Breaking Travis (The West Series Book 5) (10 page)

She smiled. “Then you’ll think of me all day.”

His frown grew. “Are you always this cheery in the morning?”

She chuckled. “Usually more so. I haven’t had my coffee yet. I can’t wait until my cappuccino machine is back in business.” She moaned thinking of a cup of the wonderful elixir.

“You have a cappuccino machine?”

She nodded. “For the shop.”

He groaned. “I’d kill for a good cup.”

“I know what you mean. I guess we could go to Mama’s before you head over to the park.”

He frowned. “Yeah, sometimes her coffee tastes like burnt water.”

She laughed. “The food is great though.”

He was rubbing his hands over her back as she did the same for him.

“I could eat,” he said, looking into her eyes and she knew that the shower was about to get a lot smaller.

T
he next few days he filled with work and working out. He had to maintain his body if he planned on not getting killed in the ring. He spent hours hitting the bag on the back porch.

Her words played over and over in his head. He knew even if he had the money, Randy would never leave him alone. The amount he owed him kept climbing with every fight and jumped even higher every time he lost. He thought about making a few calls to see if he had any other options. He only had a few days if he was going to change his life forever.

Holly would sit by the pool and watch him hit the bag in the evenings. Other times he’d take off and run through the streets of the small town. He’d forgotten how nice people were in this town. On several occasions, he’d stopped and chatted with someone. So far, no one had even mentioned his mother or what had happened. Instead, they were all curious where he’d been, what he’d done, and what his plans were for the future.

Several people stopped him and talked about the projects his father had started. They also mentioned other projects that they thought should be next. He quickly set them straight that as soon as these commitments were finished, he was leaving town.

He even talked to the only real estate agent in town and had him looking into listing the big house. He agreed to get the place appraised first, but Travis knew that there was a little work that had to be completed before it would sell.

First thing Monday morning, they packed up his small car and headed to the Dallas airport for their flight to Vegas. He wanted to make sure to hit Vegas before Randy sent someone after him. He’d done that before and Travis had ended up with a bruised jaw and ribs.

“I can’t believe I’m actually going to fly,” Holly said, looking out the small window of the plane.

“You haven’t flown anywhere before?” he asked, stowing his small bag overhead.

She shook her head. “No. I’ve never been outside of Texas before, either.” She smiled and looked up at him.

He shook his head and sat next to her. “I thought you said your mother moved to Florida a few years ago.”

She nodded. “She grew up there and still has family down there.”

“But you’ve never been down there to visit?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been busy with the bookstore.”

He looked over at her. “Sounds like you need to hire an employee or find another job.”

She shook her head. “You know, I used to think about moving out of Fairplay all the time.” She sighed and looked out the window again. “But in the last few months, since your father agreed to rebuild the place…” She turned to him again. “I’ve stopped dreaming about it.”

He frowned. “So you’re content with living the rest of your life in Fairplay?”

She nodded and smiled. “It’s the perfect place to be. The people are wonderful and I know everyone. I have a successful business and a wonderful place to live. Or I will once it’s all done. Why would I want to start all over?” She smiled.

He played her words over in his mind during the flight and by the time they landed in Vegas, he was seriously thinking that he had to show her how great the world was, and he’d start with showing her a wonderful time in Vegas.

They rode the shuttle to the hotel, and he got that old feeling of being watched. He knew that Randy probably had guys looking out for him to see if he’d actually show up. He hated knowing that they would know he hadn’t come alone.

When they walked into the hotel, he had to hand it to Randy—the man always booked the best places. Of course, the price always came out of his winnings, but he had never really minded it in the past.

“Oh my…” She set her small bag down and turned circles in the large room. “There’s a pool in the room.” She walked towards the small pool that overlooked the city.

“Yeah, I’ve stayed here a couple times.” He walked towards the staircase that led to the bedroom with their bags in his hand.

“You’ve stayed here before?” She turned and watched him climb the staircase. Then she rushed around the place, checking out everything. There was a small kitchenette, a huge TV room with large circular couches, and a bedroom that was twice the size of the whole apartment above Travis’ garage.

“Why don’t we head downstairs and play some slot machines?” he asked after she was done looking around.

“I’ve never gambled before.” She smiled and he felt her excitement.

“I’ve always loved it.” He shook his head. “But I’m not very lucky.” He took her hand as they headed to the elevators. “Maybe you’ll be my lucky charm.?”

Less than two hours later, Holly stood with three buckets of coins, smiling at him as he put in his last coin and watched the machine eat it up.

“I guess there’s no such thing as luck rubbing off on me.” He frowned as her machine spit out another handful of coins.

“Can you believe this?” She gathered up the coins and dumped them into his cup. “Keep going.”

He laughed and started putting coins into the machine again. “There ought to be a law against being so lucky.” He watched her shove more coins into her machine.

When the lights started flashing and the music played loudly, signaling that she’d hit the jackpot of eight-hundred dollars, he gave up and sat back to watch her.

He’d never seen anyone smile and laugh so much in his life. She genuinely looked like she was having the best time of her life. By the time they cashed in her coins, she had won over a thousand dollars. He’d blown a couple thousand the first week he’d been in Vegas, but had never imagined someone would win so much.

“I can’t believe how lucky you are,” he said, taking her hand as they walked towards the elevators. “What do you say we change and then you take me out for dinner?” He smiled over at her.

