The Fighter's Fierce Temptation (4 page)

Bryant released Anders as quickly as he’d grabbed him, confused at his reaction to being near the man.
God, what is happening to me? He’s an old man, for gods sake! Wow. I never realized how much difference there might be in muscle tone with an old man. I mean, he’s toned… but his muscles just didn’t feel as big as I thought they would. And I really need to get laid if touching an old man gets me this hard, this quick!
And why in the hell am I noticing how he smells?

He watched Anders walk away, struggling to keep from showing how disgusted he was with himself. Shaking his head, he stepped up to the dummy and delivered a sharp strike to the wooden arm closest to him, forgetting he also needed to block the opposing one, receiving a sharp knock on the back of his head for his effort.

Tavvy chuckled and reached out a hand to stop Bryant from getting hit in the face as the arms rotated once again. “Easy, son. We need to start out a little slower and a lot lighter, or you’re going to give yourself a concussion!”

Bryant rubbed the back of his head and nodded, his physical reaction to being near Anders forgotten amid the pain lancing across his skull.
God, this thing hurts! How did that old man hit this thing so hard and not come away black and blue?

***

Alice watched Tavvy take Bryant through several more moves before she left the gym and headed back to the main cabin. She was still reeling from the way her body had responded to being so close to his. Her nipples were hardening just thinking about him again and there were butterflies in her stomach causing quite a commotion.

She met Marguerite in the front doorway and removed her sunglasses. Marguerite was peering closely at her. “What happened?”

Alice shook her head. “Why do you think anything happened?” She tried to act normal, but from the look on Marguerite’s face, she was failing dismally.

“You look shocked. What happened in the gym?”

Alice thought about making up a story, but she’d never been any good at lying and she caved under Marguerite’s watchful eye. “Nothing. Bryant and I got in each other’s way for a moment and I almost fell on my butt.”

Marguerite nodded. “But you didn’t. How come?”

“Bryant stopped me from falling by grabbing my arms.”

Marguerite gasped. “Does he know you’re not your father?”

Alice waved a hand. “No. Nothing like that. It’s just that I got this funny feeling when he was touching me. I think maybe I’m coming down with something.”

Marguerite grinned. “Well, it’s about time. I wondered when you’d finally wake up and see all of that fine eye-candy your daddy brings up here.”

“What are you talking about?” Alice asked, following the housekeeper back to the kitchen.

“Girl, you’re twenty-two. You’ve been on exactly three dates since that slimeball fighter you were dating your sophomore year in college.”

“So what, you think I’ve been pining for Scott all these years?” Alice asked incredulously. “Did you forget what happened with him?” She remembered all too well the final time she’d seen Scott Taylor. It hadn’t been fun.

Marguerite sighed. “Alice, I didn’t say that.”

“I know.” Alice pushed out a breath. “It’s just… more complicated than that.”

Marguerite nodded, gently rubbing Alice’s shoulder. “You know you’re like a daughter to me—you can tell me anything.”

“It wasn’t just the street fights. There was more. I didn’t tell you because, well, I hate to make you worry.”

Alice hesitated, glancing at the door.
Just tell her
. “One weekend he loaded our stuff back into his truck. We ended up at his dad’s cabin about an hour away. As usual he started drinking and then…he accused me of being a stick in the mud and not knowing how to have any fun. So I gave in and had a few drinks with him. Then came the touching and the clumsy kissing..”

“I swear to god if he touched you I will kill him!”

“Marg, no! God, no. He began telling me how sweet I was, and how hot I was, and like an idiot I listened to every word he said! He finally convinced me to sleep with him. Bad decision. Sex with Scott lasted a whole three minutes! Thank God he’d remembered protection in his partially drunken state.”

“He’ll need more than protection if I ever see him again!” Margeurite said, rolling up her sleeves and cracking her knuckles.

“Then when we got back, he broke it off with me. Saying he needed to focus on his fighting. And I guess that’s why I never wanted to get involved with any of the eye candy.” Alice gave a giggle.

Scott didn’t even realize the gift he’d been given the night before, nor did I think to mention it—he was completely focused on his own desires.

She promised herself that she would have a healthy attraction to the next boy she slept with. And definitely
no fighters.

She’d gone out with three other boys since Scott, but none of them had gotten past second base because she just hadn’t been feeling it. Alice wanted what she’d read about in the romance novels Marguerite lent her from time to time. She wanted to be so consumed with lust that the thought of
not
being with someone would cause her pain.

Pulling herself back to the present, Alice glanced at Marguerite. “I haven’t been out with anyone because I haven’t found anyone I wanted to spend that much time with. But Bryant is…different.”

