Submission Moves: An MMA Romance (8 page)

Nick was not usually obtuse. When a woman was mad at him, he knew exactly why and what he’d done to deserve it. With Rose, he wasn’t as certain. Sure, he’d been a cocky jerk back then. Heck, he was still a cocky jerk now. But considering how perfect everything else about that night had been, he just couldn’t understand why Rose ended it the way she did.

The chick was nuts, obviously. That was the answer. Plus she’d made it clear the last time that she wanted nothing to do with him. Fuckin’ fine then. He didn’t need that in his life. There were other girls,
hotter
girls who’d happily welcome Niccolo Rossi’s attentions. Bet she was sorry now that he turned out rich, successful, and famous. He wasn’t the same broke ass nobody she’d deemed so unworthy four years ago. Well, tough shit for her. That ship had sailed and he would do well to stay away from crazy Irish chicks with crazy Irish tempers.

The silence stretched on as the other men struggled for something sufficiently innocuous to say while Nick and Rose stared at each other.

Rose broke eye contact first. “Well, it was wonderful seeing you both again, Nick, Angelo,” she said with a flat voice and an imperious dip of her chin. “If you’ll excuse me, I need a drink.” She slipped off her stool, leaving behind a half-full mug of beer.

“Wait a second,” Nick called after her before he could stop himself. But she didn’t turn around, and he had to watch her walk away yet again. At least this time, she didn’t have far to go. She slid into an empty booth, took a book out of her purse, and hid her face behind it. Nick had to laugh.

When he got his wits back, he saw Pat studying him with a peculiar look, like he was sizing him up and plotting something. Pat looked from him to where Rose was seated. Finally, he smiled. “I might have a little something to add to that sponsorship contract before I sign it.”
 

CHAPTER 8

“You must be an awfully slow reader. Last time I saw you, you were reading that exact same book.”

Rose jerked at the sound of Nick’s voice, and her eyes followed him as he slid into the bench seat across from her. She closed her tattered copy of
Persuasion
and rested her folded hands on top of it. “I’m not a slow reader. I’m a very fast reader. I just happen to really like the book. I re-read it all the time.”

“I hear ya’.” Nick nodded. “Some things are too good to be just a one-time thing.”

She narrowed her eyes at that but kept her mouth shut, refusing to take the bait. Nick took his time as he studied her, trying to satisfy four years of curiosity. She was exactly as he’d remembered. Confident, completely unimpressed, and sexy as all get-out.
What a fucking babe!

He remembered exactly how those dark assessing eyes of hers could let a man know in so many words that he didn’t stand a chance in hell with her. A less persistent man would walk away. A
saner
man surely would, given their history.  So why hadn’t he?
Fuck if he knew.

“You look older, Rosie. Not in a bad way,” he hastened to add when her brow arched at him. Angelo had been correct. She’d lost weight, but not too much, Nick was pleased to note as he ran his eyes down those lush curves. Her face had thinned, making her finely-boned features more pronounced, but it still had that baby-faced quality that belied the feistiness and the raging temper Nick had once been on the receiving end of. “You don’t look like jail bait anymore. But you still get carded when you try to order alcohol, don’t you?”

Rose’s lips curved into a reluctant grin. “Not at Bar None, I don’t,” she said, tapping a manicured nail at her mug of beer.

“Your dad mentioned you’ve started a non-profit organization?”

“Yeah. With some of my sorority sisters from college,” she began reluctantly. “It’s a women’s center, basically. We provide counselling, legal assistance, job placement assistance, and career enhancement programs. We also run a shelter, a crisis center, and—” She cut herself off and shrugged, deciding she had said enough.

“Sounds real great. Real important. What’s it called?”

She hesitated and took a sip of her beer before answering. “It’s called Femmepowered.”

He blinked once and bit his lip to keep from laughing. “
Femmepowered
? Seriously? That’s so lame.”

Rose scowled. “Whatever, Lucky Charms.”

“Hey, I didn’t choose that name.”
What a stupid fucking fight name.

“I didn’t choose ‘Femmepowered’ either. I was out-voted.” She took another sip, eyes darting around, looking anywhere but at Nick.

“So what else have you been up to?” He surreptitiously checked her left hand for a ring. “Got a boyfriend?”

Rose let out an audible sigh of impatience but still didn’t meet his gaze. “What’s with the questions, Nick?”

He shrugged. “I’m at a disadvantage here. I know next to nothing about you or what you’ve done in the last four years.”

Finally, she looked at him, her brow arched. “And? You assume I know all about you because you’re a hotshot fighter and you’re so famous? You think I’ve been keeping tabs on you? You flatter yourself.”

He bit his lip and cocked his head at her, at once annoyed and amused. Why was she so goddamn…unfriendly? Had she always been like this? Because he remembered her to be a lot nicer, save for that time she lost her shit on him in the hotel corridor.

“Sometimes I did imagine that,” he said in a low voice. “I imagined you watching my fights or looking through my fanpage, reading stuff about me online.”

Rose’s brows shot up in surprise. Nick was surprised himself. He wasn’t sure it was cool that he let her know that. He probably shouldn’t have. She was going to think he was some kind of pussy who never got over a one-night stand. In his defense, he didn’t mean for their encounter to be just that. He thought they’d exchange numbers, maybe touch base when they found themselves in the same city and, yes, hook up again.

“I did watch your fights. I’ve watched all of them,” she said in a softer voice, repaying his admission with one of her own.

