Wrestling Desire (6 page)

“Uh huh.  Have dinner with me.”

A small smile claimed her features and she sighed.  “You really don’t give up do you?”

Her question met an arched brow and silence. 

His invitation meant he’d not only forgiven her
,
but was giving her another chance
and
she was going to do something she’d never done before. “Fine, I’ll have dinner with you.”  A smile immediately lit his face and she held up a hand as she added her stipulation. “On one condition…” She did her best to suppress her own grin as she realized she had the upper hand.

Wary, he sank down into the pillow just a little. “What would that be?”

“Stay the night like the doctor wants.”

Defiance returned to his handsome and slightly bruised face. “No.”

“Then no dinner.”

He narrowed his gaze.  “You’d really do that wouldn’t you?”

“Damn straight.”  She folded her arms over her chest.

“I’m fine, Emma.  I don’t need to stay in the hospital.”

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t going to make this as easy as she’d hoped. 
Time to try another tactic.
  “I understand you think you don’t need a hospital, but you passed out in my arms less than two hours ago.  I’d sleep better if I knew that you were here being watched by professionals.  Will you do this for me?”   She met his gaze and held it.

After several long seconds he sighed.  “Fine.  I’ll stay, but you owe me a dinner date tomorrow night.”

Feeling better about where the situation was heading she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss just below the bandage on his forehead.  “Deal.”

* * *

It was after midnight by the time Emma returned to the hotel.  She slid her keycard in the slot and squeaked in surprise when the door opened.  With a hand on her heart she looked up into a pair of angry eyes and her stomach sank.  Obviously Derek had seen her little stunt back at the arena and if the look on his face were any indication he was pissed.

Steeling her resolve, she squared her shoulders and pushed past him. “What are you doing in my room?”

He let the door slam closed behind him. “I wanted to talk to you about that little scene back at the arena.”

She set her purse on the desk. “I think that scene was pretty self-explanatory, so as far as I’m concerned there isn’t anything to talk about.”

“Really?”  He folded his arms across his chest. 

“Yes, really.” She mimicked his action.

“What the hell, Emma? Why did you go out to the ring tonight?”

“Weren’t you watching the same match as the rest of us?” she shot back. “William was destroying Holt even after the bell rang.  Somebody had to stop it.”

“You
’
r
e
right, somebody did have to stop it.  Somebody like, Garrett, or Mark or the refs, not you, Emma.  It’s not your job and you could have gotten hurt.  You had no reason to go down there tonight so why did you?”

He was the second person tonight who had questioned her decision and she was getting damn tired of having to explain herself.  “I don’t owe you an explanation, Derek. My decision didn’t affect you in any way and honestly it’s none of your business.”

“None of my business?” He arched a brow.  “None of my business?  You getting hurt
is
my business.”

“I didn’t get hurt,” she shouted as her anger grew.

“No, but you’re going to,” he retorted.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re treading into dangerous territory.  You know that by putting yourself out there like that Gene is going to find a way to capitalize.  What if he decides to write you into a storyline?  You’ve never wanted to be in front of a crowd which is why you didn’t become a Vixen wrestler.  So how are you going to handle it if Gene forces you in front of the camera now?”

She hadn’t even considered that angle when she’d burst into the arena earlier that night.  Her only thoughts had been on helping Holt.  However, Derek was right.  Gene could and probably would use her emergence as some sort of story angle.  “If that happens I’ll deal with it.” At this point what other choice did she have?

“What about you and Holt?” Derek challenged.

“What about us?”

“You know how I feel about him, so why are you going against my wishes?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  While he was all but demanding her compliance, he had no regard for her feelings or her wishes.  It didn’t matter to him if she were happy, only that she conform to what he wanted. “I am not going against your wishes, but-” She poked a finger at his chest.  “I also don’t appreciate you dismissing my feelings as if I don’t matter.”

His brow knit and confusion claimed his
features.  “You do matter to me. That’s
why I’m so concerned.”

“No.”  She shook her head.  “You’re concerned because I’m not blindly following you, not because you care about my feelings.”

“That’s not true.”

“It
is
true,” she slammed her fist against the table as her anger threatened to boil over.  “You’re not the least bit concerned about my happiness.  All you want is for me to blindly conform to your beliefs.  Well what about my feelings, Derek?  What about my wants and needs?”

For a moment he said nothing as he stared at her.  “I don’t care who you date, Emma.  I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Again that’s not true.” She dropped down to sit on the edge of the bed.  “You don’t care who I date as long as it’s somebody you approve of, somebody who fits within your criteria.”  She looked up at him.  “And it’s about damn time that situation changed.” 

* * *

“I don’t need a damn wheelchair.” Holt pushed at the contraption in front of him and shot the nurse an evil look.  “I’m not an invalid.”

Despite his protest the pretty brunette stood her ground.  “I never said you were, Mr. Hendricks, but hospital policy states that patients are to ride in wheelchairs until they leave the building.” 

He’d been down this road before and he knew the damn policy and none of it mattered.  Being pushed around by some woman half his size made him feel like a weakling, like he was less than the man he strived to be.  He cast an imploring look at Garrett who simply shrugged.  Apparently the big man could take on the toughest competition wrestling could throw at him, but he wasn’t willing to take on this nurse. 

The nurse placed a hand on her hip and gave Holt an impatient look.  “You could have already been out of here and on your way home by now.  Instead, you’re sitting here acting like a child, holding up your friend and preventing me from seeing to patients who really do need my help…
unlike you
.”

