Love On The Ropes (Ringside Romance) (4 page)

“What did he say to you?” she
asked.

There she was with the mindreading
again. He’d have to watch her. Yeah, watch her crawl right under his skin.

She crossed her arms over her
chest, a beautiful round chest stretching the fabric of her army fatigue
T-shirt. Camo? He’d have to ask her about that fashion statement when he got to
know her better.

“We had words,” he said.

“What kind of words?”

“We were trying out some moves and
called me a baby face.”

“And you attacked him for that?”

“He started dissing my mother.”

She burst into laughter, her
cheeks flushing a soft pink. It was then that he noticed the slight freckles
dotting her nose. She looked sweet, like the proverbial girl next door. And she
was laughing at him.

He hopped off the table.

“Wait, I’m not done with your
knee.” She grabbed his bare arm. He glared at her hand, but she didn’t pull
away. “Come on, get back up there and let me finish.”

“Why should I?” Now he sounded
like a three-year-old. Hell, he wanted out of this room.

Her expression turned soft and
understanding. “I’m sorry.”

Hell, she was still reading him
like a comic strip, only worse. She was reading his emotions and thoughts. This
woman could destroy him and all he hoped to accomplish here.

“Get on the table and I’ll explain
a few things to you,” she said.

Like how she was able to read his
mind? He wanted to know that. He shifted back onto the table.

“Where are you from?” she asked,
icing his knee.

She really didn’t want to know. He
really didn’t want to tell her.

“Chicago,” he said.

“No, I mean, where did Cosmo find
you? In a gym? Strong-man contest, what?”

“In a strip club,” he blurted out,
trying to keep a straight face. His background was designed by Meek the
Dickless Wonder. J was a former stripper turned pro wrestler. From one
brainless career to another, and both as a sex object for women.

“You knew nothing about wrestling
before you joined BAM?” she asked.

“No.”

“Okay, here’s what I’m guessing
happened: you’re a heel and Floyd is also a baby face. When you were practicing
the moves he probably had one of his brain farts and blurted out what came into
his mind. You have an angular face but there’s something in your eyes that’s
very sweet and innocent. That’s the look of a baby face—a good guy. He
recognized it and made a comment. It wasn’t an insult or anything, just Floyd
being Floyd.”

Sweet and innocent? Never in his
life had anyone referred to Jason as sweet and innocent.

“And the comments about your
mother...” She smiled.

He shoved her hand away from the
ice pack and held it himself.

“Don’t get all wiggy on me,” she
scolded, placing her hand on the cool pack. “This is the entertainment
business. Your job is to create conflict. The boys are always insulting each
other, talking about their mamas or sisters or whatever they think will get the
audience worked up. That’s what we do here. We entertain people.”

“So ... he was pretending?”

“Yep.” She removed the ice pack
and straightened his leg. “How bad is the pain, on a scale from one to ten?”

“Two.”

She cocked her chin and shot him a
half smile. “You stick to that story, bub. But remember, I can’t help you if you
don’t want to be helped.”

Why did she have this way of
saying things that completely shut him down? He was pretty good at female
relations, but this girl confused him. He didn’t like confusion. He liked order
and control. He’d try a different tack.

“Who says I don’t want help?” he
said. “Especially from a babe like you.”

“Babe?” She stepped back and
glared. “Did you really just call me a babe? Get the hell off my table.”

Yeah, that worked.

The door burst open and Cosmo
Perini charged into the room. “Well, that’s it. You’ve really screwed things
up.” He glared at J.

“What?”

“I’m sorry, son, but I can’t have
my boys at odds with each other. It’s bad karma.”

Sandy muttered something.

“You’ve given me no choice,
Stripper. You’re fired.”

Panic shot through Jason’s body.
He hated to think where Meek would send him next if he blew this ridiculous
assignment.

“You can’t fire me.”

“You’ve given me no choice,
Jason,” Cosmo replied. “Floyd won’t wrestle if you’re part of the organization.
He’s got a lot more pull than you.”

“We had a deal.”

“The deal’s off. You blew it. Not
my responsibility.”

“I can’t lose this job.” J stood
and wobbled on his knee.

“Why is it so important to you?”

