Stand of Redemption (3 page)

They’d received another call not long after; therefore, she had returned to the ambulance
where Chase was waiting. It was over an hour before she had to return to the ER with another patient. An elderly woman had fallen in the shower, injuring her hip and hitting her head. It had taken them a while to maneuver her out of the tiny bathroom.

As she turned her paperwork in, out of the corner of her eye, she had seen the man being escorted out of the ER room with a brand new
cast. His eyes avoided hers, which hadn’t concerned her, but the stern gaze of the administrator had.

The administrator had escorted him to the door, only leaving the man when he had poin
tedly said he needed to make a phone call as he went out the sliding doors. When the administrator had passed her again, ignoring her greeting, Ria had begun to get nervous. However, another call coming in had redirected her concern, sending her back outside.

The man was just outside the door. As she passed him, his back was to her.

“It’s Nicholas. Come and get me.” His voice had been cold and clipped. Ria had felt sorry for whoever was on the other end of the conversation.

He had then disconnected his call, and as she’d passed him, their eyes had briefly met. The cocky, flirtatious man that had entered her ambulance was gone. Ria had almost stopped to do damage control and apologize for her remark, but she truly had felt he deserved the set-down for his behavior.

“Let’s go, Ria!” Chase had yelled, turning on the siren and lights. She’d jumped in the ambulance, forgetting about apologizing in the rush to get to the emergency.

It was a mistake she would regret.

The next morning, she had been called into her office and was fired, citing her unprofessionalism. She had been dumbfounded that a man of Nicholas’s fame had resorted to having her fired because of being rejected.

She had desperately tried to explain, but her boss had been unmoved.

“I thank you for your service to our company, but we will not allow that type of behavior from any of our employees,” her boss had replied.

Ria had looked at her boss, begging for another chance.
“Mr. Lyon, I’m sorry for my outburst; it was completely inappropriate.”

“Get your things and get out.”

She had quickly cleared her things and gotten out as fast as she could. She had unsuccessfully applied to the only two other ambulance companies in the city. With her bills skyrocketing and her mother’s condition worsening, she had been left with no choice other than to take the job at the bar. Her pride had taken a hit, but it was worth it when she was able to pay the rent. Nicholas Brooks might be the local idol, but to her there was nothing to admire. He was no hero.

Chapter 3

Now, she tried to look at him without drawing his attention.

He was sitting in a booth across from a blond. He was wearing a sling. She assumed it would be coming off in the next couple of weeks. She wondered how long it would be before he could start fighting again.

“How bad was the break?” she asked
Lacey.

“It was clean. I think the doctor said he’d be in a cast for four weeks, and then the sling u
ntil it healed. Dr. Hilliard said he should take at least three months before trying to fight again, but he also said he wants to check it before he starts training.

“Have you thought about approaching him and apologizing? Maybe he would be willing to help you get your job back.”
Lacey looked at her inquisitively.

“I would rather wait tables than apologize to that jerk,” Ria responded with a frown.

“Okay, but I think you’re making a mistake. Of course, I didn’t realize you were enjoying your new job so much,” Lacey retorted.

“I’m not.” Ria felt her temper rising as she thought of him getting her fired just because of her rejecting him. “I’m not, but I’m sure as hell not going to ask him for a favor, either. He should be apologizing to me!”

“Are you kidding me? You know jocks don’t like to be rejected. You could have handled the situation differently.” Ria saw the fire in Lacey’s eyes again. It was clear that her reasoning didn’t explain her poor behavior in her eyes. Lacey would never understand. When she looked at men, her cold gaze intimated them, while they felt they had free rein to slide suggestive comments Ria’s way.

“You’re the one that told me to stand up for myself more!” Ria fired back.

“I meant when we were in a bar and a jerk wouldn’t take his hand off your ass, not when you were on duty.” Lacey sighed. “Ria, he was probably just trying to flirt with you. Men like him think that, because they’re local celebrities, no one will turn them down.”

Men who looked like that didn’t usually look at women like her for anything other than fun and games. She had thought he was attractive until he had opened his mouth. If he could treat
a stranger with such ruthless disregard, then how would he treat someone he was in a relationship with? Ria felt sorry for the pretty blond.

She glanced back at their table, and could see the side of the blond. She was wearing a short skirt, snug shirt, and her hair had the sexy beach waves Ria wished she could figure out how to do to her own hair.

“Definitely not. I see his type, and I’m not it.” Ria turned to look at Lacey. “Nicholas saw me as the girl you get to give you a blowjob on the way home from work.”

“Ria, you still need to work on
your confidence.” Lacey expression softened. “Quit thinking that because you’re half Spanish most guys only want to bang you.”

Ria was well aware of her sultry looks and had deliberately downplayed them since pube
rty. Now she had to highlight them to earn her tips.

