He stormed into the house, slamming the door behind him. The loud bang made him flinch. He stalked into the living room and threw the magazine onto the coffee table, startling Fern who was cleaning Addison’s toys from the floor. She stood as he continued pacing the length of the room. He yanked his fingers through his hair and then rubbed his fingers across his face. Fuck! He just didn’t have time to deal with this stupid shit.
The front door opened and then slammed shut, jerking his attention to the entry way before glancing at Fern. He spun on his heel and took long strides to the foyer, almost smacking face-first into his mom.
“I swear I just saw Stella. Tell me it wasn’t her,” Mom demanded.
He let out a sigh of relief that it was only his mom coming in and not Stella intruding on his life another time. “It was her.”
“Besides, Stella, what’s wrong, Rally?” Fern moved her gaze from the magazine to him and back again.
His mom’s eyes widened farther. “Something else happened?”
“That woman I was dating wrote a bullshit article about mine and her relationship.” He motioned toward the magazine resting on the table. The crinkled pages of the article prevented the magazine from closing completely.
“Grace?” his mom asked.
“I don’t understand.” Fern grabbed the magazine. When she was done reading, she asked, “Didn’t she just come over that one night?”
“Exactly. This doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t she write anything that had actually happened? She didn’t mention any of the bad stuff. We’re not even seeing each other anymore.”
He paced again and kept rambling. “Nothing about Addison. Nothing about jogging and kissing in the rain. It’s as if someone else filled in the details of the time she was here. Not a bit of that shit is true!” Heat rushed his face.
“Maybe she didn’t write this. I only saw her that once, but you are a great judge of character. She found out about Addison. Why didn’t she just write about that?”
Fern’s words soothed him. He unclenched his hands but kept up the pace. From the living room TV, to the hall entrance, to the dining room table. Back again. “You’re right. She did find out about Addison, and if she wanted to hurt me, she would’ve put that in the magazine instead of this trash.” He refused to believe that she wrote the article. He pulled his cell from his pocket and found that familiar number he’d wanted to call so many times in the past week.
“So you didn’t even find out about the deal breaker, huh?” His mom tsked under her breath. He didn’t have to tell Mom that he’d thrown the relationship away. She already knew.
He stepped away from the chatting women to wait for Grace to answer. Two rings and her voice filled the line. “Hello, Rally.”
His chest twisted in a knot, tempting him to jump the next flight to Los Angeles. “Grace, I have a simple question.”
The hesitation lasted a heartbeat’s length of time. “Yes?”
“Did you write the article in Boxers United Magazine?”
She gasped. “What article? You know I was fired from there before I even left Portland.”
“The article about our relationship. Addison’s mother showed up at my house and brought the magazine.”
“Oh, Rally, I’m so sorry that happened and I swear I didn’t write it.”
The knot in his chest unraveled a little bit. Of course she didn’t write lies about him. She wasn’t that sort of person. “I know,” he said.
“I’m going to fix it, though. I bet my former boss had someone write it for him. Who was listed on the byline?” Her words escaped her lips in soft waves and floated over the phone line, pulling at his heart. Damn. He wanted her back so bad.
“You,” he said.
“What? But it wasn’t me!”
“I know that.” No matter what she’d said in the hospital room, she wouldn’t intentionally harm him like that. And the article was stupid compared to what she could put in print about him.
“I’m sure it was Ray. What do you want me to do about this?”
“Let me get my manager on it. A few threats of a lawsuit usually cools the heels of over-eager people. I will let you know if Logan doesn’t get anywhere.”
“Thanks for being understanding about the situation.”
“Of course.” He couldn’t ignore the sting that lingered over her statement of being a mother someday but maybe he’d overreacted. Okay, he had jumped to conclusions and had been a dick when she’d tried to explain herself. He hoped with every ounce of his body that he could have her back in his life. This time permanently even though he didn’t deserve her. Not after the way he talked to her at the hospital and kept Addison a secret. He’d kept his little princess a secret from almost everyone and was tired of that too. Who the hell cared if he had a little girl? It wasn’t anyone’s business, especially not Stella’s.
“Well, I guess I should be going then,” she said softly. Her voice hinted at a sadness hiding behind her words.
“I guess so. Hey, Grace,” he said before hanging up.
“Yes?”
“If you happen to notice me at an event, stop and say hi. Okay?” Or run to him, wrap her arms around him, and never leave.
“Will do.” She sighed. “How is Addison doing? You know, from her trip to the ER.”
The fact that Grace asked about his little princes warmed his heart. She might pretend to not care, but deep down, she did. “Addison had a ruptured eardrum which sounds a lot worse than it is. A little antibiotics and she bounced back to normal.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
He hung up without saying goodbye. That simple word seemed so final and he couldn’t bring himself to end another call with her in such a permanent way. One more call to make, one he didn’t look forward to at all. He had Logan on the line in seconds. After explaining the fake article, Logan assured Rally that it would be taken care of.
Just as he tucked his cell in his pocket, the doorbell rang. Food finally. He grabbed their late lunches, paid the guy, and set the food on the table. Addison cried from her room, pushing their late lunch back even further. While Fern was in tending to her, Rally dished their food onto plates and set the table. As normal of a life as possible, that’s how he liked it. A mom would make things even better. Grace Avery as the mom would be perfect.
