Beast: An MMA Stepbrother Romance (9 page)

When I make it up to the PoodleMatch offices, it all looks a little more normal, although there are hearts that float across the walls every once in a while.

Caleb’s office is all the way on the far side of the office.  I step over workers with their laptops on the floor until I reach his door, and then I lightly knock.

The Caleb that answers the door is not the cold, distant Caleb of the last couple days.  As soon as he sees me, he wraps me up in a bear hug, lifts me off the ground, and carries me into his office.

“Caleb, you can’t just do that.  Everyone out there saw us!”

Caleb drops me down into a chair in front of his desk.  “Yeah, but no one cares.  This is Poodle; it’s one of the best places to work in the country.  Speaking of that, why do
you
want to work for Poodle?”

Caleb sits down in his chair, puts his feet up on his desk, and smiles at me.  He’s all dressed up again, looking ridiculously classy in some kind of insane designer suit.  “Well…uh…Poodle is…”

“I’m just kidding, sis, you’re hired.  Can you start right now?”

I can’t believe this is happening.  I’d be insanely happy if I weren’t so confused.  “Start doing what?  What’s my actual job?”

Caleb grins.  “My personal assistant.”

“Caleb!”

“Don’t worry, it’s a real fucking job.  Kind of.  Most of the people here are actually coding the app.  I’m one of the two co-managers, but I’m mostly in charge of shit like marketing and PR while Dylan, the other co-manager, handles the technical stuff.  No one else here cares about marketing and PR stuff, so I’ll just run my shit by you.  Your title will be like ‘assistant director of marketing’ or some shit.”

“Okay.”  I try to hide my excitement at getting to put “assistant director of marketing” on my resume before I’ve even started college. “What does that mean?”

Caleb throws his hands up.  “Well, most of the marketing is done.  So I guess when nothing else is going on, just walk around.  When people have a problem, you help them solve it.  You’re like a bridge between me and them.”

“Are the people working out there going to freak out when an eighteen-year-old girl walks right in and becomes one of their bosses?”

“Like I said, they’re probably too happy working at Poodle to care.  Besides, half of them aren’t even doing anything right now.  We’re ahead of schedule, so we’re just putting the finishing touches on the program and waiting for launch date.  Really, you can probably just hang out and play ping pong in the break room for the rest of the day.”

Caleb closes a laptop on his desk.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to go to the gym and train for my fight on Friday.  If you have any other questions, that’s where you’ll find me.”

I have hundreds of questions, but none that I particularly feel like asking Caleb, especially when he just set me up for such an easy job.  I shake my head, and Caleb gets up from his desk, giving me a hug as he passes.

“Welcome to the team.”

And just like that, he’s gone, leaving me all alone in his office.  What’s going on with him?  He’s been a cold noodle to me ever since we went to the beach, but he was super friendly just then.  He set me up with a ridiculously cushy job, and he barely even made any of his usual vulgar sex jokes.  I mean, I guess he did carry me into his office, but still.  If Caleb acted like that more often…well, it’d be even harder to stop thinking about getting into bed with him…

Concentrate, Emma.  Get to work.  There’s a binder on Caleb’s desk labeled “Marketing Initiatives,”  and that feels like as good a place to start as any.  I leaf through a couple of pages, and to my surprise, it’s full of advertising orders, gorgeous ad mockups for magazines, and a full schedule of marketing campaigns all the way up to launch day.  It’s pretty impressive stuff for a guy who just ditched work to go prepare for an MMA match.  I kind of figured that Caleb would be too…I don’t know…reckless to run a business, but if he’s really responsible for this folder…maybe he’s right about being able to get out from under the shadow of his Dad.

After leafing through a couple more pages, I close the binder and put it back on the desk, not because I’m bored with it, but because it’s making me rethink Caleb in dangerous ways.  After all, I’ve been trying to convince myself that Caleb isn’t my type, but if he can do this…there’s a chance that, under all those tattoos and muscles, he’s exactly my type.  And
that’s
terrifying.

Chapter 12:  Emma

The next couple hours go by slowly, but they’re not exactly boring.  I go around the office, introducing myself to the staff and telling them that I’ll be here if they need me.  Most of them seem like they can handle themselves just fine without me.  Over a game of ping pong, one particularly nice employee basically says the same thing Caleb said in my interview:  that PoodleMatch is mostly finished, and we’re just supposed to be getting ready to ship it.

