Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys) (2 page)

Proficient in several fighting styles, Hammer quickly became a fan-favorite in the ring and won several titles. He loved fighting, but the truth was, no matter who he fought in the ring, he was his own greatest opponent. For the first few months, he started out winning several of the smaller circuit championships, which got him noticed by the Cage Fighting League. The CFL was the number one mixed martial arts promotional companies in the world, and there was big money to be made fighting for them.

For the next few years Hammer fought for the CFL and got a chance at the big title, becoming the CFL’s heavy-weight champion. He had also landed a lucrative sponsorship with the well-known Rough and Tough sports apparel company, and still remained one of their spokesmen. He’d known it was only a matter of time before he was unseated as the champion, but the challengers didn’t have a chance. His life changed drastically when he re-injured his knee during a training session, and he’d ended up needing ACL reconstructive surgery.

The months of painful rehab after his surgery allowed him to think about what he wanted to do now that his career as a professional fighter was over. He’d always known he would move back to Breakers when he was ready to retire from the ring and start a business with the money he had saved over the years. With the help of his friend Rever, who seemed to have the magic touch when it came to investing, Hammer had been able to triple the money he won fighting.

Financial freedom allowed him to make the choice to create the training and rehab facility, but Rever and their other friend, Daryk Nyght, had insisted on partnering with him on the new business venture. Hammer had allowed both of his friends to buy in a quarter share of the business. No matter what they said, the gym wasn’t their dream. They wanted to do it for him, and to be honest, Hammer wanted them tied to Fight Hard to give the other men a home base for whenever they were ready to settle down.

There was a tight bond between the three of them. They had all served together overseas, and when they came home, Rever had helped Hammer train as well as taking care of all of his finances. Nyght had also been in the Army with them, only he was a trauma surgeon. Now their friend was off doing some sort of clandestine work with a special task-force he couldn’t talk about. Hammer knew that was code for something dangerous as fuck, but he knew better than to ask questions. He just hoped that his friend was okay. He was familiar with that sort of life, even had the occasional nightmare to prove it, but that part of his life was over now. Now at thirty-three, he could simply focus on his gym and enjoy his life in peace.

Aw hell, who was he kidding…what he really wanted Kali.

Now, if only the woman that haunted his dreams would cooperate with him.

“Hello, Kali.”

He smiled down at her and watched as she shivered a little. Brows creasing in concern, he wanted to pick up his sweatshirt and wrap her up in it. He usually kept the gym cooler since most of the guys working out sweat a lot, but he hated seeing her uncomfortable. He silently cursed as images of how he could keep her warm with his own body flashed in his head.

Fuck! Get it together, asshole.

“Hi, Jared. I’m sorry to bother you—”

“Honey, you could never bother me.” Hammer noticed the way her eyes widened as she looked up at him and wondered what she was thinking to put that dreamy look on her face.

Studying her, he was distracted by the way her soft lips parted, and he wanted to curse again. Just imagining her looking up at him like that as she sucked on his cock had all the blood draining down to his throbbing dick, making him so hard he could probably crack stone with it. He had to move his hand still holding the towel in front of himself to try and hide his straining erection from her view.

Fucking hell, he had absolutely no self control when it came to her. He commanded himself to stop thinking about her mouth anywhere near his cock and…son of a bitch. That did it. Just telling himself to stop thinking about it had the damn thing jerking in his shorts as if trying to get closer to her.

Forcing himself to relax, he smiled at her again. “What can I do for you, Kali?”

“Oh,” she said after blinking rapidly, as if she had forgotten why she had sought him out. “Yes, I…well, I was wondering if you maybe offer self-defense training or something.”

His body stiffened. What the fuck? Was some asshole bothering her? His eyes narrowed on her, and he noticed she was breathing rapidly now.
Fuck!
He was scaring her, but he couldn’t help it. If someone was bothering her they would be dealing with him. No one fucked with his fairy and got away with it.

