Chapter 2
Royce Sanders, head trainer for the Daniels Training Camp, gave his boss Jared Daniels a concerned look. They had been working late, going over the schedule for the upcoming week. Jared slammed the phone down hard, muttering under his breath.
“Is everything okay, Jared?”
“No,” Jared yelled, pointing a finger at him. “I blame you for all this drama. I may not have mentioned it to you, but I don’t like drama. If you hadn’t broken my little girl’s heart she would not have gone out with that playboy. She would be here safe and sound, and not standing in the shittiest part of town.”
Jared’s words made him wince with remorse, but he knew it was true so he stayed silent. He hated being reminded of his mistake with Jessy. He knew getting involved with his boss’s daughter would be trouble but he had done it anyway. He had tried to deny the strong attraction he felt for Jessy anytime she was around. His cock got hard as a rock whenever she was in the same room with him, but his brain turned to mush. A big pile of useless mush.
A moment of weakness after a few drinks ended up with them having sex in his living room. He had been so turned on he hadn’t even had the finesse to make it to his bedroom. He didn’t know if Jared knew how far his flirtation with Jessy went. Since he was still breathing, he hoped Jared didn’t know much. His boss may be in his fifties but he was in damn good shape. Plus, he really liked this job. After a back injury forced him to retire from the fighting circuit, he had felt lost and depressed. Then he met with Jared and had liked his business proposition. Now, training upcoming fighters gave him a purpose again and allowed him to still be involved in a sport he loved.
“I tried to apologize to her, Jared, but she is stubborn,” he said defensively. He knew the blame lay on his shoulders but he didn’t like the feeling. He never stopped her from flirting with him. In fact, he had soaked in her attention and participated right back. Jessy Daniels was a beautiful woman. What man wouldn’t want to flirt back with her?
“I noticed you two sniffing around each other for months and I stayed out of it. But you had to go and mess with those tramps that hang around waiting to hook up with any fighter, and you hurt my Jessy,” Jared yelled, his cheeks turning red.
He stopped his tirade and took a deep, calming breath. “Who’s still here? I may need backup.”
Royce stood up, not wanting to get into this sensitive discussion now. He had to fix things with Jessy first. “I’ll go with you, Jared. Sam and Blake are here. They wanted to practice in some peace and quiet.”
Jared grunted and Royce took that to be an agreement. He missed being on good terms with Jessy. It had been six weeks since that awful scene that ended their friendship. Now if she saw him, she looked at him as if he was a pile of dog shit she had just stepped on. He felt like it too. He missed the days when her beautiful green eyes had sparkled with joy and laughter. She was like a bright flame that burned when you got too close. But damn, the burn had been worth it just to be in her presence. She had a way of bringing him out of one of his dark moods. He got so caught up in the past sometimes and just wanted to stay there in self-pity, but Jessy never let him. Her upbeat personality always managed to make him feel good.
Jared collected Sam and Blake along with Royce, and they all piled up in his large black SUV. Jared sped off, not bothering to pay attention to things like speed-limit signs.
They made it to the store that was about a mile away from the gym in record time, and even if the police had tried to pull Jared over, Royce doubted he would have stopped. Jared loved his only daughter and was fiercely protective of her. This wasn’t the best of neighborhoods. It was ridden with criminal activity and gangs and now even Royce was feeling anxious, too.
He was sure that the only reason he was still alive after messing things up with Jessy was because they had a full schedule ahead of them. He would like to think Jessy had begged for her dad not to kill him but he wasn’t sure if that was true or not.
Royce spotted Jessy right away, leaning against the wall with two young-looking men talking to her. He didn’t care if they were just flirting with her or not, he felt a rush of possessiveness overwhelm him. He hated having such conflicting thoughts. He didn’t want to be tied down in a relationship but he didn’t want other men having her attention either. He was consumed with scary, deep thoughts about this woman, and maybe that was the problem. One night had done nothing to quench the desire between them. They might not speak to each other anymore but all it took was one glance of her long hair and he remembered how tightly he gripped it while thrusting into her welcoming body. When he let himself glance at her rounded ass, he regretted not paying attention to it that night. He foolishly thought he would get her out of his system. But it wasn’t turning out that way with Jessy.
When he got close he could see she didn’t look alarmed or worried. In fact she had a pleasant smile on her face, as if she had been strolling through the park on a Sunday afternoon. She looked behind the two young men and spotted the group walking toward her.
Her eyes widened with surprise then she looked resigned. She knew her dad well. “Oh boy, Dad, did you have to bring the cavalry?”
“Didn’t know if I’d find someone messing with my baby girl or not,” he warned the two young men who eyed the group with apprehension. They looked like they were only in their teens but still had a tough don’t-mess-with-me look. Royce knew that look well. He had perfected it before these two were ever born. Both young men had dark short hair and tanned complexions. They had visibly tensed when they noticed four extra-large men surround them. Royce just hoped they weren’t carrying a gun, as many young men in this neighborhood did.
“R
elax, Dad. I was just telling Chico and Gabe here that you have the best gym around.” She smiled, letting them know she wasn’t in danger from the young boys. “I showed them some of the moves you taught me and I think I impressed them, for a girl.”
Jared folded his arms across his chest. He might be in his early fifties, but he still worked out every day and looked fit. His salt-and-pepper eyebrows scrunched together. “Is that right.”
“Um, yeah. Jessy here was telling us we should check it out,” one boy admitted with a smile. He had dirt all over his jeans and Royce had a feeling he had been on the ground. He looked a little embarrassed.
The second boy laughed loudly. “She knocked Gabe on his ass in less than three seconds. I asked her to marry me and be my protection.”
Gabe didn’t like his friend announcing his humiliation. He pushed him hard. “Shut up, Chico. She caught me off guard, that’s all.”
Jessy patted Gabe on the arm and went to stand by her dad. Jessy linked her arm with her dad’s. “He is the best around, boys. You wanna learn from the best. He won several boxing heavyweight belts in his time and he knows all the good moves.”
Jared nodded and gave them a business card. “Yeah, if you’re interested in staying out of trouble and doing some working out, come and see me. But be warned. I don’t put up with bullshit.”
The boys nodded and went into the store to join their friends. Jessy walked over to her dad’s SUV and got in the front, leaving Royce no choice but to sit in the back with Sam and Blake. Jared turned it on and started driving back toward the gym. Jessy looked in the back, where Royce sat quietly with Blake, also known as “Rage,” and Sam, who was known as “Steele.” “Three guys is overkill, don’t ya think, Dad?” She sounded amused.
“Better to be prepared,” her dad answered seriously, not looking very happy with the whole situation. Royce could hear the anger in Jared’s voice and he felt sorry for Kyle Evans, but not too sorry.
“Give me Kyle’s address and we’ll go kick his ass instead.” Jared sounded serious, but Jessy rubbed her fist.
“I think I broke his nose. He said he was going to sue me,” Jessy said, not sounding too worried.