“And your answer was to teach Jacob a lesson not to rat you out for talking to Greg about trying to change teams?”
Mouse stared past him, glowering. The lid on his pot was going to blow. The question was, how and where? If Quin suspended Mouse, it hurt him and the gym. He’d do it if he had to, because the quality of his fighters both in the ring and out was important to him. It had been a point of contention between Greg and Quin before he’d quit.
“Mouse, you do something like this again, and I’m suspending your ass for a month or more. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Coach.” Mouse growled his response, but the tenseness in his shoulders eased.
Quin crossed his arms, not quite done. “Since you want to teach Jacob so bad, I’ll let you. For the next six weeks you’re expected to give Jacob one-on-one time, outside of your normal training, three times a week, when I’m here. I no longer trust you. You’re going on a month-long probation, and your personal training sessions will be monitored, do you understand? I cannot lose Jacob or customers because of your mouth and hot head.”
Mouse’s eyes widened, his jaw slack with shock. Besides his time spent fighting, he was a damn good personal trainer and made his side money by showing guys how to bulk up and women how to slim down. He ate, breathed and slept the gym. Limiting his hours hurt him where it counted—his fighting and his cash.
“Mouse? Do you understand?”
“Yes, Coach,” he mumbled.
“Okay, get out of here. I expect you to apologize to Jacob later.”
Mouse scrambled for the door and was gone. Quin shook his head and sank down in the vacated chair.
“Did you want something else from me, Coach?” Jacob asked.
Quin rubbed his shoulder where Kellie’s nails had scratched lines in his skin the night before. “Yeah. Look, I’m not asking you to be a snitch, but is that all that happened? Has this thing been going on behind my back?”
“You mean the fighting? Or the racism?”
He winced. “Both.”
“This was the first time. It hasn’t been an issue. Mouse was pissed, I get that.”
“It doesn’t make what he did right.”
Jacob didn’t deny it. His serene exterior wasn’t diminished by having only one good eye.
Quin leaned against the armrest. “Think you can handle working with Mouse?”
Jacob’s chin lifted a hair. There was a moment before he nodded. “He’s ticked off, but when he’s in the octagon he’s professional. Working with him will make me a better fighter.”
Hell, that was what the octagon was designed to do. Level the playing field by providing no real corners and plenty of space for two people to go toe to toe. It embraced the down and dirty reality of fighting in a way no other sport did. And he loved it.
“That’s what I’m thinking. If you have problems, don’t hesitate to come to me. Is anything else going on I should know about?”
“No sir.”
“All right, go put some ice on that eye and take the day off. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Unlike Mouse, who had bolted from the room, Jacob stood and exited with dignity. He hesitated in the doorway. “Coach?”
“Yeah?”
“Have you seen Kellie lately?”
“Is this your turn to lecture me?” Quin glanced over his shoulder.
“Just asking a question. See you later, Coach.”
Quin pushed to his feet, circled the desk and dropped into his chair. The grinning face of his daughter stared back at him. On a whim, he’d printed her picture out and brought it to work. When Penny and Chad got back, there were going to be some uncomfortable conversations. Penny wanted him to drop his job and everything to play with dolls and have tea time. He couldn’t do that and provide a college fund.
The cell phone on his desk vibrated and the screen flashed a dark, grainy picture. Smaller, pale blobs of gray formed the chin, cheeks and forehead of a face, but the features were lost to the darkness.
He snatched the phone and answered the call, a smile already tugging at his mouth. “Hello?”
Muffled scuffling and the distant murmur of voices were all that answered.
“Kellie? You there?”
The voices became more distinct, but too distant to make out.
“Um, hello?” Kellie replied.
Quin leaned back in his chair, a different kind of smile on his face. “Hey, did you need something?”
“No, sorry. I sat down and I must have butt dialed you.”
“That’s okay. I meant to call you later today. I take it you made it home okay?”
“Yeah, it was right where I left it.”
He chuckled and they lapsed into silence. He didn’t want to hang up yet, but neither did he have anything to talk about. He couldn’t mention the gym or his problems with Penny. He wasn’t ready to impart that part of his life to her. But they hadn’t spent enough time together last night and he was hungry for her. She interested him.
