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  All she could think about was the kiss he’d given her the last time they’d been alone together. His lips, the gentle way he held her, the look in his eyes when he finally pulled back… It all combined to leave her curious and frustrated.

  She wanted more.

  But he didn’t offer more. Not for over a week. Not until she was chomping at the bit to see him again. Not until her body nearly ached to have his fingers on her, in her, again.

  Halfway through Wednesday a week later, Kayla got a text from Gage. First, he’d left her coffee again. And then he left her alone all morning, as usual. In fact, she didn’t see him once. The coffee was the only way she knew he was in the building. He beat her to work and gave her space, like he’d done every day for over a week. Bless him. And damn him.

  She pulled out her phone to read the text.

  I have a fight Friday night. If you want to come, I’ll hook you up with the other women.

  She smiled. As ridiculous as it seemed, she was actually intrigued by this side of him.

  She texted him back.

  Sounds fun.

  Really? You’re an unusual woman…

  She grinned again.

  I assume that’s what attracted you to me in the first place.

  Nope. It was totally your cooking.

  Now she laughed out loud. And right at the moment Marci walked by her desk. “Kayla? You feeling okay?”

  “Yeah, why?” She turned to face one of her only friends.

  “I’ve not seen you smile like that, let alone laugh, in the two years I’ve known you.” Marci leaned over the desk.

  Kayla couldn’t wipe the grin from her face. “Yeah, well.” She shrugged.

  “There’s a man.”

  Right at that moment Gage walked through the lobby, and Thor bounded around the corner to plant his paws in Kayla’s lap.

  Marci righted herself, her smile growing wider. “I see.” She walked away.

  Gage looked at Kayla, cocking his head to one side. “She sees what?”

  “Who knows?” Kayla lied, burying her face in dog fur. “You just texted me like two seconds ago.”

  He leaned his hip on her desk, smiling. “You’ll go? To the fight I mean?”

  “Of course.” She scratched Thor’s neck and lifted her face to Gage.

  “Will you accompany me to Extreme afterward?”

  “Sure.” She cocked her head to one side. “What’s this about?”

  “Like as my date? My submissive?”

  “Ah.” She smiled. “So, you’re claiming me. Is that it? You’re worried about me being okay with you claiming me in public?” She tried to look at him with humor, but inside she was nervous as hell. She’d agreed to date him, though. So, she assumed that would include trips to Extreme. And she was more than ready to see him again. If his plan had been to court her until she caved, it had worked.

  He glanced down at his thigh and picked at his black cargo pants. “Perhaps. I’d like that. But I wanted to make sure you were okay with it.”

  Kayla leaned back, her hand still buried in Thor’s fur. She spoke softly. “I’m good.” And she smiled. It actually felt genuine. For the first time in years, she smiled without forcing it and knowing it would appear fake.

  Being at the club with Gage, as his date, his submissive, it felt right. It would be comfortable. She wasn’t sure how she could ever fully give herself to him, but as long as he was willing to keep things at her pace and not question her to death about the four years she wasn’t in Vegas, she was content.

  •●•

  The rest of the week flew by for Kayla. Gage slipped by her desk a few times a day and sent her several texts, but he didn’t pressure her, nor did he see her outside of work. That alone spoke volumes. He was a patient man. Was it still too fast? Perhaps, but nothing like what she’d experienced with the only other man she’d fallen for. Simon didn’t given her an inch from the moment she met him. Not to breathe or to think. He swooped in and took over her world without hesitation. Manipulated her.

  By Friday night, Kayla was a mess trying to get ready. Three women were picking her up, and she had run around her condo for an hour changing and changing again. What did a woman wear to a fight? And then how did that translate to the club after?

  It didn’t help that the stack of mail she’d picked up earlier clearly included the usual dreaded envelope she hated receiving. She’d stashed it under some junk mail and ignored it, not wanting to start the evening out on a sour note. Later.

  When the doorbell rang, she was completely flustered. She opened it with a smile, but her hands were shaking and sweaty.

