Chapter 10
Declan
Cookie’s Kitchen was a dump but homey. It was mostly a stopping place for truckers off the interstate, but it was where Max liked to meet and talk shop, mostly about the underground fighting.
We strolled in the double glass doors.
Arlene sashayed over to us in a pink waitress outfit with a white apron. “My Brits are back,” she said with a smile. “Been missin’ you boys.” She nudged her head toward the back. “Max’s next to the window. He’s waitin’ for ya.”
“Thanks, love,” Dax said as he swooped down and picked her up in a bear hug and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and popped him with a dishrag.
He watched the sashay of her hips back into the kitchen. “There’s not a woman alive who doesn’t want me. I think I’m going to change my name to Sex Lord.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that’s a real turn on.”
“Jealous?” he asked.
“Extremely.”
He grinned. “Don’t be. Not everyone can be as wonderful as me. You got your fists, I got my sexing abilities—which in my opinion is a hell of a lot better. Make love not war, bro.”
“That so?” I chuckled.
Max caught my eye and waved us over. He was in his late forties with thinning hair and a trim physique, and I’d met him at one of the local gyms where we’d both taught classes. Over the past three years, we’d grown close, and hiring him to work at my own place had been the next natural step.
We ordered and talked about the gym and the updates. If all went well with the renovations, then Front Street would be ready for business by January. We’d have a soft opening at first and then a grand opening party in February. The flat at the back would be finished a bit later, perhaps in June, since my first priority was to get the doors open for business.
“What’s new with Nick? You got anything?” I asked a bit later. Nick was the guy who ran the underground fights in North Carolina.
“Yeah. I’ve got some small fights lined up in the next few weeks for you, but Nick wants to schedule a big one for Halloween. He’s got a warehouse lined up as the venue with heavy spenders coming, not just college kids.” He slapped down a portfolio and then slid it over to me with two fingers. “Don’t be afraid to say no.”
Dax shifted in closer, peering down to take in the photos of a blond behemoth posing next to a makeshift octagon. “Bugger.”
Max rubbed his whiskers. “They call him Yeti. He played linebacker for UNC Charlotte but got kicked off for hazing freshmen players. Third strike.”
“Nice lad,” Dax murmured.
I studied him analytically. “It takes more than bulk to beat me. He needs skill. What’s his record?”
“Three knockouts and one tapped out.” Max sent me a rueful look. “Don’t be fooled by the football. He’s been working with a mixed martial arts trainer, hoping to hitch a ride to the UFC. He’s not like these pansy boys you’ve been grappling with on the weekend. He’s serious.”
“Style?” I asked.
Max grimaced. “Signature move is a guillotine choke until you black out. If you don’t, he pounds your face till you do.”
Nice.
“What’s the purse?”
“Two thousand if you lose,” he said.
“I won’t lose.” I couldn’t.
He grinned at my confident manner. “If you win, you get twenty-five percent of the purse, not to exceed fifteen grand. And bragging rights, of course.”
Fuck. That was the most I’d ever fought for.
“Take a look at this.” He pulled out his phone and handed over a YouTube video of Yeti and another man. “The guy he’s fighting is Lorenzo, a Cuban from Miami. Tried to go pro in boxing but opted out to make some fast cash first. Yeti nearly killed him a month ago.”
We watched the blond monster tear the Cuban apart in less than five minutes using his Thor-sized fists to pound him into the pavement.
Dax shook his head. “No way. He’s bigger than you and you’re a giant. Let me give you any extra money you need. I have my half of Mum’s inheritance.”
I shook my head. We’d already had this conversation. “That’s yours, and if Father found out, he’d disown you. You don’t want to piss him off anymore.”
It’s funny, but Dax had cleaved to the new family while I hadn’t. He adored Clara and Blythe, and losing family after Mum would kill Dax.
I rubbed my hands across a coffee stain on the table and stared down at the video.
Raised voices came from a booth in the back of the restaurant and we turned to stare.
A blond girl stood up from the booth, her shoulders stiff, hands clenched at her side.
Elizabeth.
What the hell? I squinted, taking in her companions.
Dax’s eyes followed mine and then came back to me as I rose up from the table.
“You’re going over there?” he asked. “Why?”
“Because she looks like she needs help—and I happen to like her.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You just met her.”
I ignored that.
He shrugged. “Fine, I’m not missing this.” He made as if to stand, but I pushed him back down.
“You stay here. If we both show up, it looks pushy. Give her some space. Plus, she’s probably still angry with you.”
