“Only two, but only the last one counts against his official record.”
She shrugged. “Sounds washed up to me.”
“Don’t say that,” I replied, feeling strangely defensive of Luke. “He’s a hothead and his grappling sucks, to be honest, but he’s not done.”
“How do you know?”
Shaking my head, I let out a breath. “The man’s got a chip on his shoulder. He lost his head trainer two years ago and has had a hard time since. They were together since his debut.” My heartstrings tug, thinking about what Luke must be feeling after the loss. I can only speculate, but they seemed close.
“I’ll take your word for it,” Tanisha said.
“Do that,” I replied before taking the final bite of my pastry. I closed my eyes and whimpered, willing myself not to go back and get another. “These are so damn good. That’s the second time I’ve had one this month. Time to cut myself off.”
Tanisha sucked her teeth and waved me off. “Girl, as much as you work out, why are you even stressing about a little pastry?”
“Easy for you to say, Miss. Can Eat Whatever She Wants and Not Gain Weight. Even with a five day a week gym habit, it’s a struggle for me to remain in these size twelve clothes.”
“Whatever,” she says, rising from her seat. “You want to complain about all that thickness, give me some. God was rude as hell when he was giving out ass and thighs the day I was born.”
I laughed at my friend. “Aww, Nish… lil’ booties matter too,” I joked.
“If we weren’t at work, I’d curse you out. Let me go to my office. I have a call to make before our conference call.”
I nodded and took a sip of my coffee before turning to my desktop to open up my emails. Checking the clock, I noted we still had another twenty minutes before our meeting with the NFA team who’d been working on our contract. I went over all the notes I’d prepared, the contract they’d sent over, as well as printouts of the latest emails that’d been sent between the NFA, Tanisha, and myself to have everything at my disposal during this meeting.
By the time that was finished, I still had another ten minutes to kill. Somehow, I found myself pulling up the website to the main sports news outlet and looking up articles and write ups on the previous night’s NFA fights. The results of the fight between Luke McConnell and Ronaldo Lee Caldwell had made the front page.
Many of the reports implied he was washed up, same as Tanisha had. I knew better. McConnell wasn’t washed up. He needed the right people in his corner, the right trainer, and I was the woman for the job.
Chapter 4
You Got the Job
Syd
I woke up in an extremely good mood. The day before Tanisha and I sealed the deal with the NFA, ensuring yet another long-term revenue stream for our company. I was certain I had the answer to Luke McConnell’s problems. I only had to convince him of it. Lucky for me, I was great at talking and negotiating.
Pushing the sky-blue bed linens off of my body, I peered at the clock, noting it was five twenty-six am.
“Perfect,” I murmured to myself, standing from my canopy bed and reaching my arms overhead for my first stretch of the morning. Moaning, I flexed the muscles of my neck and back one way and then the other, waking my body up and preparing it for the workout I was about to put it through.
While brushing my teeth and then changing into my workout clothes, I strategized how I wanted to approach McConnell that morning. I seriously doubted he’d taken a look at the resumé I left the day before. Though, that might be a good thing. Admittedly, I didn’t have much experience in training other fighters at his level, but I meant what I said about making up for my lack of experience in hustle and creativity. Plus, Luke needed someone and something outside of the box.
I contemplated all of this while driving the five minutes to the gym right up the block from my house. I took my usual sixty-minute body pump class, and then headed back home to get ready for the day. This time, I didn’t skip breakfast since, if all went according to plan, I’d have a few hours at Luke’s going over my training strategy with him. I was hoping to at least finagle my way into a tryout session with him. Then I could demonstrate what I knew about his sport, training, and specifically what his needs were.
By the time I finished dressing in a pair of black dress pants that stopped just above the ankle, fully displaying the mauve colored stilettos that matched the short sleeved, satin top I’d tucked into my pants, I was ready. Giving myself one final look over, I grabbed my black handbag that carried my work laptop, tablet, planners and other important files I needed and headed out to my garage.
Piling all of my belongings into the backseat of my Porsche SUV, I then got into the driver’s seat and pulled out, heading in the direction of Peak Performance Martial Arts, Luke’s gym. The same one he owned and trained at. The gym was about a thirty-minute drive from my place, especially with this southern California traffic.
I pulled into the back of the strip mall where the gym was located, and got out, walking around the front. A few minutes later, I spotted Luke approaching the front door to unlock it. Rushing to nearly a run but making sure I remained as quiet as possible, I closed in on him.
“Hey.”
Quickly, I jumped back as Luke spun around, fists in the air.
Folding my arms across my chest, I smirked. “Good. Quick reflexes. All’s not lost with you.”
He narrowed his dark syrup eyes. A frown marred his face, evident even underneath that thick brunette beard of his.
