Healing Love (Love to the Extreme) (3 page)

“What did you do?”

“You know me. I was in a pissy mood, bumped into her, and snapped at her,” he evaded. The last thing he was going to do was tell Mac that the mob squad had tried jumping him, or that a beautiful blonde ninja had stepped in to help.

“You need to get more sleep,” Mac said.

He’d sleep when he was dead, which, considering what had gone down yesterday, might not be that far in the future.

“What’s she looking for?” Lance asked, refocusing on the present. She had impressed him yesterday with her choke hold, but that didn’t mean she knew squat about MMA. That could have simply been adrenaline spurring her on.

“She was pretty specific in what she wants.” A weird expression crossed Mac’s face, a mixture of consternation and intrigue. “She’s not looking for a pussy workout—her words, not mine. She wants a trainer who knows a lot about ground work, but can also help her build the strength and speed of her stand-up. She wants to be treated just like any of the male fighters in this building, and the most interesting thing is she wanted a light-heavyweight build. That’s you.”

Lance stared at his friend for a second, digesting the information. That was a tall order from someone just coming in for a workout. “Does she fight?”

That was the only explanation for her requests he could think of. In recent years, women fighters had surfaced in the industry, and they kicked some serious ass.

“Nope. Just does this as a hobby.”

Kind of an intense hobby for someone who had no interest in making it a career.

“She’s good,” Mac continued. “Watch her.”

Lance crossed his arms over his chest and studied her inside the ring, still circling with Billy, dodging his attempt at a takedown. She was a beauty. Even with everything that had been happening, he’d noticed that yesterday. Hell, he’d have to be blind to miss it. After she’d sent Ralph to the ground, she stood there with confidence oozing off her. No fear or intimidation had even flicked in her eyes as the man towered over her. Other than the birth of his daughter, it was the most awe inspiring sight he’d ever seen. When Ralph had started to rise, Lance had been uncertain of what the man was capable of, so he’d stepped forward, daring him to try anything. And still, she hadn’t wavered in her fearless stance.

Today she was the same, except she wasn’t wearing jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. No, today she was in a tight teal workout top and matching spandex shorts. The outfit showed off the softs swells of her toned, athletic body.

Suddenly, she went down on both knees and flipped Billy over her back onto his. The canvas thudded under the impact of his body.
Impressive.

“I’ve watched her all morning,” Mac said. “She’s fucking amazing, and has been training for a while.”

“Is this all you’ve seen her do?”

“Nah. Billy warmed her up on the bag. Dude, let me tell you, that woman has a fierce right hook. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it.”

Mac was exaggerating. As an ex-heavyweight MMA fighter the man had taken some violent hits. But Lance got where he was coming from. The woman, while still shapely and soft, had a steel quality about her—a don’t-even-think-to-fuck-with-me aura. He liked that.

She would be fun to train. As much as he needed to keep his distance from her, a thrill encased him now. Maybe they could leave whatever happened yesterday outside the door.

Billy glanced over and straightened. After saying something to Kelsey, and patting her on the shoulder, he slipped out of the ring and jogged over. “It’s too bad she wants a light-heavyweight trainer. I’d add her to my client list in a fucking second.”

“Did she say why she was focused on that weight class?” Mac asked.

“The only thing I really got out of her was she’s been training with featherweights and lightweights for years. She wanted to challenge herself.”

That was a huge fucking challenge though. Featherweights and lightweights weighed between one-forty-five and one-fifty-five. Light-heavyweights weighed in at two-oh-five and were much bulkier. Strange jump to make as a challenge.

He shook his head. Whatever. He was the last person to pass judgment on someone’s decision. God knows he’d made some bad ones over the years, which he was still paying for. The thing he needed to focus on was if she would even work with him.

While Billy and Mac chatted, Lance kept his gaze locked on Kelsey, waiting for her to notice him. Right now, she was busy walking around the ring, sipping from a water bottle. As she snapped the lid back on, her head slowly turned in their direction, scanning first Mac, then Billy, and finally landing on him. Those blue eyes immediately narrowed and her nose scrunched in a scowl.

