Back in Black

by Lori Foster

  CHAPTER 9

  DREW swung around to see Gillian standing right behind him.

  Surprise faded under appreciation.

  Wow.

  Wearing slim-fitting dark blue designer jeans, lethal high-heel strappy sandals, and a body-hugging sweater with little white pearl buttons up the front, she looked like a fashion statement. She’d opened enough of those pearl buttons to show off some tantalizing cleavage.

  “Gillian.” Drew couldn’t keep his gaze from going all over her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Offering sarcasm, of course.” She started tsking at him. “Drew Black, whatever has gotten into you? You were threatening Brett.”

  Running a hand over his head, then rubbing the back of his neck, Drew said, “More like coercing, but yeah, it didn’t work.” Again he looked at those jeans, how they showed off her voluptuous hourglass figure. She personified sexy. Could a woman be more enticing?

  Smiling over his attention, Gillian put one hand on a hip and struck a pose for him.

  With business at hand, Drew tried to hide the instantaneous combustion of heat inside him. He glanced back at Brett. “Now I’m going to have to go after him, and I hate when that shit happens.”

  Gillian’s smile did wonders for his bad mood. “You dug that hole yourself, and you know it.” She tipped her head to study him. “But before you remedy things, I want to talk to you, and I do not want you to overreact.”

  Oh, hell. Anticipating a situation that might put him over the edge, Drew stepped closer and whispered, “Are you commando today?” He remembered her promise about skipping her underwear, and today, with those sexy jeans clinging to her ass, would have been the perfect timing. “If so, I make no promises about not overreacting.”

  Her laugh mocked him. “Don’t be silly, Drew. Now stop staring at my clothes and listen to me.”

  “It’s the body under the clothes, babe.” Again in a whisper, he growled, “I would so do you right now.”

  “Drew!”

  “I would.” And lower still: “I’ve missed doing you, Gillian.”

  Color tinged her cheeks, but whether from embarrassment or interest, Drew couldn’t tell.

  “That’s enough.” She glanced around, specifically toward where Brett and the petite blonde chatted. “Now behave, please, and listen to me. This is important.”

  “You have my attention.” Hell, she’d had it from the first second he saw her.

  As if from nervousness, Gillian’s tongue slicked over her lips. “You’re aware of the organization WAVS?”

  Wariness crept up Drew’s spine. He had hoped that Gillian wouldn’t hear about his questionable verbal demolition of one of the WAVS’ spokeswomen. Wondering how much she knew, he said, “I am—but I didn’t think you were.”

  Gillian leveled a look on him. “I was hired to give your reputation a boost, so of course I’ve researched you and everything that concerns you. Right now would be a good time for me to remind you about your promise to behave in public. No cursing, no shouting . . .”

  Drew waved that off. “The shit with Brett just spilled out of the gym, that’s all. Besides, there isn’t any press around to overhear me.”

  “Maybe not, but a secondhand account from a passerby can’t be ruled out.”

  “A secondhand account of what?”

  Gillian sighed. “You see the lovely young lady who’s speaking with Brett?” She touched Drew’s arm. “That’s Audrey Porter, none other than the founder of WAVS—”

  “Oh, shit.” The last thing he needed was some wacky broad taking advantage of a tense situation. He doubted that she or anyone else could talk Brett out of fighting, but anything Brett said might end up plastered on the Internet. So far the WAVS group had been a big pain in his ass. He didn’t want to feed them stuff to gossip about.

  Drew started in Brett’s direction.

  “Drew Black, stop right there!”

  Halting in midstep, Drew did a slow about-face. That Gillian would dare to take him to task on a public street left him thunderstruck. He was incredulous more than enraged, but the two emotions must have looked the same, given Gillian’s wary expression.

  “Now Drew . . .” She quickly moderated her tone until it almost sounded cajoling. “I’m trying to keep you from digging that hole deeper.”

  “By ordering me around?” Mere inches from her, he crossed his arms. “That could maybe work in bed. Hell, I might even enjoy it.” His eyes narrowed, and he left no room for negotiation in his tone. “But you have to stay out of my business.”

