Love On The Ropes (Ringside Romance) (14 page)

“Hey, you’re the new guy, right?
The Stripper?”

Jason glanced up to see a man in a
wheelchair headed his way. “Yeah, that’s me.”

The guy was probably looking for
an autograph. Jason knew they sometimes let disabled fans backstage before a
show so they didn’t have to fight the crowds in the arena.

“Loved your number the other night
with the bondage,” the guy said.

“Gee, thanks.” J couldn’t keep the
sarcasm from his voice.

“The things they make you do for
this crazy job. Next thing you know, you’ll be stripping all the way down to
your birthday suit.”

J fisted his right hand. There was
no way in hell he’d expose himself like that, even if it guaranteed him a
friggin’ promotion.

“Nice to meet you.” The guy
extended his hand. “I’m—”

“What are you doing here?” Sandy
called out, racing up to them.

“What?” J said. “I work here,
remember?”

“Not you. Him.” She pointed at guy
in the wheelchair.

“Hey, be nice,” J said, puzzled by
her tone.

She ignored him and got in the
crippled guy’s face. “I asked you a question.”

“Chill, little sister. You’re
embarrassing me.”

Little sister? Oh, so this was
Duke.

“Good, then maybe you’ll get the
hell out of here,” she said.

“No can do. Tonight’s show is so
close to home that I got me a spot on the card.”

Sandy dropped her backpack and
kneeled on the cement floor. “Duke, you can’t.”

“Relax. Cosmo will take care of
me.”

“No, come on, this can’t be
happening.” She squeezed her head between her hands.

Duke glanced at Jason. “She was
always a bit of a drama queen.”

“You’re her brother?”

“Yep, Duke Ryan. Nice to meet
you.” They shook hands.

“You’re wrestling tonight?” J
asked.

“I’m part of the finale. They’re
sending me out with a two-by-four and a meat grinder.”

“What are you going to do with
that?” Jason hoped he wasn’t on the card opposite this guy.

“The meat grinder’s for show. But
the two-by- four...” The man’s eyes sparkled and he rubbed his semi-gloved
hands together. “This is going to be great.”

He reminded Jason of a
ten-year-old about to hop onto an electric scooter.

Sandy jumped to her feet. “You’re
an idiot! A complete whack job!”

“I know. That’s why you love me.”

J thought she might slug him.

The locker room door burst open.
“Duke!” Cosmo said, sticking out his hand. “Great to see you, son.”

“Thanks, boss.”

“Cosmo, this is unacceptable,”
Sandy said. “My brother should not be in the ring, and I don’t need someone
watching over me.” She glared at Jason.

“Now, cool down, young lady. Your
brother is a grown man who makes his own decisions. And I was worried about
you.” He pulled on the knot of his tie. “You seemed more stressed than usual,
so I asked the new guy to keep an eye out. Who else would I ask? The other boys
have families.”

“I don’t believe you. I don’t
believe any of this. Tell me you’re not putting Duke in the ring.” Sandy
slapped her hands on her hips.

“Only for a few minutes. He’ll be
fine.” Cosmo patted Duke on the shoulder, then glanced at Stripper. “Now, to
take care of your problem.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at the old
guy. Problem? Was Cosmo about to blow his cover?

“You need a female.” Cosmo tapped
his finger to his chin.

Hell, was he that transparent? Sure,
he needed to get laid, but was it written all over his face?

“I do fine by myself,” he said.

“Not in the ring you don’t. Did
you see the crowd last week when those two girls fought over you? It was
electric! We’ve got to get you a hot female partner. The Stripper and The
Virgin — that’s it! I’ll find someone by the time you go on.” He squeezed
Duke’s shoulder. “Come on, Duke. Talk with me while I look for a virgin.”

Cosmo walked away, Duke wheeling
right beside him. Cosmo told some story that made Duke laugh.

J glanced at Sandy. She turned
white. “Doc, you okay?” he asked.

She snapped her attention to him.
“I’m your Virgin.”

“Excuse me?”

“That’s it!” She grabbed his arm
and took off after Cosmo. “I’m your Virgin. I’ll be with you in the ring. That
way I’ll be close to Duke.”

“Sandy, wait a minute.”

But she had a firm grip of his arm
and J couldn’t help but run alongside her. They caught up with Cosmo and Duke
as the promoter was cornering Precious Paulina. Sandy shouldered Paulina out of
the way.

