Fighting for Love
The Elite Book 3
Nicole Flockton
Contents
Back Cover Blurb
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Dear Reader
About the Author
Coming Soon
Also by Nicole Flockton
Back Cover Blurb
Brooke King has always dreamed of winning gold. With the Rio Games finished and no gold hanging around her neck, she’s more determined than ever to do whatever is needed to win, including going solo and moving to another country for a shot with a new diving coach. The last person she expects to see is her sexy Rio fling, Dane Parkland.
Dane is riding high after a successful Olympic Games. Relocating to follow his longtime coach is a no-brainer for him. Settling into his new home he’s stunned when he finds Brooke living in the same complex. The girl he hasn’t been able to forget.
Will Brooke and Dane fight to turn short-term fun into long-term love? Or will career ambitions, past hurts, and big decisions prove too much to overcome?
Copyright © 2017 by Nicole Flockton
Cover Design: Jennifer Greeff - More Than Words Promotions
Model Photograph : Adobe Stock © nd3000
Proofreading: Authors on a Dime
1st Edition
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people.
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1
“Wow, so stunning.”
Brooke peered out the small, rectangular window as the Boeing 747 banked gracefully over the sparkling blue waters of Sydney Harbor. The view reminded her of the beaches in Brazil where she’d been a short time ago.
She couldn’t believe more than three weeks had passed since she’d marched out into a stadium full of people proudly wearing her USA team uniform, ready to compete in her first Olympic Games.
Recalling the chatter from a couple of the Australian competitors, the beaches in Sydney were some of the best in the world. She couldn’t wait to see how Bondi Beach compared to Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana.
Bittersweet memories from her last day in Rio bombarded her mind, images of herself and Dane laughing and kissing on the sands of the picturesque Copacabana Beach. A day spent making beautiful memories, while both knowing a goodbye was just a couple of hours away.
The Games were over and so was her time with Dane Parkland. An Olympic fling, that’s all it was, one of the many hook-ups that had occurred during those two weeks when hormones flew in all directions from thousands of competitors.
Why she’d hoped her fling with Dane would be different, that it could be more than short term, she had no idea. Maybe because her good friend Julia reconciled with her true love Mitch, and they’d gotten engaged at the Games. Realistically, Brooke knew she and Dane would never have worked. Long distance relationships were hard to maintain with half a world between them. Impossible seemed more like it when you added in their rigorous training schedules.
So why did her heart still ache whenever she thought about Dane?
Brooke had no choice but to push the despondent thoughts away. This trip to Australia was a once in a lifetime chance to train with up-and-coming diving coach, Susie Hamilton. A week after she’d arrived home from Rio, opportunity knocked, and she’d jumped all over it. Making the switch from synchronized diving events to individual events shouldn’t be difficult. Being on the springboard, knowing that she would be diving into the air alone, scared and excited her all at the same time. For her whole diving career, she’d always trained with a partner, always had someone standing next to her. It had been comforting. Unfortunately, that was in the past. Lulu, her partner, had retired directly after their disappointing performance at the Games.
Brooke still wanted to dive, though. There was nothing stopping her from teaming up with someone else, forging a new partnership. Only the thought hadn’t appealed. After talking everything over with her parents, with their full support, she’d decided to take on the challenge of going alone. Walking a new path and being in charge of her own fate. Her new destiny: qualifying for the 2020 Games and winning an Olympic medal.
This was why she now sat on a plane about to land at Sydney Airport.
All by herself.
The start of her new career venture.
Life went on.
Bruised hearts healed, and wonderful times spent with a man became wonderful memories.
“Cabin crew, prepare for landing.”
Excitement replaced the melancholy that had taken up residence in her soul. She was in the land down under, Dane’s home country, the place he’d told her so much about. Part of her had hoped he’d ask her to come visit him. He hadn’t, though. That last day, he’d given her a hug, kissed her until breathing became impossible, then walked away. Although he did glance back and blow her a kiss.
The chances of seeing him during the next six weeks were pretty slim. He’d told her he lived in Melbourne and she would be staying in Sydney. She’d thought about contacting him, let him know she was flying in, but she’d held off. He hadn’t reached out to her and she hadn’t reached out to him. Fear of rejection had prevented her from taking the plunge.
No, she’d be better off forgetting all about Dane and concentrating on the task at hand—getting in with this new coach so that at the next Olympics she would be standing on the podium receiving a medal instead of watching it happen to others.
* * *
Brooke walked through the double glass sliding doors that separated passengers from family and friends waiting to greet them. The letter from Diving Australia had informed her a driver would meet her and take her to an apartment where she would be living for the duration of her stay.