  With a sound of exasperation, Gillian took his arm and pulled him back a few feet for added privacy. “I’m sorry,” she said as soon as she felt they wouldn’t be overheard. “I don’t want you to lose your job, and another vicious attack on anyone in WAVS will most definitely make news. Fran won’t like it, and you know what that means.”

  “Yeah, another woman bitching at me.”

  Anger flashed in her eyes. “Maybe if you’d behave like a civilized human being, instead of an ill-bred beast, women wouldn’t find it necessary to reason with you.”

  Her voice rose with every word. Was that what she called reasoning? Because they were on a public sidewalk, and because she had a very real aversion to anyone knowing they were an item, Drew couldn’t grab her up and kiss her.

  But he wanted to. Bad.

  Eyeing her heaving breasts, he asked, “Are you free?”

  The change of subject threw her. “What? When?”

  “Now.” Drew shook his head. “Five minutes from now, actually, after I make things right with Brett.”

  “Are you joking?”

  “No, so hurry up and make up your mind. Brett could leave any minute, and I don’t want him filling that woman’s head with trash talk about me.”

  “Warranted trash talk, but . . . yes, I’m free.” Bearing no signs of her previous annoyance, she tipped her head and looked at his mouth. “What did you have in mind?”

  Desire put a death grip on him. “Oh, honey, if you knew what I was thinking . . .” With new motivation to get the current mess settled, Drew held open the door to the gym. “Go on in and make yourself at home. I’ll be done in a minute.” And with that, he turned, calling out to Brett at the same time.

  AFTER that awful confrontation with Drew, Audrey almost didn’t announce herself. Only her need to reassure Brett kept her from slipping away unnoticed. “Brett?”

  At the sound of her voice, he jerked around and stared at her. “Audrey?” Stunned, he dropped his gym bag by a big black truck and pulled off the mirrored sunglasses. “What are you doing here?”

  Though she’d watched him fighting and knew he’d taken some hits, Audrey couldn’t stop staring at him. He’d worn protective gear part of the time, and still he had bruises and mat-burn everywhere. The bridge of his nose looked swollen, and there was a purple swelling beneath one eye.

  Tension hummed from his body; his muscles looked bigger, pumped up.

  He didn’t appear happy to see her.

  Her confidence waned. “I . . . I wanted to talk, but . . .”

  “Now’s not really a good time.”

  Acknowledging that, she nodded. So should she just say good-bye and walk away? She tried to smile, but it fell flat. “I’ll just . . . um . . .”

  Propping his hands on his hips, Brett dropped his head to stare at the ground. He seemed to be struggling with himself. Mouth grim, he looked up at her again.

  And Drew Black called out to him.

  Brett’s narrowed gaze went beyond her, and he muttered low, “Shit.”

  “Hold up,” Drew called. “Give me just a minute, okay?”

  Stride forceful, Brett met him partway. “No, it’s not okay. I’m done.”

  “No way in hell do I believe or accept that.” Drew half smiled. “Come on, Bullman, you’re too fucking good to let me run you off over one disagreement, and you know it.”

  “Lady present,” Brett admonished. “Watch your mou
th.”

  They both looked at her, and Audrey felt horribly conspicuous. “Oh, no, that’s fine. I’ll give you two some privacy—”

  Reaching out to snag her arm, Brett kept her from moving away. “Stay. Drew can check his language for short periods.” His smile taunted. “Isn’t that right, Drew?”

  Offering his hand, Drew said, “I’m completely domesticated when need be. Drew Black, and you are . . . ?”

  As if he didn’t already know. Audrey put up her chin and took his hand. “Audrey Porter.”

  After all the Internet buzz, he had to know her name, but he didn’t acknowledge it.

  “Great. Nice to meet you, Ms. Porter.” He dropped her hand and turned back to Brett. “Why don’t we work this out? Man to man. I’m sure we can find a compromise—”

  “No compromises.” Putting his head back, Brett looked down his nose at Drew. “If my fighting skills aren’t enough for you, I’ll look elsewhere.”

  “Like where?” Exasperated, Drew’s brows pulled down. “You know other MMA sports associations can’t compete with the SBC. They can’t give you the same exposure, or the same level of pay.”

