Battered Not Broken (9 page)

The pose brought his body close to hers and allowed his breath to stir the loose strands of hair by her ear. Her own breath froze for a moment as her lips tingled, ready for more contact with his.

The soft
click
of the car door handle sounded from somewhere near her hip.

Ryan had opened it for her. “Ready for me to take you home?”

His body heat radiated in the scant space between them, warming her. The heat of his kiss was fading from her lips, but she nodded anyway.

He unwrapped his arm from around her shoulders, a tenseness to his muscles that made her think he was reluctant to give up the contact.

The thought sent the butterflies in her belly back into motion again. They were still going strong when they were both seated in the car and Ryan began the trip home.

Though their evening together was nearing an end, the journey to her house was somehow more exciting than their first trip. Her senses had been left heightened in the wake of their kiss. She felt every shift of the car’s gears, every smooth turn and the constant vibration of the engine. She felt everything and wondered what it would be like to feel more. Her fantasy about being comfortably crushed between the leather seat and Ryan’s body returned in alarming clarity.

Thank God he’d taken the gentlemanly route and kept their after-date kiss relatively brief. The response it had evoked in her prevented her from calling it chaste, but he’d definitely exercised restraint, just like she’d known he was capable of.

Still, she buried an eyetooth in her lower lip. Unlike any other first kiss she’d ever experienced, it had left her craving – not just wanting – more. A devious voice somewhere not so far in the back of her mind whispered that it would be nice to see what would happen if she invited him to abandon restraint. But the voice wasn’t really necessary – her body had been telling her the same thing since the moment his lips had first brushed hers.

He brought the car to a smooth halt by the curb in front of her house. “Have you decided?” he asked, stilling a hand on the gear shift.

“Decided what?”

“When I can take you on a second date.” His blue eyes gleamed, even in the darkness.

‘Anytime’ probably would’ve sounded too eager. She knew that, but had to fight the urge to say it anyway. “You’re fighting tomorrow night, right?” she asked instead.

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to get something to eat afterward, like you suggested last time?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then it’s a date,” she said, a sudden rush of giddiness leaving her feeling momentarily light-headed. Less than 24 hours and she’d see him again. She’d never experienced such a rush of excitement when agreeing to a second date. The notion was almost as intoxicating as his kiss had been.

Almost. When he leaned forward to meet her gaze across the console, her lips tingled in remembrance.

“I guess I’ll have to wait until then to kiss you again,” he said, his voice so low the sound seemed to scrape some place deep inside her, causing her core to tighten, “though I think I’d be tempted to try again now if I couldn’t see your mother waiting inside with that huge weapon of a spoon.”

“What?” Ally turned automatically, her gaze zeroing in on the front door.

Her mother wasn’t standing at its window – not exactly. But she was standing halfway between the entry room and kitchen, holding her signature kitchen spoon like it was either a scepter or a weapon, like Ryan had suggested. And she was definitely looking in their direction – Ally knew her body language well enough to tell from her pose. “Sorry about that,” she said as she turned back to Ryan.

“Don’t be. You have no idea how hard it is for me to hold back when I look at you. There are so many stupid things I want to do – even stupid things I want to say. I could use a lady with a makeshift weapon and a dose of maternal instinct to keep me from spoiling our perfect first date.”

“Perfect?” Ally asked, suppressing a bubble of laughter that was born half of nervousness and half of happy surprise.

“What, you didn’t have a good time?” His full lips split into a grin that caught her off guard.

“I had a great time.”

“I thought so. You don’t seem like the kind of woman who’d agree to a second date if you didn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Did she come off as cold, judgmental even? She’d sometimes suspected that she might, especially when men were involved.

“I mean I heard you crush Cameron when he asked you to fill in as a ring girl. You don’t have a problem saying no, do you?”

“I never used to think so.”

“Used to?” He raised a brow.

“Never mind.” There was no way she could explain to him just how many of her own rules she’d willingly broken that night. The wine, the kiss … hell, the date in the first place. And she’d enjoyed every minute of it. Her panties were faintly damp and even as she prepared to say goodnight to Ryan, she was looking forward to seeing him the following evening.

“All right. Your mother is approaching with that spoon, anyway.”

Ally turned to see her mother standing in the exact same place and position as before. When she faced Ryan again, he was grinning blatantly.

“I wouldn’t want to send you home with any bruises,” she teased. “Good night.”

 Riding a wild impulse, she leaned forward and brushed his jaw with her lips. She’d seen his reflexes in action and knew he could easily have dodged her kiss if he’d wanted to. Instead, he was utterly still. She lingered for a moment, reveling in the hard line of his jaw and the rasp of the faint stubble that had cropped up there. “That’s for rescuing Melissa,” she said.

“I was beginning to think I’d never get my due.” He shook his head in mock disappointment. “All I got from her was a thank you. No kiss.”

“That,” Ally said, reaching for the door handle, “is because she’s a good friend.”

Suppressing a sigh of regret, she stepped out of the car and into the cool night.

