The Fight for Love (Contemporary Romance) by Kate Goldman Read Free Book Online Page A

history.”
     
    Dalton closed his eyes and blissfully imagined how it would feel to hold all the possible titles in his weight class. He’d be the undisputed champion. He’d be on top of the world. When he opened his eyes he saw Lucie storming towards him. For a brief moment he thought perhaps he’d imagined her, that somehow thoughts of her had strayed from his dreams to his waking thoughts. But when Steve also looked over Dalton realized with a stab of panic that she was very much real.
     
    “Dalton, I need to talk to you,” she declared sternly.
     
    “Ooh,” Steve slowly got up from the bench. “I think that’s my cue to leave. I’ll come back in ten, Dalton, okay?”
     
    Dalton gave his trainer a stiff nod and then looked back at Lucie. Her eyes were glittering with anger and she looked paler than usual. What was she even doing there? Dalton frowned, why was she interrupting his training session at the gym?
     

***
     
    Standing before Dalton, Lucie started to wonder what she was even doing there. In her mind her plan had made so much sense. She’d located the gym where he trained thanks to a quick internet search. Then she’d convinced the newspaper that she was going over there to get an exclusive interview to follow up her piece about the fight. When she arrived at the gym she flashed her press pass and the receptionist let her straight in. Working for The Standard had opened a lot of doors for Lucie over the years.
     
    But now she was actually there looking at Dalton, noticing how his skin glistened with sweat and how his powerful arms bulged within the white T-shirt he was wearing, she couldn’t focus. She knew what she needed to say but knew how pathetic she was going to sound saying it.
     
    “Lucie?” Dalton stood up, looking alarmed. “What are you doing here?”
     
    “I came to see you,” Lucie hoped she sounded confident but not confrontational. She pushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and wished she’d taken the time to apply her makeup that morning. She felt as pale as a ghost without it.
     
    “Okay?” Dalton eyed her warily. She wondered if she was the first woman to invade his space at the gym demanding answers. Probably not. The thought made her feel even more shamed by what she was doing.
     
    “Look,” she sighed and lowered her voice, “I just want you to be straight with me. I think I deserve that at least. You’ve been ignoring my calls, why?”
     
    She watched Dalton squirm uncomfortably as he massaged the back of his neck. She wished she hadn’t caught him training when he looked so good. It was hard to focus on her words when all she wanted to do was rip his T-shirt off him and melt into his powerful arms.
     
    “Lucie.” Dalton glanced helplessly in the direction his trainer had gone, then turned his gaze back to her. “Lucie, I’m sorry. You must think I’m such an asshole. I just didn’t want to lead you on. I’m not in the market for a girlfriend. This,” he gestured to the ring beside him, “this is my life. I’m already in a relationship with my career, I’m not about to get into anything else.”
     
    Lucie’s cheeks were on fire. He was blowing her off. To her face. She wanted the ground to open up beneath her and just swallow her whole. But the faded linoleum she was standing on remained intact. Taking a deep breath Lucie pushed back her shoulders and willed herself to appear unconcerned.
     
    “Okay, well I appreciate your honesty.”
     
    “I feel like a real heel,” Dalton told her. “But in my life, everything comes second to fighting. It’s better you know that now before…”
     
    “Before I get hurt?” Lucie challenged angrily. It was too late for that. She was already hurt.
     
    “Lucie –”
     
    “No, I get it,” Lucie raised a hand at him and shook her head. “You’re not in the market for a girlfriend. Well, guess what, Dalton? I’m not for sale. Not now, not ever. I thought that perhaps what we’d had meant