not coming back?
The answer was simple … no. All I had to do was run out that door and make her talk to me.
Which is exactly what I’m going to do.

Ignoring Garrett’s remarks, I rushed out the front door of the restaurant and bolted into the parking lot. Not having a clue what kind of vehicle she drove, I scanned the row of cars until I found her in a little black Q60 convertible. Quickly, she backed out of the space and sped out of the parking lot.

Damn, she was fast. There was no way I could’ve gotten to her in time. She was gone, but now that I knew exactly where to find her I had a place to start. She wasn’t going to run away from me this time. I refused to let the past repeat itself, and as I got in my car the past was all I could think about.

It was late in the summer and Shelby only had a few more days until she left to move into her apartment at the university. Berkeley was only about an hour and a half away, so we knew we could see each other any time we wanted. However, there was something wrong and I couldn’t figure out what it was. For the past week she had steadily grown distant and never once could I get her to smile. She didn’t want me to touch her, and when I would she’d recoil from me.

We had just gone out to dinner, and for the third night in a row she’d barely eaten anything on her plate. As soon as I pulled into her driveway to drop her off I couldn’t take it anymore.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I blurted out angrily. “Have I pissed you off or something?”

Slowly¸ Shelby turned her tear streaked face toward me. I didn’t want to think that she had cheated on me, not my angel, but the thought had crossed my mind several times. “Are you cheating on me with someone else?” I asked through clenched teeth.

Quickly, and with her eyes wide, she shook her head and cried, “No, Matt, I would never do that to you. I just …”

The blow was coming, and it was what I had feared ever since she and I started our relationship. I was the poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks and she was the one with the money and the privileges. I thought we were stronger than that and she knew damn well that I was going to make something of myself one day.

“Finish your sentence, Shelby,” I growled. “You just what? What are you not saying?”