Ella took a sip of water from her bottle as she slowly calmed her breathing from the bag session. As she’d done for the last few days, her gaze sought out Lance even though she’d just left his side. It didn’t seem to matter how much time she spent with him, she couldn’t get enough of the man.
They’d created a nice little intimate bubble that she was enjoying and could get lost in. Other than when he was out on a call for his business, they were together. Night was her favorite time with him. They had fun in every possible position imaginable. Lance was a magnificent lover. There was never any rushing. It was like they had all the time in the world to enjoy each other.
They both knew that wasn’t the case. There’d come a time she’d be ready to go home and reclaim the life she’d left behind.
During the day, they met up to continue her training. He’d tried a couple more pad sessions with her, but each had ended the same. He tapped her. She froze.
It was frustrating to know that this was a man she completely trusted with her body and she still couldn’t get past this mind block. She had started to wonder if she needed to accept that she couldn’t prepare for being attacked. Maybe she overthought it because she knew she was going to be hit. She didn’t know. She just kept going back to the day she’d instinctively thwacked one of McNealy’s goons in the throat.
She hadn’t thought then. She’d just reacted. Not that she wanted to be put in a situation like that again to test her theory.
Either way, Lance had switched their training to more ground techniques. She was great on the ground. Even against him. Though she wasn’t sure if that had to do with his continued soreness. He tried to hide it, but he couldn’t. Not from her trained eye. She saw the stiffness of his movements, the grimaces. The night he’d fought three fights had taken its toll on him.
She worried about when the cousins would orchestrate another event. For some reason, they had their sights on Lance. She’d tried probing as to why, but Lance always brushed aside the topic. In the end, she let it go. Her time here was limited, and she didn’t want to spend it putting him on edge with questions. As long as he had time to heal before he fought again, then it wasn’t her business.
Thankfully, they’d only heard silence from the cousins.
Lance came jogging over to her, breaking into her thoughts. “I just got a call.”
She could hear the apology in his voice and immediately waved it away. “Go. I’ll work with Amber.”
“You’re the best,” he said and kissed her on the lips. As he sprinted past her, he slapped her on the ass.
Chuckling, her heart expanded as she watched him disappear into the locker room. She wished they could stay in their bubble forever, but that wasn’t realistic. Reality would come knocking soon. She just hoped it was a pleasant visit.
Chapter Nine
Reality had knocked. The news was bad.
Ella rushed through the packed warehouse, frantically searching for Lance. Fear for him gripped her throat. Two hours ago, she’d been given her next assignment with a warning she would be busier tonight because the format had changed. Questioning Ralph hadn’t given her any answers, just an annoyed stare.
Once she’d gotten to the warehouse, it hadn’t taken her long to realize what the new format was. A huge flyer had been tacked outside that screamed its intention.
A Last Man Standing event.
Multiple fights. One winner.
And Lance was on the damn card. Why hadn’t he told her? They’d spent so much time together over the last few days, he’d had ample opportunity. But he’d kept her completely in the dark about it. Had he even known or was he just as surprised by it as she’d been?
God, she couldn’t process how she’d feel if he’d known about this and hadn’t told her.
Finally, she spotted him standing off to the side with a few other fighters. She came up behind him and grabbed his arm. “Have you lost your mind?”
Lance cast a glance at the other men then sent a tight smile to her. “What’s the matter with you?”
“You cannot participate.”
He raised a brow at her. “The hell I can’t.”
“You’ve barely healed enough to go into the cage once, much less multiple times tonight.”
Jaw clenched, he firmly placed his hand on her lower back and ushered her into her room then slammed the door. “Don’t ever talk about my weaknesses in front of my opponents again.”
Okay, yeah, she probably shouldn’t have done that. “I’m sorry about that, but you can’t do this.”
“You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do.”
All right, if she had to pull out the big guns she would. “I can’t give you clearance to participate.”
Lance shoved his hands through his hair, making a frustrated noise. “Who do you think you are? You’re not my wife or my girlfriend—”
“No, I’m worse. I’m a doctor,” she interrupted, trying to brush aside the hurt his words caused. “This event is insane. You can’t be a part of it.”
“Do you have any clue what the prize is for the champion?”