  “Hi.” The first woman stuck out a hand. “I’m Jenna.” Her long dark hair and big green eyes were striking. She wasn’t much taller than Kayla, but she carried herself as though she were, with confidence and spunk. She motioned first to the woman next to her. “This is Katy.”

  Katy reached out her hand. “Nice to meet you.” Katy was darker complected with deep brown eyes and unruly brown curls that escaped around her face from a barrette.

  The third woman spoke from Katy’s other side. “And I’m Emily.” Emily had blonde curls a shade darker than Kayla’s. And she was the shortest of the bunch.

  Kayla stepped back. “Come in.” She held the door wider until they were all inside as she assessed what they were wearing and then glanced down at her own clothes. “Maybe I’m overdressed?”

  Jenna spoke. “Heavens no. You’ll see every sort of clothing at these things. That jean skirt is perfect. Don’t change a thing.”

  The other three wore jeans and cute tops. Kayla felt a little overdressed next to them. “You’re sure?”

  “Yep.” Katy nodded. “We should have thought to call you earlier. Gage gave us your address, but not your phone number. I’ve been so busy this week, I dropped the ball on that one. Sorry. But you look fantastic. We usually take a bag of stuff to change into after the fights if we’re going to the club, which is what tends to happen on Friday nights when there’s a fight.”

  “Good. I was going to ask that. I’m sure I’ve seen all three of you there on occasion, and never dressed in jeans.” Kayla turned toward the stairs. “Give me a sec to get my stuff. I’ll be right down.” She took the stairs two at a time, grabbed the items she would wear later, and tucked everything into a pink shoulder bag. Lastly, she slipped her feet into black heels that could easily be worn all evening and headed back down the stairs.

  The woman were all smiling. “You look perfect,” Emily said. “And I’m so glad Gage is finally dating. Now we can double date, and he won’t be hanging around like a third wheel.” Her voice was jovial and sweet, and she put Kayla at ease.

  “So, what are these fights like? Exciting?” Kayla asked as she let them all out the front door.

  Emily responded with a yes at the same moment Katy and Jenna both gave a resounding no. All three giggled.

  Emily grabbed Kayla’s arm as they walked toward the car. “We might be in disagreement. You’ll have to make up your own mind. I love the fights. I think it’s exhilarating watching my man pummel some poor guy to the ground.”

  Katy turned back to look over her shoulder. “It sucks royally when the other guy wins, though. And then there’s the blood and…just…ooh.” She shivered as she spoke.

  Jenna laughed. “Not a huge fan either. But the boys love it, and Katy and I make an appearance now and then to be supportive. To each his own. These things are crowded and loud and smelly.” She curled up her nose. “But we do have a great night at Extreme afterward. Almost always.”

  “Except when they lose,” Kayla added, assuming that was the determining factor.

  Emily shrugged. “Depends. Sometimes even then. None of The Fight Club lose often, but it happens.”

  The drive to the arena took about ten minutes. Katy drove, her shiny red Honda making Kayla glad her car was in the garage so no one could see it. It was old. There was no doubt about that. But it worked, now that it had a fu
nctional battery, and it was all she could afford if she was going to save her money to go back to school.

  It was absurd for her to compare herself with anyone. But she knew these women all had college degrees and good jobs. She wanted that for herself. And she would have it too. The damnable detour her life had taken shaved years off her life, literally, but she was back on track and fully intended to pull herself together.

  The girls were right about one thing. The noise level in the arena was impressive. It hit Kayla head-on as soon as they opened the door. And it was crowded, like shoulder-to-shoulder crowded. There was no way to communicate over the shouting when they first entered, but luckily Emily grabbed Kayla’s hand and led her through the throng to some unknown destination.

  As soon as they got to a place where Kayla could see the stage, her eyes bugged out. Two huge men fought each other, sweat pouring off their bodies. One had a swollen eye with a crack in the corner that bled. No matter what she expected to see, nor how many things she’d seen on television, this live, in-person pandemonium was shocking.

