The Fight for Love (Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

for Dalton. He was a true Cinderella story – he’d come up from absolutely nothing and made a name for himself and the media loved him for that. He’d started out as a tenacious underdog and now he was a champion.
     
    The referee instructed the two fighters to stand in the center of the ring. Dalton bit down on the gum guard in his mouth, savoring its comforting plastic taste. He could do this. He pushed Lucie completely out of his mind and focused solely on what needed to be done. The bell for the first round rang out and Dalton flew into motion. He punched, dodged, jabbed and bounced his way around the ring, making his opponent appear sluggish and slow in comparison.
     
    Dalton could smell the victory in the air. It smelled of copper and sweat as his opponent staggered back after a particularly brutal punch, blood spouting from his nose like an angry fountain. Dalton smacked his gloves together excitedly. Then he punched his opponent again.
     

***
     
    Lucie had never been to a professional fight before. Sure, she’d seen them on television but she’d never actually attended one. She was surprised by how animated the crowd was. People were on their feet the second the fighters entered the ring, chanting and hollering. It was chaotic but also wildly exciting.
     
    Lucie had to fight the urge to get swept up in the atmosphere. She wanted to just stand and scream Dalton’s name, cheering him on, but she had a job to do and so as hard as it was she needed to watch with an impartial eye.
     
    When Dalton swaggered out into the ring Lucie felt her heart start to race. He moved with such power, such grace. Her fingers grazed her lips as she watched him, the lips that he had kissed.
     
    Forcing her gaze off him Lucie looked down at her notebook and the few comments she’d hastily scribbled down in shorthand. She was sitting several rows back from the ring, close enough to get an impressive view of Dalton but not too close to risk being showered in blood or sweat.
     
    As the first round commenced Lucie’s excitement turned to nervousness. She tensed as she watched each punch being thrown. Even over the roar of the crowd she could hear bone cracking beneath gloved fists. It was brutal to watch. Lucie ceased writing notes and just stared.
     
    Dalton was a fearsome fighter. It was little wonder he’d felt confident enough to take on the guys who had attacked her when up against a professional fighter he made it all look so easy. His punches came hard and fast, a seemingly lethal combination. His opponent was sagging against the ropes, trying to recover when Dalton descended upon him again like a relentless tornado. All the other man in the blue shorts could do was try and remain upright.
     
    And by the third round even that proved too much of a task He dropped heavily against the mat as the crowd went wild. People were booing and cheering in equal measure. The referee knelt beside the man in the blue and counted to ten while Dalton paced around the ring, not looking the least bit exhausted. Lucie suspected that if another opponent was led into the ring, as fresh and energized as he would be,Dalton would still pulverize him.
     
    The referee smacked his hand against the mat when the man in blue was unable to get up during the count. The match was over, Dalton had won. Raising his gloved hands to the heavens Dalton faced the crowd and let their waves of adoration wash over him.
     
    Lucie stood up and clapped as the people around her people were whooping and whistling. She watched Dalton’s chestnut eyes scan the crowd and for one heart-rending second she was certain that he’d seen her. But then his gaze moved on and he sauntered over to a different part of the ring to face another part of his adoring crowd.
     

Chapter 5
     
    The applause of the crowd was deafening and thundered in Dalton’s ears. But it was a sound that he loved, a sound that he’d so doggishly chased since he was a young boy. Standing as the