“Now that we’ve got that settled, it’s time to scope out this evening’s prospects,” Stacey said with a lewd smile. She began to survey the crowd.
Stacey and I were about the same height, just over 5’6” with heels on, but that was where the similarity ended. Her bouncy, fire-engine red hair and pale, freckled skin made her stand out like a beacon in any crowd. Adding in her curvy figure and energetic personality, it wasn’t any surprise that she wrapped most men around her finger in no time flat. Me, on the other hand, had a figure that my mother affectionately called ‘athletic,’ which meant I was lean and struggled to fill out most low-cut tops. Stacey said she wished for my small, pert breasts often, but I didn’t buy it. Not with the way she threw her bosom around to get attention.
“Oh my God,” she squealed and grabbed my forearm tight. “I don’t believe it! It’s him! He’s here!”
“Who’s here?” I did a sweep of the crowd trying to determine who she was talking about. I figured it must be an ex-boyfriend although to qualify in that category only meant Stacey had slept with him more than once.
Stacey’s fingers twisted painfully into my arm. “HIM!” She cocked her head across the dance floor to the other side of the bar as if she didn’t want to be obvious. “Ice Malone. The MMA fighter. He’s right over there.”
I squinted to see who she was talking about. I vaguely recalled Stacey going looney watching some MMA fights on TV while I was trying to study. Then my eyes landed on him, and I felt my breath hitch. How I had missed him in my previous scan, I had no idea. It was as if the crowd parted around him where he stood. Everyone was in awe of him.
Tall, dark hair, tattoos covering his exposed forearms and twining up his arms, broad shoulders narrowing down to a trim waist. Yep. Decadence and bliss was now officially in the building. The only thing I couldn’t see from this distance was his eyes. It was where his nickname ‘Ice’ came from if I recalled correctly. They were a light blue-gray mix that almost looked silver in the right light. When his face swung in our direction and paused on our table, I forgot to breathe for a second.
“He’s totally checking you out!” Stacey whispered in my ear.
I scoffed. “I am hardly his type; I’m sure,” I said. I wouldn’t have admitted in a million years that I wasn’t totally okay with that idea. “I’m sure he was checking you out.”
“You should go talk to him,” Stacey said. She tried to give me a little push. “We’re here to have fun, right?”
“No way,” I said. “I’m not looking for that kind of fun. Not by a long shot.” Trying to flirt with a guy like Ice Malone was way out of my comfort zone even if I wanted to play that kind of game. Which I stubbornly told myself I didn’t.
“Well, I am. Hot damn, he is even better looking in person,” Stacey said. She slid her hands down the sides of her hips smoothing the sides of her mini-skirt. “I’m going in. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” I said as she began to sashay across the room. So much for a girls’ night out.
CHAPTER TWO - SHAYNE
I knew that I should be exhausted. The day had been nothing but several hours at the gym followed by endless rounds of reporters, cameras, and questions that were all the same. But having a fight coming up on my hometown turf had me keyed up. I was ready to blow off some steam. Luckily, my friend Kyle was ready to help hook me up. I had been able to shed my publicist, Lucy, only by promising not to do anything that would land me on the front page of the celebrity gossip section.
I’d lived in Chicago ten years ago before my dad moved us to New York City. I had been on the fighting circuit for almost two years now, and the cities were all blurring together. I had decided early on to use Chicago as my home base since I still had lots of friends here. And when I had a fight in town, like I did tomorrow night, I was hailed as the “hometown boy.”