Fighting Love: The Complete Series

by Ash, Nikki

  Chapter Seventeen

  Tristan

  Lexi’s asleep, and Morgan has just left with her boyfriend, Adam. I had her come by to keep an eye on my daughter while I went to Plush with Mason again in an attempt to find Charlie. After the owner told me Charlie wasn’t available, Mason suggested we stay and have a drink, but I wasn’t feeling it. The last few days I’ve had Charlie on my brain, but it’s obvious it’s not going anywhere. Hell, I can’t even reserve time with her. I came home and hung out with my sister until her boyfriend came to pick her up to go out for dinner. With a beer in my hand, I sulk in front of the TV watching stupid late-night shows.

  The door swings open and closed, Mason entering our condo like a damn tornado. “You. Me. Club Hectic Friday night.”

  “Lexi,” is all I say.

  “Have your sister come back over. Trust me.” His arms cross over his chest and he gives me a knowing smirk.

  “Fine.” I sigh, taking another pull of my beer, and go back to watching whatever crap is on the television.

  * * *

  It’s Friday night and my sister is at my place babysitting Lexi. I’m nursing my third beer at the bar of the newest club in the area: Club Hectic. Mason’s sitting next to me with a beer in his hand as well, but he keeps surveying the area like he’s waiting on someone.

  “You ready to tell me why we’re here? Why we’ve been sitting here for the last hour like we’re waiting on someone.” Mason’s about to say something when he looks over my shoulder, his smile widening.

  “Because we are and she just got here.” He nods so his chin juts out indicating someone is behind me. When I turn around to see who he’s referring to, the sight in front of me has me cursing under my breath.

  Charlie is walking toward the dance floor with another woman. She’s wearing a light blue skintight dress that hugs her curves in all the right places. The dress isn’t short by any means which makes it that much sexier. The front is shaped like a V showing her ample cleavage. Her hair is down in thick waves framing her face, and her makeup is done natural—a smidge of blue around her eyes to accent her dress. She smiles at whatever her friend is saying and then throws her head back in laughter. When she gets to the center of the dance floor and turns around to face her friend, I notice the back of her dress is practically missing, revealing her entire sexy back. Holy shit, this woman is fucking stunning.

  “You’re welcome,” Mason says with a laugh before he gets up and heads toward the women. I drop my beer onto the bar top and follow him over. He must know the woman Charlie is with because he doesn’t even introduce himself before joining her.

  Before Charlie can turn around, I come up behind her, our bodies almost touching. I know she can be skittish, so before I pull her body against mine, I lean close to her ear and whisper, “You look stunning tonight.” She jumps slightly, but once she tilts her head to the side and sees it’s me, a ghost of a smile splays across her lips, her body visibly relaxing. I take that as my cue to touch her. Wrapping my arms around her waist from behind, I lean down and rest my chin on her shoulder. Her body sinks into mine.

  “I should’ve known Mason would find us.” She laughs, shaking her head. At first thought, I’m not sure what she means by that, but suddenly it all clicks. Somehow Mason knew she would be here tonight. Mason glances over at me and gives me a knowing nod.

  There’s a remix of throwbacks booming through the speakers in the club. The song switches to Bow Wow’s You can get it all, and Charlie’s ass sways to the music. Gliding my hands down her waist and over her hips, I stop at the sides of her thighs, our bodies dancing in sync against each other to the beat of the music. Charlie’s arm comes up and her fingers wrap around my nape as she sways seductively against me.

  The songs bleed together one after another until the deejay changes it up and a slower song fills the speakers. Charlie turns around, both her arms wrapping around my neck as she continues dancing, her moves slowing down to match the rhythm of the song. My hands go to her ass and I’m surprised when she doesn’t stop me. I pull her close until my knee is situated between her thighs, and leaning into her, my mouth grazes her earlobe so she can hear me over the music. “I looked for you at Plush the other night but you were all booked up. You’re a busy woman.”