  “True.” Brett folded his arms over his chest. “But I can beat anyone you have, and you know it. The way I see it, whoever I go with can set up some blockbuster publicity by pitting their organization against the SBC.”

  Drew went blank. “A challenge?”

  “Made publicly.” Brett stared him in the eyes. “You’ll be almost forced to accept. And the exposure will be good for me, and for whatever organization I’m with.”

  Nonplussed, Drew rocked back on his heels. “That’s fucking brilliant.”

  On a long sigh, Brett reminded him, “Language, Drew.”

  “Oh, right.” He scowled at Audrey, as if the slipup were her fault. “Sorry.” Then back to Brett, “But it is. Brilliant, I mean.”

  Audrey could see Drew’s mind working, and it maddened her. Did Drew Black ever stop maneuvering?

  “Except,” Drew said, working through details aloud, “I want you in the SBC. I can crush the competition—not that there’s much there, you know. You’ll be way better off with us, trust me. But I like your approach. I can see it working.”

  Relaxing a little, Brett draped an arm around Audrey’s shoulders.

  Absorbing his touch, her eyes closed for only a moment. He was so warm, his arm heavy and solid. Being near him like this satisfied something deep inside her, something she didn’t know was hungry until she’d met Brett.

  Being away from him recently had been awful. She hadn’t known him long, but she’d missed him as if he’d always been a necessary part of her life. Never before had that happened to her. Long ago, she’d dated, and she’d even had a few more serious relationships.

  But she hadn’t felt like this, the way she felt only with Brett.

  Relishing the familiarity, Audrey looped an arm around him, too, then slid her hand into his back jeans pocket and leaned into his side.

  Brett went still in surprise. She felt his muscles clench, his arm tighten. Glancing down at her, he studied her and came to some decision.

  “Is that it, Drew?” With sudden urgency, he tried to wrap up their discussion. “I need to get going.”

  “What?” Drew focused on them again. “Yeah, as long as you’re not still pissed, we’re good. Let’s set something up. I’ll call you, okay?” And before Brett could specify terms, Drew added, “Private life is private, got it. I’ll do up a contract and get in touch.”

  Brett considered it, but finally nodded. “All right.”

  Pointing at him, Drew said, “This is the real thing, Brett. You need a manager, you know that, right? Talk to Havoc or Simon about it.”

  “Already did.”

  Drew grinned. “Great.” He looked over his shoulder at the gym, and impatience showed in his hurried speech. “Okay, then. Glad we could get that settled. You two take care, now.”

  As he walked away, Brett shook his head. Turning to her, he smoothed a hand over her hair, wrapped her ponytail loosely around his hand. “You okay?”

  He looked so intent and serious that Audrey wasn’t sure what he meant. He was the one who’d sustained bruises in practice, and who’d just been in a confrontation with Drew Black. “I’m fine. Why?”

  He waggled her head a little. “You have a history with Drew. I wasn’t sure if seeing him would upset you.”

  “Oh.” She scowled at Drew as he paused at the street, checked the traffic, and then jogged over to the gym. “I don’t think I’ll ever like him, but he doesn’t intimidate me, if that’s what you mean.”

  His half smile made her heart flip. “Fearless, huh?”

  She lifted her chin. “I would never back down from a bully.” Touching a scrape on his chin, she asked, “Brett, are you sure you want to fight for him?”

  Dismissing her concerns, he said, “It’s not really for him. It’s for the SBC.” He caught her wrist and tugged her along to his truck. “And what he said is true. If I want to make this a career, and I do, then the SBC is the best way to go.”

  Audrey bit her lip. “What he said about your past—”

  “Forget it.” He stopped by the passenger’s door. “Did you drive here?”

  Audrey had heard enough to know that Brett had not had an easy life. An alcoholic father and a mother who’d earned prison time . . . she couldn’t imagine. He was such a nice man, and so polite to women, that she had assumed he had great role models around to influence him.

  Thinking of how his past still hurt him left her hurting, too. “I took a bus.”

  “Car in the garage again?”