He held his hands up. “Alright, I can take a hint when I’m not wanted. I’ll chill and watch from across the room.”
“Who is she?” Max asked.
“A girl we met at one of the frat parties,” Dax answered, his eyes scrutinizing me oddly, as if he were trying to suss me out. “Declan seems to have a crush on her.”
“Fuck you.”
He chuckled. “I don’t blame you. I do too.”
Max grunted. “Huh. Well, anyone’s better than Nadia. I never liked that girl. All she wanted was to ride your coattails.”
Dax’s eyes shifted over to Elizabeth. “You better hurry if you want to talk to her. She’s about to bolt.”
I ate up the distance between our tables. She turned, her face planting itself in my chest, her body flush against mine.
Heat ran through me, my groin tightening at the contact. Since the night in my flat, she’d weighed on my mind. Mostly with visions of me pounding into her. Against my wall. On the kitchen table. On the floor.
“Whoa,” I said, taking her shoulders to steady her. “You okay?”
She peered up at me, and my fingers itched to smooth out the worry lines I saw on her face. “Declan? What are you doing here?”
“Just having breakfast. Small world, huh?” I smiled down, resisting the urge to question her about the shadows in her blue eyes. She nodded, still visibly upset, as I stared over her shoulder at the table she’d left behind. A woman who resembled Elizabeth gaped at us while the man’s eyes narrowed in on me.
I glanced back down at her and spoke softly. “Do I need to kick anyone’s arse?”
“No,” she said, a look of desperation flickering across her face. “Just get me out of here before I say something I’ll regret.”
I didn’t even pause. Whatever she needed right at that moment, I wanted to give it to her. I took her hand and led her through the maze of the restaurant, sending a wave to Dax and Max as we passed their table.
Elizabeth didn’t even see them there.
We went out the doors, and she came to a halt in the carpark as she looked around in a daze. Her shoulders hunched in on themselves and she let out a frustrated sound, her hands digging through her purse. “God, I’m so frazzled I don’t even remember where I parked.”
I wanted to march back into that diner and find out exactly what had happened.
“What’s going on? Who were those people?” The lady had to be her mum, but I wasn’t so sure about the man.
She inhaled at my question and turned away from me, as if she didn’t want to face me. “I appreciate you coming over to help, but I—I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You’re hurting, Elizabeth. Sometimes, it helps to talk.” Shit, I didn’t know what else to say. I felt like a blundering wanker. But I wanted to make her feel better.
“You want me to talk? I’ll talk. I’ll tell you that my whole life is ruined and some days it’s all I can do to remember the girl I used to be. I’ve never had much, but two years ago I lost everything. My innocence, my creativity, then my Granny, everything.” Her voice trembled, rippling with pain. “And you’d think she’d understand, but no, I’m always the one reaching out and begging her—my mother—to just see me. She wanted to abort me. She doesn’t think I know that, but I overheard her telling Granny once.” She covered her face. “God, I shouldn’t be telling you this stuff. It doesn’t even make sense to you.”
I picked up her hand and took the keys she’d clasped in her fist. “Come on. I’ll drive you home. You shouldn’t be alone.”
She sniffed, and I braced myself for tears that never came, and frankly, I wasn’t surprised. She might be vulnerable, but I sensed the steel underneath.
She sighed and gave me a curious look. “What about your car?”
“I came with Dax. He can drive by himself.” I would send him a text before we left.
I waited anxiously while she decided.
She sighed and sent me a wry half-smile. “Thank you. I’m glad you were here today. You always seem to be right where I need you.”
I nodded and scanned the carpark until I found her white Camry. We walked over to it, and I opened the passenger door for her. Her blue eyes roved over my face as I buckled her in, our arms brushing. Sparks.
This girl. Her. What was it about her that had me twisted up in knots?
Since the moment she’d walked in that party, I hadn’t been able to get her off my mind.
Shit. But she was all wrong for me. I mean, she was skittish as a colt. How in the hell would she ever fit in my world?
She won’t, the cynic in me said.
“Why are you so nice to me?” she said suddenly as I set her purse at her feet. Her eyes searched mine. She continued. “I mean, I made a fool of myself at your party, then I came in your apartment and hit on you and then pushed you away right when things got heavy …” She swallowed and gazed out the window. “I’m sorry. I’m a real bitch.”
I exhaled and bent down on my knees next to her seat. We stared at each other.
Breathlessness mixed with exhilaration hit me, as if I were about to take a dive off a cliff straight into an ocean below. I pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I’m nice to you because you’re worth it, Elizabeth.”