On the Ropes (Fighting For Love Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

jeans and her black crop top that shows off her beautiful caramel skin, she is the most stunning thing he’s ever seen. He can feel his body responding to her. Between his attraction to her and the adrenaline that’s still pumping around his body, he has to physically stop himself from jumping her right there and then.
     
    She’s the first to look away, and he doesn’t think that he’s imagining the blush that creeps up her neck, giving him the impression that she’s read his thoughts. But that isn’t possible, is it?
     
    “Let me take a look at you.” Adriana makes a beeline for the first aid kit that’s been given a place of pride in the middle of the room. When Grayson doesn’t move, she nods towards the massage table, which now stands the right way up. “Hop on.”
     
    Grayson obeys without thinking, feeling his aching muscles as soon as he moves. He lifts himself gingerly up onto the table and watches Adriana as she busies herself with the limited equipment in the little kit. It looks like she’s gone into nurse mode, figuring out what she needs to patch him up. There’s something unbelievably sexy about knowing that she wants to take care of him. He can feel himself growing hard just at the thought, and he tries to concentrate on the paint peeling off of the wall to take his mind somewhere other than the gutter.
     
    “This is going to sting a little.” Adriana doesn’t wait for a response before she dabs at his split lip with something that stings more than a little. She bites her own lip, as he grunts at the pain. “Why did you let him hit you so many times?” She grabs some ice from the champagne bucket that’s been delivered to congratulate him and twists it inside a towel, holding it against his jaw.
     
    He hasn’t had a look at himself yet, and the way that Adriana’s looking at him, he doesn’t think he wants to. “I had to draw him out. I knew that he’d go all out in the first couple of rounds. Besides, I wanted to give the crowd a good show.”
     
    The shock on Adriana’s face is palpable. “Give them a good show? You mean you let yourself get beaten up so that the crowd got their money’s worth?” She shakes her head as if she can’t believe what she’s hearing.
     
    “They come for a fight. Knocking someone out in the first minute isn’t the same thing.” Grayson shrugs noncommittally. Showmanship is part of MMA; it isn’t just about who could hit the hardest and who is the best strategist. It is also about getting the crowd behind you and creating a following; West had taught him that. “When you’re in trouble in the ring, if you’ve got loyal fans, they’ll help get you up off of the mat. The relationship works both ways. It’s give and take.”
     
    Adriana shakes her head. “I still don’t understand it. That animal could’ve really hurt you. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying to!” The gold in her jade green eyes is more pronounced, as they flash in anger.
     
    “But he didn’t.” Grayson covers her hand with his and gazes straight at her. “I know what I’m doing, Adrie. I’m okay.” He hopes that the look he’s giving her is one of reassurance, but he doesn’t have time to read her expression as she turns away from him, pulling her hand out from underneath his.
     
    The silence stretches out between them. There are so many things that he wants to say to her, but his brain is a mess, and it’s like he can’t maintain one coherent thought. The adrenaline that had been filling his body only a few minutes earlier is seeping out of him, leaving him exhausted.
     
    “Did you like the fight?” It’s a lame question, he knows, but it’s the best he can do right now. Besides, her opinion really matters to him.
     
    Adriana turns back to him, taking one of his hands and then the other, unwrapping the tape gently. Her fingers work quickly, methodically, like she’s done this a million times. “I don’t know if ‘like’ is the right word.”