“Okay, enough. Here comes Peter with our drinks.” Ria smiled at Peter.

“Ladies, you are going to adore this drink!” Peter handed them each a tall glass full of a pink drink with little umbrellas.

“They look fabulous, Peter.” Ria looked up at Peter to thank him and caught him staring at her.

What the hell is going on with the stares lately?

Ria and
Lacey promptly took a drink then both oohed and aahed appropriately, and they weren’t faking it. Peter had a way of mixing the perfect toxin.

“Fantastic as always, Peter,”
Lacey said.

Ria looked at her, surprised at how friendly she’d sounded. Peter should always keep a drink in hand to deal with
Lacey.

“Thank you! The usual?”

They both nodded their heads yes; they always ordered the same meal each time they came.

“Do you think he flirts with all the women?”
Lacey asked her eyes following Peter.

Ria watched Peter stop to check on a few of the tables as he made his way back to the kitchen.

“Yes,” Ria replied.

As she turned back to Lacey, she couldn’t help but let her eyes look toward Nicholas again. She felt her stomach clench when their eyes met. He raised his eyebrow then nodded his head in acknowledgement at her before turning back to his date. Ria felt the rush of disappointment go through her at his quick dismissal. Then, she was pissed that she’d cared. She had been right; he had only wanted to use her for the moment.

“You okay?”
Lacey’s question pulled her from her thoughts.

“I’m fine,” Ria mumbled as she took another drink.

Lacey started talking about her next medical rotation, and Ria tried to focus on their conversation instead of thinking about the man in the corner booth.

As she finally started to relax and listen to
Lacey describe another medical student’s screw up,
she felt a shadow come over the table. She and Lacey both looked up, each having to practically strain their necks because of the height of the man looking down at them.

“
Lacey and Ria, right?” Nicholas asked as he looked at each of them.

“Yes, that’s right
,” Lacey replied warmly. “How’s the arm?”

“
Doing much better, thanks to you.” He smiled that beautiful smile of his, and all Ria could think was how many women he had fooled, hiding the emptiness behind the plastic gesture.

“I want to
thank you for granting approval for a med student to participate,” Lacey stated.

“No problem. I’m glad my broken arm was good for something,” he said with a laugh that sounded hollow to Ria’s ears. Was it just
her? Was she the only one that could see behind the façade he presented to the world?

“Are you ready?” the blond next to Nicholas asked him.

Ria saw the slightest bit of irritation cross Nicholas’s face, but he covered it very quickly. “Ladies, this is Leah. Leah, this is Ria. She made sure I made it to the hospital after Zane broke my arm. And this is Lacey. She helped set my arm and put the cast on,” he said to her.

Leah looked down at them with a smile. “I’m so glad you took such good care of him. I hope to see him fighting again very soon,” she crooned up at him.

Once again, Ria could see he was forcing himself to keep the smile on his face. It was clear to Ria that Leah was annoying the shit out of him. She couldn’t help thinking to herself that the poor woman wouldn’t last long.

Ria tried to smooth her features before anyone could see her. Glancing at Nicholas, she saw he had recognized her disdain of him. He lost his amicable expression. He didn’t like an
yone seeing the real Nicholas. Damn, he was scaring her. No wonder he hadn’t cared if she had been fired. The only interest Nicholas had in women involved the satisfaction they could give him.

“It was nice to see you ladies; enjoy the rest of your night,” Nicholas said politely as Leah took his hand and pulled him to the door.

“He is one hot tamale.” Lacey sighed as she watched them leave.

“Yes, he is.”
Hot enough to burn any woman dumb enough to have anything to do with him.
“I wonder what she does for a living. Swimsuit model?” Lacey shook her head and rolled her eyes, causing Ria to laugh.

“Dinner is served!” Peter exclaimed as he set their plates on the table.

“Thanks, Peter. It looks delicious as always,” Ria said warmly.

“Enjoy!” Peter left to attend the other tables.

Ria decided to do just that: enjoy the drink and food, and force herself to forget about the man who’d just walked out the door without even being embarrassed to face her again after he’d had her fired. She should have thrown her drink at him instead of sitting there like a ninny.

Chapter 4

Nick was
laying on his back in his king sized bed, looking up at the ceiling. He had given up on trying to get her out of his mind, had even considered going back to the hospital to see if he could learn more about her.

When he’d caught sight of her tonight, it was everything he could do to keep from staring at her table. Then, when their eyes had met, he had been forced to look away and listen to whatever the hell Leah was boring him with. He thought back. Oh, yeah, she had broken a fi
ngernail that morning just hours after getting a manicure.

He groaned silently to himself. Leah was the classic definition of an airhead. Exactly the type he preferred to date. That was, until he had seen Ria.