“Just get in the damn chair,” Garrett urged.  “Take your humiliation like a man and get it over with will ya?  At this rate we’re going to miss our flight and then Gene is gonna be pissed cause I’ll miss the strategy meeting
and
the run through.”

“Fine.” 
Feeling more like a petulant child than a wrestling superstar he climbed from the bed and eased down into the wheelchair
.  How in the hell had he allowed Emma to talk him into staying in the hospital for the night he’d never know.  All night he’d been poked and prodded, asked a bunch of stupid questions and allowed very little rest.  If the lack of sleep and the continual interruptions hadn’t been enough, he’d awoken this morning to learn that Emma wasn’t coming to the hospital.  Instead she’d already left for St. Louis and immediately his moon turned sour.  His brain had been a bit fuzzy last night in the emergency room and he couldn’t formulate the questions he’d wanted to ask.  After a long night of restless sleep and lots of thinking he desperately wanted to talk to her. 

While he’d been more than a little hurt by her insinuations that he was trying to use her to get to Derek, after thinking about their conversation in more detail, he now understood why she might think that way.  He and Derek hated each other with a passion, but her being Derek’s sister hadn’t entered his mind.  All he’d known was a deep unexplainable attraction he couldn’t ignore.  She was like a beacon in the night, a ray of sunlight in the middle of a raging storm.   He wanted her for her, not for any sort of revenge but to hold and worship and love like he’d never loved anyone before. 

Holt frowned as the nurse wheeled him into the elevator.

“What’s the scowl for?” Garrett asked.

“I was just thinking about Emma.”

“And you’re frowning?  That’s unusual.”

Ignoring his friend he continued.  “She came to the ring last night and crawled right into the mayhem to check on me.”

Garrett chuckled.  “And you damn near threw her across the mat when you came to.”

Holt cringed at Garrett’s statement.  “I’m slowly remembering bits and pieces of what happened.  I guess I was in my own world, huh?”

“That you were, my friend. You were running on instinct, adrenaline, and fear,” Garrett corrected as the elevator doors opened and the nurse wheeled him toward the exit.

Holt looked up at him. “Exactly.  You, the refs, and the other wrestlers were all yelling at me trying to get me to stop and I wasn’t listening.  Yet, the moment I heard her voice somehow I knew it was going to be okay.”

Garrett shook his head.  “Man you have it bad for her.” 

They reached the door and the nurse stopped.  “Mr. Patrick, if you’ll go get your vehicle we’ll wait here.

Five long minutes later and Holt was finally free as he sat in the passenger seat of the rental car.  “Who took care of my stuff?”

The traffic light went green and Garrett turned onto the main road. “Emma.  She said since I was staying behind for you, she’d take care of your gear.”

Holt shook his head and turned to look out the window.  “Figures.  You know, Garrett, I just can’t get a read on her.  She risked losing her job to come to the hospital with me last night and when I asked her about it, she said that I was more important than her job.”

Garrett glanced over at him.  “Really?  She said that?”

Holt nodded.  “Yeah. Which makes me think on some level she does have feelings for me, yet she continues to reject me at every turn.”

“She’s afraid.”

Holt glanced over at his friend.  “Afraid of me?”

Garrett shook his head.  “Marissa says that Emma’s afraid of a few things.  Mainly of how Derek will react, but there’s also her position with the company and y
ou
r reputation as a ladies man.”

Holt smirked.  “Yeah, my reputation i
s over inflated much like my on-
stage ego.” 

“That may be, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s afraid of getting hurt.  Being who she is, getting involved with you would be the equivalent of getting tangled in briar patch.  If things would happen to go bad she’d end up with scars.”

“Gee thanks!” Holt shot back. “You think I’d intentionally hurt her?”

“Of course not, but this isn’t a simple life we lead and sometimes shit happens that you don’t anticipate.” He glanced at Holt a second time.  “Look, if you’re dead set that she’s the one then I’d say you’re going to have to prove yourself to her.”

Holt’s frustration began to build again.  “How in the hell am I supposed to prove myself when she won’t give me a chance to begin with?”

Garrett gave his statement a shrug.  “Can’t help you there, pal.  All I can say is if you really love her, and I think you do, then you’re going to have to step up your game.”

Emma let out a sigh of relief as she walked into her hotel room and tossed her bag on the small desk. She hadn’t looked forward to facing Mr. France and he’d been seriously pissed when she arrived for their meeting this afternoon.  Thankfully his anger had mostly been focused on William, though he hadn’t exactly been thrilled about her going to the hospital with Holt either.

Just so you know, Emma.  By coming to the ring the way you did, you’ve inserted yourself into the storyline and that now makes you fair game.
  His statement had confirmed Derek’s concerns and left her feeling nervous and chilled.  She never enjoyed being in front of the camera and had done her best to avoid it at all cost. Apparently by being a concerned friend, she’d given Gene an idea for a new script…one involving her and Holt.   Derek was just going to love that angle.

An hour later she sat on the end of her bed stared out the window still clueless of how she was going to handle Derek or convince Gene to forget the script.  To make the situation worse she had yet to talk to Holt.  Garrett had called her earlier that day to let her know Holt had been released from the hospital and they’d be catching the next plane into St. Louis.

Of course Holt posed an entirely different problem.  How was she going to deal with him?  Every time she thought she had a handle on her feelings for him, something would happen and her brain would scramble leaving her confused and needy.  There were at least a dozen reasons why she should stay as far away from Holt Hendricks as possible, but none of them seemed to matter when her heart got involved.