Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) (9 page)

“Sounds exciting.” She rolled over to face him.

“Yeah, and once we’re done with the renovations, we’re gonna throw a big grand reopening. Maybe in a couple of months.”

“How can I help?” She kissed his neck, then moved up to his stubbly face, her hands roaming his back.

“Oh, baby. That feels so good,” he said as his free hand moved up and down her back. “This is all the help I need. Keep doing exactly that.”

She laughed and playfully smacked his chest. “Seriously, I can help. I’m good with a hammer or party planning. Either way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He rolled to his back and stretched. “What time is it?”

Jessica looked over her shoulder to the alarm clock by the bedside table. “A quarter to eleven.”

Slade stopped mid-stretch and bolted up. “What?” He leaned over her to look at the clock. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Gotta go, babe. Frances is goin’ to kill me.” He jumped off the bed and gathered his clothes off the floor. “The agent for Tony, our new fighter, is coming in to work out the final details. We’re supposed to sign the contract. I think there’s even going to be a small press conference.” She giggled as she watched him struggle to find his clothes. “Seriously, where the hell’s my underwear?”

“Try the living room.”

“How the fuck are my jeans here and my underwear in the living room?”

She shrugged. He walked out of the room mumbling something about being late, Francesca, and ass-kicking. He returned, still completely naked, but with all his clothes in his arms, and dumped them on the bed before going into the bathroom. Less than ten minutes later he was out, his dark hair slicked back behind his ears, his face still moist from the quick shower and his eyes less sleepy-looking. Jessica lay on the bed, her head resting on her palm, watching him try to get dressed while dialing his phone.

“It’s me, Frances…yeah…okay, okay…I know. On my way.” He hung up, then stuck an arm into the sleeve of his shirt. “Shit, my shirt is fucked up.”

She sat up to see that the shirt was missing most of its buttons. She chuckled before plopping back down. “Sorry.”

“You’re not sorry.” He smiled, his tattoo peeking out from the unbuttoned shirt. “I have my gym bag in the car and there’s a shirt inside, I’ll just change on my way.”

He leaned over the bed and tucked some hair behind her ear. “By the way, I used your toothbrush.” He kissed her forehead.

She closed her eyes and smiled.

“You’re quiet this morning. You probably said everything you needed to say in your annoying sleep talking.”

“Ha. Ha.”

“Gotta run. Sorry for the quick exit.”

“I understand.”

“Call you later.” He gave her a kiss on the lips, grabbed his keys, and left.

When she heard the door close, she rolled onto her back and threw her legs and arms out to the side giddily. Just then, she heard the ping of a text message. She rummaged through her purse until she found her phone.

Slade: BTW, had a great time last night.

If possible, her stupid grin got even stupider. This man was going to be the death of her.

Jessica: Me too.

Before she could stop herself she sent off another text.

Jessica: See you tonight?

She waited with bated breath. She didn’t want to come off as clingy. She should’ve acted more casual. Stupid stupid stu—

Slade: Hell, yeah. Be safe at work.

Jessica: Me? You’re the one who fights for a living. I should be telling you the same thing.

Slade: Don’t worry about me. Just be safe, okay?

Her heart warmed.

Jessica: I will, Slay. See you later.

She realized then that she was in trouble. If Slade broke her heart, she wasn’t sure if she’d recover.

After she finished taking a long, rejuvenating hot bath and got dressed for work, she found she still had about an hour to kill. Feeling reinvigorated, she decided it was time to revisit her dream. So she fired up her computer and searched for the folder that contained the business plan for her proposed yoga studio.

At one point she had mentioned to Dennis that she wanted to open a yoga studio, but he’d just laughed at her.
You may one day be the wife of the governor of Florida—how would it look having my wife doing all that New Age bullshit? As it is, I hate that you’re working at the Pier.

If there was a lesson to be learned in having been in an abusive relationship, it was that she never wanted to be dependent on a man again. She needed to be self-sufficient and strong. Her decisions and opinions mattered. Yoga was important to her, and she would make that dream come true even if it took her years to achieve it. She felt as though she’d been lost for the last few years—pushed aside, both literally and figuratively. She needed to do something she loved, something for herself.

