by Roma, Laurie
Hammer cursed silently. “I could do the championship matches, but I reserve the right to refuse other fights depending on my schedule. As for training, when the weather is better we plan to do a lot of workouts outside. We’ve got an obstacle course planned for the backyard, and I’ve got some guys working on the big tires or doing sprints pulling weights up that hill out back. I have a lot of good guys that train and work out here, but you can’t send me any of the punks because my friends would tear them apart. Most of these guys are former soldiers who don’t fight by CFL rules. They won’t hesitate to put a smartass down.”
“Understood,” Gene said. “We’ll need you to come with us to Vegas tonight. We have a big press conference Wednesday afternoon that we could use you at.”
“Shit. Talk about last minute.”
“If you answered your damn phone we wouldn’t have had to show up here to drag you with us,” Gene snapped. “We have our plane here, so it should be an easy flight.”
“And while we’re in Vegas, I can arrange for you to meet with a good friend of mine who owns one of the best custom jewelry stores in the city. Wouldn’t you like to get your fiancée a nice ring? After the press conference is over we’ll make sure we bring you straight back here and you could have it for her in time for Valentine’s Day.”
Hammer could tell by the smile on Leanne’s face that she knew she had him, damn her. “Fine, tell me what I have to do.”
****
Kalista couldn’t help but glance out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Jared with his visitor as she sat at a table in the bakery with Becca, Nikita and Zoe. She had made plans to have a late lunch with her friends while Anna and a few of her other part-time employees manned the counters. They had invited Anna to join them, but she had shooed them away, saying that she would be working on a new batch of dog treats in the back since the treats seemed to be flying off the shelves as soon as they stocked them.
After she had left Fight Hard, Kalista had gone back to Sinfully Sweet to prepare a meal of Caesar salad topped with butter-poached salmon and homemade croutons, knowing that it was one of her friends’ favorite dishes whenever she chose to make it as one of the lunch specials offered at the bakery. Now, her friends were all enjoying their lunches, but nerves left Kalista’s stomach in knots and had completely destroyed her appetite.
“I think Jared is going out of town for a few days.”
“Is everything okay?” Becca asked, concern shining in her eyes.
Kalista didn’t know how to answer her friend. She filled them in about her day, from waking up alone at his house, finding him standing in the fenced in enclosure that he had made for her, to him asking her to move in with him only to be interrupted by his friend before she could answer. She also told them about what had happened at the wedding over the weekend and how they had both finally admitted they had fallen in love.
“See, I knew he loved you!” Becca declared with a grin.
“If he was willing to take on your family, I’d have to say he is crazy about you. That’s great that he asked you to move in with him!” Zoe exclaimed, then sobered as she saw Kalista’s face. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes…and no,” Kalista replied after she thought about it.
“I understand,” Nikita said. “If a guy loves you and bothers asking you to move in with him, why not just go the distance and ask you to marry him?”
Kalista looked at the other woman, unsurprised that she had so accurately vocalized what had been bothering her. It was always unnerving how well Nikita seemed to be able to read all of them, but with her training, whatever that was, it almost seemed normal. Becca and Nikita Nuria were twins, with midnight black hair and unusual violet eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Although their faces were identical, Becca had a sweetness to her that shone out of her eyes, while Nikita had a hard edge to her that made most people wary. After they graduated high school, Becca had gone off to culinary school, while Nikita had joined the Army, becoming an interpreter since she was fluent in Arabic, Farsi, and Russian.
Nikita had fallen off of everyone’s radar until about five years ago when she had moved back to Breakers and opened her tattoo shop, Ink This. The tattoo parlor was a few doors down from where Kalista’s bakery was located and was very popular among both the locals and tourists. Nikita was a quiet woman who kept to herself. There was something extremely dangerous about her, and Kalista knew that the heavily tattooed woman would have never even looked at her twice if she hadn’t become close with her twin. Luckily enough, since she and Becca were so close, Nikita also counted her as a friend.
“Okay, I get what you’re saying. You love him, he loves you…so, why the middle step?” Zoe asked.
Kalista sighed. “Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I want it all with him.”
“I don’t think it’s selfish. It’s not wrong to want the man you love to make that final commitment to you,” Becca said as she rubbed Kalista’s arm to give comfort.
Nikita gestured in the air with her fork. “I don’t know why you’d want to get married anyway. You have the best set-up right now…regular sex whenever you want it and your own apartment to retreat to when you’re done with him.”
“My sister, the romantic,” Becca said dryly.
Nikita raised a brow. “I don’t need romance. All I need is a guy with a big cock who doesn’t annoy me.”
Becca rolled her eyes. “Well, with that kind of list how could you go wrong?”
“I’m with Niki,” Zoe said as she held up her fist. Nikita reached out and tapped it with her own.
Some of the weight lifted off of Kalista’s chest as she laughed. “You guys say that, but I’m going to enjoy watching you two fall in love.”
Nikita and Zoe looked at each other before they glared at Kalista and Becca, making both women laugh harder. “Laugh it up, bitches,” Zoe all but growled at them.