His lips curled into a self-satisfied grin.
Well, then…

“Chris is a huge MMA fan. We watch together,” she quickly added.

“Right,” he replied, letting her know with his tone just how much he believed that it was
just
her brother that was a huge fan. Damn, she was so pretty. Prettier than she had been when he first saw her in that pool bar in Vegas, trying to order a cocktail. He tamped down the urge to haul her to him and kiss her, to see if she would taste and feel the same. Weird. Maybe she’d always been at the back of his mind. He’d thought about her once in a while over the years. Vaguely. Casually. But clearly, whatever attraction he’d felt for her before had just been lying dormant, waiting to be resuscitated. And why shouldn’t they take another crack at it? She was cute, and he was single and up for the challenge she would likely pose.

“Have dinner with me,” he said impulsively.

“No.”

Shot down before he even began. Nick’s cocky smile didn’t waver. It was her loss, really. “Why not?” he found himself asking anyway.

Rose shrugged. “Just no, okay? I don’t hook up. I’m done with that.”

“It’s just dinner, Rosie.”

“Are you saying you won’t try to get me out of my clothes?”

“‘Course I will,” he said with a huff, inwardly pleased that she’d thrown his long-ago words back at him, pleased that she even remembered. This girl was playing him like a fiddle and he was enjoying it.

She snorted. “Well, at least you’re honest.”
 

“Always.”

“Then I’ll be honest with you. You’re not my type.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “And you figured that out, what, on the strength of one night together four years ago? C’mon, give me a fighting chance here.”

She shook her head. “This isn’t a ploy, Nick. I’m not some challenge you can amuse yourself with between training camps. I’m very busy and I’m honestly not interested.”

Nick’s brows furrowed in response. Was this girl a mind reader or something?

“Plus, you’re dating that swimsuit model…” Her voice dropped to a mumble and she kept eyes on her beer mug, which she held in a tight, bloodless grip.

Nick bit back a grin.
Not interested, my ass.
“You mean Adriana? I met her at some party in L.A. She didn’t speak a word of English and had no one to talk to. I spend a lot of time in Brazil and I’ve picked up a little Portuguese so…” He trailed off with a shrug. “It was very casual, but my manager milked it for all it was worth.”

“Good for you,” Rose said, sounding bored and making a move to go. “Have a good night. See you around, maybe.”

“Oh, you definitely will,” he smirked.

She paused and gave him a look full of suspicion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your organization gives sexual harassment seminars to businesses?”

“
Anti
-sexual harassment seminars, yes. So?”

He held his arms out. “Well, I happen to have a business. Not only that, my gym will also be offering free Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes for the girls you help. Your dad’s arranged it all.”

Rose pursed her lips at him before scanning the room to look for her father, as if to confirm what she just heard. And there was Pat, not too far from them, watching. He raised his beer bottle at them in a toast.

Nick didn’t see the look Rose gave her dad, but he saw Pat’s self-congratulatory smile falter and morph into one of sheepish apology. Good to know he wasn’t the only six-foot something hulk of a man this tiny wisp of a girl managed to cower.

Rose felt her blood simmer. Betrayed by her own father. Great. She’d had it with domineering macho alpha-jocks for one night. She turned her scowling face to Nick.

“I don’t appreciate the both of you making decisions that involve me and my work without consulting me. I was right here. You could’ve talked to me first.”
 

God, he was as infuriating and presumptuous as he had been four years ago. Although Rose would be lying if she said she wasn’t flattered that he remembered details about how they met. Like the book. My God, she didn’t even know he’d noticed it back then. Maybe their encounter hadn’t been as forgettable to him as she’d assumed.

Nick looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh, which only made Rose angrier.
 

“I’m talking to you now, aren’t I?” he said. “And I don’t understand what the problem is. Your dad said he’s hooked
Femmepowered
up with lots of businesses. We’ll pay for your services, same as the rest. Unless you’re saying you’re all booked and don’t have time to squeeze us in. He also mentioned that you used to offer free self-defense training but had to stop because you could no longer subsidize it. We’re just trying to help. Doing our bit for the cause.”

He looked so pleased with himself that Rose was tempted to tell him to shove it. But she wasn’t
that
proud. They could really,
really
use the money. Outside of grants and donations, the seminars provided them with the majority of their income, and they got the bulk of their clients from Rose’s dad and his connections. Pat had steered many businesses their way over the years. This wasn’t the first. And, oh wow, free Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes by the best trainers in a fancy new gym. It was a better deal than the karate sessions in that beat-up old dojo they could no longer afford. The opportunity was too good to pass up.
 

Rose frowned. She hated that Nick was right. And she hated the way he said ‘Femmepowered’, although, in her opinion, it really was a stupid name.

“Fine.” Rose took a business card out of her purse and slid it across the table.
 

“If you’re serious about this, then have your people call me first thing tomorrow. We’ll finalize it then.”

“Fantastic.” Nick pocketed the card after a quick glance. “Now, enough shop talk. When are we having dinner?”

Rose gave him her coldest stare. “You’re doing something very nice for us. I thank you for it. But I hope you don’t think it entitles you to make inappropriate demands of me.”

A flash of annoyance crossed his face. “What the hell do you take me for, Rose?”

She flinched at the look he gave her. “I…sorry,” she said, voice contrite. Maybe she overreacted a little to what essentially was just some harmless flirting on his part.

“I plan on seducing you, not extorting sexual favors from you,” he said in a low voice. “Where’s the fun in that?” He was grinning at her now, playful and sexy.