“Okay, suit yourself. If you won’t fight me, there’s someone in line behind you who is willing to spar. Get out of the ring, Rocco,” she said. He looked behind himself to find some guy standing there, gloves on, waiting to take his turn. He didn’t look like he’d care too much about having to hit a woman. In fact, the guy looked like he was raring to go.
“He’s huge,” Rocco whispered to her.
“I have eyes,” Luna sassed, “I can see that for myself. If you won’t fight me, he will. I’m good with either of you, but I won’t just stand here. I need to blow off some steam, and hitting someone in the face does that for me.” Rocco looked over Luna’s tiny form, and seeing her out of her office attire of a sleek pant suit had him rethinking everything.
“Fine,” Rocco growled. There was no way that he’d break one of his rules to never hit a woman. He didn’t care if the woman wanted him to hit her—he just didn’t have it in him to do something like that.
“Fine, what?” Luna asked.
“Fine, I’ll let the big guy behind me pummel you into dust. How do you want me to get you home? Should I sweep you into a garbage bag or should I hunt down a box to transport you?” Now it was his turn to be a sarcastic ass, but he didn’t care. He stepped out of the ring and stood on the side, looking for any signs of distress on Luna’s beautiful face, but he saw none. She had only been hit a few times, but had landed quite a few blows to the big guy that she was sparing with. Rocco had to hand it to her—the woman had skills.
Luna
Luna was showing off a bit, but she couldn’t help herself. She was pissed that Rocco wouldn’t spar with her. She was used to guys at the gym turning her down, but for some reason, having Rocco tell her that he wouldn’t fight her just made her angry. So yeah, she was giving the big guy her best, even if she hurt like hell from the few blows that he had landed on her ribs.
For some reason, she loved boxing. Maybe it was the tomboy in her or the fact that she grew up with five brothers and her father. Her mom passed away when she was seven, and her father started treating her like one of the boys. She liked that he didn’t sugarcoat things for her. She loved that her brothers treated her like one of their own—sparing and fighting with her just like they had with each other. She had never been a girly girl, and even though Luna had nothing to prove, she still proved her self-worth every day to her brothers.
After she knocked out Van in the first two rounds, she stepped out of the ring and stood in front of Rocco. She knew that her smile was smug, but she just couldn’t help herself. “You still afraid that you’ll hurt me?” she asked.
“Not so much anymore,” he admitted. “In fact, I’m a little bit afraid of you, if I’m being honest.”
“Good,” she said, “you should be afraid of me.” Luna pulled her gloves off and tossed them into the ring. She had wanted to do what she was about to do for a damn long time now, and if she didn’t do it right now, she’d lose her nerve later.
Luna went up on her tiptoes and grabbed Rocco’s T-shirt with both of her hands, tugging him down to meet her partway. Before he could even protest, she sealed her lips over his. When she broke the kiss, they were both panting—for air, with need. But she could tell that he was just as turned on by the kiss as she was.
“What was that?” Rocco asked.
“That was me just testing the waters,” she admitted. He looked stunned, and she released his shirt so that he could back away from her, but he didn’t. “You’re going to need a new therapist,” she almost whispered.
“Why the hell would I want a new therapist?” Rocco questioned.
“Because I’m not allowed to date my clients,” she admitted. “And you’re going to pick me up on Friday, six sharp, to take me out to dinner. Technically, that will be our first date, and I can’t ethically continue to be your therapist.”
“Oh,” Rocco breathed. She liked the fact that she could both stun him and leave him speechless at the same time, but she had. “Um, Friday works for me,” he said.
“Great, I’ll text you my address. You can pick me up at my place,” she ordered. Her brothers liked to tell her how bossy she was, but she never cared. Most of the guys that she had dated over the years broke up with her for that same reason. But Rocco seemed to like her bossy, take-charge attitude. That worked for her because there was no way that she’d be able to change at this part of her life. It was who she was.
“See you Friday,” she said, walking past him to the ladies’ shower room. She was going to take a very cold shower after that steamy kiss, and then she was going to go home and close out Rocco’s paperwork to turn over to her colleague. The sooner, the better, since she planned on dating him in just three days. Her boss would need her to officially be off his case before she started dating Rocco, and she wasn’t going to take a chance that their Friday date wouldn’t happen. Luna was already counting down the minutes until he’d show up at her place to take her out.
Luna cut it close filing Rocco’s paperwork with her boss. Luckily, Gia understood and took Rocco’s case over herself. She knew that Rocco would be in good hands with Gia. Of course, she didn’t exactly tell her boss the whole story about why she needed to stop seeing Rocco. That would land her in hot water, and if their date didn’t go well, then there would be no reason to tell Gia. Still, Luna was playing a risky game, and she knew it.
She saw her last patient for the day and high-tailed it home to shower and change into the sexiest dress she could find in her closet. It was a black cocktail dress that she had worn to her company Christmas party last year, and it hugged her every curve perfectly. If that dress didn’t get Rocco’s attention, she didn’t know what would.
As soon as he walked into her office, she knew that there was something about him that she couldn’t shake. Hearing his story and helping him through some of his survivor’s guilt and fear of abandonment was heartbreaking, but she told herself that she was doing it to help her patient. It wasn’t until a few weeksago that she stopped kidding herself and admitted that she had developed feelings for Rocco.
The doorbell rang, and she quickly checked her makeup in the mirror by the front door. She counted to thirty, grabbed her purse, and opened the door to find Rocco standing on her porch. She had to hand it to the guy—it was six on the dot. She liked punctuality and guessed that he did too. Most veterans did since they were on a strict schedule most of their careers.
“Wow,” he breathed, looking her over. “You look incredible.” She gave him a little twirl and giggled.
“I guess it’s a bit different from the outfit that I was wearing at the gym,” she said.
“Yeah, but different in a good way. Plus, you’re not asking me to punch you, or anything, so that’s a plus too,” he joked. Luna knew that he had an issue with sparing with women, but she was still a little pissed that he blew her off so easily. He looked a bit worried that he had said something wrong, so she decided to have some fun.
“What makes you think that you’d actually be able to punch me, Rocco?” Luna asked, her hands on her hips as she stared him down.
“Um, I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” he assured. “I just meant that I’m happy that you’re not asking me to spar with you right now.”
She giggled and dropped her hands from her hips. “I know,” she breathed, “I was just giving you some shit.” He let out a breath, and she couldn’t help laughing again. She guessed that he was used to professional Luna, and from the look on his face, she was confusing the hell out of him right now. That worked for her because she liked to keep her dates on their toes.