It was Sandy’s voice—that sweet
and soothing tone that made him want to bolt out of the room. She could talk
him out of his dog tags by reading the classified ads out loud.

“It’s personal,” J said.

“Okay.” She put up her hands. “I
was only trying to help.”

Help? Yeah, he could use some of
that, otherwise he’d failed the most miserable assignment of his career. He
could kiss his promotion good-bye, his career good-bye.

She turned to leave and he touched
her arm. “Wait.”

She glanced over her shoulder.

Okay, McBain, come up with
something good
.

“I really need this job,” he said.

She waited. Damn, now what? How
far could he go without it seeming like an act?

“I’m broke, got laid off and can’t
find another assignment.”

“Assignment?” she said.

“Contract,” he hedged. “My day job
is construction. I dig tunnels for cities. Been out of work for six months, and
I’m late on the rent.”

“Surely you’ve got friends you can
stay with?” She eyed him and wrinkled her nose. “Or maybe not. What about
family?”

He clenched his teeth, willing
himself not to say what he was about to say. “They’re gone. Dad died twenty
years ago and Mom…” He hesitated. “She passed on last year.”

Well, it was partly true. In J’s
mind his father died the day he’d walked out on the family, and Mom passed on
J’s advice to stay away from numb nuts Malloy, a divorcee she’d met at bingo.
Malloy was a loser. J could feel it in his bones.

“You have no other family?” she
asked.

“Not really.”

He thought about his little sister
and brother, Janette and Jordon. Well, not little anymore, but all grown up and
wanting Jason to mind his own business and stay out of their lives. He’d willingly
taken on the role of father when they were kids and was paying for it now.

Then again, maybe they resented
him for abandoning the family when he’d joined the military. It was the best
thing for everyone. He couldn’t stand his mom’s boyfriend playing father,
pushing Jason out of the lead male role. Unable to voice his frustration, he’d
gotten into trouble with the cops. He’d never forget the look on Mom’s face
when Officer Rogers brought him home in his cruiser. From that point on he’d
decided to make her proud.

Yet, by joining the army he’d lost
regular contact with Mom, Janette and Jordon. Whenever he’d call to touch base,
his brother and sister acted like he was checking up on them. Hell, what did he
care if Jordon was in his fifth year of college, or if Janette skipped college
altogether to open a beauty salon for rich clients on the North Shore? Deep
down he suspected they didn’t want him in their lives because he reminded them
that they, too, were unlovable in some way that caused Raymond McBain to go out
for doughnuts and never come home.

“It’s a woman, isn’t it?”

He snapped his attention to Sandy.
“What?”

“There’s a woman out there you can
stay with. I feel it.”

Maybe she wasn’t so good at
reading him. No woman would keep J around for more than one night. Sure he was
good, maybe even exceptional at making love for one long, hot night... and the
next morning. But J wasn’t the reliable type when it came to a long-term
romance. It ran in the McBain genes.

“No woman,” he said. “I was
counting on this job.” He glared at Cosmo, hoping he’d catch J’s meaning. If
Cosmo was ready to fire an undercover DEA agent for such a small transgression,
he must have something to hide.

“There’s got to be another kind of
job you can get.” The bossy, adorable Sandy wouldn’t let up. Why did she care?

“Nope. All I got is muscle and
attitude. I could care less about sleeping on Lower Wacker Drive, but my
sister...” He hesitated. How far should he go?
Lay it on thick and make her
feel sorry for you
.

“My baby sister’s been bunking
with me. She’s got some ... emotional issues.”

What a pile of horseshit. But did
she believe it?
Keep your face still, every friggin’ muscle frozen like ice.

He’d mastered the gift of lying
with his eyes
. I’m happy you got back with Mr. Malloy, Ma. Sure, I’ll come
home for Easter.
Like hell he’d come home and watch that pervert touch his
mother’s behind, listen to his little brother argue politics, and suffer
through small talk with his sister’s latest boyfriend.

“I’m afraid you’ve done this to
yourself, son,” Cosmo said.

“Son?” The jerk had no right to
call him that. No one did.
Whoa, chill out
.

“Cosmo, it was an accident,” Sandy
said.

She was defending him?