With that in mind, it’s easier to get comfortable around the office.  I decide to head over to the salad bar in the break room and make myself a salad, but right as I’m drizzling on the balsamic vinaigrette, I hear a laptop slam shut behind me.  When I turn around again, I see a guy with black hair and thick, horn-rimmed glasses sitting on a couch with his face in his hands.  It’s Dylan, the other co-manager.

“No…no, no, no, no, no…”

I leave my salad at the bar and hurry over to him.  “Is something wrong?”

“I was just testing PoodleMatch, and it matched me with an air conditioning unit.  Then, without my permission, it used my credit card to make us reservations at a steakhouse.”

Dylan looks white as a sheet.

“That…sounds bad.”

“It’s
really
bad.  We need to get this down to QA
now
.”

“Umm…”  I look around the office, but everyone’s just looking at me.  “Sounds good.  If you email Caleb the QA email address, I’ll get on his computer and send this down to them.  Then I’ll go get Caleb and bring him back.”

Dylan shakes his head.  “He doesn’t need to come back.  There’s nothing we can do until this gets fixed.  Just find him and let him know, so he doesn’t do any marketing until we’ve gotten it working again.”

With a smile and a thumbs up, I walk into Caleb’s office, send an email down to QA, and hurry out to my car.

***

Why Caleb would want to train here when there are probably hundreds of state-of-the-art gyms in the area is beyond me.  The whole place is pretty much falling apart.  Luckily, I don’t need to look very far to find Caleb.  He’s in the ring in the very center of the room, throwing vicious-looking punches and kicks at the air. 

God, he’s wearing those shorts again.  And those gloves.  And his eyes are doing that intense blazing thing with the sparks that I keep seeing in my dreams.

Does this place have air conditioning?  It’s really hot in here…

“Come to watch the show?”  Caleb asks through gritted teeth, sweat beading down his neck.

“Uh…no…Dylan sent me.  There’s a problem with PoodleMatch, and he wants you to know not to do any marketing until it’s fixed.”

“Good.”  Caleb unleashes a roundhouse kick that looks like it could take somebody’s head off.  “More time to train.”

Great.  Mission accomplished.  Now I can go home.  After about ten more seconds of watching Caleb fight, I manage to get my legs to move towards the exit.  “Good luck at the fight!”

In a flash, Caleb is out of the ring, standing right in front of me and absolutely dripping with sweat.  Hello, stepbrother.

“You’re coming, right?”

Coming?  To the fight?  “Am I even allowed to come?”

“Of course.  Fighters get VIP front row seats.”

“Okay…it’s just…last time this guy tried to tell me I wasn’t allowed to be there.”

Caleb shakes his head.  “He was being an asshole.  I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

I can’t imagine what would happen if I came to another of Caleb’s fights.  I was starting to get wet watching him fight nobody up in that ring.  And I’d be in the same building as that locker room…

“Come on, it’ll be fun.  You can bring Gina.”

“I don’t know if Gina would want to go…”  That’s a lie.  Gina hasn’t met Caleb yet, but when she does, I’ll never hear the end of it.  She’d love to get me back into that locker room.

“Besides, I don’t want to hold you back.  Last time, you were staring at me and you almost…you know…”

Caleb smiles.  “Got punched in the cock?”

“Exactly.”

“At least think about it, then.  I want you in the front row, because other than this,” Caleb motions towards his side, “You actually helped me fight better.”

“Okay.  I’ll think about it.  And I’ll talk to Gina.  For now, though…I think I’ll let you get back to your workout.”

“You should stick around.  I could use someone to help me practice my holds.”

Yeah, sure.  Caleb rolling around on top of me in the ring.  That’ll end well.  Caleb knows it, too, judging by what’s happening down in his gym shorts.  “Thanks, but I’ve really got to go.”

I wave goodbye to Caleb, and then head straight for the gym exit, practically running by the time I get out of the car.  I needed to get out of there, because letting Caleb put me in a sexy submission hold was almost starting to sound like a good idea.

And my body still thinks it is.  While I’m hitting the gas and trying to get away from Caleb, it’s fantasizing about turning the car around, walking back into that gym, and letting Caleb put me in every single submission hold he knows.  We’ll have to take all our clothes off first, obviously, to prevent chafing.

