The Fighter (The High Rise, Book 1) (4 page)

Looking up at
him, I announce, “This is where I tell you to mind your own
business.” I mean, what the hell? Everyone knows men aren’t
supposed to talk about a woman’s weight, especially
to
that
woman! “And pencil skirts are supposed to be tight!” I scowl then
make a show of putting the container of cupcakes into my basket
before snapping, “Also, I don’t plan on eating them all.”

He raises an
eyebrow and snorts before shrugging and heading toward the
veggies.

I narrow my
eyes as I watch him walk away in jeans that sit low on his hips,
black work boots and a white t-shirt under a black zippered hoodie.
Then there are his broad shoulders, narrow waist and tight butt.
Ergh.

Because I
can’t leave well enough alone, and for some reason it bothers me
that he doesn’t like me, I catch up to him at the potatoes and ask,
“Are you saying you think I’m fat?” Not that his opinion matters
but I’m going to let him know it doesn’t. Uh huh. That’s exactly
what I’m doing.

He looks me up
and down, an amused look on his gorgeous face. “I didn’t say that.”
He now gets a sack and puts a couple potatoes into it before moving
to the bell peppers.

I pick up a
sack for my own veggies and let myself pretend for a moment that he
and I are together picking up what we need to make dinner,
wondering how that’d feel. We already have this energy between us
that it almost seems like it’d be easy. And just when I’m thinking
it might be kind of nice, he stops and looks at me, his dark eyes
on mine, sizing me up.

“If you were
sent to check up on me, I’ll tell you now it’s a waste of time. You
know where I am. Just walk down the hall, knock and come on in.
I’ve got nothing to hide.” Now he smirks. “We could even make it
interesting if you want. I wouldn’t mind helping you work off those
cupcakes.”

Whoa. “What
are you suggesting?” God. My first thought is, Yes! Take me! Then I
tell myself that was rude and I need to act offended. Ugh. As I
study him, I find I’m a little bit pissed but not at his proposal.
No, I’m ticked because I can’t figure him out. I’m usually so good
at reading people but he’s a total mystery.

He scrutinizes
me right back, pursing his lips and tilting his head to the side
before grinning and stating, “I’m suggesting that if you wanna keep
your ass looking good in that skirt, you’ll hit me up.” He angles
his head even farther to the side and I realize he’s looking at my
butt as he mutters, “Damn.” His eyes twinkle when they meet mine.
“I’ve got the perfect exercise for you. Involves lots of thrusting
if you’re interested.” At my frown he adds, “But maybe not. It
might be too much for you.” He chuckles before walking away.

Did he just
turn me down for something I wasn’t planning on doing anyway? Or
was that a dare? And wait. Was he talking sex or exercising? Good
grief. This guy seriously has me confused. I’m still frowning as I
pick through more vegetables, bagging and placing them in my
cart.

As I move down
the bins I wonder who he’d think would send me to check up on him
anyway. And check on him for what? So many unanswered questions
with this guy. It’s got me curious, but I’m uncertain if I want to
know the answers. And I’m really not sure I want to poke the bear
because no telling what’ll come out of his mouth then
.

Four

This woman is totally
throwing me off my game
.

I was the
quarterback in high school who scrambled on a third and
twenty-seven to score the State Championship winning touchdown for
crying out loud.

The same guy
who had to get up and speak at one of the Los Angeles Kiwanis Clubs
in front of hundreds of people thanking them for a college
scholarship I received.

The man who,
at one of my building sites had to talk a jumper down off a beam
that was fifty feet in the air for fuck’s sake.

Yet this
female who’s damned near a full foot shorter than I am, who I
outweigh by at least a hundred pounds, has got me tied up in knots.
Has me saying suggestive shit to her I know I shouldn’t, then
turning around and being a prick to her because I’m irritated about
my own indiscretions.

What in the
fucking hell is wrong with me?

And swear to
God when I saw her in the store earlier, like some teenaged boy I
just about popped a fucking boner at seeing her gorgeous ass in
that goddamned skirt she wore. I’m twenty-seven yet I found myself
struggling to keep from embarrassing myself in public. Jesus. And
then her sassy attitude all but did me in. I’m so torn it’s not
even funny. The way I see it, only a few things can happen between
us. She’ll either end up completely hating me, which is highly
likely, or this thing between us lands us in bed and we fuck until
I get her out of my system.

Or there’s
always the last option of my jacking off regularly to thoughts of
her while maintaining a distance. Yeah. That’s so not ideal.

I’m on the
veranda of my apartment where I throw a couple of foil-wrapped
potatoes on the grill to bake before adding the steak. All this
working out has me starved half the time and a good steak will
definitely hit the spot.

While I wait
on the food, I make a call to my brother to see how he’s doing and
to let him know everything’s pretty much going as planned.
“Everything’s all set,” I say.

“When’s your
match?” Aaron asks.

“Saturday.
Hey, what about this Craig Crowley guy?” I inquire asking about the
guy who runs the weight room. He seems like a prick but if I can
get some use out of him it’s all good.

“He’s Kyle’s
fuckin’ lackey. Real douche. But you might be able to get some info
from him.”

“Good. I’ll
stay on him then. An unexpected piece to the puzzle fit in
today.”

“What was
that?” he says.