She laughed. “Sounds wonderful.”

By the time he’d changed into his best shirt and dress pants, he was feeling a little anxious about the fight tomorrow evening. He always got nervous a few days before, but usually spent his time burning it off in the gym. However, this time he was with Holly and wanted to make sure to show her a good time. He didn’t know why it was so important to him that she enjoy herself, but it mattered.

His mind flashed to the last time he’d fought Steve Cann, his opponent tomorrow night. It was over a year ago and all he could remember was that he’d barely beaten the man.

He watched Holly walk down the stairs, and his mind blanked. His only thought was of her. She wore a short silver dress with thin straps that held the beaded sash across her breasts. Soft material flowed around her legs with every step. Her tall silver heels sparkled in the dying sunlight that flooded in through the large windows. Her hair was pulled to one side and swept over her shoulder in waves.

He stood without a word and just looked at her as she walked towards him.

“Well?” She bit her bottom lip that was slicked with shiny lip gloss, making him want to kiss them to see if they tasted as good as they looked. When she got close enough, he smelled the sweetness of her perfume, which sent waves of desire rushing through him.

“You look amazing.” He took a step towards her and realized he didn’t trust himself to touch her. Not yet. So he tucked his hands into his jacket pockets.

Her smile faltered a little so he chimed in, “Ready to eat?”

She nodded and followed him out the door. They were silent during the short ride in the elevator. His eyes kept going back to her, watching her move, breathe. She was mesmerizing. He reached over and took her hand as the doors opened. She looked up at him and smiled.

They walked two blocks to one of his favorite restaurants and waited to be seated. It took a few minutes, but he knew the wait would be worth it. When they were seated right next to the large windows that overlooked the city, he enjoyed the excitement he saw on her face.

He ordered champagne, and she smiled over at him.

“We have to celebrate your winnings.” He took her hand in his.

“I’ve never had as much fun as I did today.”

“You deserved it.” He nodded towards the menu. “I can recommend the salmon or the halibut. I haven’t tried anything else.” He looked down at his menu. “I try not to eat too heavy the night before a fight.”

She looked down at her menu. “The steak sounds wonderful.”

He chuckled. “I thought you were on a fish only diet?”

She smiled. “What happens in Vegas…”

He chuckled. “If you get it, maybe you can let me have a nibble. I haven’t had red meat in months.”

“I would have thought that you’d be on a strict diet of red meat and protein.”

He shook his head. “I went to a trainer a few years ago and he started me on an almost all vegetarian diet. He said that with my body type, too much protein would slow me down.” He tilted his head. “So far it’s worked out great for me. Over a hundred wins and only a handful of losses.”

She leaned forward. “How can you stand all the pain?” She leaned back and blushed. “I’ve watched it on television and it looks so painful.”

He frowned and nodded. “It is. I guess I push it aside.” He thought about his mother and shivered. “I think of something terrible and the pain doesn’t seem so bad.”

“What would be so bad?” She frowned, looking at him, waiting.

He was spared from answering when the waiter came over and took their order.

“I know I promised not to ask to go tomorrow night, but I was hoping you’d change your mind about letting me cheer you on,” she said after the waiter left with their orders.

He shook his head no. “It’s no place for you. Besides, I don’t want Randy to know about you. He’s not what you’d call a good agent.”

“From what you’ve told me about him, he seems more like a pimp than an agent.”

“That sounds right. I’ve tried everything to get out from under him. My inheritance is the one shot I have at paying him off and finally getting free.”

“How much do you owe him?”

He looked up at her and sighed. “Fifteen thousand at my last count.”

“What?” She almost choked on her champagne. “How did it get to be so much?”

He shrugged. “There’s an entrance fee to each fight. The first year he had me fighting a lot and I won some and lost some. He puts me up in the hotels, cars if I need them. He paid for my trainer. I guess it just built up.”

“How much do you win each fight?”

“It depends. The most I’ve won was a little over three grand.”

Her chin dropped. “Yet you still owe him fifteen?” He nodded. “Travis, he’s ripping you off.”

He looked at her. “What do you mean?”

She shook her head. “I’ve helped my mother at the bookstore since I was thirteen. The first thing she had me doing was balancing the books. I paid the bills, made sure the orders were paid for, and have been responsible for pretty much every dime that has come in or gone out of that place ever since. There is no way you have made several grand each fight and still owe your agent fifteen. How much commission does he take?”

“Thirty-five percent.”

She coughed. “What?”

He was beginning to feel stupid. He knew he wasn’t good at math. Hell, he’d flunked algebra twice in high school. He’d trusted Randy, especially in the beginning, but over the last few years he’d begun to doubt him. Especially after the man had started charging him for things he hadn’t agreed to.

“I’ve known for a while that he was ripping me off.” He frowned. “But when I tried to go to a few fights without him, he sent some men after me.” He rubbed his ribs, remembering the beating. “The only way out of it is to pay the man off.”

“You think he’ll stop at that?” She leaned forward and whispered. “From what I’ve heard about men like that, they won’t.”

He looked at her and chuckled. “Where have you heard about men like him?”

She leaned back and he watched her chin go up. “Books. I’ve read a lot about gangs, and he sounds like your typical gang leader.”

He chuckled. “Really?” He reached over and took her hand. “Well, until I have the money to pay Randy off, we won’t worry about it.”