“It’s still pretty early. What are you doing up? I didn’t think the shop opened until noon,” he said when it didn’t appear she was going to speak.
“It doesn’t.” She sighed into the phone. He could picture her bent over, one elbow on her knee and rubbing her face. She sounded tired, but then again, so was he. “Another of the girls and I went by to visit Carly in the hospital.”
“The girl who got the tattoo?”
“Yeah, she’s a trooper, but it’s not looking good. I hate the hospital. This place gives me the creeps. It’s like a big warning for what’s going to come next, you know?”
His grip on the phone tightened. He didn’t like hospitals either. He’d spent too much time in them. “Yeah, that sucks.”
“Anyway, sorry for bothering you.”
“Please, bother me. If you don’t, then I have to work, and I’d rather talk to you.” Or he’d go give Greg a piece of his mind and that would make matters worse.
Kellie snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m heading out of here in a few. I have appointments starting at noon. What’s your week look like?”
He glanced at his calendar. “Not a lot. Some family stuff Tuesday, work, that’s about it.”
“You should come in on Thursday if you have some time and let me do more on the tattoo.”
He rubbed his palms on the armrest. “That sounds good. And hey, call me if you need anything else. Or want to.”
Clouds—This element is often part of the background in traditional tattoos, but they offer their own symbolism, melding the elements air and water, which represent balance in their relationship. Individually, the elements represent the mind and emotion.
Mondays were supposed to be easy days. Kellie collapsed onto the couch in the office and massaged her temples.
“
Aye
, Kellie,” Mary called from the front of the shop.
Kellie cradled her head in her hands and wished for a pause button. Mary’s heels clicked on the concrete as she headed toward the office. Each
tap
,
tap
,
tap
might as well have been a hammer against her skull.
“They have the plumber next door finally. We should get the water turned back on soon. Something wrong?”
Kellie flopped back onto the cushions and ticked off all the things wrong on her fingers. “Headache. This day is fucked. Autumn still hasn’t returned my calls.” And no matter what they were doing next door, there was bound to be some cost to them. They were in the black, but not by a lot.
Mary perched on the armrest and arched a brow. “All this I know, but the grouchiness isn’t new.” She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. “Is this about the gym?”
Yet another weighty topic Kellie didn’t want to touch. Shin was still trying to get her onboard with his crazy plan to buy the gym, give him the money to buy it or even marry him, and she was not about to buy a ticket. “No. I don’t know what’s going on there.” She hadn’t talked about the gym or Grandma’s deteriorating condition to many people. Mary and Pandora were the top ones on her list, and even then it wasn’t something they chatted about often. “Grandma’s getting worse.”
Mary went very still.
“I don’t know what to do.”
“
Aye
, that’s not easy,
mija
.” Mary sank down next to her.
“I can’t put her in a home. I just can’t. It’s not right. You should take care of your family, you know?”
Mary sighed and mirrored her elbows-on-the-knees pose. If there was anyone who understood sacrificing for family, it was Mary.
“Do you need to work less hours?”
No, she just needed a shoulder to lean against and some time to herself.
“I can’t afford to do that. How would I pay for Grandma’s healthcare?” Moments like these, when Kellie allowed herself to contemplate the hole she was digging for herself financially, she wanted to curl up and throw in the towel. It was too much for one person, but there was no one else.
“We could work something out.”
“No, we can’t. We’re barely back on our feet, but without Autumn, we’re limping along. That guy this morning, the girl that keeps coming in here and all of her other appointments are killing me. Hardly any of them want to consider going with someone else, and it’s not like I can give them a date when she’ll be back.”
“Maybe we need to fire her. It’s not personal, it’s business. And she’s not been to work for how long? Two weeks?”
“I’d hate to do that to her.” That and finding someone who fit the niche Autumn filled, someone who also worked well in their dynamic, would be difficult.
“Me too. But you can’t get paid for doing no work.”
Kellie turned to look at her friend. They were so dissimilar, and yet they got each other. “This blows.”
Mary nodded.
“Is it too early to take lunch?”