“I met Kyle’s
niece. Man, she’s something else. Has this whole innocent act down
like she’s clueless about what goes on here,” I reply leaving out
the part about how I’m drooling all over the chick.

“Is she
pretty?”

“What does
that matter? She’s the fucking enemy,” I scoff even though I want
to tell him that, hell yes, she’s gorgeous. Legs up to here, big
brown doe eyes as well as long auburn hair she’d worn in a ponytail
when working out this morning, not to mention her perfect fucking
ass that looked great in that skirt she wore tonight.

“Maybe she’s
not involved. I never saw a woman around when I was there,” he
states.

“What am I
supposed to do, ask her if she’s part of a corrupt moneylending
enterprise that also hosts an underground fighting ring that almost
killed my brother and if not, would she go out with me?”

He laughs.
“That would do it.”

I rub the
bridge of my nose, annoyed. “Anyway, come to find out, I’m on the
same floor with her. She lives right down the hall from me. If
Crowley won’t cooperate, I’ve been thinking that all I gotta do is
get close with her, somehow get her to give me passwords to his
computer then I can snatch her keys to get into Kyle’s office. I’ll
bet the self-important prick keeps his shit’s all out in the open
anyway, not afraid of being caught at all. I’ll get into his
computer and delete you, mark you off as paid-in-full in the books
and you’re off the hook.” It’s probably more complicated than that
but that’s the ultimate plan. “I might be outta here sooner than I
thought.”

I hear Aaron
let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Heath,” he whispers into the
phone. “This means everything.”

“You’d do the
same for me.” I hear Isabelle fussing in the background.

“You need to
come see your niece soon.”

“I know. This
club across the street has had me buried for the last month. But I
should be able to make it by Sunday since Saturday’s the club’s
opening,” I remark.

“I’ll let
Kamryn know. We can do lunch or dinner and she’ll make her coconut
cream pie.”

My
relationship with Kamryn has been strained since Aaron got hurt but
I know she’s a good woman who loves my brother, so I need to make
an effort. It sounds like she will too since coconut cream is my
favorite.

“Sounds good.
I’ve gotta put the steak on so I’ll let you go.”

“She’s sorry,
Heath.”

I sigh. “I
know she is. Tell her not to worry. I’m gonna fix this.”

We hang up and
I feel the anger inside rising because every time I talk to him, I
get pissed again at this situation.

I think about
when I first met Laney’s Uncle Edward and he agreed to cut me some
slack, telling me he wouldn’t charge interest on Aaron’s loan for
the time he spent in the hospital or for another two weeks which I
requested so I could train since I hadn’t fought in years. He was
unusually compliant, but I knew it was only because he’d easily
make up what he was losing through my fights and in the interest
which would start up again soon. We also made the deal that I’d
live in the apartment building free of charge for six months (even
though I plan on taking care of shit sooner than that) which he
stated was his way of paying for Aaron’s hospital bills, to which I
agreed because it was a convenient locale for my current job site
and several others I had coming up. I kept the cabin at Big Bear,
which is where I stay most weekends, but I went ahead and let my
studio apartment across town go, planning to use the money I’ll
save on rent to pay off Aaron’s hospital bills that the insurance
doesn’t cover.

But Edward
Kyle and I have a tricky relationship. First of all, on my end, I
don’t have a lot to work with. It’s not like I can go to the cops
about him and his family. What would I say? My brother borrowed
money from them and now he can’t pay them back? Loaning money isn’t
illegal even though I’m sure there’s got to be some organized crime
syndicate backing the Kyles, I just don’t have any proof of it.
Also, the fighting might be illegal but if I alerted the
authorities, who’s going to fucking talk? These guys are trying to
pay off loans. They’re not going to rat themselves out. But
honestly? All I really care about is getting Aaron out from under
the Kyle’s control. And I’m not about to get on the bad side of the
Mob or whoever’s running this shit by becoming an informant. But if
their whole operation happened to fall down around them while I’m
at it, I’m not going to say I wouldn’t be happy.

On the Kyle’s
end, Edward specifically, he sees I’ve stepped in to help Aaron out
and he’s good with that. All he wants is his money. He’s not going
to fuck shit up by telling me no. But he also knows that since
Aaron ended up in the hospital from fighting for him, there are
things I could do to make his life hell. I’ve let him know I’ve got
friends on the force who’d be more than willing to start an
investigation into what he’s doing. They might not get to the
bottom of everything he’s mixed up with but they could at least
shut his fight ring down. Fucker would probably just relocate which
would only be an inconvenience for him, but it would be something.
And it might prompt them to look at him further. So for now, he’s
willing to play nice and I plan to take full advantage.

With all that,
clarity punches me in the gut waking me up to how ridiculous it is
that I’d even contemplate any kind of relationship with Laney
Kyle.

Fuck them.
Fuck all the Kyles.

The next
morning I’m in the weight room by the usual time, six a.m. I’m
working out with Matt, an older man I met here a couple weeks ago
who’s routine is similar to mine. We’ve started spotting each other
on various lifts but haven’t talked a lot.

I know that
Laney will be here in forty-five minutes to stretch out then jump
on the treadmill alongside a blond woman who I’m assuming is her
roommate.

I hate that
I’m looking for her but any red-blooded man who saw her in those
shorts would look too. And God forbid she has on the running
tights. Those fuckers have the capability of making me crawl a mile
just to see her amazing ass in them. Yeah. They look that good.