Hammer's Fall (The Breakers' Bad Boys) (17 page)

Dante nodded. “He’s right. Kali is a sweet little thing. I don’t think she’ll want to move in with you without a ring on her finger. She seems the traditional type.”

They were right. Hammer knew he should just ask her and get it over with, but the truth was there was a little part of him that was afraid she would say no. She loved him, but what if she said it was too soon? They hadn’t been dating for very long, and he didn’t know what he would do if he asked and she refused him or asked him to wait.

Oblivious to the turmoil going on in Hammer’s head, Dante looked around the yard just as Hunter had. “This is a good idea for you and Kali. I think it’s pretty damn sweet that you are giving one of those puppies a good home. Seems to me you will already be building a family together, why not make it official?”

Before he could respond Storm nodded toward the side door of the gym that lead out into the yard. “Heads up, Hammer. Looks like your lady has come to see what you built for her.”

The men quickly left, gathering up the rest of the crew that had helped with the construction. They murmured a greeting to Kali as they passed her and went inside. Hammer had left Kali at his house, still snuggled in bed when he’d headed out that morning. She’d left her car at his place before they’d gone to the wedding, and he had wanted to get a good start on the fence before she came into work. Now that the fence was done, he didn’t know what to say.

Hell, a man like him shouldn’t be embarrassed by anything, but the surprise and love shining from his lover’s eyes had him wanting to fucking blush, if such a thing were even possible after all he’d done in his life. The way Kali looked at him made him feel ten feet tall, like he could do anything, and he wanted to…for her. When he realized he loved her, he knew without a doubt he would kill to keep her safe.

Building a fence wasn’t even a drop on the scale of things he would do for her.

Kalista looked around the large fenced in area with wide eyes, hardly believing what she was seeing. Jared had gone with her to play with Ranger over at the rescue center last week, but a part of her had never really believed he would actually build her a play area for the puppy if she adopted the pup. She should have known better. Jared always did what he said, and he never lied to her. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked over at him. She wanted to laugh at how uncomfortable he looked standing there, but she couldn’t. Not when he had done this for her.

“Jared?”

“Hi, baby.” He hooked his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. “You’re here early.”

“I came in early to meet the girls for lunch. How…you did this for me?”

“Well, other people can bring their dogs out here the play, but yes, I told you I would build this for Ranger. I thought we could make a play area for him over here. We could add some equipment and—”

He was cut off as she flung herself into him arms. He picked her up, holding her to him as she peppered his face with kisses. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“If this is what I get for building you a fenced in area, just wait ‘til you see the one I’m planning at home.”

She froze, her jaw falling open as she watched his own muscles working in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. Uncaring that her feet were dangling off the ground she reached up to stroke his face with her hands, soothing his muscles.

“You’re building me a fence at your house?”

Hammer set her down slowly, then rubbed a hand over his shorn hair. Fuck, this wasn’t going as he had planned. He couldn’t seem to get the words out that he wanted to say. “I thought it would be good if we had one at the house. I thought we could, you know, both adopt Ranger.”

“You mean like share him? Like joint custody?”

“Sort of,” Hammer said as he hooked his thumbs back into his front pockets. “It wouldn’t really be like that if you just moved in with me.”

Kalista’s breath caught as she stared at him. He was asking her to move in with him? Joy filled her, but a part of her heart ached at his offer. Jared had said he loved her, but what happened if that changed?

“Kali, I—”

“There you are!”

Both she and Jared turned as the deep booming voice sounded from the doorway leading into the gym. A large barrel-chested man walked out, lumbering forward with a wide grin on his face. The man looked to be in his late fifties, but despite his age he was in good shape and carried himself like a prize-fighter. His nose had obviously been broken several times, giving him a rough look, which didn’t seem to fit with the bright orange polo shirt he was wearing with khaki pants.

Hammer wanted to curse as Gene “Rhino” Durbin walked toward them. The owner of the CFL was a big man, and he would usually be happy to see him, but not right now. Not when he hadn’t told Kali about the offer, and certainly not when he had been about to fucking propose to the woman he loved.

“Rhino. What the hell are you doing here? And Jesus, could that shirt get any brighter?”