  “Is it always this crowded?” She leaned close to Emily’s ear to be heard and nearly shouted.

  Emily shook her head. “Not always. This is a bigger fight tonight. There are a few important names here and a demo at the end of some professionals.”

  “So these guys aren’t all professional?”

  “No, none of The Fight Club guys are. They’re all amateur.” Emily’s lips brushed over Kayla’s ear as she yelled. It was the only way to be heard.

  They kept walking. Finally Jenna, who led the group, stopped several yards from one corner of the stage, or whatever it was called.

  Kayla watched intently.

  Katy angled to her side and spoke into her other ear. “The fenced area is called the cage.”

  “Cage. Got it.”

  “This is a higher weight class just finishing. Then we’ll move on to the middleweights. All of The Fight Club are middleweight.”

  Kayla nodded.

  Katy stopped talking while the announcer bellowed several things through the microphone. Then she continued. “When it’s their turn, they’ll come to this corner between rounds.”

  Ah, so that was why they’d chosen this location.

  “Not that we’ll be close enough to say anything, but if you like to watch sweaty men get their brow wiped down, this is the place to be.” Katy giggled. “There are worse things, I suppose.”

  Katy’s obvious distaste was comical. She curled her nose up repeatedly, but she still seemed to be supportive and present for Rafe.

  Jenna leaned closer. “I think Gage is actually up first in their weight class, so that won’t be too long.”

  Kayla grew nervous as she watched two more fights. She slowly picked up on the jargon by listening to the announcer. By the time Gage stepped into the cage, she had at least a modicum of knowledge about the sport.

  She was not, however, prepared to see his bare chest for the first time. How the hell had she not seen him without a shirt on for so long? Not even at the club. He always wore some sort of black shirt, either a polo or a T-shirt that stretched across his expansive pecs so perfectly she almost drooled. But this…this was unexpected.

  The most elaborately designed tattoo circled both his biceps, something geometric. Above the design on his right biceps was an inscription. And another one rested on the left side of his abs. She couldn’t read the words clearly from where she stood, but she fully intended to get a much better visual in the near future.

  And then he turned around. One shoulder blade sported a beautiful red, white, and blue fallen soldier tattoo with a boot, a helmet, a rifle, and a flag.

  Kayla swallowed back the burn in her throat that told her some members of his team had not returned from combat. Not that she hadn’t imagined this to be the case, but with the proof staring her in the face, she felt his loss deep in her gut.

  She flinched when the announcer called Gage’s name. “And now for the first of the middleweight contenders. In the blue, weighing in at one hundred eighty-two pounds, we have Gage ‘The Ranger’ Holland…” He continued listing Gage’s accomplishments as well as those of his opponent.

  Kayla pulled from her reverie and found herself inching forward, trying to get closer. She watched Gage bounce around in his corner, his back to her. She didn’t think he’d seen her, but that was probably just as well since she felt kind of foolish, like some sort of groupie.

  When the bell rang and the fight started, Kayla flinched. The opponent swung fast, knocking Gage to one side with a hit to the side of his head. She must have screamed, or growled.

  Emily giggled in her ear. “He’s okay. It’s normal. Gage takes a while to get in the groove. He likes to let the other guy throw a few punches first so he can learn his style. He’ll get a handle on it in a minute.”

  After a few more punches and kicks that did no real harm, Gage swept his foot out and knocked his opponent to the ground.

  Kayla jumped so she could see better, as illogical as that was since it lasted less than a second. She found herself pushing through the crowd until she came within a few feet of the stage. There were chairs, but no one was sitting in them. She found Gage on the ground wrestling the other guy as though trying to pin him.

  Emily must have made her way to the front in Kayla’s wake. She was right next to her in a heartbeat, her hand on Kayla’s arm. “That’s called a takedown. He’ll try to get the other guy to a point where he either can’t get up or the referee calls it.”

