Fight for Her (9 page)

“I don’t know.” He smiled at her and his eyes were warm and kind. “I just know how I feel.”

Krista was stunned by how much had changed in such a short time between them.

All she knew was that she was thankful he felt it too.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” she said. “Even though I’m seeing you right now.”

“So it’s settled, then.”

She nodded, taking another bite of her eggs. “Definitely.”

Gunner said, raising his cup but not drinking just yet. “I want to take you on a real date.”

She felt her cheeks flush. “You do?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Like, when we see each other again.”

“Definitely. I can fly back from Vegas anytime, and we can…” she stopped cold, shocked at her own stupidity.

Gunner was looking at her, his cup still raised halfway to his lips. He squinted at her, like she was some strange new creature he’d never seen before. “Wait a second. Did you just say, fly back from Vegas? Why would you be in Vegas?”

She stuttered, her words babbling, nonsense. She tried to formulate a response, but the lies were piling up in her mind like a car crash. She didn’t even want to lie.

She’d wanted to say the truth—just…not like this.

“Krista,” he said, his voice lowering. “Please tell me why you would be flying here from Vegas. Tell me why.”

She looked down at her plate. She could already feel tears stinging behind her eyes. Her hands twisted against each other nervously. “I wanted to tell you this before now,” she said. “But I just…I got confused.”

“Confused about what? Confused about where you live?” He put his cup down.

“I don’t understand what’s going on. You live in Boston, right?”

She couldn’t meet his eyes. So she just shook her head no. “I live in Las Vegas.”

“Why did you lie to me about that?” He sat back in his chair. “Look at me, Krista. Look at me, at least.”

She forced herself to meet his gaze. He looked as though she’d just hit him with a sledgehammer. “I’m not a journalist student,” she said. “I don’t go to Boston University.”

He continued staring at her, his face growing pale. “I don’t get it.”

She took one last, deep breath, and exhaled, knowing the time was now. “I work for Drew Ellis and the UFF,” she said. “I was sent here to see if I could convince you to come back and fulfill your obligations to the company for the pay-per-view fight with Zane Davis.”

Gunner’s eyes filled with a look of disgust, hurt and betrayal. She’d never seen such a complex range of emotions cross someone’s face in such a short time. And then his expression hardened, turned to stone. There was nothing there, no emotion—Gunner King was gone and whoever replaced him wasn’t someone she recognized.

“Thanks for the info,” he said, and his lips twitched. “I guess that’s it for me—

my appetite’s kind of spoiled.”

“Gunner, please, I need to explain. I’m quitting my job. I care about you. Let me—just give me a chance to explain how it happened.”

He took out his wallet and threw forty dollars on the table. “This is like a total déjà vu moment,” he marveled. Didn’t I basically do this exact same thing the last time you and I were in this restaurant?” He shook his head.

“Please, don’t leave,” she said. “Please, Gunner.”

People were starting to stare.

“Listen, just so you know, your car is ready,” he told her. “Ryder fixed it up, but I told him to hold off on giving it back because I wanted more time with you.” Gunner said it as if he was disgusted even with himself for feeling that way. “I’ll call him and tell him to bring the car here so you can leave town as soon as humanly possible.”

“Don’t do this.” She felt her whole body trembling. He was going to ruin everything because he wouldn’t let her explain, but if he would only just listen…

“You still have a pretty good story to tell,” Gunner said. “Who knows, maybe Drew Ellis will pay you to tell it to the whole world. Nothing would surprise me anymore.”

And then he left the restaurant and didn’t look back.

THE END OF BOOK ONE OF FIGHT FOR HER

Book 2 will be coming soon. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review and let
us know. You can find Kelly Favor on Twitter @kellyfavorbooks.

If you want to read another romance by Kelly, check out the New York Times bestselling For His Pleasure series.

FOR HIS PLEASURE (FOR HIS PLEASURE, BOOK 1)

When twenty-two year old Nicole Masters gets a highly coveted internship working for one of the largest advertising companies in the world, she can't believe her luck. But Jameson International isn't just any company. It's owned by thirty-two-year-old business mogul and celebrity, Red Jameson.

Red is known for his high flying lifestyle; dating models and hanging with the rich and famous.

The powerful billionaire can have any woman he wants, and the naive college graduate can't imagine making much of an impression on her new CEO. But when Red Jameson takes notice of her and invites her up to his secluded office one day, everything changes.

As it turns out, the powerful businessman also has a voracious sexual appetite, and it's been whetted by none other than Nicole herself. And Red needs to be in charge at every turn.

Nicole isn't just any girl though, and Red Jameson's shocked to find that the young intern is more than a match for him in a battle of wits and will.

For His Pleasure is a 30,000 word tale of lust, submission, power and ultimately--a love story for the ages. The entire series is available for purchase now.