She opened the spreadsheet she used for her budget, and updated some of the figures. Her savings account wasn’t large enough just yet, but if she worked a few extra shifts and cut back in a few places, she would be that much closer to her goal.

She wasn’t sure how Slade would react to her having less time to spend with him when she picked up some extra shifts. Even though she hoped he would understand, she wouldn’t relent even if it upset him. A man like Slade would want to be with the kind of woman she was trying to become, even if it meant they couldn’t spend every waking minute together…wouldn’t he?

She could always ask her parents for money, she knew. Jessica’s mother was retired and spent most of her time socializing at the country club, while her father, a retired dentist, spent most of his days on the golf course. Jessica was an only child. She had been spoiled and given the best money could buy, from clothes to schooling. The only thing her parents hadn’t paid for was college; she had attended Florida State University on an academic scholarship and was damn proud of it. However, she was fairly certain her parents wouldn’t accept her putting down roots in Tarpon Springs, especially now that Dennis was out of the picture.

But even assuming that they would help her out, did she really want to do this with her parents’ money? Absolutely not. They were controlling and opinionated enough without adding money to the mix. The sacrifices she would have to make in order to save the money she needed would be just a small price to pay for something she was so passionate about, and any man who loved her would have to understand.

She looked at the clock and realized she needed to get to work. Jessica got up, grabbed her purse and keys, and walked out of her house toward the driveway. She stood there for an entire minute before she realized what was missing.

Her car!

“Damn it!” She pulled out her cell and called Slade, but it went straight to voice mail. She hated bothering her friends, but she desperately needed a ride to work. First she called Jamie Lynn, but there was no answer. Next she called her friend Alexis, but Alexis was already at her own job and couldn’t leave to give her a ride.

After debating it, she called Chrissy. Over the last two months they’d become very good friends. Chrissy had confided in Jessica about her own struggles with an abusive boyfriend, and that was what had finally given her the courage to stand up to Dennis. Chrissy had helped out during Jessica’s recovery whenever Slade had had work obligations. She’d cooked, cleaned, and even driven her to therapy. Jessica felt bad asking for yet another favor, but she felt she had no choice. She timidly dialed Chrissy’s number.

“Hi, Jess. How are you?”

“Were it not for the little predicament I’m currently in, I’d say I was great. Better than ever.”

“Well, don’t let a little predicament ruin your great mood.”

“Chris, after all you’ve done, I hate to ask, but I need a favor. Do you think you can give me a ride to work?”

“Sure. It’s no problem at all. In fact, I was headed that way. Be there in ten.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

Less than ten minutes later, Chrissy arrived in her brand spanking new red Hummer. Jack had bought it for Chrissy after her car was totaled. It was a little much for the petite woman, but Jack felt it would protect her. Jessica quickly jumped in and buckled up.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Jessica said.

“It’s no trouble.” Chrissy reached over to squeeze Jessica’s hand. “What happened to your car?”

“Slade.”

“Slade?”

“Yeah. He picked me up from work yesterday for dinner. He promised to drive me back to get my car, but he was running late this morning and we forgot all about it.”

Chrissy made a face. “I am deducing from that story that he slept over.”

Jessica crimsoned. “Sorry. That’s weird, right? I mean, he’s your brother.”

“It’s just something I prefer not to have sifting through my brain.”

“How about I change the visual?” Jessica said with a smile. “Slade, your totally respectful brother, brought me home, and after we had dinner, he read me a book. As a matter of fact, it was an old Jane Austen novel I had lying around. He got so caught up in the book that he fell asleep. Too tired to drive back, he did the gentlemanly thing and slept on the couch.”

Chrissy burst out in a fit of giggles.

When they arrived at the Pier, Jessica leaned over to give Chrissy a peck on the cheek, thanked her, and hopped out of the car. “Hey, I talked with JL. Girls’ night soon!” Chrissy yelled through the open window before taking off. Jessica nodded and ran inside, clocking in one minute before her shift was to start.