Alice was so confused about her feelings with Bryant. She’d read his file, and watched his videos. As she spent more time with him she saw how different he was to Scott. Not only was his body divine, but he was intelligent and appeared to have a good sense of humor.
But enough to forgive being trained by a female without his knowledge?

She was prevented from having to answer herself when Marguerite asked, “What you mean to say is that you haven’t met anyone who made you want to drop your panties, so why bother, right?”

“Do you
ever
filter what you say?” She shook her head, her cheeks hot.

“Why should I? Besides, you know I’m right. And I think that fighter out there does a little something for you, doesn’t he?”

Alice looked at her and sighed. “Maybe, but what difference does that make? I have to pretend to be my father while he’s here.”

Marguerite made a clucking sound. “I know. Maybe after he leaves you should take a few weeks up in the city and go to a few clubs. I could have Nick take you around…”

“We’ll see.” Alice chuckled. “Right now, I need to focus on getting through the next few weeks.” The last thing she wanted to do was go up to Portland and have Marguerite’s nephew drag her from club to club. The man was a ladies’ man in the extreme, and Alice knew from past experience that she would feel like a third wheel just trying to keep up with him.

“So, you need to keep your distance from him. Let Tavvy do all of the interaction with him for now.”

Alice nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah. That sounds like the best plan.” Glancing at the clock, she sighed. “They’ll be up for lunch soon. I’m going to go see how Dad’s doing before the therapist arrives. Come get me after they leave.”

“Will do. I’ll bring you some lunch when I bring in your daddy’s.”

“Thanks, Marguerite. We’re going to get through this.”
For Dad’s sake, I hope we can.

“Alice, this isn’t going to work. I can’t keep up with the kid. He’s too quick for me and you know it.” Tavvy sat across from her in the office, his brow furrowed with concern. After trying to keep up with Bryant using hand pads and some light foot movement, Tavvy was exhausted and the truth had become more than obvious.

“I know. I saw him this afternoon.” Alice said.

“I asked him when his sparring partner was due to arrive, and he said he’s been delayed and won’t be able to get here until next week.”

Alice nodded. “That’s bad.”

“What are we going to do? I could probably toss a few of the boys from town into the ring with him, but you know they’ll only end up getting hurt.”

Alice nodded and glanced down at the desk where the bill from the hospital lay. “I can’t afford to send him home! I just can’t, Tavvy.”
And I can’t afford for one of the local kids to get injured, either. That would definitely put a damper on things around here.

Tavvy was silent for a moment while he weighed their options. “Then you need to come clean with him and get in the ring and start training him yourself until his partner arrives.”

Alice shook her head vigorously. “You know I can’t do that! What if he sued us or something?”
It would be fun to see if I could keep up with him though.

“You know you could do it, Ally. I saw your fights in your junior year and you could keep up with him.”

“But—”

Tavvy’s voice brought her back to the present. “Alice, we don’t have any other options. If the sparring partner isn’t showing until next week, you have to do something else. I watched those tapes and he needs our help, but he’s running out of time. And you know it.”

Alice sighed and tossed the pen she had been chewing on to the desk. “Tell me something I don’t already know! I just finished watching Macken’s last fight. If Bryant doesn’t learn a few new tricks, he’s going to get hurt. Macken’s fists are lethal—when he’s on his feet and on the ground—he’s unbelievably good!”

“You could show Bryant a few things that would give him an edge. I know it and you know it. And he really needs what we can offer him, but verbal instruction isn’t going to cut it. This is the right thing to do. Tell him the truth and give him the option to stay or leave.”

“I’ll think about it, Tavvy.” Seeing the skeptical look on his face, she smiled. “I promise. I’ll think about it and give you an answer in the morning.”

Tavvy left the office, wondering if the morning would see their undoing, or if a miracle would rise out of this mess.

Alice sat in the office for several more hours before heading up to bed, no closer to a solution than she’d been before. As she drifted off to sleep, her worry about how to continue training the fighter while maintaining her secret gave way to thoughts about the man himself.

Handsome, oh, yes. Blond hair, grey-blue eyes, and a body that belonged on a statue. Bulging biceps that she could imagine embracing her. Six-pack abs that may as well have been made of a material that drew her like a magnet. Hard thighs. Strength. The way his body moved in the gym. She could move with him, alright.

It was a long time before sleep finally claimed her, and then only after she quit fighting herself.
Make love, not war,
she thought, and gave into her lust, using her hands and her imagination to release some of her pent-up energies in a way that was becoming all too familiar. Marguerite’s words echoed in her head as she drifted into a light sleep.
What you need is the real thing. You need to find a man to take care of you instead!
Mmmm,
Alice thought.
I need a man. One with sun-bleached blond hair and blue eyes that remind me of a winter sky.