He kept telling himself that the dark-haired woman wasn’t worth the trouble. She was obviously a handful and a smartass. Unfortunately for him, that was what had piqued his interest.

He was used to women throwing
themselves at him and loving the fame that came with him. Ria was the first woman he had met who hadn’t known who he was and thought the sport he had dedicated his life to was a joke. He couldn’t help that it intrigued him.

Ria
. He wondered what her name was short for. It suited her. She seemed like a no-nonsense type of woman, and her name was no different.

He still remembered the night they had been going to the hospital. He had made an ass of himself—hell, he had become spoiled by his fame and notoriety.

With her long, shiny, dark hair and those big, brown eyes, she had an exotic look men fantasized about. He thought about how girls like Leah were easy to find. But Ria, she was unique.

His tired cock stirred. He had to find a way to get close to her. She was dominating his thoughts, and the only way to get rid of them was to fuck her out of his mind. He would lose interest and move on after he had her a few times and found out if the fire in her eyes matched the one in her pussy.

No woman had ever held his interest very long. He sighed, disappointed she had turned him down. He went through women much too easily, and she might actually be able to keep him interested for a while.

He looked down and watched the blond head bobbing up and down on his dick faster and harder. Leah must have thought his sigh was an indication to pick up the pace.

When she looked up at him with the desire to please in her eyes, he put his hand on her head and held it over his dick as she slid her mouth up and down over his cock. This would be the last blow job he would be getting from her before he ended it in the morning.

He might as well enjoy it.

*  *  *

“Did you see that elbow to her side? What about the
sweep in round three?”

Nick nodded to his sister Melanie, who was talking about her last fight
while they met for a late breakfast, asking him questions as if he’d missed half of it. She was currently the women’s MMA champion in her weight division and had just successfully defended her title.

“Hell, yeah. Those bitches aren’t taking my belt anytime soon,” Melanie stated. “Hey, did you see—”

“Mel! I was there. I saw every single move. You were awesome,” Nick interrupted his little sister in the middle of her next question.

“Dick. Why can’t you let me enjoy my glory by retelling the fight, move by move?”

Nick sighed. “Fine, go ahead.”

“Well, now you just ruined it for me.” Melanie scowled.

“So does that mean you’re finally going to shut the hell up?” Nick smiled to let her know he was only teasing her.

“I guess,” she replied sulkily. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing at all,” Nick replied, looking directly in her eyes to keep her from trying to drag up past memories. Those were his own demons, and he was sick of her trying to help him.

“Okay! I get the hint,” Melanie replied.

Nick had told her to quit trying to bring up the past. She was always asking if he was okay or if something was wrong. It was irritating and annoying to him.

“How’s the arm?” Melanie asked.

Nick grinned at her. His little sister was good at changing the subject. “Improving. I’ll be in the sling for a couple weeks, and then back to the doctor to see if I can start training.”

Nick had broken his arm during his last fight, defending his title, when his opponent had snapped his arm because Nick had been unsuccessful in breaking a hold. As Melanie looked t
oward the door, he glanced over his shoulder and saw that same opponent walking in the restaurant.

“Hey, baby,”
Melanie said to the man.

“There’s my champion,” Zane replied as he slid into the booth and leaned over to kiss Melanie.

Nick had to keep himself from laughing out loud. Zane was a complete bad-ass, but treated Melanie like a princess. He knew how to keep her happy, which was all Nick could ask for in a potential brother-in-law.

Nick watched the smile spread across Melanie’s face, glad she had found someone.

“Hey, Nick. How’s it going?” Zane asked.

Zane and Nick had been childhood friends and trained together for years. Zane had gone through some shit that had kept him from fighting for a while, but he’d finally made it back to the cage, just to take Nick’s belt.

Nick had been the champion for several years and didn’t mind letting Zane deal with all the contenders wanting the belt for themselves. Nick needed a break, though he would never admit it. His father was constantly pushing him to train and fight, which Nick truly enjoyed, but was getting burned out. He’d been training and fighting for over half his life; therefore, this was the first break he’d had in years.

“Going well. You?”

“Trying to keep this belt so Melanie’s head won’t get too big. I don’t want her to be the only champion in our house.” Zane nudged Melanie in the shoulder as he finished his statement.

“Oh, Zane, you’ll always be my champion,” Melanie drawled sarcastically.

While the guys laughed, the waitress came to take their order.

“Nick Brooks! Wow, you are amazing! It sucks that newbie broke your arm, but I know you’ll get your belt back.” The waitress gazed admiringly at him.

“Thank you, and the ‘newbie’ is sitting right across from me. He deserved the win,” Nick responded with a smile to the waitress at her poor choice of words.

The waitress’s head snapped toward Zane and her mouth dropped open.
“I am so sorry! No offense against you, but my brothers have been watching Nick fight for years, so I’ve always rooted for him.”