  I can feel Charlie shaking with laughter at my words before she says, “I must be in high demand.”

  My hands tighten on her, my body almost one with hers. The thought of her being in demand for anyone other than me has me seeing red. I kiss the shell of her ear and she shivers.

  “What if I want to demand your attention?”

  She backs up slightly, her eyes meeting mine, and a sad smile mars her face. “I need to get a drink.” The warmth of her body leaves mine, but I’m not letting her go that easily. I follow behind her to the bar. She orders a water and I order another beer then insist we take our drinks to an available table.

  “How do I get on the approved list?” I ask once we’re seated. She gives me a look I can’t decipher then shrugs. Knowing I’m not going to get a straight answer out of her, I change the subject. “Tell me about you.”

  Her eyes widen for a second before she smiles softly. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything… anything. Give me something.” I take a long pull of my beer.

  “I was born and raised in Georgia. I went to college and graduated with a degree in art and digital design. I live in LA now and work at Plush.” She shrugs. “What about you?” Her response is generic. It gives me information about her without really telling me anything about her. I go for the same type of answer in return.

  “I was born and raised in Las Vegas. Moved to San Diego to go to college, then moved to Los Angeles to finish my degree. I own a gym and you already know I have a daughter. Why do you strip if you have a degree?”

  She flinches at my question and takes a sip of her water before answering. “You do a lot of assuming, Tristan.” It doesn’t surprise me she’s giving me another generic response.

  I take her hand in mine. “Are you in trouble?”

  “And the assuming continues…” she smarts.

  “My mom was a stripper once. She was in financial trouble. If you’re in trouble I just want to help you.”

  She takes her hand out of mine. “Even if I was in financial trouble, I would never depend on another person again… especially a man.” Her eyes widen when she realizes that while giving me her cryptic answer, she actually gave something away. And judging by the shock in her eyes, it’s something big.

  “Who hurt you?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Charlie

  “The total comes to $238.27.” I hand the cashier my credit card and she swipes it. “I’m sorry, but it’s been declined.” She hands the card back to me.

  “That’s weird. Okay, try this one.” I hand her another card. She swipes it again but gives me the same answer. Completely embarrassed and confused, I ask her if she can please hold onto the clothes while I figure it out. She agrees.

  Taking Georgia’s hand, I walk us to a bench outside of the store and call Justin. “What?” Ever since he came home early to find the house a mess and accused me of cheating, he’s been even more of a monster, not even caring who is in front of him when his true colors come out.

  “My card was declined.”

  “Yep.” That’s all he says.

  “I was buying Georgia some winter clothes for our upcoming trip.”

  “I canceled all your cards. Your job is to take care of the house and Georgia, and you aren’t even doing that. For all I know you’re fucking some other guy instead of taking care of my daughter. And on top of that, my mom is giving me shit about wanting another grandchild. If Georgia needs something, let me know and I’ll have my assistant purchase it. Maybe once you start pulling your weight around here, you’ll get your cards reactivated.” He doesn’t even wait for a response before he hangs up.

  Having no clue how I would even explain my situat
ion to the cashier, I leave without letting her know I won’t be back for the clothes.

  “Mommy, what about my new dollie?” Georgia asks as I place her into her car seat.

  “Another day, baby girl.” I give her a sad smile, and like the beautiful little girl she is, she just nods in understanding.

  Two more weeks, I tell myself. Two more weeks, and I will never have to depend on another person again.

  “Charlie,” Tristan says again. “Who hurt you?”

  I hold back the hot tears brewing. I need to get out of here. I need some space. “It doesn’t matter. I need to go.” I jump out of my seat to go in search of Bianca to let her know I’m going to head out.

  “Charlie! Wait!” Tristan yells behind me. He catches up to me and goes to grab my arm but stops right before making contact, unsure of how I will react. God, I’m so fucked up! “Charlie, please!” I stop and turn around. “Can I at least get your number?”