  Whatever it was, it was intense. Gage was on top of the other man, straddling his body. The guy was bucking against Gage and defending his face against the blows. Suddenly he twisted to one side and managed to throw Gage off. In seconds, they were both standing once again, circling each other. They each threw several punches and kicks. When Gage grabbed the guy around the neck and fought to take him down again, Kayla fisted her hands together in front of her. The entire thing was exhilarating. She felt the stress as though she were actually in the ring.

  “That’s a clinch hold,” Emily explained.

  And then the bell sounded, and Kayla watched as the two men separated. Gage turned and headed in her direction, but she didn’t think he saw her. When he reached the corner, a man wiped his face and squirted water into his mouth.

  “That’s Byron. The cornerman. He works with all the guys.”

  Kayla nodded.

  “They fight for three five-minute rounds with one-minute breaks.”

  “How do they win?”

  “Either one guy knocks the other one out, the ref calls it, or the losing man taps out. If none of those things happen, the referees judge based on some enormous point system I haven’t managed to understand, but it’s usually obvious who has had the most takedowns, holds, jabs, all of that.”

  The bell sounded again, and both men bounced on their feet toward the center, circling each other in a sort of dance.

  Kayla held her breath as Gage kicked his opponent high, across the stomach. The guy barely flinched, not surprising since they both had abs made of steel. “God, is there anything they can’t do?”

  Emily nodded against Kayla’s shoulder. “Yep. No eye gouging. No punches to the groin. Certain strikes to the head and kidneys aren’t allowed. There’s a long list, believe it or not. It always looks like anything goes when watching, but not really.”

  Kayla stood rigid as she watched Gage throw a right hook that knocked his opponent back several steps. He followed it with several left punches to the guy’s chest and arm. And then Gage circled the man while he was trying to get control and wrapped one arm around his neck in a tight grip from behind.

  “That’s a choke hold. Gage is good at it. He’ll take the guy down to the ground in no time.” Emily clapped. “Go, Gage,” she yelled. She really was the only one out of the women who found this invigorating.

  Sure enough, within seconds Gage had his opponent on the ground and then slid over his chest, complet
ely in control. After incapacitating the man, the referee stopped the match.

  The booming voice came through the speakers again. “And the winner of this first middleweight match is Gage ‘The Ranger’ Holland.”

  Gage bounced into the middle of the ring and waved at the crowd.

  Kayla was shocked when he turned to face her, waved, and winked. She had no idea he’d known if she was even there, let alone where she was standing. Next, he disappeared at the gate on the other side of the cage.

  Jenna stepped up behind Kayla. “Mason is next. Think I’m gonna be sick.”

  Kayla twisted to see her expression and knew she was sort of kidding. “That was awesome. You don’t think so?”

  “Ugh. Not so much. But I’m here. I try my best to put on a brave face.”

  “Where did Gage go?” Kayla asked.

  “Locker room,” Katy said. “He’ll probably come out here in a while since he was the first of the guys. Usually we go hunt them down, but it’s early.”

  Kayla watched the next match while Jenna held her breath and sometimes put a hand in front of her face to peek through her fingers. Mason was also a strong fighter. In fact they called him “The Bullfighter.” He fought all three rounds, but he won.

  The next two contenders weren’t anyone the women knew, so they relaxed a bit. It was hard to talk over the noise, but in between shouts of encouragement and boos of disappointment, Jenna told Kayla about the floral shop she owned. Kayla also learned more about Katy, the lawyer, and Emily, a high school librarian. They all seemed to know already that Kayla worked with Gage at the police station.

  When the next match started, a hand landed on the small of Kayla’s back, followed by a chin on her shoulder from behind. “What’d you think?”

  She twisted to find Gage’s face an inch from hers. Immediately every part of her body went on alert. He smelled fantastic, like soap and shampoo and Gage. His hair was wet and dripped onto her shoulder. He wore his usual black jeans and tee. “Loved it.” She smiled. “And congratulations.”

  “Really?” He glanced at the other women.

  Emily giggled. “She did. Thank God. Now I have someone on my side,” she teased, hip-bumping Katy next to her. She twisted to the ring as they called the next fighters, including her man, Rider “The Enforcer” Henderson.