* * * * *

“Hey, Inés.” Ally settled a little more deeply into her chair behind her workstation, preparing for a long session. Or at least, it would seem that way.

A slender twenty-something woman with wide-set dark eyes and a familiar mop of black curls settled into the seat opposite of her. “Alexandra.” She called Ally by her full first name, as usual. She’d never been one to miss an opportunity to stand out, even in the smallest of ways. She wasn’t big on accommodating other people’s wishes for their sake, either.

Unfortunately, she
was
big on getting her nails done. Every Friday – to get ready for dates she sometimes told Ally about in mind-numbing detail.

Inés slapped a hand down onto the table with a dramatic flick of her wrist.

Instead of looking down, Ally reached for a bottle of Inés’ signature shade of red.

When she turned back around, Inés was sitting ram-rod straight, wearing an expression that could only be described as a smirk.

Ally dropped her gaze – thankfully, her work gave her an excuse not to make eye contact with Inés.

Something was different. Namely, a huge rock that sat perched on Inés’ left ring finger like a glittering boulder. “You got engaged?” Ally said, knowing she’d hear about it whether she asked or not. “To who?”

“To your brother.”

The smug satisfaction in Inés’ voice hit Ally like a freight train. Her stomach twisted, then knotted. With a supreme effort, she managed to keep her voice even. “You’ve been seeing Manny?”

“For ages,” Inés said, waving her right hand while being careful to keep her left hand still so that her ring was displayed to maximum effect. “We’re getting married this summer.”

Ally didn’t say anything to break the dead hush that had fallen over the shop. Not even the sound of scissor blades or a hair dryer invaded the silence.

Just a couple feet to Ally’s right, her mother was cutting hair. Or at least, she had been. Ally didn’t have to look to know she’d fallen perfectly still, frozen by Inés’ brash claim.

Looking at Inés’ hand and the diamond that was weighing it down like an anchor made Ally feel nauseous. Especially when she imagined how Manny had financed the flamboyant piece of jewelry. “Wow, this is sudden.” She let a little acid creep into her voice. Inés changed boyfriends like most women changed underwear and everyone in the shop knew it.

“I’ll make sure you and Maria get a wedding invitation,” Inés purred, wriggling her fingers.

Ally held her tongue, willing it not to release the select curse words that were whirling through her mind. “The usual?” She held up the bottle of bright red polish and looked Inés in the eyes.

Inés’ smirk stretched into a smile as fake as her eyelashes. “You know what I like, Alexandra. Be careful to file all my nails to the same length. Last time you filed a few too low. I don’t want to spend Manny’s hard-earned money on a botched job.”

At that moment, Ally would have given the last few dollars in her checking account
not
to have to do Inés’ manicure. Being passably polite to her involved way too much tongue-biting. And sometimes, it was downright impossible. “I’m sure you’d enjoy spending his money no matter what.” Ally leveled a flat look in Inés’s direction, meeting her eyes.

The silence inside the shop was deafening.

Then Inés smiled, her heavily-glossed lips curling into a mirthless expression. “Money makes the world go round, Alexandra. Some of us get it by fighting in cages like animals, and some of us do things right and find a man.”

Ally fought in a ring, not a cage, and the idea of gold-digging made her want to vomit. But Inés probably already knew all that. “Right.”

With restraint she usually only called upon during a fighting match or sparring round, Ally reached for Inés’ hand. A deep pit seemed to open up inside her when she imagined her brother’s hand touching the same fingers. Had Manny known Inés would come to the salon and rub the news of the engagement in her and Maria’s faces?

Probably.

So much for the unspoken rule the Rivera household – or what was left of it – operated under, the one that forbade the mention of Ally’s estranged brother. As Ally removed the week-old red polish from Inés’ nails, she could feel her mother’s gaze. Later that day, for the first time in a long time, they’d talk about Manny. She was sure of it.

* * * * *

Ally wasn’t surprised when Ryan won his last match of the night. He’d done it with a chokehold – one that had had his opponent tapping out so hard his hand probably still hurt from the impact against the mat. The man had been the third one Ryan had beaten that night.

Ally had watched him fight from her seat in the audience – another full crowd. She’d taken a chair next to the girlfriend of one of the other Knockout members. The young woman’s emotions had been painted clearly across her face when her boyfriend had fought, her every worry and moment of satisfaction displayed for the world to see.

Did Ally look the same way when Ryan fought? Her emotions were definitely wrapped up in his every match – sent soaring or plunging with his every strike, his every movement. When he took a hit, it hurt to watch, not least of all because she knew exactly how it felt. When he won, she could feel herself glowing on the inside. And just like the past weekend, he’d met her gaze after every match.

After watching him walk away from his first fight victorious, there would have been nothing to hinder her happiness if it hadn’t been for that day’s earlier events at the salon. She’d hated to leave her mother alone at the house after what had happened, but Maria had refused to attend the match so that Ally would be free to leave with Ryan afterward, as she’d planned.