Lance bit back a smile. The woman didn’t hide how she felt.

Knowing it would goad her, he fluttered his fingers in greeting. Her scowl deepened.

“I probably should get over to her,” Lance said to Mac. “Can’t keep a paying member waiting.”

As he approached her, she muttered something that sounded remarkably like, “Who in the hell did I piss off?” A chuckle tickled the back of his throat, but he beat it back. He wanted to rile her up, not flat-out piss her off.

He leaned against the bottom rope. “So, we meet again.”

She gave him an irritated look. “Unfortunately. Don’t worry though. I’ll mind my business. You do your thing. I’ll do mine.”

He definitely deserved that snide jab. He’d regretted his reaction to her help ever since the adrenaline had worn off. He wanted to apologize, but didn’t want to get into it here in the gym. “Guess you won’t be thrilled to hear I’m Lance, huh?”

A soft, derisive laugh shot out of her mouth as she hung her head and shook it. “And there’s my luck again, in all its glory.” She rubbed her forehead and let out a defeated sigh. “It is what it is. Mac said you’re a damn good trainer. I promised to give you a chance. Now prove it to me.”

Her challenge excited him even more. He kicked off his shoes, pulled off his socks, then slipped under the bottom rope into the ring. “It’d be my pleasure.”

After pushing to his feet, Lance strode toward her, beckoning her forward with flicks of his fingers. “Come on, Wonder Woman. Show me what you got.”

He expected her to respond to
his
challenge by meeting him in the middle of the ring. Instead, as he came nearer, she shifted slightly backward—a clear signal to any fighter that their opponent was hesitant. When her throat worked on a swallow, he stopped his approach. She muttered something he couldn’t make out, then squared her shoulders and kicked her chin in the air a notch.

“Wonder Woman?” she said with a trace of anger in her voice. “So I save your sorry ass from three thugs, and as thanks you make a backhanded insult.”

“Whoa. Back down, tiger.” He glanced around to make sure no one was listening. Everyone seemed to be minding their own business. “I meant it as a compliment. You impressed me yesterday.”

Tension released its hold on her shoulders, and she grimaced. “Oh. Sorry. I’ve had a lot of condescending comments like that over the years, from guys much smaller than you. Instinctive reaction. My bad.”

“I can’t say that shocks me. Yesterday, though, you used a surprise attack. Let’s see what you got going toe-to-toe with someone.”

That chin went up again, and again he got the feeling he’d struck a nerve with her.

“Fair enough.”

After another momentary pause, she met him in the middle of the ring. Considering the way she was yesterday with the mob squad, and just now with Billy, her hesitation baffled him. Was she realizing how different going up against a light-heavyweight would be?

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Because you’re not as confident with me as you were with Billy.”

She blinked. “You can see that?”

A current of vulnerability running underneath her question confused him further. “I’m trained to see that.”

Silence followed his statement before a small smile came to her lips. “Mac was right. You
are
a great trainer. Now let’s do this.”

Pride expanded his chest. With twenty years in the industry under his belt, he knew he was a damn good trainer, but for some reason, having Kelsey say it seemed to mean a great deal more. “You got it.”

They both crouched into defensive positions and circled each other. He made no move toward her. For right now, he wanted her to be the aggressor, to see how good she was at initiating a take-down. Kelsey slapped out at him first a few times, trying to spur him into a reaction, but he held strong.

Finally, she lunged forward. Lance immediately locked arms with her. She was stronger than he expected, but no match for someone like him. He could have easily shifted to become the aggressor. Still he allowed her the control. She slipped her arm around his neck, using her strength to bend him forward. Knowing she’d swipe for his leg, he countered by jumping back, and she lost her grip around his head.

She straightened, ran a hand across her face, then moved back into defense position, immediately lunging to lock arms again. Still on their feet, they wrestled for a second. She really was good, but he wanted to see what she’d do if she actually brought him down. Kelsey worked her grip down his body then circled his knee with her arms and lifted—a move he could’ve easily maneuvered out of, but he allowed her to take him down.