“Why do you need self-defense training?” he asked slowly, trying to sound calmer than he felt.

“Well, I don’t really…I mean, every woman should know something, right?” Kali let out a light laugh that didn’t fool him for a minute.

“Kali, why do you need self-defense training?” he asked again, taking a step closer to her. “Is someone bothering you?”

“What? No!”

Her gaze fluttered back to his face, then trailed down over his bare chest. He wanted to shout with glee when his saw her pupils dilate as she took in his muscular form. He fought the urge to do something stupid like flex just to see her reaction. She looked away and a faint blush turned her cheeks a light-pink color that made his hands fist so he wouldn’t grab her.

Fuck, he had to get her out of here before he did something unforgivable. Like throw her down and ravish her until neither of them could speak. He barely held back a groan as she nibbled on her lower lip, then Kali turned away from him like she was going to leave.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have bothered you with this.”

Before she could take a step away from him, he took her hand in his, holding her in place. He felt her tremble and prayed it wasn’t out of fear. “Tell me, honey. I’m happy you finally came to visit me, but if something or someone is bothering you, I want to know what it is.”

She took a deep breath, and focused on staring at the heavy bags on the other side of the room. “My cousin is getting married soon, the second weekend of February, actually.”

Okay, that wasn’t what he was expecting. Deciding to wait her out, he stayed quiet and rubbed his fingers gently over hers, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin. Her shoulders slumped as if there were a heavy weight pressing there.

Damn it, he didn’t like seeing his fairy looking so…defeated.

“My boyfriend David just broke up with me. Well, I was going to break up with him, but he did it first and…never mind. Normally, I wouldn’t be too worried about this, but my cousin Bethany is marrying David’s brother, Aeron. My mother thought…well, she said maybe now was a good time to listen to David’s advice and lose a little weight.”

She broke up with her boyfriend? Kali was free? Hammer could feel the grin spreading on his face, then he froze, his entire body going rigid with battle ready awareness.

Hold the fuck up…what did she just say?

She let out a slight squeak, and Hammer realized he had squeezed her hand as his tried to fist. Rage washed through him at the thought of her doing something like that because her asshole of an ex belittled her like that.

“That motherfucker said that to you, and your mother agreed?” The words came out before he could stop them. Kali turned to him, looking at him with wide eyes, but he didn’t care if he’d shocked her.

“Jared…”

He loved how she called him by his real name. She was the only one who did. Christ, she could call him anything she wanted, but he’d really love to hear her scream out his name as he took her. Hearing that her boyfriend was now ghosted, Hammer wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. So what if she was too good for him, she was single now, but not for long.

His little fairy was going to belong to him.

Hammer forced himself to take a deep, cleansing breath, then let it out slowly, once again finding his calm center. Tonight he would make sure she knew that she didn’t have to worry about her ex and anything he’d said to her in the past. He would show her just how perfect she was…perfect for him.

“Come on, Kali. I think this conversation needs to happen over a drink. Let’s go over to The Fox Hole and sit down. That is, if you don’t mind going out with me after I’ve just gotten done with a workout?”

“No.”

A brow lifted as he paused. “You don’t want to be seen with me?”

“No! I meant, I don’t mind. I mean, of course I do. It’s just…Jared, I don’t understand,” she said on a rush, the confusion clear on her pretty face.

Hammer tilted his head to the side. “What don’t you understand?”

“Why you want to go talk about this. With me.”

He laughed. “Honey, you’ve got some explaining to do. We’ll go have a drink, and you can tell me why you think you need to listen to a bunch of stupid advice, then I can tell you why you’re perfect just the way you are.”

He hid his smile as she let out a startled sputter. Not giving her a choice, he pulled her over to where he left his shirt. He wished he had time for a shower, but he didn’t want to leave her alone too long so she would have time to reconsider. Releasing her momentarily, he pulled a black t-shirt over his head, then turned with a questioning look when he heard her sigh. He noticed she was blushing again and turned his back to her to grin as he pulled on a pair of dark-gray sweatpants over his shorts, then picked up his black hoodie. He’d seen that look on women’s faces before and knew exactly what it meant.