“Pandora should be here any minute and the plumber is next door working on the broken pipe. Take off. You deserve it.”
She wasn’t really hungry, but she wanted to get away from the shop, and going home didn’t appeal. Restless fingers crawled under her skin and she bobbed her knee while chewing her lip. If it weren’t for the shop, she and Mary could both go out and relax, but with the combined duties of ownership, they hardly ever got to go out together anymore.
“Fine, I’ll be back in a bit. If you need me, call me.”
Armed with her purse, keys and sunglasses, Kellie exited the back door and jumped in her Cube. The air inside the car was stifling. She’d forgotten to crack her windows in her haste to get inside the shop that morning. Rolling down the window, she let the car sit for a minute while she decided exactly what she was going to do with her lunch break.
Truth was, she didn’t want to be alone, but neither did she want to wade through a lunch with someone who would ask her well-meaning questions she didn’t want to answer. Even if she just went home for lunch, Shin would probably end up on her doorstep, ranting and raving about marriage. Again. Before she’d left for Chicago, he’d proposed a number of times, but there was no love involved. No passion. Just a misguided sense of duty to do what their parents wanted. After she’d returned to care for Grandma, he’d shunned her new sense of style and ideals. In recent years he’d warmed back up to her. But Kellie was no fool. She knew that all Shin saw when he looked at her was a fat bank account and a woman to be owned. But the economy had tanked and Grandma’s care only got more expensive. Her cushion was gone. She was not about to acquire a gold-digging husband.
That left one person. She slipped her phone into the cradle and clicked the call button.
“Call Quinton.”
She was already spending too much time thinking about him. But there was no denying the way she relaxed at the idea of a clandestine lunch date.
“Joe’s Bar and Grill.”
She glanced at the display with Quinton’s name in block letters. “Quin?”
The man on the line laughed. “Yeah, I’m just fooling you. What’s up, cupcake?”
“Cupcake?”
“You didn’t like me calling you doll.”
“Doll is better than cupcake, but you could just call me Kellie.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
She rolled her eyes, a smile teasing the corners of her lips. “Whatever. Do you have lunch plans?”
“Nope. Did you have something in mind?”
“Not really.”
“Why don’t I swing by and pick you up, and we’ll go from there.”
“Okay, I’m parked behind the building.”
“See you in a few, doll.”
He hung up before she could adequately roll her eyes at him.
* * * * *
Quin slowed the truck to a crawl and let out a wolf whistle. He couldn’t see Kellie’s eyes behind the sunglasses, but he could sense her glare. Her legs were on display in tiny jean shorts and a loose t-shirt disguised the porn star curves. Maybe it was dumb, but he liked that she called him to get some air with. Besides the sex, he enjoyed hanging out with her.
She leaned through the open passenger window and lifted her sunglasses. “Was that necessary?”
“Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Get in here.” He grinned, feeding off her exaggerated disgust. He was winning her over and the idea of her in his life had some curb appeal. She didn’t nag, didn’t smother and she didn’t do complicated. He could do easy. Hell, he’d do her right now if it weren’t for the lines bracketing her mouth. Something was wrong and he could respect her need to get out for a bit.
She made a show of shaking her head and sighing as she climbed into the passenger side seat. “Where are we going?”
“No clue. Any suggestions?”
“Not really, I just needed to get out of the shop for a bit.”
And she’d called him. He was cool with that. She might be anti-relationship right now, but he had a feeling he could win her over with his charm.
He merged into traffic, heading toward a cluster of fast-food places he’d seen on his drive over to the shop. Kellie didn’t say anything else and he didn’t press. If he didn’t have a training session starting at two, he’d have been content to pass the day like this. Instead, he turned into a Sonic carhop and parked at the end of a row.
“Is this okay?” He popped his seat belt and turned to face her.
“Yeah, I love the little chicken bite things and tater tots.”
“Sounds like the lady’s ready to order.” He rolled down his window, pressed the red button and waited for an attendant to take their order.
“Thanks for grabbing lunch with me.”
He glanced over his shoulder. “This is much better than what I would have had.”
