Uncaged Love #4: MMA New Adult Contemporary Romance by JJ Knight Read Free Book Online Page B

having this crazy affair and getting pregnant. But she’s very kind. Almost regal. When you meet her, about the last thing you’ll think of is ‘home wrecker.’”
    “I wouldn’t think that.”
    “That’s what they called her in the biography.”
    “Ouch.” I wonder now if The Cure tried to buy up all the copies to protect himself, or her. But that would be gallant. Something a gentleman would do. And I doubt anyone has ever called The Cure a gentleman in his life.
    I don’t see him as being anything but the jerk I met in the limo, when he talked about bruised cherries. Then got all horrible yesterday when Colt met with him.
    I decide I don’t even care about what Colt’s father said about Colt’s past. The virgins. Him having to get rid of them after Colt was through with them. None of it could be true. All The Cure did was peg my insecurity and make me feel worse.
    “I would never do that,” Colt says.
    “Do what?”
    He sits up suddenly and turns to me. “I would never do what my father did.”
    My heart wants to sing a little. “I know that, Colt. I absolutely believe you.”
    “Nothing is going to come between us now.” He picks up my hand and kisses the back of it. “I mean that.”
    I shift on the mattress to kneel in front of him. His face is framed by the soft fall of the fabric from the iron bed. He’s beautiful and honest. And mine.
    “Show me,” I say. “Show me nothing coming between us.”
    With a little growl, he pushes me back on the bed. I fall onto the sheets. Parts of my body protest after the fight with Annie, and my head still rings a little from the blow on the coffee table. But I don’t pay attention to anything but his lips on my mouth, his hard chest pressing against mine. I am ready for him, always ready. And I vow that I will do my very best to make sure I don’t screw up. That I don’t misunderstand him. And that I never assume that I know what he needs. That I’ll ask.
    We’re in this together, all the way together.

Chapter Eleven  

    Colt holds a team meeting later that day explaining the situation to his staff. I mostly stay on the mats in a back corner. I carefully stretch and work out the pains from the unexpected fight.
    Most of them opt to make the move to LA. Colt offers to rent suites for them all for a couple of months until they can settle and relocate. But a few of the staff members who go way back to when The Cure was boxing aren’t up for life back in the city. They decide to stay on the family compound and handle his father’s affairs.
    They have a three-week gap until Colt’s next major match. This one is big, though, a pay-per-view gig in Vegas. It will be a squeeze to get everything changed over and still work in enough training hours.
    Colt sits next to me on the mat. “You feeling all right?”
    My head still aches, and a large purple bruise has formed on my thigh, but I say, “Never better.”
    He tugs on my ponytail. “You’re a terrible liar.”
    “We going to work out here today?”
    Colt nods. “I think so. We can drive in to LA tonight. One of the staff is calling Buster to let him know we’ll be back there tomorrow.”
    “I miss the girls I was training,” I say.
    “I’m sure they’re worried about you.”
    Killjoy calls out for Colt so they can run through an abbreviated workout. I lie on my back, angling carefully to avoid disturbing the gash on the back of my head, and do sit-ups with a kettlebell on my chest. I want to be able to do what Annie did, that unexpected ability to throw someone off your body.
    It feels good to do something normal and productive with everything so unsettled. For the next few hours at least, I will know what I’m doing and how I will accomplish my goals. As soon as we walk out these doors, we’re back into uncertainty.
    When we get back to Colt’s condo, he helps me shower and avoid shampooing the wound. Nestling into him inside the spray is comforting, like I’m protected. Even though I