RUNNING GAME (A SECOND CHANCE SPORTS ROMANCE) (80 page)

“
B
ria
, how’s it going with the Baxter account? Do you want me to show you how to organize those records for the presentation?”

Jamie Hearn was a weasel of a man. The sound of his voice was like nails on a chalk board.

“It’s fine, Jamie, I got it.” He never took the hint.

Fresh out of law school, Jamie was the sort that couldn’t help but be annoying. Ever since the partners brought him on at the end of last year, he couldn’t keep himself away from me. He operated under the pretense that since I didn’t take the bar yet, I must be in awe of someone like himself.

Jamie passed on the first try and made sure to remind me of the fact every chance he got. No matter how many times I’d told him I wanted some on-the-job experience before I got my license, he took it upon himself to believe that I simply didn’t have it in me. What he failed to consider is that I graduated at the top of my class, and did so at a far more prestigious school than the clown college he went to.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping. I mean, I shouldn’t spend my time down here in the records room. Lord knows my time is better spent doing things other than receptionist work. But, I have to admit, your personality is so magnetic I just have to keep up on what you’re doing.”

“Uh, thanks,” I muttered, without looking.

I didn’t need to look up to know he was wearing that same blue power suit with the striped tie.

“What do you say we go get a latte after you finish up in here? My treat!”

“No thanks Jamie, that’s not the best idea. Besides, I still have a lot of work to do down here.”

“I just don’t understand why you won’t go out with me, Bria. What could be so scary about that? We’re both single, and I know you’re not the kind of girl who’s scared to take a walk on the
wild
side.”

The way he talked made me equal parts frustrated and creeped out.

“No, Jamie. I’m not afraid of your wild side, I’m afraid of entering into anything other than a professional relationship with someone at work. Have you ever heard of fraternization? The partners don’t look too fondly on that,” I said.

“Pshh,” he made his lips smack each other in a way that grated on my last nerve. “Those rules don’t apply. It’s cute that you think that, though.”

“What are you talking about?” I shot him a look that I hoped would bore straight through him. He didn’t even seem to notice.

Instead, he plowed ahead with his nonsense. “You’re just a paralegal. Those rules are in place so there is no conflict of interest between two professionals on the same level. You’re more like an assistant, and half the partners are dating, married, or having an affair with their secretaries. Besides, I just asked you if you wanted to grab a coffee. It’s not like I want to marry you.”

“Can you let me finish my work please?” I asked. There had been so many times when I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of him. It would probably feel incredible to tell him about his stupid suit and his fake smile… how I wanted to choke him with that pathetic tie and what he could do with his condescending attitude. But I couldn’t. He was a lawyer, and technically that meant he had some authority over me. As the senior paralegal I reported directly to Jones, but it wouldn’t look good if I caused a rift. Anyway, I’d heard through the grapevine that Jamie was someone’s nephew… The kind of spoiled asshole with important connections that could get a girl fired. That’s why I hadn’t reported him for harassment.
Yet
.

“Fine,” he said. I could feel him undressing me with his eyes. “If you want to live your life down here in the basement, so be it. There’s a million girls out there just dying to be in your position, though. Don’t forget that.”

Before I could answer, he turned on the heel of his expensive Italian shoe and strolled up the stairs. It was probably a good thing he didn’t stick around long enough to hear what I muttered under my breath.

I took a quick glance at the clock. It was almost five thirty and the sun would be going down soon. I wanted to get out and do some grocery shopping before the weekend but the day had been a disaster.

First thing in the morning I’d been practically attacked by the girls at the front desk. They all wanted to know if I was okay. When I called, I had only mentioned that I’d had a small incident the night before, but Kaitlyn had posted up the whole story on her facebook and at this point it felt like the whole damn world knew what happened to me.

I didn’t know whether to be flattered or embarrassed by how everyone had acted toward my absence. The fact that my co-workers had all assumed I was dead when I hadn’t shown up to work my typical half-hour early made me think that Kaitlyn really was right. Maybe I
was
becoming a workaholic.

From there it was a mess of work. Someone in accounting had screwed up the receivables and I was tasked with sorting through the client records. It took me all morning to go through the stacks of depositions and meeting minutes. I had to account for every second the firm spent consulting with a local small business over some property dispute they were having. It was excruciatingly boring work to say the least, and all because some ditz upstairs couldn’t keep her numbers straight.

After that, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon going through and noting city ordinances in preparation for a hearing next week. It wasn’t exactly the exciting life I imagined when I first made the decision to get into law.

My lower back ached from moving boxes of records. I wanted to be anywhere else. And worst of all, I couldn’t get that guy from last night off my mind. After Kaitlyn finally went home this morning, I’d taken a few minutes to do some research.

Luke Greer was twenty-eight years old and from South East Texas. That explained the sexy depths of his voice… He’d won some sort of major martial arts tournament when he was a kid and that sprung him toward the national spotlight. After that, he started a career that led him around the world. He’d had fights in Thailand, Germany, the Netherlands, and countless matches right here at home.