“Don’t you sass me, boy,” Rhino growled. “I’m here because we’ve got business to discuss. I need you in Las Vegas with me tomorrow, and I came to personally collect you.”

“Damn it,” Hammer muttered under his breath.

“Manners, Hammer. Hello, sweetheart. I’m Big Gene, and who might you be?”

“Kalista Redford.” Kalista took the offered hand and shook it. She noticed that the big man took her hand gently, just as Jared and most of his friends did. It seemed automatic for strong men with good hearts to temper their strength so they didn’t hurt anyone weaker than them. Kalista smiled at the older man even though her emotions were swirling inside her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“So you say, although I interrupted you.”

“That’s okay, I have to get back to work anyway. I’ll leave you two to your discussion. Jared, I’ll see to later.”

“Kali…”

Hammer felt helpless as she rose to her toes to kiss him on his cheek, then she left, leaving him feeling a surge of anger at the older man. He rounded on Gene when she disappeared through the doorway. “Damn it, Rhino.”

“That your new girl? She’s a pretty little thing.”

“She is. I could fucking strangle you.”

“Well, do it inside once we’re out of the cold. Leanne is waiting.”

Hammer wanted to groan. “You brought your wife?”

“Of course I did. If I couldn’t talk some sense into you, I know she can.”

Gene slapped Hammer on the shoulder, and if he was a smaller man, the friendly tap would have sent him flying to the floor.

His day was really not going according to plan.

Chapter Ten

Even though he was pissed, Hammer had to smile as he saw Leanne Durbin standing in the main gym. The tall blonde could have been an Amazon warrior in another life, but she was no less lethal in a smart looking outfit of black pants and a cream colored sweater. A former model, Leanne looked like a socialite, hiding the fact that she was one of the driving forces that made the CFL such a success.

Leanne turned as Hammer and Gene walked over to her and she smiled, her midnight blue eyes warming with affection when she saw him. “Hammer, it’s so good to see you.”

He kissed her cheek in greeting, then stood, looking at the pair of them for a moment. They always struck him as an odd looking couple, the tall, slim blonde completely opposite her big, burly husband, but he knew they were madly in love with each other. Leanne was a good four inches taller than Gene, and she looked elegant compared to her husband’s rough appearance.

“I guess we should take this into my office,” Hammer said with a sigh. He led the couple into his office in the back and sat down on one of the chairs in the sitting area after Leanne took a seat on the couch. Gene sat down next to her and started to speak, but Hammer held up his hand. “You’re gonna want to give me another minute and wait for the urge to punch you to pass.”

Leanne let out a sigh as she patted her husband’s knee affectionately. “What have you done now?”

“Me? Why the hell do you think I did anything? All I did was go outside and say hello to him and his woman,” Gene sputtered, looking extremely offended.

“I was about to fucking propose, but you had to show up and ruin it,” Hammer growled out.

“Well, shit…” Gene said, finally looking contrite.

“Oh, Hammer! I’m so happy for you!” Leanne beamed at him.

“I told you I didn’t want the job,” Hammer said, ignoring Leanne as he continued to glare at Gene.

“Damn it, boy. You know you’re perfect for it and—”

“Of course you don’t want the job,” Leanne said, cutting off her husband. “Your place is here now. And I must say, you have a very impressive facility. I would love to see the rehab center upstairs before we leave.”

“Sure,” Hammer said automatically.

“Now, wait a minute,” Gene began. “There is no reason you can’t be an announcer if—”

“Gene, let it go,” Leanne warned. She smiled at Hammer. “Since you didn’t do it yet, can I see the ring?”

“I don’t have one yet.” Hammer shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and he wanted to wince at the look of censure that crossed over her face.

Leanne sighed. “Why oh why are you men such idiots? Please tell me you weren’t just going to blurt it out without some kind of plan?” Pity and a healthy amount of amusement surged through her at his pained expression. “Why do I have to have a plan?” Hammer leaned forward and hung his head in his hands with a groan. “Why the hell does this have to be so complicated?”

“Here is what we’re going to do,” Leanne said as she scooted forward. “First, I want a tour of the gym and rehab center. I’ve loved everything I’ve seen so far, and I think this will be a perfect training facility for us to send some of our fighters to.”