She had no idea if she had the apartment to herself or if she’d have a roommate. If she had a roommate, she hoped like heck she’d like the person. Nothing would be worse than being stuck around people she disliked and pretending to play nice with them. Whatever happened, she’d deal with it. She’d have to.
For once, being five foot ten came in handy, and she spied a man at the back of the crowd holding a sign with her name blazoned across it. She pushed the cart with her suitcases on it through the mass of people toward him.
“Hi, I’m Brooke King.” She pointed to the sign and stopped in front of him.
“G’day, love, I’m Eric Smith, Diving Australia’s official driver. Welcome to Australia. Let me get that trolley for you and we’ll be on our way.”
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, her bags were in the trunk, or boot as Eric called it, and they were on their way.
God, she was exhausted. All she wanted to do was sleep and the smooth motion of the car wasn’t helping.
Brooke had no idea how long they’d been on the road but eventually they came to a stop, jolting her out o
f the semi slumber she’d slipped into.
“Here we are, love. This is Homebush, where the 2000 Sydney Olympics were held.”
She remembered them well. After watching the diving on television, she’d decided she wanted to attempt it. Brooke had loved watching the competitors leap into the unknown, twisting and tumbling, then hitting the water with the precision of a knife cutting through cake. Her parents thought it was a passing phase and looked around for a place that would provide the cheapest lessons. They’d been shocked and surprised when they found out how much Brooke loved it. And that she was good at it, especially when she’d been paired up with her first partner and they kept winning competitions. Since then, getting to the Olympic Games had been her main focus, which she’d achieved when she’d made the team for Rio.
Now her career trajectory had changed and, for the next four years, her focus would be on individual events and eventually qualifying for the 2020 Games. No matter what sacrifices she had to make, she would stand up on that podium.
Eric efficiently lifted her cases out of the trunk and moved forward to the building to the left of her. It was a square block, about ten stories high. The gardens at the front looked well cared for, giving her confidence that her apartment was going to be clean and not a dingy number with peeling wallpaper.
“You’ll find everything you need, like the entrance code and instructions on how to enter the in-house gym and pool, are right here.” He handed her a large brown rectangular envelope. “Susie has made sure that your every need will be met while you’re here.”
“Great, sounds perfect, thanks.” She smiled. “I might even check out the pool right now. Take a swim to keep me awake.”
“You do whatever you need to do to settle in, love. I’m sure Susie will be in touch.”
“Okay.”
Eric left and Brooke entered her new home. Though sparsely furnished, the apartment contained the necessities—a couch, a coffee table, and a television on a generic wooden stand.
She checked out the one and only bedroom. Everything was decorated in neutral colors, the red comforter the only splash of color in the room. It was a nice apartment, and she had a feeling she’d be very happy here during her short stay.
The lure of a swim to wash away the cobwebs threading through her mind was strong. She could almost feel the cool water wash over her as she dived in.
Once dressed in her swimsuit, she grabbed a towel from the bathroom and perused the instructions Susie left with the access code for the front door and the pool. Luckily both the same, so she didn’t have to spend her time trying to memorize different codes.
With her keys in her hand and a bounce in her step, she headed for the pool, wondering if she would meet another diver or someone else she knew. Now that would be cool.
2
Dane stood on the starting block ready to dive into the pool. He’d have to make sure his dive was shallow as the pool wasn’t as deep as the one he usually trained in.
He shook his arms out and got into his stance. He looked up, preparing to spring off the block, at the instant someone walked into the pool area. Someone he recognized.
“Bro—” the rest of the name was swallowed as his racing dive turned into a belly flop, his flesh slamming against the water. He gasped at the sting on his stomach and gulped in a mouthful of water.
He kicked his legs, spluttering as he broke the surface. He quickly scanned the pool deck, trying to see if the woman who walked in was actually Brooke King, the girl he’d hooked up with at the recent Olympic Games.
The area was empty. He hadn’t imagined a woman walking in, had he? Sure, he admitted to himself, thoughts of Brooke entered his mind at random times since coming home from the Games. More than he’d like to admit, but not enough for him to imagine seeing her. As far as he knew, she was ensconced and getting on with her life in Colorado.
Should he drop her an email? Say hi? And what else would he say? It wasn’t like they had any chance of a long distance relationship. They’d had a good time at the Games, like many other athletes. The Games made people do things they didn’t normally do.
Like sleep with a girl an hour and half before one of the biggest races in his career.
The fact he broke a world record in said race didn’t mean she was his lucky charm.
He shook his head and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He needed to get a grip.