So, his little fairy liked his body.

He could definitely work with that.

Chapter Two

Kalista was totally confused as they walked the four blocks over to The Fox Hole.

It was a nice night out, a little on the cool side, but she didn’t mind the walk and had told him so when he’d asked. She knew he had a mean looking motorcycle sitting out in back of his gym, but she had never ridden on one before, and didn’t want her first time on one to be when she was so nervous.

It always gave her a sense of belonging to walk around the place she’d claimed as her home. Breakers was a small coastal town in Texas on the Gulf of Mexico that sometimes felt secluded from the rest of the world. During the summer months it became a haven for tourists, with its boardwalk and access to the water and numerous festivities for people to enjoy. There was a large square in the center of town that was perfect for meeting with friends and family, or simply just enjoying the variety of shops. In the winter months, like now, it was quieter, and the town belonged to the locals.

The streets were almost empty now with only a few other couples enjoying the cool January air, but she could see a crowd outside of the bar they were walking toward. When she had gone over to Fight Hard to speak to Jared, she never imagined ending up on a date with him. If it was a date. She glanced down at her hand that was still held in his firm grasp and determined it was. She liked the way her hand was engulfed in his larger one, but it baffled her why he was holding it at all.

Since he had first taken her hand in his gym, Jared had only let it go when he had dressed. It had amazed her when he had taken her coat from her and helped her into it, even taking the time to zip it up himself. She’d felt strange allowing him to do such a simple task for her, almost as if she were a child, but what she felt around him was definitely not juvenile.

This night was turning out completely surreal.

When she had opened her Sinfully Sweet bakery two years ago, she never thought a man like Jared would open a MMA gym right across the street. It had been a difficult decision to buy her building, wondering if she would lose out in street traffic not being closer to center of town, but since she had opened her doors, the town had seemed to expand around her location.

She had always figured the empty warehouse across the street would have been converted into an apartment building or something, but the former owner was a stubborn old man who had refused to sell to anyone…until Jared “The Hammer” Caufield had come home and announced that he was opening his gym and rehabilitation facility.

At first, Kalista had been worried about all of the hard-bodied members of the gym as she watched them park their motorcycles and muscle cars on the street in front of her shop. She should have been used to it, since there was tattoo parlor a few doors down, but it didn’t take long to discover that all of the men were very respectful to her, no matter how scary they looked.

She had a feeling Jared was the reason for that.

From the moment he had come into her bakery and introduced himself after he bought the property, Kalista had developed an unhealthy crush on the big man. During the day, she looked forward to when he would visit, and her heart skipped a beat every time she saw him. She had even been guilty of covertly looking out the window of her shop just to catch a glimpse of him during the day.

Kalista knew he had been in the Army before he had started a career as a MMA fighter. When she had found out what he’d done for a living she had looked him up on YouTube and could see how he had won so many of his fights. He was so strong and powerful as he used his skill to take down his opponents. She couldn’t help but admit that she felt a primal sort of lust whenever she watched him fight someone and win.

But a video couldn’t even compare to the real thing…

It never failed to leave her tongue-tied just being in his presence, and seeing him tonight with his shirt off had almost brought her to her knees. His body was like living art. With thick, corded muscles covered with tattoos, he was the epitome of a bad boy. Instead of scaring her, seeing all of that ink made her want to run her hands over each and every line. She was fascinated with his body, and tried to look at him as little as possible so he wouldn’t guess what she was thinking. She’d heard about his injury, but it was easy to see from his workout that he didn’t let it stop him from staying in shape. She’d been mesmerized as she had watched those strong muscles ripple when he stretched out after kicking those heavy bags he had hung up at his gym.