The next two weeks were a blur of work and Slade. She had spoken to Patsy and Jett and they’d given her two additional shifts a week, so she was busier than ever. She was surprised that Slade was so supportive. Dennis had been like an anvil holding her down. Now she was finally released, and she felt like she was slowly resurfacing. She didn’t want anyone’s negative opinions about her life plan. She hadn’t told Slade why she was working so many hours, but the fact that she was so busy didn’t seem to bother him. Sometimes he would stop by and have lunch with her at her job. Other times he’d pick her up after work.

To his credit, he was busy too. It turned out that Slade was kind of a control freak and did a lot of the work renovating the Academy himself. He would hire a crew and then work alongside them “to make sure it was done correctly.” On a few occasions, Travis had stopped by the Pier when Slade had been too busy with the Academy, bringing her a bag and a note from Slade: “Lunch. I miss you. See you tonight.” Once Slade had knocked on her door early in the morning with donuts and coffee. “Just wanted to make sure you’re eating,” he’d said. “Gotta run.” He’d been in a hurry and ran back to his bike and took off.

If Slade wasn’t at WtF, he was with her, or texting her, or calling her. They’d reached a great balance of dating and personal space. And every time he did something unexpected, she fell a little harder for him.

She also went to the Academy often and helped out as much as she could. She helped paint, and she ordered the flyers for the grand reopening. And she too would stop by with some food when she wasn’t working and he was stuck at the gym.

At least once a day, usually when she needed it the most, he’d text her some corny joke or some naughty thought he was having. It always brightened her day. And the nights—holy crap, the nights were out-of-this-world hot. She’d never known sex could be that good. Even when they did it up against the wall, he never made it feel like just sex.

But the kicker, what made her really feel like she was something more to him than just a good time, was how encouraging he was about her yoga practice. On mornings when she was just feeling too tired from work to go to the Om Spot, he’d gently nudge her out the door, reminding her that once she got dressed and got to the studio she would be glad she’d gone. And it was true. By the time the class ended, she was euphoric and energized enough to face the rest of the day. Even though her yoga practice meant less time for them to be together, Slade seemed to understand. That was new to her. Dennis had been all about Dennis’s needs. Slade was all about her needs.

When she wasn’t at yoga or at work, she was in a postcoital haze. Apparently Slade was insatiable. But even more surprising was that she too seemed insatiable. When they were together, either at his house or at hers, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. The weeks flew by in a happy daze.

One especially rare evening when they were both free by six, they made plans for dinner. Within twenty minutes of Slade arriving at her house, they were lying together naked on his bed after a quickie, dinner forgotten.

Her fingers lazily tracing the tattoo that ran along his naked body, she asked, “You know all my fantasies. What are yours?”

He cocked an eyebrow in confusion. “I know your fantasies?”

“Sure you do. Remember? Hot, crazed, lusty sex against the wall, blah blah blah.”

“That was it? That was your fantasy? Come on, I know you have something else in there.” He tapped her head.

“No, seriously. I just wanted a freakin’ orgasm.”

“You’ve had orgasms before, babe.” He rose up on one elbow to look at her face. “Haven’t you?”

“Tell your ego to relax. I’ve had good sex before you; it was just a little boring. Never ended with an orgasm. But it wasn’t bad.”

“By definition, sex without an orgasm is bad sex,” he huffed. “So, you had never had an orgasm before me?”

“I didn’t say that. I just never had one with a man.” She slid under the covers and covered her face.

He laughed. “With a woman, then?”

From under the covers she stretched out an arm and slapped his shoulder. She said something in a muffled voice.

“Excuse me? What did you mumble in there?”

“I said, only when I touch myself.”

“Why are you hiding? Come out of there.”

“Because now you know.” When she poked her head out, her cheeks were flushed.

“I know what? That your two exes were fucking idiots?”

“No. Not that. Now you know that I”—she leaned in as if she were giving him information critical to national security—“touch myself.”