“I’ll be the Virgin,” she said to
Cosmo.

Duke burst out laughing. Cosmo’s
eyebrows curled in a look of disbelief. “You can’t go into the ring. You’re
not…” He hesitated, and Jason had half a mind to slug the guy.

Sandy might not be a classic
beauty who wore expensive makeup, a tight skirt and spiked heels, but she had a
natural, earthy kind of appeal that outclassed all of these other females.

“I’m not what?” She dropped her
pack and took a step forward, challenging him.

“You’re not the showbiz type,”
Cosmo said.

“I’ve been a part of this business
practically my whole life. If anyone can play a virgin girlfriend of a
stripping wrestler, I can!”

“Out of the way, lesbo,” Paulina
snapped. “I’ve agreed to be his Virgin.” She sidled up to J and looped her arm
through his.

“Why don’t we let The Stripper
choose?” Sandy said.

All eyes were on Jason. This was a
no-brainer. If he chose Sandy, he’d have an excuse to stick close to her in and
out of the ring. If he didn’t choose Sandy, she’d never speak to him again.

Never run her magic hands across
his body.

J made her sweat it out, crossing
his arms over his chest, eyeing Sandy up and down, then doing the same for
Paulina. The female wrestler wore a revealing pink body suit, spiked heels and
blood red nail polish. You could practically see her nipples through the
spandex stretched across her chest.

“Sandy is more convincing,” he
said. Sandy blinked, looking a little hurt, and he regretted his choice of
words. “I mean—”

“Fine, if that’s what you want,”
Cosmo interrupted. “You know what to do.” He nodded to Sandy. “No actual ring
action. Hang out ringside, look concerned, prance from one ring post to the
other.”

“I do not prance.” She ground out
it in a voice so low J wasn’t sure he’d heard her.

Cosmo laughed. “Well, watch some
videos, get some help from the girls, do whatever it takes. I want prancing.
The two of you are an official team now. Get with Mable for a costume.
Something white—a doctor’s lab coat. Bring your medical pack with you. The
crowd loved it the other night when you came racing into the ring to help The
Stripper. This couldn’t have worked better if I’d planned it myself. Come on,
Duke. Let’s go over your moves.”

They turned to leave and Sandy put
her hand on Duke’s arm. “You sure you’re up to this?”

There were a few seconds of
strained silence. Duke’s face softened and he smiled, revealing straight white
teeth. “I’ll be fine. You’d better go figure out how to prance, Nurse Virgin.”

“If the name fits.” Precious
stormed off.

“Nurse Virgin and The Stripper—the
crowd’s going to love it,” Cosmo bellowed.

He and Sandy’s brother wandered
down the hall, Cosmo still congratulating himself on his new team. Sandy stared
after them, a bit dazed, and finally whispered, “Why does he do this?”

“Do what?” J asked.

She jerked her attention to him as
if she’d forgotten he stood mere inches from her. “Duke shouldn’t be anywhere
near the ring. Why can’t he let go and move on?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to give up
the past, I guess.”

With a silent nod, she watched her
brother and Cosmo disappear around the corner.

“Shouldn’t we be working on our
moves?” Jason asked.

She sighed. “In a minute. I need
to find out where we are on the card.” She headed for the locker room and he
followed. “Why?”

“Because I want our match to be
back to back with Duke’s.”

“Oh, so this has nothing to do
with wanting to be my virgin?”

She narrowed her eyes like she
wanted to clock him with her backpack.

“What? A guy can dream, can’t he?”

“You keep dreaming.” She shook her
head and kept walking. “Said I’d never do it, never get into the ring, never
parade myself around like this,” she muttered to herself.

“Why? What’s the big deal?” he
asked.

She stopped short of the dressing
room. “People get hurt in the ring. Haven’t you figured that out yet? Or did that
concussion erase your short-term memory?”

“I remember,” he snapped.

“Good. Then you remember that
wonderful strip routine you did with the girls. Do a repeat of that and make my
job easy.”

J touched her arm to stop her from
going into the dressing room.

“What?” she asked.

“About that strip routine.”

“Yeah?”

“I could use some help with that.”

“Later. I need to take care of
this first.”

“I’ll wait out here. A few of the
guys,” he hesitated, “I’d rather wait out here.”