After three miles of trying not to think about that little scenario, my phone gets a text.  It’s Caleb.

Friday night.  11 PM.  Same place as before.  Cleavage optional, but appreciated.

Looks like he’s back to normal.

Chapter 13:  Emma

It’s nice to see that nothing has changed at Sinners.  Everyone’s still committed to blurring the lines between dancing and sex with clothes on.

“I swear, if you’re making this up, I’m making you an online dating profile
tonight
.” 

Gina doesn’t believe that the MMA fighter I almost hooked up with last time we came here is also my new stepbrother.  She thinks this is like the time I told her I had a Canadian boyfriend when I was 15.

“Gina, why would I make up an excuse to go
back
to this place?”

“I don’t know.  All I know is that this isn’t going to be like last time.  I’m going to get you in bed with a guy if I have to tuck you in myself.”

“I’m not going to bed with Caleb, he’s my stepbrother!  I’m just here to root for him.”

Gina narrows her eyes at me.  “Very convenient.  I guess we’ll just have to find you a guy after the match.”

Technically, I brought this on myself by talking Gina’s ear off about the types of guys I wanted to date, only to get nervous and mess it up whenever I actually have a chance with one.  She thinks I’m some kind of mega-hottie who doesn’t know she’s hot, and she’s determined to prove it to me by setting me up with the hottest guy she can find.  I’m not too concerned about it, though.  I’m pretty sure Gina won’t be too worried about me getting laid tonight once she sees the arena in the back of this place.

I point over to the bar.  “Okay, but let’s worry about that after the fight.  Let’s just get some drinks and wait for Caleb’s manager.”

“Okay.”  Gina takes out her little bottle of rubbing alcohol and wipes her X off in one smooth motion.  I hold my hand out for the bottle, but instead of giving it to me, Gina grabs my wrist.

“Nice try, but not this time.  You’re not leaving my sight unless it’s with a boy.”

As Gina drizzles rubbing alcohol across the back of my hand, I look around the club for any sign of Caleb’s manager.  I agreed to come to Caleb’s fight on two conditions:  that I could bring Gina with me, and that someone he absolutely trusted could keep us out of danger.  He said he’d have Fox, his manager, come out and take care of us, and that he’d meet us in the club before the fight was supposed to start.

When a couple minutes pass with no sign of Fox, Gina drags me over to the bar and orders us both whiskey sours.  Gina sips hers like it’s lemonade, and even though I can barely get it down at first, I pretend like it’s nothing out of the ordinary.  Whiskey sour?  I have them all the time.  Experienced 21-year-old girl over here.

Even though I’m choking down my drink, I’m getting a lot fewer what-are-you-doing-here looks from the crowd than I was last time.  I think it might be because I went shopping this afternoon, looking for an outfit that wouldn’t immediately make me look out of place in that insane MMA arena.  I finally settled on a long black party dress that gets lacy at the bottom and shows off just enough cleavage to help Caleb win the fight.

For now, it seems like I’m fitting in pretty well.  I feel less like Alice in Wonderland and more like Cinderella.

That said, when a heavily pierced guy with long, orange and black hair puts his hand on my arm, I almost jump out of my seat.

“Are you Emma?”

I guess this is Fox.  That explains the hair.  I nod.

“Awesome.  The description Caleb gave of you…wasn’t very helpful.”

Gina drains the rest of her whiskey sour and spins her stool around.   “Did he just talk about how hot she was?”

“Gina!”

Fox laughs.  “Something like that.  I figured it was one of you two because neither of you have any tattoos.”

Gina sticks her tongue into the inside of her cheek.  “I have a tattoo.”

Fox shakes his head.  “It doesn’t count unless it’s visible.”

“I don’t think you can judge whether it counts or not unless you’ve actually seen it.”

I make progress on my whiskey sour as Fox and Gina flirt with each other.  Now that I’m about halfway done with it, it honestly doesn’t taste half bad.  The alcohol leaves a fire in my chest as it goes down.

“So is it true that there’s a huge arena in the back of this place?” 

Fox puts his finger up to Gina’s lips.  “Some people say that.  Personally, I wouldn’t know.”