“I don’t plan on falling in love. I don’t think there is a man out there that I wouldn’t end up wanting to kill,” Nikita said.
Kalista silently agreed, the woman did have quite a temper. She took another peek out the window, and her heart fluttered as she saw Jared coming out of the front door with a tall, beautiful older woman and the man she had met in the yard. She set her napkin down on the table and stood up as Jared started across the street with his normal ground-eating strides.
She excused herself, then hurried outside to meet him, somehow knowing that he was coming over to see her. When she walked out of the door, she saw a frown settle over his face.
“What are you doing out here? It’s too cold for you to be outside without a jacket.”
Before she could tell him she was fine, he unzipped his hoodie and put it around her shoulders, surrounding her with his warmth. She liked the way he used the material to pull her close to him, but her stomach knotted as he spoke.
“So, I have to go out of town for a few days. Rhino and his wife need me to do something for them on Wednesday afternoon in Vegas. It’s for the CFL and the company has been very good to me throughout my career, so I couldn’t say no.”
“Oh, of course,” Kalista said, not knowing what else to say.
“I’ll be back late Wednesday night. Don’t worry, I told them I can’t miss the adoption event at the rescue center on Friday.”
It was a struggle, but she managed to smile up at him. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday or Thursday then. Have a safe trip.”
“I will. We have some stuff to talk about when I get back.”
“We do,” she agreed. Her heart broke a little when he kissed her lightly. “Here.” She took off his hoodie and handed it back to him so he could put it on. She was glad that he was going to be back in time for the event, but what did it say about their relationship that he didn’t even mention Valentine’s Day?
“I’ll call you. I love you, Kali.”
“I love you, too.”
She hugged herself as he turned and walked away, but her spirit
s lifted when he turned back and grabbed her, picking her up to kiss her hard. His tongue pushed past her lips to delve deep, stroking against her own masterfully until her body went limp against him. He set her down slowly, then turned without a word and headed over to the limo that waited in front of Fight Hard.
The couple he had been with had already gotten into the car, but the driver stood by the back door waiting for Jared. When he got to the limo, he paused before getting in and looked back at her. Kalista waved and held back a shiver at the intense look he gave her as he nodded, then he got into the limo, disappearing from view. Turning away, she went back inside, disappointment weighing heavily on her heart and mind, but her lips still held the tingle of his last kiss.
“Okay, so I guess he is going out of town then, but that was definitely a kiss from a man that’s going to miss you. A lot,” Becca said when Kalista sat back down at the table. Kalista filled her friends in about what just happened, then she sat back and waited for them to weigh in.
“Guys don’t think about Valentine’s Day like women do. Hell, I didn’t even realize that Valentine’s Day was this week,” Nikita said.
“That’s because you aren’t a normal woman,” Zoe muttered.
Nikita wasn’t offended. In fact, she smiled as if Zoe had just complimented her.
“I know he’s going to Vegas for a few days, but that doesn’t mean he’s taking the job offer. I mean, why ask you to move in with him if he’s going to be traveling all the time?” Zoe asked.
Kalista stared at her friend with wide eyes. “What job offer?”
Zoe groaned. “Oh shit, please tell me he talked to you about this!”
It was difficult for Kalista to swallow since her throat felt like it had just swollen shut. Pain tore through her, stealing her breath. It couldn’t be true. Why would Jared talk about adopting a puppy with her or ask her to move in with him if he was planning on leaving?
Zoe hesitantly filled her in about the job Jared had been offered by the CFL that she had heard about from Dante. “I’m so sorry, Kali. I didn’t know he hadn’t said anything. Obviously, he would have told you if he was accepting. This Vegas trip is just a onetime thing.”
“I don’t know. Why would he tell Dante about it and not me?” Kalista knew her friends could hear the pain in her voice, but she couldn’t mask it.
“Because men are inherently stupid,” Nikita supplied casually after she finished her last bite of food. “See what he says when he gets back, and if you don’t like his answer you can kick him in the nuts. That would make me feel better.”
Kalista wanted to laugh, but her chest hurt too much at the thought of what this new job could mean to their relationship. Logic said that he would have told her if he had been planning to take a job that would have him traveling most of the time, but a little part of her feared it was true. Was that what he meant by suggesting they adopt Ranger together? If he left he couldn’t have a dog fulltime without having someone here in Breakers to care for it while he was gone.
Was that the real reason he asked her to move in with him?
“Stop it,” Zoe snapped, shocking Kalista out of her inner musings.
“Stop what?”
“I know you. You’re immediately thinking the worst of the situation.”
“What am I supposed to think? How can he leave if he loves me?”
“He said he was only going to be gone for two days, right?” Zoe asked. “You said he never lies to you, Kali. Remember that.”
Kalista nodded. “I know that, but I just can’t help thinking about what will happen if he is traveling all over the world. Even at my cousin’s wedding women were practically falling all over him. How the hell can we have a relationship if he’s halfway around the world?”