Fury etched every groove in her face. She shoved away from him. “What the hell? I’m not paying for some pansy-ass training. Give it all to me.”

If he gave her his all, she wouldn’t like the outcome.

“There’s no point.” Lance jumped to his feet. “I’ll have you pinned in seconds. You’re not ready.”

Color crept into her cheeks as her jaw clenched. “I’ll say what I am or am not ready for. I’m paying you. I’m telling you to go at me with everything you have.”

“You don’t fight, right?” he asked.

A sharp shake of her head gave away her shock at the change in subject. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Just trying to understand your motivation.”

“You’re not my shrink. You don’t need to understand my motivation.”

“You know you’re a woman, right?”

Eyes bulging, she threw her shoulders back in an impressive display of indignation. “Are you calling me weak?”

“No. You’re actually pretty fucking strong. But there’s always someone stronger, faster, and more experienced. I outweigh you by at least seventy-five pounds. My weight alone is an advantage over you.”

“Don’t you think I know that? It’s why I asked to train with someone of your weight class.”

“Why?” He should just drop it, but for the life of him he couldn’t. He wanted to know.

“Why do you care?”

He continued to stare at her expectedly.

She heaved a long sigh. “Fine. There’s no reason other than I’ve been doing this for years. I’m just trying to take it to the next level. Now, can we drop this and get back to what I’m paying you for?”

That was a bullshit answer, but he wasn’t going to get any more out of her. “We have ten more minutes. You have my all.”

“Thank you.”

This time she didn’t hesitate in meeting him back in the middle of the cage. They locked arms, wrestling for dominance. She swept her leg at his, trying to knock him off his feet. Countering, he stepped forward, grabbed her in a headlock, and rolled both of them until she was flat on her back and he was straddling her waist. “Match over.”

Frustration darkened her features as they both rose to their feet and moved to face each other again.

“Told you,” he couldn’t stop himself from saying. “You’re not ready.”

Kelsey ground her teeth in irritation. “I
am
ready. Again.”

While he could respect her tenacity, he still wasn’t giving her everything he had. But maybe she needed to feel the full force of his strength to understand that she was nowhere near ready to take him on.

They circled each other. Lance studied her position, searching for his opening. He respected the way her gaze was doing the same to him. The woman had a shitload of fighting knowledge in that beautiful head. Too bad he was going to have to give her a serious reality check.

As she made a slight motion that indicated she was about to lunge, he charged her, grabbed her around the waist, and brought her down on the canvas with a thud. The body beneath him froze. He used the shock to his advantage and locked in an arm bar
.
“Match over…again.”

Then he released her and shoved to his feet. When she didn’t move to do the same, he glanced down at her. Her eyes were closed, and her skin was a shade paler than before as she took a long shaky breath.

“No,” she whispered, then hopped to her feet. She paced the opposite side of the ring for a few seconds then stopped with her back to him, hands on her hips.

What in the hell?
“Hey. You okay?”

She stood like that a second longer then faced him. A tension resided on her face that hadn’t been there before, making the smile she sent him almost brittle. “Totally fine. The last ten minutes were awesome. Thank you.”

Yeah, he didn’t believe that thank-you. She was clearly upset, but he wasn’t sure what to say to help. Best to pretend he hadn’t noticed. He preferred when people did that to him. “All right. Same time tomorrow?”

A thumbs-up was her response, then she turned around and climbed out of the ring. What was this woman’s deal? She didn’t seem angry at him, but upset with herself. While he could sympathize with that, had she really expected to just come in here and dominate someone much larger than she was?

He followed her out of the ring. “You do understand that, even though you’ve had amazing training, you asked to go up against someone you would
never
be matched with in a cage, right? There’s a reason fighters are put in weight classes.”

“I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need a lecture.”

“All right,” he said, throwing up his hands in surrender. If this was what she wanted, then she’d get it. “Anyway, if we’re going to work together”—he lowered his voice—“I need to apologize for my behavior yesterday.”