He rested his face in the palms of his hands, his elbows braced against the table. “Oh my God,” he groaned.
“You love her, huh?” asked Fern.
He raised his head to find Fern strapping Addison in her high chair. “I do,” he said. “How is that even possible?”
“Because we don’t choose who we love. It just happens,” Fern said, putting Addison’s plate in front of her and sitting down in her own chair. She motioned toward his plate. “Eat. There is nothing you can do about it right now and you have to pack for our trip.”
He picked up his fork. “You know, Fern, you are a smart woman.”
“Thank you.”
“I guess I will deal with all of this with her once I’m done with my match. She lives in Los Angeles. Want to take a trip over there after the match?”
Her smiled grew. “Sure. I haven’t been there before. It’ll be fun.”
With a plan to get Grace back, he was able to relax and enjoy his food before tackling the task of packing. The trip now sounded perfect. He’d go to California to kick some ass in the ring and then win her heart.
Chapter Twelve
The hotel hummed with activity. Every corner seemed to have people and noise and energy. The excitement of the busyness around Grace almost put her on edge. Maybe she needed some wine. The drive was only a few hours long, but she hadn’t shaken her depression over missing Rally and the nervousness of her first assignment threatened to give her a panic attack. Her heart sank.
A tall man off to her right caught her eye. His back was to her. The dark hair was short and resembled Rally’s, but his large shoulders made her wonder if Rally had come to the event.
The man turned a little to the right and a child’s head rested on his shoulder. Couldn’t be Rally. He never brought his daughter to these places.
She scanned the crowd for the person she had an interview with. Jorge Rios from Mexico. She’d done her research and viewed a quick picture of him, but with all these people moving around, she wasn’t sure she’d find him. Not to worry. He knew she was there, wearing a KTZ 16 AM station t-shirt. She grabbed a bottle of water from the banquet table and set out to find Jorge. If only he wore something that said his name on it.
Over to the right a crowd of people formed. A man’s laugh rang out above the chatter all around her. Maybe it was him? She stood on her tippy toes to see over the heads in front of her. Jet black hair, tanned skin, and a youthful forehead. Just like in the pictures, but that’s all she could see from her position. She elbowed her way through the crowd and came face to face with Jorge Rios.
“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m Grace Avery and we have an interview set up for KTZ Sports. Let’s go somewhere a little quieter.” She wasn’t allowed to leave the reception but going into the hall entrance should be acceptable.
She waved her fingers over her shoulder for him to fallow. Once she was with him in the hallway and away from the noise, she pulled out her wireless microphone that transmitted the interview to her computer where it would be recorded. “This is Grace Avery with Jorge Rios. Great fight out there, Jorge,” she said, handing him the microphone for his response.
“Thanks, Grace,” Jorge’s accent was heavy but understandable.
She started with her usual line of questions. How did he start boxing? How long ago? Biggest inspiration. A child giggled behind her. Being that this was not in front of the camera, she turned slightly to grab a glance at who was back there. Her gaze locked with Rally Brewers.
*****
Grace stood in front of him, interviewing Jorge. She wore a polo shirt with a radio stations emblem on it, a huge smile as she talked, and a skirt to show off her sexy, tanned legs. Once Addison’s giggled grabbed Grace’s attention, it was hard for Grace to concentrate. She asked a question and when Jorge answered, she glanced back at Rally. At one point, she turned her body to avoid always looking over her shoulder to make sure he was really behind her.
“Thank you for visiting with me today, Jorge,” she said. The tension in her shoulders melted away if she was relieved that the interview had ended.
“My pleasure,” Jorge said. They shook hands before Jorge turned to go back to the reception.
Now alone, he waited for her to slip the microphone back into the bag hanging off her shoulder like a purse before stepping over to her.
*****
She crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at him like a frightened bird that was trying to decide if he was friend or foe.
“I heard that there was a sport’s journalist around doing interviews. You must be her.”
She narrowed her eyes while her lips stayed in a flat line. “I might be.”
“I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Rally Brewer and this is my little princess, Addison Brewer.” If he could go back in time and erase all of the bad stuff between them he certainly would. Since that wasn’t a possibility, all he could hope for was a new beginning. This time he’d do things right. He held his hand out for her to shake. “And you are?”
A smile peeked out at the corners of her lips. She put her hand into his, sending shock waves full of desire through him as she said, “Grace Avery.”
“Beautiful name.” Rally raised the top of her hand against his lips. Addison giggled and made kissing sounds with her lips. “She just learned that.”
“Addison is adorable.” Grace kept her hand in his. “You know, I don’t have children of my own but hope to have a daughter one day.”
“I’m wondering if you’d like to escort me and this pretty girl to the next match. I just might know the boxer.”
She shrugged nonchalantly but her grin gave her secret away. She was just as happy for him to be there with her as he was. “I’d love to, but seriously, Rally, what’s up?”
“I was wrong and want to start over. Can we do that, please?”