“Hammer would never cheat on you. He’s not that guy,” Nikita insisted emphatically.
“No, he’s not like some other guys we know that will fuck anything with big breasts and a pretty face,” Zoe muttered, her thoughts drifting to another man she couldn’t say the same about.
“Everything is going to be fine,” Becca said forcefully. “He probably didn’t tell you about the job because he has no intention of taking it. Don’t worry about this until you talk to him.”
Kalista agreed with her friends. “Okay, we need to talk about something else now, or this is just going to drive me crazy.”
“I have something we can talk about,” Nikita said as she sent a knowing look to her sister. “Since you’re all about the love talk today, why don’t you tell us about your new man?”
“Me? I don’t have a new man,” Becca protested.
Kalista watched the blush stain Becca’s cheeks red and knew she was lying. Had she been so caught up in her own drama that she missed whatever was going on with her friend? “Becca! You didn’t tell me you were dating someone new!”
“I’m not! It’s just…hell. You know that Support a Soldier program we started sending baked goods through? I’ve been in contact with the program director and she told me that some of the commanding officers had submitted names of soldiers that had no friends or family sending them things. I offered to be paired up with someone, and I started sending him stuff. It’s been about four months now, but I never heard anything back from him…until a few weeks ago. I got a thank you letter from him, and we’ve been writing to each other.”
Becca stared down at the table as she thought about the man she was corresponding with. She didn’t know who he was, not really, but there was something about his words that touched her and made her look forward to each letter. They were worlds apart, and she would probably never meet him. Still, she felt better knowing he was out there somewhere…alive.
“Oh, how romantic!” Kalista exclaimed.
Becca blushed again and looked away. “It’s not like that. I just want him to know that someone cares whether he lives or not.”
“I think that’s awesome that you are doing that,” Zoe said with feeling. “Now I feel bad. Maybe I should sign up to do something like that.”
“What’s his name?”
Becca’s head jerked toward her sister. “No. I’m not telling you. You’ll just look him up or do a damn background check. I just got him to start talking to me, I don’t want to freak him out having my paranoid sister checking up on him.”
Nikita crossed her arms over her chest, concern warring with curiosity. “You don’t even know this guy.”
“That’s the point!” Becca rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I’m ever going to even meet him. Just drop it, okay?”
“Fine,” Nikita finally agreed. “Listen, I have to get back to the shop, but why don’t we go out tonight? Grab a few drinks?”
“I’m working tonight, but you guys should come into the bar. I’ll set you up in the corner seats at the bar so I can chat with you when I’m not busy,” Zoe said, then her lips curved into a mischievous smile. “Maybe I can talk Dante into taking over the stick so I can join you guys before we close.”
Kalista laughed. “You know you’ll be able to talk him into it. I’ll meet you guys over there after we close.”
After her friends left, Kalista went to work in the kitchen, mixing up a few new cupcake recipes she wanted to try out to keep busy. Still, no matter how much she worked she couldn’t stop thinking about Jared and what was going on.
How could she decide if she wanted to live with him unless she knew he was going to be staying here in town? Finding out about his job offer through Zoe had made her feel like she wasn’t important enough for him to tell her. They should be able to talk about anything together, and it worried her that he had kept it from her.
“Hey, Kali,” Nate said as he came through the door to the back.
She turned and smiled at him. “Hi, Nate. How was school today?”
He shrugged as he threw his backpack into her office and pulled his apron from a peg on the wall. She remembered the way he had looked at her light pink apron with disgust the first time he had helped ou
t at the bakery. The sigh of relief he had let out when she handed him a black apron had been comical. Since the bakery’s colors were pink and black, the name of the bakery was still embroidered in pink onto the black apron, but Nate didn’t seem to mind that.
He had become such a welcome addition to her staff and into their lives the last few weeks. Nate had become like a little brother to her, and it made her happy to see him coming out of his shell that he had around him. When he had first moved in with Anna, he had been sullen and extremely defensive. Things had been better when he started working at the bakery, but what had really made him change had been when he started going over to Fight Hard to work out. All of the guys at the gym had taken Nate under their wing, and they took turns training him.
Nate still visited his brother Shane in the hospital every day on his way home from school. Everyone was looking forward to Shane being released next week, if everything went according to plan. There was a normalcy to Nate’s life now that he had always craved, and it showed through the change in his attitude.
“What are we making today?”
“I have three new flavors for you to try. You can tell me which one you like best.”
He grinned at her, dark eyes shining with anticipation. “This is the best job ever.”
With her heart feeling lighter than it had all afternoon, she laughed and put her arm around his shoulder. “I’m glad you think so.”
Chapter Eleven
Hammer focused on the rhythmic sound of his fists pounding on the heavy bag in the gym, letting his mind drift as he ignored the stares of the other people working out around him. He was still a little pissed off that he had been conned into taking this little trip to Vegas. Frustration ate at him, making him hit the bag harder in an attempt to stave off the tension that had been building ever since Rhino and Leanne had come to collect him.