Hammer sat up and glowered at her. “Rhino said you would only send fighters here if I took the job.”

“Did he, now?” The large man’s shoulders hunched as his wife sent him a frigid stare. “That won’t be a problem, Hammer. Since you were one of our most popular fighters, and still are even though you’re retired, we would like for you to sign on to announce at some of our bigger events like the championship matches. This way you won’t have to travel much, and can still keep your connection to the CFL. We’ll be happy to direct fighters here to train so they can get a broader range of skills. You know how important it is to switch up skills and to have a variety of disciplines for them to learn. I know there are very few fighters that would pass up a chance to work with you.”

Hammer cursed silently. “I could do the championship matches, but I reserve the right to refuse other fights depending on my schedule. As for training, when the weather is better we plan to do a lot of workouts outside. We’ve got an obstacle course planned for the backyard, and I’ve got some guys working on the big tires or doing sprints pulling weights up that hill out back. I have a lot of good guys that train and work out here, but you can’t send me any of the punks because my friends would tear them apart. Most of these guys are former soldiers who don’t fight by CFL rules. They won’t hesitate to put a smartass down.”

“Understood,” Gene said. “We’ll need you to come with us to Vegas tonight. We have a big press conference Wednesday afternoon that we could use you at.”

“Shit. Talk about last minute.”

“If you answered your damn phone we wouldn’t have had to show up here to drag you with us,” Gene snapped. “We have our plane here, so it should be an easy flight.”

“And while we’re in Vegas, I can arrange for you to meet with a good friend of mine who owns one of the best custom jewelry stores in the city. Wouldn’t you like to get your fiancée a nice ring? After the press conference is over we’ll make sure we bring you straight back here and you could have it for her in time for Valentine’s Day.”

Hammer could tell by the smile on Leanne’s face that she knew she had him, damn her. “Fine, tell me what I have to do.”

****

Kalista couldn’t help but glance out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of Jared with his visitor as she sat at a table in the bakery with Becca, Nikita and Zoe. She had made plans to have a late lunch with her friends while Anna and a few of her other part-time employees manned the counters. They had invited Anna to join them, but she had shooed them away, saying that she would be working on a new batch of dog treats in the back since the treats seemed to be flying off the shelves as soon as they stocked them.

After she had left Fight Hard, Kalista had gone back to Sinfully Sweet to prepare a meal of Caesar salad topped with butter-poached salmon and homemade croutons, knowing that it was one of her friends’ favorite dishes whenever she chose to make it as one of the lunch specials offered at the bakery. Now, her friends were all enjoying their lunches, but nerves left Kalista’s stomach in knots and had completely destroyed her appetite.

“I think Jared is going out of town for a few days.”

“Is everything okay?” Becca asked, concern shining in her eyes.

Kalista didn’t know how to answer her friend. She filled them in about her day, from waking up alone at his house, finding him standing in the fenced in enclosure that he had made for her, to him asking her to move in with him only to be interrupted by his friend before she could answer. She also told them about what had happened at the wedding over the weekend and how they had both finally admitted they had fallen in love.

“See, I knew he loved you!” Becca declared with a grin.

“If he was willing to take on your family, I’d have to say he is crazy about you. That’s great that he asked you to move in with him!” Zoe exclaimed, then sobered as she saw Kalista’s face. “Isn’t it?”

“Yes…and no,” Kalista replied after she thought about it.

“I understand,” Nikita said. “If a guy loves you and bothers asking you to move in with him, why not just go the distance and ask you to marry him?”

Kalista looked at the other woman, unsurprised that she had so accurately vocalized what had been bothering her. It was always unnerving how well Nikita seemed to be able to read all of them, but with her training, whatever that was, it almost seemed normal. Becca and Nikita Nuria were twins, with midnight black hair and unusual violet eyes, but that was where the similarities ended. Although their faces were identical, Becca had a sweetness to her that shone out of her eyes, while Nikita had a hard edge to her that made most people wary. After they graduated high school, Becca had gone off to culinary school, while Nikita had joined the Army, becoming an interpreter since she was fluent in Arabic, Farsi, and Russian.