She hesitated for a minute before a grin spread across her face, sending sparks of excitement to her eyes. “Absolutely.” She rushed into his embrace, pressing her lips against his. They kept kissing as Addison rotated smooching sounds with loud giggles. When his little girl pressed her hand between their faces, he pulled back.
“I’ve missed you so much, Grace.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
He glanced at his watch. “The match’ll be starting soon. Let’s head in there.”
She slipped her hand into his. “Did you ever get that article taken care of?”
A groan rumbled in the back of his throat. “Ray sure is a bastar-” Catching himself from saying the curse word in front of Addison, he replaced the rest of the sentence with, “a jerk. He refused to talk with my manager about the false statements, so we’ve turned it over to Logan’s attorney. Don’t be surprised if Logan Miles calls you.”
She smiled up at him. Damn, he’d missed that beautiful face. “Don’t worry. You will have my help in any way possible,” she said. “Did you find out why he did it?”
“Sure did. He slipped up and admitted that he needed the extra circulation because he’s about to go into bankruptcy. A desperate man will lie and steal to get what he wants.”
“Wow,” she said. “So tell me who is boxing tonight.”
“I think you’ve been wanting to meet this guy even though you’d never admit it.”
“Oh really. I wonder who that might be.” She laughed as they started through the hotel. They walked hand-in-hand, talking about what they’ve been doing while apart. She told him about confronting Ray. He told her about Addison’s diagnoses from the doctor and she was feeling better. He also told her about scaring Fern.
They held onto each other tighter once they joined the group of people trying to get into the door. Luckily for them, he got seats up front. Rally moved through the crowded walkway to the ringside where Felix stood holding a water bottle and wearing a white towel over his shoulder. The familiar metal bucket rested on the floor by his feet, ready in case a fighter was injured in the ring.
“Are you going to tell me who is next?” she asked.
“Felix,” he said, giving his trainer a high five and a quick pat on his shoulder. “Who is up?” Rally winked at her.
“Triple T.” Felix chuckled. “Well, Trent is the fighting part of that team tonight.”
“Maybe I should stick around after the fight then,” said Rally. He grabbed Grace’s hand. “Want me to introduce you to Trent McGibbon?”
Grace’s eyes widened. “What? Triple T? You know I do. I recently heard that Trent has a tattoo at the start of his pleasure trail. Is that true?”
He nodded. Rally, unfortunately, had the displeasure of being in the locker room when they liked to show them off. Trent had a star permanently displayed on his lower abdomen. Toby had a boxing glove tat located in the same place.
He nodded as he steered her to their seats. Once seated he leaned close to her ear so she could hear him over the roar of the crowd. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too. And I can finally meet Trent?” A red hue covered both of her freckled cheeks. No doubt about it, his Grace was drawn to Triple T’s bad-boy sex appeal just like any other woman who followed the sport… and the women they continuously met from day to day and shared stories about in the gym and locker room.
“You can meet him tonight, but I don’t know if his brother is here. Besides, Trent is a hell of a lot
nicer than Toby.” Rally pointed at his friend as Trent jogged down the ramp and hopped up onto the floor of the ring. After climbing between the ropes, the opponent joined him.
The ring girl, dressed in a neon pink, string bikini, held a large card with the number one printed in black.
As the announcer was go
ing over the rules of the fight, the boxers glared at each other. Rally glanced at Grace and let the contentment sweet over him. He had the entire world in the palm of his hand. Grace had stolen his heart when he’d never thought a woman could again, his princess was happily sitting on his lap, and he still held the heavy weight champion title.
Epilogue
Grace stood up from the soft rug and grabbed her robe from where she tossed it during their passionate lovemaking earlier. Once the silky material was on and the robe tied snug around her waist, she tiptoed down the hall to the Addison’s bedroom door. A soft giggle came from inside the room.
“She’s awake,” Grace whispered, glancing back as Rally joined her outside of the room.
Taking her by the hand, he whispered, “Come on in with me. She’d love to see you.”
Grace followed him in and paused beside the crib as the bright blue eyed little girl stared up at her. “Gase,” Addison said, clapping her hands in glee.
Grace’s eyes widened as she switched her attention from Addison to Rally. “Did you hear that? I think she said my name.”
Rally grinned. “She did. She said Grace. We’ve been practicing.”
Grace laughed and watched Rally lift his daughter from the crib. Once the little girl was snuggled in his arms, he leaned to Grace’s ear, his breath hot on her skin. “I just realized something.”
“Oh yeah? Please share your knowledge with me.” She offered a teasing smile.
“We’ve made love in every room in my house… except this one.”
She jerked her head back. “Don’t even suggest it.”
“I’m not, sexy lady. Those rooms are for making love while this room…” His voice trailed off.
Picking up on his train of thought, she finished his sentence by saying, “is reserved for pure love.”
And without question, she loved Addison and Rally with all of her heart.
THE END
About The Author
Wendy Ely is a USA Today bestselling author who writes some romantic suspense, really hot stories, and the wonderful happily-ever-after. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her own real-life hero, three teenagers, and two crazy cats. When she isn’t busy writing new stories, she enjoys time outdoors by taking trips to the hot desert or swimming at the lake.
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