“Give me five minutes.”

Sandy disappeared into the locker
room, probably negotiating all kinds of ridiculous things in order to get her
match on the card near her brother’s.

Something didn’t add up, Jason
thought. She was kind, loved her brother and would do anything for him, yet she
was providing the other wrestlers with drugs that potentially caused heart
attacks? Did she need money to pay Duke’s medical bills? It’s not like she
lived extravagantly. He figured that out after being in her apartment.

Jason leaned against the cement
wall and pulled out his cell phone. The lab should have the pills by now, maybe
even have a preliminary report.

“Hicks,” the tech answered.

“It’s McBain. You got anything
yet?” He wanted to cut and run, get the hell out of this place before those
sweet green eyes of Sandy’s made him blow this assignment.

“This is one weird-ass compound,”
the tech said.

“Excuse me?”

“No steroid I’ve ever seen.”

“So, it’s not a steroid?” Jason
said.

“Not sure. I need time.”

“How much time?”

“Don’t rush me. I get nervous.”

J pressed his forefinger and thumb
to the bridge of his nose. “Fine. You got my number.” He ended the call.

“Bad news?”

He jerked at the sound of Sandy’s
voice. “Don’t sneak up on people like that,” he growled.

“Whoa, chill out, Stripper.”

“Okay, Nurse Virgin,” he retorted.

“Nice.” She started walking. “Got
a spot on the card right before Duke.” She stopped a few feet away. “You
coming?”

“Where to?”

“Wardrobe, then we need to
practice.”

“Practice what? You saying no?”

She squared off at him, angry, yet
he thought he saw hurt in her eyes.

“Hey, I’m not thrilled with this
virgin thing, so lay off the jokes,” she said.

“Sorry.”

She continued walking and he
realized he was being a smart ass to keep her at a distance.

“I still can’t believe I’m doing
this.”

He felt a pang of sympathy. “Don’t
worry, kid. I’ll take care of you.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

* * *

It was the right decision, the
best decision; exactly what a little sister should do to protect her big
brother. So why was Sandy on the verge of bursting into hysterics?

“The shirt’s too tight!” She
pulled on the white cotton.

“Stop that or you’ll rip it.”
Mable the costume designer batted her hand away. “Stand straight.”

Sandy followed Mable’s order, but
hated the way the cotton curved around her breasts.

“How about a push-up bra?” Mable
said.

“Forget it.”

“A little tissue then. Girl, you
need something to give you some oomph.”

“I have enough oomph, thanks very
much.”

“Would never know it. Are you
wearing, a sports bra?”

“Yes.” She crossed her arms over
her chest.

“Damn things smash you to nothing.
You should be proud of your bosoms, flaunt them.” Mable motioned with her hand.

“I’m proud. I’m just private.”

“Here.” Mable shoved a lace bra at
her.

“I’m not wearing someone else’s
bra!”

“It’s better than what you’ve got
on.”

“Forget it.”

“You can’t go out there all bound
up like that. Even virgins have titties.”

“Fine,” Sandy snapped. She went
into the dressing area and whipped the curtain closed. She’d go braless before
she wore someone else’s lingerie. Ick. Why was she doing this again? Right,
because of her brother’s complete lack of sense.

She ripped off her shirt,
unsnapped her bra and slipped the shirt back on. Truth was, it felt good to be
free of the sports bra. She hoped the white button-down shirt was thick enough
to hide what needed to be hidden, like her dark areolas. She’d always been
self-conscious about them.

“Okay, I’m coming out.” She slid
open the curtain. “Ta-da.” She extended her arms. “Well?”

Mable looked over the top of her
glasses. “Now that’s the spirit. Pretty, perky bosoms. Perfect for a virgin
nurse.”

The door popped open and Stripper
stuck his head inside. “You done? Yee—owsa. Nice shirt.”

She let her arms fall to her
sides. “Give me a minute.”

“Okay.” He grinned.

“Out!”

“Yes, Nurse.” He saluted and shut
the door.

“How about a lab coat?” Sandy
picked through a pile of clothes.

“Got one right here. And the
skirt.”

“What skirt?”

“Don’t take that tone with me.
It’s a long frilly thing left over from Penelope’s wedding to Stuart the
Shark.”

Sandy held up the lace-overlaid
skirt and made a face.