Wow. I sounded like an obsessed fan.
Why had I been so dismissive? I clearly liked this guy.

There was a little voice in the back of my head that kept telling me to go see him. Up until now, I had done well to shut it out. Maybe it was the stress of the long day or that I was just beginning to realize that everyone in my life thought of me as the same old boring Bria, with nothing going on other than her job, but I decided then and there to go see him.

It wouldn’t be hard. I could just go to thank him again. There’s nothing
weird
about that. And if he didn’t seem as interested as he was last night, no big deal. I’d say my goodbye and be on my way.

I dropped the file box I was holding on the table and made my feet move toward the stairs before I lost my nerve. The doubt started to creep in almost immediately. The excuses weren’t far behind.

You have too much work to do.

You can’t go chase after some fighter. He could have any girl he wanted, anyway.

He was probably just being nice, nothing more.

But I forced myself to keep walking. I went up the stairs without even putting anything away. I was going to have to force myself to do this. As I was walking down the hall, one of the junior partners called out to me. It was something about a fax he was waiting on. I kept walking like didn’t hear him.

I made it to the parking lot, but not before three other people asked me to do something for them. If I’d learned nothing else, I’d found out that I could be a little more assertive at work. Everybody seemed to think I was the firm’s servant, but I had to take the blame for that. Since I’d started, I tried to do anything and everything to help other people out, even if they asked too much. It was clearly apparent now that it had become expected of me.

When I hopped in my car I felt happy. It was invigorating to take a little bit of control of my life. I started the car and headed off toward Luke’s gym.

‘
G
reer Mixed Martial
Arts’ showed prominently in big red letters on the front of the building. In the parking lot there were a few cars scattered about. It looked like most of the people had gone home for the day. Luke’s Maserati was parked near the front doors.

I hopped out of my car feeling totally and completely out of place. Two big guys walked out together. One had a mohawk that was colored green. The other looked like one of the bad guys in a Sylvester Stallone movie. His nose had been broken a handful of times and there was excessive scar tissue above each of his eyes.

The one with the mohawk stared at me as they crossed the lot. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but when he nudged his buddy and made a motion like he was pushing something into his crotch, I was glad to be out of earshot.

The place was incredibly intimidating. There were a couple of young girls hanging around by the entrance. They were probably just waiting on their boyfriends… Or did girls fight too? I wasn’t even sure.

“Hey,” I asked the one who looked a little less like a cheap stripper, “do you know if Luke Greer is around? I’m hoping to see him…”

She looked at me as if I had two heads. “Luke? Are you joking? Are you, like, his sister or something?”

“No…,” I replied cautiously. “Why, is it weird that someone would ask for him or something?”

“It’s weird that someone like
you
would ask for him, honey,” she said, and they both laughed.

“Oh,” I said, defeated. “He just… helped me out with something and I wanted to thank him.” My confidence had totally faded.

“Yeah, you’re not the type that usually comes in,” she said. “You’re a little too… corporate.” They both cackled.

“We’ll be sure to tell him you dropped by,” said the other one. “Maybe Luke will call you when he needs someone to do his taxes.”

I could feel my whole face go beet red. They were right. What was I thinking, coming down here in a business suit and heels? I was so stu-

“Hey, Bria, is that you?” called a familiar voice from inside. I craned my neck to see around the two skanks blocking my path. “Come over here!”

The girls stood, mouths agape, as I shoved by them to go to Luke. I badly wanted to give them a ‘fuck you’ look but decided it was beneath me.

“Uh, hi,” I said, nervously. “So you
do
remember me?”

I forced a smile as he chuckled and shared a look with the stocky young guy standing next to him.

“You’re asking if I remember you? You’re asking if I remember the beautiful young house plant fanatic who I saved from certain death less than twenty-four hours ago? Yeah, you could say I remember. You’re the highlight of my whole week.”

“Oh, yeah of course, well…” I didn’t really know what to say and it felt more awkward than it should have been with the other guy standing there.

Luke shifted his position on the wall he was leaning against, and if sensing my discomfort, nodded for the other guy to leave.

The guy jumped to attention. He brushed by me as he passed. “Excuse me, ma’am, but my rude friend failed to introduce us.” He offered his hand. “I’m- “

“You’re leaving,” interrupted Luke. “Not this one, Nick,” he said. “Get lost.”

Nick gave me a defeated smile and headed toward the girls at the front door.

“So what’s up?” asked Luke.

“Oh, I wanted to come by and say thank you again for helping me out last night.”

“You mean for saving your life?” he asked.

His eyes were unrelenting and I think he enjoyed watching me squirm.

“Well, yeah, you know what I mean. I was thinking about it today and I really owe you one,” I said.

“You couldn’t afford me sweetheart,” he replied, smiling wickedly.