  “No, but I was sort of hoping you wouldn’t be busy, and we could—”

  Leaning down, Brett kissed her. Against her mouth, he murmured, “Yeah, we can.”

  Oh, God, already her heart beat double time and her pulse fluttered. She fisted her hands in his shirt. “I missed you, Brett.”

  Pausing, his green eyes going dark, he groaned and kissed her again. They were shielded behind his truck, but still in a public location. But it didn’t matter.

  Audrey put her arms around him and ran her hands up his broad, hard back. He was so solid, it left her breathless. She loved the feel of his hard body beneath the soft cotton T-shirt.

  For his part, Brett turned his head a little and kissed her more deeply. His tongue sank in, stroked and, with near desperation, he slid his hand up to her left breast.

  Audrey froze, but Brett didn’t.

  He groaned again as he cuddled her, held her breast in his palm, and found her nipple with his thumb.

  Her knees felt shaky. “Brett . . .”

  Jerking away, he said, “Let’s go somewhere, Audrey.” Heat colored his high cheekbones. “Right now.”

  He needed her, so she wasn’t about to deny him. She breathed so hard, she could barely form a coherent reply. “My apartment is . . . is close.”

  At her agreement, his jaw clenched. “No misunderstandings, Audrey. I want to have sex with you.”

  For reasons she didn’t understand, his clarification made her lips twitch into a smile. “I know.”

  He opened the truck door and said, “Get in.”

  While she fastened her seat belt, he jogged around to the driver’s side. Once behind the wheel, he asked, “My place okay instead?”

  “I guess.” She studied the severe lines of his expression in profile. “Why?”

  “Spice is waiting on me.”

  She went still. “Spice?” Who the heck . . .

  “My cat.” He put the truck in gear and pulled onto the road. “She’s a possessive thing and misses me when I’m gone. She knows when I’m due home, and she’s always at the door, waiting. She’s been home alone all day already.”

  Audrey couldn’t take it in. “You have a cat? Seriously?” Somehow that didn’t fit the picture of a big, buff athlete like Brett.

  “You don’t like animals?”

  “I do, but . . .” A big
dog, now that would have seemed more commonplace for a man of Brett’s abilities.

  “She’s been with me since she was a tiny puff of fur.” He held out a hand, palm up. “She used to be able to sit right there, in my palm. I think she only weighed a few ounces.”

  From sexually amped up to talking about his cat with such deep affection, Brett Bullman was an amazing man. “Where did you get her?”

  “Found her.” A memory tightened his hands on the steering wheel. “I was working as a bouncer in a bar, and after close, I helped clean up the place. I stepped out back to an alley, to dump some trash in the bins back there, and there she was. Thick with fleas, eyes all gooey, barely able to walk.”

  Her heart clenched. “Oh, how awful.”

  “Someone dumped her there. If I’d found the guy . . .” He let that threat drop off. “I wrapped her up in my shirt and took her into the bar.” Flashing a grin, he said, “The owner had a fit, but what was I going to do?”

  “You took care of her?”

  “Well, yeah. I wasn’t going to just let her die.” He shifted his shoulders in discomfort. “I have no use for idiots who mistreat animals.”

  Remembering some of what she’d heard Drew say, Audrey rested a hand on his thigh. Had Brett ever had a pet as a boy? “How long have you had her?”

  “Five years now.” He chuckled with the memory. “I smuggled that cat into the bar every night, and I fed her during my breaks, when I should have been doing my papers.”

  “Papers?”

  Another shrug. “For college.” He glanced at her and explained. “I worked at the bar nights and weekends to help pay my way through school. Took me a little longer that way, so I didn’t get my degree until I was damn near twenty-three.”

  Working nights, weekends, and college classes? Not many could handle that. Audrey couldn’t help but wonder why a man with an education would choose to be a fighter. “What was your major?”

  “Business.” Sheepish, he grinned again. “I had thought to do some kind of suit-and-tie gig. I don’t know, just . . . because. To prove I could, maybe, you know? And if I didn’t make it as a fighter, I’d have that to fall back on. But I’d always been an athlete, and I like being physical, so MMA is a good fit for me.”