The crackled voice of the attendant came over the loudspeaker and Quin rattled off their order. Satisfied, he rolled up the window and turned to Kellie. She’d set the ground rules for whatever it was they had going on. The cornerstone was sex. She hadn’t mentioned scratching an itch when she’d called. Not that he wasn’t up for it, but he didn’t like how she’d left his house early Sunday morning.
Since Penny, he’d pulled an about-face when it came to women. He’d loved and left a lot of them, but before Kellie he hadn’t thought about how he’d made those women feel. The few girlfriends he’d had between Penny and Kellie had been nice girls he’d have dinner with when he wasn’t training. There was sex, but nothing wild or passionate. They were the respectable type, and while he’d cared, he hadn’t felt too deeply when they left him for someone who paid them more attention. Kellie, on the other hand, had given him passion, feeling and a tiny taste of what it was like to be used and left, but at least she’d warned him that was how it would be. Some of the women he’d been with hadn’t had that.
“Do you want to talk about whatever is bothering you?”
Her brows rose and she slowly turned to stare at him. “Why do you think something is bothering me?”
“You have a lot of shit going on. I didn’t know if you wanted to talk about any of it.”
“Not really.”
He gripped the steering wheel with one hand. He needed to tell her why who he was mattered. He hadn’t liked the feeling of being used, though he’d been into it from the start. He shouldn’t keep the truth from her.
“How’s stuff at the shop going?”
“Our neighbor’s pipe burst this morning. I got a call at seven a.m. telling me I needed to come in and see if the water spread into our shop.”
“Did it?”
“No, but I think they’re going to dry the walls anyway.”
“Do you have to pay for it? Or will insurance?”
“Their insurance foots that bill, thank goodness. After the fire, I don’t think we could take another hit. How’s your week going?”
Mentally he scrambled to remember what he’d told her about his job. He’d been mostly honest, just left out the details. “Uh, good. Had a meltdown between two of the guys I’m training, but other than that things are going okay.”
“Where do you train at? I’m looking for a new place around here or where I live.”
His mouth went desert dry. There was no way to answer that and not let the cat out of the bag. He wanted to tell her. Needed to tell her. But not like this, backed into a corner with no way out.
Someone pounded on the window and he jumped. The carhop waited with their order in hand. Quin was a bit too cheerful about rolling his window down and accepting the paper bags of fried food and soft drinks. He paid for both of their meals and ignored Kellie leaning over to press a ten in his hand.
“I’m paying for lunch.” He handed her drink across the cab of the truck and adjusted the air conditioner.
“You paid for dinner the other night.” Her bangs and sunglasses hid most of her face, but her mouth was scrunched up into a little frown. He wanted to kiss for being so damn cute.
“And I owe you for my half of the hotel, so I figure we’re okay. I’m a guy, let me pay for shit.” He grinned and unwrapped his burger, setting up a little picnic table on the console between them.
“You don’t owe me.” Kellie pushed her sunglasses up and popped a tater tot in her mouth.
“Sure I do.”
“We never said we were splitting it.”
“You’re seriously going to argue about me paying for lunch?”
She glanced away, examining the brick wall in front of the truck. He didn’t understand women sometimes. They wanted a gentleman, and yet when he tried, he got slapped down. He shifted in his seat and bit into the burger. The banter of radio hosts filled the silence between them as they ate.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t be so bitchy.”
The apology soothed him and his complaint dissolved. He shrugged since his mouth was full of hot, greasy goodness.
“With all the crap going on with the shop, and Grandma, and Autumn and everything—I’m just grouchy.” She rubbed her nose and he noticed the dark purple circles under her eyes.
“It’s okay.”
“It isn’t, but thanks anyway.”
They settled into an easy silence, him scarfing his food down while she picked at hers. It didn’t go unnoticed that she was uninterested in lunch, though that was the reason she’d given for calling.
He crumpled the burger wrapper and tossed it into one of the two bags. Kellie sighed and closed the flap lid to the chicken she’d barely touched.
“Guess it’s time to head back to work,” she said as she put her leftovers in the other bag.
Quin lifted the console between them and popped her seat belt. “Not quite.”
He grabbed her thigh in one hand, wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her toward him, enough so that everything he needed was in easy reach.