  Closing my eyes for a long beat, I internally debate whether this is a good idea. When I open them, Tristan is still standing there, his beautiful dark blue eyes pleading. “Please.”

  And in a moment of weakness, I give in. “Okay.” He looks shocked I have actually agreed, but he quickly pulls his phone out—I’m sure before I can change my mind—and has me put my number in his contacts. When I’m done, I find Bianca. She’s still dancing with Mason, the two of them looking like they’re about to get it on right there on the dance floor.

  “I’m gonna go!” I yell over the music. She frowns but nods, backing up from Mason.

  “Okay, playboy, I gotta go.” She reaches up and gives him a kiss on his cheek.

  “You don’t have to leave. I can grab a car,” I insist. “It’s only a few miles away.”

  “Nope, not happening. You go, I go.” She links her arm with mine as we walk out of the club and into the chilly night. Mason and Tristan follow us out and refuse to leave until we’re in a car and on our way home.

  “Did you have a good time?” Bianca asks. “Mason said that guy is really into you. What’s his name?”

  “Tristan. I did have a good time. Thank you for dragging me out.”

  “Any time, sweets. That’s what friends are for.”

  The car drops me off first and Bianca gives me a hug good night, telling me she’ll see me at work. Once I’m inside my home, I take a quick shower to rinse off, change into my pajamas, then lie down in bed. As I’m putting my phone to charge, a text comes through. I told Bianca to text me once she gets home so I’m not surprised when I see her name pop up letting me know she’s made it to her place. I type out a quick response saying good night. A few seconds later my phone chimes again and I assume it’s Bianca, so I’m shocked when I see an unknown number.

  Unknown: I can’t get the image of you dancing against me in that sexy as hell blue dress out of my head.

  Playing coy, I respond with: Who’s this?

  Unknown: Damn, woman, I’m wounded.

  Unknown: It’s Tristan

  Unknown:

  The image of Tristan is dark and it looks like he’s lying in bed, a bunch of pillows behind his head. The image shows his entire face including his lopsided grin along with part of his chest. He’s wearing no shirt. He mentioned he owns a gym, one it’s obvious he takes advantage of—and I haven’t even seen a full body shot of him.

  I save the image to my phone and make it my contact image for him.

  Tristan: You there? Did I scare you away with my ugly mug?

  I laugh at this. Surely, this man knows how hot he is.

  Me: Yes! You look frightful. I thought it was a pic for Halloween.

  Tristan: Ha… ha… send me one back.

  I’ve never sent a picture to a man before. Until I was with Justin, I never even owned a cell phone, never having had the money, and once I did own one, Justin wasn’t the kind of guy to send playful pics. At least not with me.

  Tristan: You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I just wanted to say good night.

  Before I lose my courage, I snap a picture of me lying in bed and hit send. I cringe at the picture when I see how plain I look, but it’s too late. I wait a few minutes to see if Tristan will respond and when he doesn’t, I switch my volume setting to silent and set my phone down. Within minutes I’m asleep.

  When I wake up, I see several texts on my phone from Tristan:

  Sorry, Lexi woke up needing some water.

  You look beautiful like that. Even more beautiful than you did tonight.

  You must have fallen asleep… I hope you have sweet dreams, Charlie.

  * * *

  It’s Monday morning and my day off, and I’ve decided to enjoy my day at the coffee shop. I stopped off at the book store and picked up a new romance novel, but I’m currently regretting it. It’s the second book in a trilogy and I’m ninety percent in, and it’s clear the author will be leaving us with a cliffhanger. I put my book down to prolong getting to the end, and take a sip of my caramel mocha latte. Just as I’m about to pick my book back up—accepting the fact that I’m going to be waiting until the next book comes out to find out what happens with the heroine—the door chimes and in walks Tristan minus his cute mini-sidekick. I take advantage of the fact he hasn’t noticed me sitting here yet… you know, to ogle him. He’s wearing a white hat, that against his tanned skin makes him look even sexier—there’s just something about a man in a hat. A plain white T-shirt which is stretched oh-so-perfectly against his fit body, and a pair of jeans that mold his ass just right. With his laptop bag over his shoulder, he orders at the counter then heads to the booth. As he’s passing my table, he stops, looks my way then does a double take, his gorgeous lips upturning into a small, playful smile that has my belly in knots.