Sure, he was in unfamiliar surroundings. He’d moved from Melbourne to Sydney a week after he’d returned from Rio. He was still getting his bearings, still getting used to his new routine. When his longtime coach announced his move to Sydney to be closer to his daughter, Dane decided to follow. No question about it. He and Carl were a winning combination. Dane wanted to compete not only at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in 2018, but also the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, so no way was he about to change coaches.
A splash caused him to turn toward the opposite end of the pool. Was it her? A dark head popped up and the person began a smooth, measured stroke down the pool.
Maybe she was another competitive swimmer. Her freestyle showed she wasn’t a casual swimmer. It shouldn’t surprise him. The whole complex was dedicated to housing athletes in training. They were, after all, only half a kilometer away from the aquatic center used at the Sydney Olympics.
The closer the person got, the more eager he became. Which was nuts, because he wasn’t some randy teenage boy who was hoping to score with the most popular girl in school. Hell, he was the most popular guy in Australia at the moment after his medal haul at the Games. Three golds, two in individual events and one in a relay, plus a silver. His performance was the best from an Australian swimmer at the Games.
The other swimmer reached the end of the pool, grabbed the edge and looked over at him. Her mouth dropped open and familiar light brown eyes widened in shock. He imagined he had a similar look on his face.
“Dane?”
“Brooke? What are you doing here?”
He moved closer to her. He needed to touch her. Needed to check she was real and he wasn’t having the most life-like dream ever.
“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Don’t you live in Melbourne?”
She fired her questions in double quick time and he needed a few seconds to gather his thoughts, still shocked at the sight of her not three feet away from him.
Fulfilling the need to touch her, he reached out and ran a finger down her arm. Yep, she was real all right. He was surprised to see the hurt lurking in her eyes. Their parting in Rio had been amicable and friendly. Hadn’t it? At least he thought it had been. So what if Brooke had had a starring role in his dreams for the last three weeks. So what if his body immediately reacted to being in close proximity to her. Good thing he was waist deep in cool pool water.
“I’m waiting. You told me you lived in Melbourne, right? That wasn’t a lie, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t. I lived in Melbourne when we met. I moved to Sydney a week after the Games.”
“And you didn’t know about this move when we were together? You don’t seem the type of guy to make spur of the moment decisions.”
“Yes and no.” He held up his hand to stop her from asking more questions. Since when had she become an investigative reporter? Brooke hadn’t been so inquisitive when they were together. Neither had he, since they’d been too busy doing other things. His dick twitched in memory of what they’d been up to. He’d done plenty spur of the moment things with Brooke. They may have talked, just not in-depth conversations about goals and life after sports. No need to share deep-seated secrets or plans when you knew your time together was limited.
He just never expected to see her again so soon—if at all. And definitely not in a pool in Sydney.
“Carl, my coach, told me before Rio he was moving to Sydney in the New Year. He’s the only coach I’ve ever had. There was never any question of me not following him. We’re a team. But when we got back, he decided to bring forward his move. And so here I am.”
He gripped the metal bar on the starting block, hoisted himself out of the pool, and sat on the concrete ledge, his feet dangling in the water. “So now I’ve told you the reason why I’m here, how about you tell me the reason why you’re in Sydney, Brooke. It’s a long way from Colorado.”
She shrugged. “Same reason as you.”
“What? You’re now training with Carl?”
“Ha ha, very funny, smart ass.” A smile softened her words. “I’m here because of a coach.”
Dane tried to wrack his brain to work out what coach would make Brooke travel halfway across the world. While he knew Australia had some great swimming coaches, he would’ve thought Brooke would’ve been better off flying to China, or Russia even, for a diving coach. They took all the diving medals at the Games, except for the individual 10m platform competition which was won by Brooke’s friend, Julia. Besides, Brooke competed in the synchronized diving event, not the individual event.
“Where’s Lulu? Is she here with you?”
A flash of emotion skipped across her face. He couldn’t tell if it was sadness or frustration. “Lulu retired after we got back. Since we didn’t medal at the Games, she decided she didn’t want to work toward making the team for Tokyo.”
Man, that had to hurt. From the little conversations they’d had, Brooke had told him she and Lulu had been a diving team for ten years. They hadn’t qualified for the London Games, so they’d been excited and confident they’d do well at Rio when they qualified as the top USA team. Unfortunately, things hadn’t worked out. He’d comforted Brooke after she and Lulu had failed to get on the podium of the 3m springboard synchronized competition. He’d thought he’d done his best to make her feel better. He was coming off a high of winning gold the night before. He probably hadn’t been as sympathetic as he could’ve been.
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