“Do you have to be so damn arrogant?” I asked, my cheeks flushing red.

“We both know you didn’t just come here to thank me. Why don’t we just cut to the chase? What do you want from me, beautiful?”

I knew exactly what I wanted, but I wasn’t about to tell him
that
…

“How about I buy us dinner?” I said, meekly. The words jumped out of my mouth before I had time to consider them.

“Really?” he said. “You’re going to take
me
out to dinner?” He seemed genuinely intrigued. “That’s a first.”

“I don’t know, I just thought I could make it up to you. Dinner seems fair to me,” I said.

“Deal!” he blurted it just loud enough that the girls at the front door turned and scowled. “You have a place in mind?” he asked.

I was so surprised that he agreed, the question caught me off guard. I still wasn’t entirely sure he wasn’t making fun of me.

“You probably have some kind of strict diet,” I asked, tentatively. “Like you probably only eat whole foods or something right? I mean how else do you keep yourself in such good shape?”

I was starting to ramble and somehow I let my eyes wander down to his stomach. The memory of him pulling his shirt off when we first walked into the gym last night flashed through my head.

“You can’t build a body like this on salads. I’m good for a steak. Let’s go to that place that just opened down town.”

I had no idea where he was talking about so I just nodded in agreement.

“That’s a date,” he said. “But in the meantime, let me show you around my gym. You didn’t get the full tour last night.”

I shyly nodded. He winked and motioned for me to follow him.

“Over here are the weights. Most of the guys like to get a good lift in before they do anything else.”

I looked at the stacks of weights loaded onto long metal bars. It was more than I could ever imagine lifting myself.

“That side of the gym is for mat work and grappling,” he continued. “It’s where most of the fighters spend their time. It’s all about improving skill and learning new techniques.”

“And over there is the cage, but you saw that last night, didn’t you?”

I managed to squeak out a quick “yeah.” This place was so foreign to me. It was like another world. I had always been more of a book girl. The sports thing was all new to me so I felt a bit like a babe in the woods.

“That cage is… interesting,” I said. “Can you tell me about it?” I asked.

“Glad you want to know,” he said. “It’s where I make my money.”

“Does it lock?” I asked.

“C’mon, I’ll show you,” he said, taking my hand and leading me toward it.

“No, no, that’s okay,” I said, feeling suddenly afraid. “I get kind of claustrophobic. I don’t think I would like it in there too much.”

“
Y
ou’ll be fine
,” he said. “I want you to see what it’s like from the inside looking out. I’ll be with you.”

We walked up a short ramp and he threw the door open. It was chain-linked metal spray painted black. The walls stood at least eight feet high and the canvassed floor was covered in the varying graphics of the gym’s sponsors.

Luke closed the door behind us.

“It seems smaller once your inside,” I said.

“You’re right. There’s nowhere to run once you’re in here,” Luke said. He slyly raised an eyebrow. “You couldn’t get away from me if you tried.”

“Good thing there’s other people here,” I said, playing along with his game. “You can’t take advantage of me until they’re gone.”

Luke stopped and smirked at me as if to say
‘oh yeah?’

He turned and hoisted himself up to the top of the cage, effortlessly swinging his legs over the side. I couldn’t help but notice his flexed ab muscles when his shirt pulled up.

“Listen up!” Luke yelled, cupping both hands around his mouth. “The gym’s closed, everybody go on home for the night and get some rest.” His voice boomed through the cavernous building.

One by one the guys and girls started to collect their things and file out through the front doors. No one seemed to question him.

“Now what?” he asked. I’d never seen anyone so proud of themselves.

“I get it, you’re the man,” I said, trying to blow off just how impressed I really was. “You say ‘jump’ and everybody else yells ‘how high?’”

We stared each other down from opposite sides of the cage. He was right at home.

“The floor is kind of bouncy,” I said, trying to change the subject. “It feels like I’m walking on a hard trampoline.”

“You are, in a way,” he reluctantly let the conversation drift away from the flirtatious overtones. “It’s plywood with about an inch and a half of mat covering the top. Keeps the fighters safer when they grapple...”

“Oh… neat,” I said.

Did I really just say
neat?

“Yeah, it’s really neat-o,” said Luke with a mocking grin. “Alright, that’s enough of this stuff, let’s go get that steak.”

“Oh. Tonight?” He had completely caught me off guard.

“Yes, tonight. Did you think I wanted to go next week? I’m a busy man, Bria.”

“I don’t know. I have to work tomorrow and it’s getting late.” I don’t why I was trying to sink this; it was like my brain was doing it automatically.

“Late?” he said, incredulously. “It’s hardly six-thirty. What, are you afraid you’re gonna miss Wheel of Fortune, grandma?”

“No! I’m just…”

“Afraid of what you might do?” he said, finishing my sentence.

“No, I’m not,” I protested.

“Good, then let’s go.”