  After I woke up Saturday morning to his messages, I got nervous and didn’t end up texting him back. But I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve pulled the shirtless image up of him on my phone.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” I say, trying to sound cool as a cucumber while my palms are sweating like I just ate a handful of jalapeño peppers, as I recall the picture of Tristan lying in bed with no shirt on.

  Tristan pulls out the chair in front of me but stops before sitting, silently asking if it’s okay.

  “Please…you can be my distraction.”

  “And what am I supposed to be distracting you from?”

  I’m about to answer when his name is called. “Hold that thought.” He gets up and grabs his coffee and sandwich from the counter then sits back down.

  “Okay, so back to your distraction.” He grins and butterflies attack my belly.

  “Cliffhanger.” I hold the book up as proof before taking a sip of my coffee.

  “And what kind of cliffhanger are we talking here?” Tristan takes the book from my hands, and turning to a random page starts reading.

  “Grabbing me by my legs, he pulls me down the bed, and spreading my legs wide open, dives right into my pussy like I’m a feast he’s devouring on Thanksgiving. His tongue hits my clit and I—”

  I choke on my coffee realizing he’s reading a freaking sex scene! “Oh! Okay! That’s enough! Thanks!” I grab the book from him.

  “And where does this cliffhanger come in? Unsure if she’s going to… finish?” His eyes dance with amusement.

  “No. She finishes,” I answer too quickly without thinking. When I realize what I just said, I let out a groan that has him laughing in delight at my embarrassment. I’m pretty sure I’ll never be able to look him in the eyes again.

  “That’s like the shit my mom and her friends read. My dad calls it mom-porn.” The term grips at my heart.

  “It’s called romance,” I correct him, trying and failing to keep the raw emotion out of my voice. “So, what are you doing here?” I ask, changing the subject.

  He sits back against his chair assessing me. I can tell he wants to ask why the topic of romance books would cause me to get choked up, but he chooses
to go with the flow. “Well, as I told you the other night, I own a gym…” I can’t help but check him out some more at the mention of the gym. The image of him the other night was nothing more than a tease. It just left me parched, only giving me a mere droplet of water, when what I really need is a tall glass of this man to quench my thirst. What the heck am I saying?

  Tristan gives me a knowing smirk and when I look away, my eyes fall downward, settling on his shirt…on his short sleeve shirt… and hello! Can you say arm-porn? Those romance novels have nothing on this man. He clears his throat and I force myself to look at his face. His eyes are laughing at me and his smile is so big there’s a tiny dimple sticking out of his left cheek. It confirms my suspicions about whether he has one like Lexi.

  “…and I’m here to meet with a web designer to have the website redone.”

  “And where’s your sidekick today?”

  His mouth forms into the cutest pout. “Preschool. She started last week.”

  “Wow! That’s a big step. How are you handling it?”

  He sighs and averts his eyes, staring outside for a moment. “Lexi’s mom left when she was born.” Whoa! Whiplash. I remain silent, letting him explain.

  “Ever since Lexi was born, it’s just been me and her… and Mason.” He rolls his eyes when he says Mason’s name, but it’s obvious he cares about him like family. “I know every kid has to go to school, but I already miss her like crazy. For the last five years, she’s been by my side. For the sake of not sounding like a pussy, I won’t tell you how I cried for like twenty minutes after I dropped her off.”

  I let out a quick laugh, dabbing my eyes from the raw emotion seeping through his words. “That doesn’t make you a pussy… it makes you a damn good dad. I’m sure she’s having a blast.”