“You good?” He kisses my shoulder.
“So good.” There are literally no other words in my brain.
“Me too.” He wraps his arms around me. Even though he’s still inside me, I have no desire for him to move. “I don’t want to say goodbye.” His breath tickles my ear as he speaks. “Will you come over to my place for dinner? My chef will already be preparing something.”
I snort. Hischef. I shouldn’t be surprised. Karson had someone else to cook for him too. I don’t want Leo to take my amusement the wrong way though, so I hasten to add, “That sounds wonderful.”
And it does. It makes me wonder whether what’s happening between us could lead to something real. It feels life-changing in a good way.
A flash of premonition runs through me and I shiver. It never pays to be too optimistic. I need to remember things have a habit of crashing down. And when the crash comes, I’m not sure I’ll be left standing.
8
Leo
After a few weeks of dating Camile, I’m beginning to understand why the men at Crown MMA Gym seem so happy all the damn time. There’s something magical about having a person who wants to hear what happened during my day and snuggle with me on the sofa when I’m tired. Someone to troubleshoot problems with. But my favorite thing is talking about the future. Things like her plans for her designs, which are coming together beautifully, and what I’d like to do after fighting—because let’s be real, I’m thirty and won’t be able to be a professional fighter forever. I’ve amassed a small fortune in winnings and sponsorships, which has been invested by someone who knows far more about money than I do, but I don’t want to sit back and live off that.
The obvious choice would be to become a coach or a manager, but I don’t have the patience for politics. I enjoy MMA, but there’s more to me than being an athlete. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting up a community martial arts program for inner city youth. I know my new teammate, Jase Rawlins, has some experience in that area, and I’m sure he’d give me pointers if I asked. I want to do something that makes a difference and proves I’m a better man than my father.
“We’re here,” Camile announces as we pull up outside a networking event hosted by one of my sponsors. It’s a yearly opportunity for people to brag about how important they are. I’m contractually required to attend. Considering everything my sponsor has done for me, showing up isn’t a hardship. Especially when I get to spend the night with my girl.
I draw her close and press a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re stunning.”
She’s wearing one of the dresses from her new line. It’s light purple and brings out the roses in her cheeks. When I look at her, I can hardly breathe because of the way she glows from the inside. It has nothing to do with the dress, nice as it may be. It’s all her.
I get out and open the door for Camile, placing a hand on her elbow to help her out of the car. I keep it there while we enter the building. Cameras flash and someone calls my name, but I ignore them. I’m not the biggest celebrity here tonight, so the media won’t make too much fuss if they don’t get anything printable from me. The moment we enter, Jase’s girlfriend, Lena, appears in front of us, her flame-red hair piled elegantly atop her head.
She offers Camile her phone. “Have you seen this?”
Camile scans the screen, her brows knitting together. While the two women aren’t exactly friends, they’ve come to an understanding. Lena is trying not to hold Karson’s general assholery against Camile, while Camile has apologized for not noticing the way her brother treated Lena when they were dating.
Camile giggles. “Smitten?”
Lena shrugs. “Well, you two are pretty adorable.”
What are they talking about?
I hold out my hand to Camile. “Let me see.”
She passes the phone. It’s open to a web browser with a tabloid headline entitled “Smitten Kitten: Leo ‘The Lion’ Delaney Tamed by Love?”. I scowl as I read the first few lines.
Professional fighter Leo “The Lion” Delaney, a notoriously slippery bachelor, has been sighted several times with a mystery woman. The curvy bombshell seems to have wrapped Delaney around her finger. Has the lion finally been tamed? Read on for more.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t they have anything better to do?”
Lena gives me a look. As a public relations specialist, she knows exactly how much people care about the personal lives of their favorite celebrities and pseudo-celebrities. “At least they haven’t tried to dig up any dirt on you.”
I nod in acknowledgment. She’s right. I should be pleased most media outlets—reputable or not—seem to look on me favorably. The same can’t be said for Jase, who’d been in the middle of a media shitstorm when he and Lena met.
“I think it’s cute,” Cami says.
“Of course you do. They call you a bombshell. That’s much better than a fucking kitten.” There is no heat in my words. Honestly, I’m relieved no one has insinuated our relationship gives me another potential connection to Karson and the drug scandal.
Camile pings, and Lena and I both stare at her. She’s not carrying a purse and, as far as I can see, isn’t holding anything. “Oh, sorry.” She colors, and reaches into the folds of her dress, then extracts her phone. “It’s just an email.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Lena holds up her hands, her tone incredulous. “That dress has pockets?”
“Um, yeah.” Camile smooths the fabric to show her a subtle split in the seam, where she’s concealed a pocket large enough for a phone and maybe a couple of other items.