Alice awoke the next morning, a sense of anticipation thrumming through her at seeing Bryant again. She had spent a restless night and finally, at around three in the morning, she’d come up with a plan she thought she might be able to pull off.

Let’s hope it works.

It was Saturday. The local kids would be arriving to participate in the morning training regimen.

Dressing for her morning run, she put on her normal clothing consisting of tight black yoga pants, a bright pink sports bra, and a thin black jacket. Instead of a skullcap, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail and placed a band around her forehead to help absorb the sweat and keep her hair from flying loose.

Feeling more like herself, she skipped down the stairs and entered the kitchen with a smile. Marguerite and Tavvy were already there, and she grinned at the shocked looks on their faces when they saw her.

“Alice? Girl, what are you doing dressed like that? Bryant’s going to be coming through that door any minute!” Marguerite came toward her, unfolding the dish towel in her hand as if she could shield Alice from sight with just that little piece of cloth.

Alice chuckled and moved around her. “I know. I’ve come up with a solution…” Hearing the front door open, she stopped. Turning to face the doorway Bryant would be coming through, she murmured to both of them, “Follow my lead. No matter what I say.”

***

Bryant entered the main cabin, hoping he’d get a chance to speak with Anders before training began. He was sore from yesterday’s workout, but at the same time, the light sparring workout the day before had been far below his expectations.

It had become obvious that Tavvy didn’t have the physical attributes needed to push Bryant to the next level. Having seen no one else wandering around the compound after the kids left, and with Zac further delayed, Bryant was curious as to how his training was supposed to proceed.

The last thing he expected to see when he entered the kitchen was an angel dressed in black and looking like she just stepped off the pages of a fitness magazine. She was about the same height as Mr. Anders, maybe pushing 5’7” if she was lucky, with luxurious auburn hair and brilliant green eyes.

Her shining hair was confined in a high ponytail, and her eyes sparkled at him even as she sipped from a cup of coffee. Her alabaster skin was smooth and he let his eyes take in her features, dwelling on the sight of her lips. Her bottom lip was full, and their slight upturn had him raising his eyes back to hers.
Trouble
, he thought. And vowed to keep his distance. But then he glanced back at her.
She’s amused. Why?

“Good morning,” she murmured over the rim of her cup. Her stare never left his face.

Warning bells nagged at him that he was here to train, not look at girls. But he stepped further into the room and glanced at Tavvy and Marguerite. They both had shocked looks on their faces and Tavvy seemed nervous.
Great, even they know I should be focused on training.

“Good morning. I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, turning his attention back to the girl. He approached her slowly, watching her with his eyes never leaving hers. Bryant couldn’t have pulled himself away for anything.

She smiled at him and shook her head. “No, I don’t believe we have met. I’m Alice, Terry’s daughter. He’s not feeling very well and he thought maybe I could help with your conditioning for a few days.”

Anders wants me to train with his daughter? Where did she come from? Was she here yesterday? Why didn’t I see her?
Bryant kept from snorting in laughter at the thought of this slight woman helping him train for his upcoming fight.
Shit! One hit from me and she’ll be sprawled across the mats.
What in the hell was her father thinking!

Crossing her arms over her chest, she seemed to pay no attention to the fact that the action served to accentuate her breasts. He tried not to notice, too.

She swapped a look with Tavvy and stood. “I’m going to be running with you this morning. I’ll be over at the gym stretching when you’re done with breakfast. Come over whenever you’re ready.”She turned to Marguerite. “Thanks for the coffee. I’ll see you a little later.” Glancing at Tavvy, she gave him a smile. “I’ll make sure the kids get warmed up, don’t worry.”

Bryant let his eyes trail her out the door, his glance straying to her. A gorgeous, very nicely packaged butt it was. Her legs seemed longer because of what she was wearing, and he found himself having all sorts of thoughts that had nothing at all to do with training or running, and everything to do with seeing those same long legs wrapped around his hips.
God, I’ve got to get control of my thoughts. Anders would kick me off his property faster than I could blink if he knew what I was thinking about his daughter. Daughter? Who even knew he had a kid?

Then her last comments registered and he turned to Tavvy. “Kids?”

Tavvy nodded before setting his coffee cup down on the table. “Some of the local kids that have aspirations for careers in MMA come up here on the weekends during the school year and train with us. School started two weeks ago, so this is their second weekend up here.”

“I’m supposed to train with a bunch of kids? I could have done that back home, with the advantage of having Beck and Mason to spar with!” He shook his head and poured himself a cup of coffee. He grabbed a banana and headed for the training gym. If things didn’t go better today, he’d leave first thing the next morning. He didn’t need the distraction of Anders’ daughter. So he’d give them one more day to live up to their reputation. Otherwise, he was out of here.