“You mean The Stripper accidentally
tackled Floyd and nearly killed him with a pink shoe?” Cosmo said.

“The Stripper didn’t understand,”
she replied.

“Stop calling me that,” J spoke
up.

“The wrestling subculture is new
to him,” Sandy went on. “He thought Floyd was really insulting him when he made
that comment about his mother.”

Cosmo burst into laughter,
slapping his hand on his thigh. “Where have you been, boy?”

In a hellish urban jungle fighting
drug lords.

“That kind of ribbing goes on all
the time around here,” Cosmo said. “He didn’t mean anything by it.”

“I get that now.”

Cosmo’s smile faded. “Still, if we
can’t mend things between you and Floyd, you’re out.”

“Let me help,” Sandy said.

Why was she doing this? J hated
when someone offered to help because their generosity was usually followed by
shame or pain, or both.

“Is Floyd still here?” she asked.

“Yep, packing to go home.”

“We’ll give it a shot.”

“We? Meaning what?” J didn’t like
the sound of this.

“Meaning I’ll help you apologize.”

“I’d rather quit.”

“Here.” She shoved at his
shoulder. “Just got rid of that chip for you. Must have been a heavy sucker.”
She shot him a full-cheeked smile and he forgot to breathe. How did she do
that?

“Follow me.” She started for the
door.

He stared at her, this tiny female
dressed in jeans, a fatigue T-shirt and tennis shoes. She was leading him
around by the nose.

Turning, she waited by the door.
“Well?”

Her tone set his teeth on edge.
“Listen, lady—”

“Dude, you need to grow up,
swallow your pride and keep your job.” She marched out the door.

He stared after her, dumbfounded.
He’d been insulted by this woman at least a dozen times in the past twenty
minutes.

“I’d go with her if I were you,
son,” Cosmo said.

J marched past the promoter. “I’m
not your son.”

He spotted Sandy down the hall. “Stop!”
He started after her, bad knee and all. “Don’t you hear me, woman?” He
jog-hopped and caught up to her as she reached the locker room. “You know I’m
hurt and you’re making me chase after you?”

“Don’t pull that guilt thing on
me, chief. You dug this hole all by yourself. You ready to climb out?”

“Yes—no.”

“Which is it?”

“Yes, I guess.”

“Great. I know how to push Floyd’s
buttons. Walk in and humble yourself. You know, be submissive and don’t make
eye contact.”

He ground his teeth. Be submissive?

“Then say, ‘Floyd, I’m sorry. I
didn’t understand how things worked around here. I didn’t mean to hurt you.’ ”

“But I did mean to hurt him.”

“Lie. I know you can do it.” She
smiled.

Okay, which non-truth had she
figured out?

“I don’t want to do this,” he
said, eyeing the door.

“Then you’re a selfish pig.”

“Excuse me?” He stared her down.

“You’re only thinking of yourself,
not your sister. Where will she live? In a cardboard box?” She shuddered.

Apparently she’d bought the lie
about his homeless sister.

“Okay, fine.”

“You know what to say?”

“More or less.”

“Let’s go.”

“You’re coming with me?” Hell, if
he lost his temper he didn’t want it to be in front of his one ally in this
place.

“You’ll need backup.” She swung
open the door and a dozen men froze.

Some were packing up their gear,
some were getting ready to work out. Floyd stood straight. He was dressed in a
flashy maroon suit and had slicked back his hair. “What the hell do you want?”

“I need to talk to you,” J said.

“What, you come to say good-bye?
Cuz that’s the only way I’m listening.”

J glanced at Sandy, who shot him a
nod of encouragement.

“I came to…” J swallowed back his
frustration. “Apologize.”

“Really?” Floyd cocked a brow in
disbelief.

“I didn’t understand how things
worked around here. I thought you were insulting me before, that stuff about my
mom.”

“She died last year,” Sandy added.

J felt like a heel for telling
that lie, but no one would ever know the truth.

“Anyway, I’m new to the whole
wrestling thing. I didn’t know you were joking around.” He hesitated again,
hoping he’d keep down his lunch. “I overreacted.”

Missy came rushing into the room,
bumped into Jason, shrieked and raced to Floyd’s side. “I heard he came looking
for you. I called the police.”