Nick knew she was uncomfortable and tried to diffuse the tension.

Before he could say anything, however, Zane spoke first. “Well, he can try, but I won’t be giving it back to him easily,” Zane drawled, making them all laugh.

“Okay, I’m done sticking my foot in mouth! Can I take your orders?” The waitress was quick to change the subject, but Nick felt her eyes lingering on him.

She wasn’t bad looking. He would normally take advantage of the open invitation, but for once, he wasn’t as eager to play. He was becoming tired of women that only chased him for his fame. He knew he wanted more of a challenge, at the same time, he was thinking he wasn’t going to turn down an easy lay. The little brunette could replace Leah until he could get Ria into his bed.

They placed their orders and enjoyed the rest of breakfast. Nick had been training other fighters at his father’s gym and working some with Zane’s fighters, as well, while he healed.

Zane also owned a gym. It gave Nick a break from being around his father all of the time. He and Zane talked about which fighters had upcoming fights, and what they needed to do to get them ready.

“Ty and Lane have improved a lot. I haven’t figured out how to beat the temper out of Ty, though. He controls it with us, but he’s quick to get in fights outside the gym.” Zane shook his head.

Zane had taken in a couple of fighters for free. He only did this with some younger guys with potential that usually came from broken homes and grew up with a chip on their shoulders. Lane was a little more level-headed, but he still needed to be dealt with occasionally when he lashed out. Ty was a little wilder, but he was working on converting his anger issues into a determination to win in the cage.

Ty didn’t realize it, but Nick understood him. It was hard trying to keep a face on for the public when you had memories and demons that relentlessly ate away at you. It was a constant
internal battle that wore on a person both mentally and physically. Ty wanted to run free, but knew he had to act right to stay at Zane’s gym.

His father, Rex, was furious about the loss, but only because he no longer had bragging rights about his undefeated champion for a son.

His father had changed after Nick and Melanie’s mother had passed away. The whole family spent a long time mourning, but they’d eventually started to live again. His father, however, had become aloof, focusing on Nick’s training and turning a cold shoulder to Melanie’s dreams of becoming a fighter.

“I’ll try talking to Ty,” Nick offered.

Zane looked at Nick and nodded. Zane was aware that Nick might be able to connect with Ty. “Thanks. I can’t have him stirring up any more trouble. It hurts him and the gym’s reputation.”

“No problem.”

The rest of the breakfast was uneventful. Melanie gave them a replay of the fight, move by move, and Zane responded appropriately, even though, like Nick, Zane had watched the entire fight.

Nick finished his food first.
“I have an appointment. I’ll catch up with you two later.”

They said their goodbyes and Nick stood up to leave. As he walked out of the restaurant, he heard his name being called. Recognizing the waitress’s voice, he turned back, knowing what she wanted. He watched her walk toward him.

“Here’s my number; call me,” she said in a seductive voice. He barely hid his wince. He would have to gag her to fuck her.

Nick looked down at the piece of paper with her name and number.
“Thank you, Sandy. I’ll keep that in mind.” His deep voice made her shiver, and he watched her eyes light up with excitement.

Nick was used to being approached and was an expert at pushing their buttons before he got them in bed. He doubted Sandy would be able to ke
ep him amused for long.

Once again, he thought about how he needed a challenge like Ria. He could take his time pursuing her while Sandy took up the slack of fulfilling his needs.

He turned back toward his car before she could say anything else. Once there, he slid onto the leather seat of his overpriced car and headed to his appointment.

*  *  *

Nick pulled into the back of the building and into the enclosed garage. He stepped out of his car and walked up the stairs where he saw a man waiting just inside the door.

“I was ho
ping you wouldn’t come, Nick,” said the man.

“That was a waste of time,” Nick retorted. “I don’t pay you to think.”

The man nodded his head and removed his shirt. Nick pulled his shirt and shoes off, going to stand in the middle of the room.

“Come at me,” Nick commanded.

“What about your arm?” the man responded quietly as he circled him.

Nick stared at the lethal man that was going to attempt to beat him. “I’ll worry about my arm; you just try to give me your best.”

He jumped when he felt the first hit from the fighter. Nick never knew how the attack would begin. He had ordered the fighter to use a variety of moves, using both fists and kicks, as long as he didn’t leave any bruises on his face. He couldn’t let anyone see the marks that would show he was fighting despite doctor’s orders.

Although he was glad for the break from constant training, if he listened to them, it would take months to get back in shape. Therefore, he was using being out of commission to his ben
efit. This way, he could pick and choose his opponents and hone his skills.

As the fighter continued his attempts to take him down, Nick was able to focus on ignoring the pain from his arm, giving him the focus he needed to watch the amazing skill the
street-fighter used.

When he went back in the ring, he wouldn’t be going down.