Love On The Ropes (Ringside Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

next door. And she
was laughing at him.
    He hopped off the table.
    “Wait, I’m not done with your
knee.” She grabbed his bare arm. He glared at her hand, but she didn’t pull
away. “Come on, get back up there and let me finish.”
    “Why should I?” Now he sounded
like a three-year-old. Hell, he wanted out of this room.
    Her expression turned soft and
understanding. “I’m sorry.”
    Hell, she was still reading him
like a comic strip, only worse. She was reading his emotions and thoughts. This
woman could destroy him and all he hoped to accomplish here.
    “Get on the table and I’ll explain
a few things to you,” she said.
    Like how she was able to read his
mind? He wanted to know that. He shifted back onto the table.
    “Where are you from?” she asked,
icing his knee.
    She really didn’t want to know. He
really didn’t want to tell her.
    “Chicago,” he said.
    “No, I mean, where did Cosmo find
you? In a gym? Strong-man contest, what?”
    “In a strip club,” he blurted out,
trying to keep a straight face. His background was designed by Meek the
Dickless Wonder. J was a former stripper turned pro wrestler. From one
brainless career to another, and both as a sex object for women.
    “You knew nothing about wrestling
before you joined BAM?” she asked.
    “No.”
    “Okay, here’s what I’m guessing
happened: you’re a heel and Floyd is also a baby face. When you were practicing
the moves he probably had one of his brain farts and blurted out what came into
his mind. You have an angular face but there’s something in your eyes that’s
very sweet and innocent. That’s the look of a baby face—a good guy. He
recognized it and made a comment. It wasn’t an insult or anything, just Floyd
being Floyd.”
    Sweet and innocent? Never in his
life had anyone referred to Jason as sweet and innocent.
    “And the comments about your
mother...” She smiled.
    He shoved her hand away from the
ice pack and held it himself.
    “Don’t get all wiggy on me,” she
scolded, placing her hand on the cool pack. “This is the entertainment
business. Your job is to create conflict. The boys are always insulting each
other, talking about their mamas or sisters or whatever they think will get the
audience worked up. That’s what we do here. We entertain people.”
    “So ... he was pretending?”
    “Yep.” She removed the ice pack
and straightened his leg. “How bad is the pain, on a scale from one to ten?”
    “Two.”
    She cocked her chin and shot him a
half smile. “You stick to that story, bub. But remember, I can’t help you if you
don’t want to be helped.”
    Why did she have this way of
saying things that completely shut him down? He was pretty good at female
relations, but this girl confused him. He didn’t like confusion. He liked order
and control. He’d try a different tack.
    “Who says I don’t want help?” he
said. “Especially from a babe like you.”
    “Babe?” She stepped back and
glared. “Did you really just call me a babe? Get the hell off my table.”
    Yeah, that worked.
    The door burst open and Cosmo
Perini charged into the room. “Well, that’s it. You’ve really screwed things
up.” He glared at J.
    “What?”
    “I’m sorry, son, but I can’t have
my boys at odds with each other. It’s bad karma.”
    Sandy muttered something.
    “You’ve given me no choice,
Stripper. You’re fired.”

Chapter Three
     
    Panic shot through Jason’s body.
He hated to think where Meek would send him next if he blew this ridiculous
assignment.
    “You can’t fire me.”
    “You’ve given me no choice,
Jason,” Cosmo replied. “Floyd won’t wrestle if you’re part of the organization.
He’s got a lot more pull than you.”
    “We had a deal.”
    “The deal’s off. You blew it. Not
my responsibility.”
    “I can’t lose this job.” J stood
and wobbled on his knee.
    “Why is it so important to you?”
    It was Sandy’s voice—that sweet
and soothing tone that made him want to