In the Alpha’s Arms

Negotiations

“Oh, are we negotiating now?” He played it cool, but Lita could tell he perked up. The gym could obviously use the money to work on the exterior, she assumed. This was the pressure point she’d already planned for. Her parents were expecting her to pick an upscale gym anyway, they wouldn’t even bat an eyelash at the price, whatever it was.

“I want to join the gym—the fight club—and I’m willing to pay for it. Money’s not an issue.”

Lita really hated to play the money card. It wasn’t like she was one of those socialites that only cared about shopping and Instagram. And she wasn’t a snob like her parents. But money had its uses. It inevitably opened a lot of doors that would have otherwise remained closed for her. Especially when men wouldn’t take her seriously and that had happened more times than she could count. She often had to find ways outside of her temper to get things done.

“I don’t negotiate with terrorists, lady,” he smiled like he’d caught a fish on a hook. He didn’t see that he was the fish.

“I have done nothing. All I did was step foot in the gym and already I’m a terrorist?”

“You step foot in here and disrupted half the workouts—” he nodded his head to the larger gym and Lita saw that most of the men were watching. Some laughed, some nudged each other. But no matter what they were doing, it was clear they had all stopped working.

“The attention span of a man is not my problem,” Lita said plainly, “I’ll pay double the yearly membership fee upfront if you let me train here. C’mon, every gym has beginner classes. Or at least personal training?”

“Not us,” he shrugged, “This ain’t the place for beginners and this ain’t the place for a clueless girl with as much muscle as a chihuahua.”

That stung, and Lita didn’t suppress the flinch. He saw the reaction and softened a fraction, “Look, I can recommend another gym if you let me write it down.” He turned toward the desk outside the office area and Lita followed.

I have to train

spun, his face scrunched like she’d said something suspicious, “Why? Why are you willing to

trained here, right?” Lita had to think on her feet, and she wasn’t very good at it. As soon as he’d applied a little pressure to her

that’s how you got the address? You’re one

Did he somehow know the truth? Was her plan going to fall apart before it had even come

connection with a dead fighter?” he spat the words as if it

wondered who she could ask about that. She

But the suspicion melted from his eyes once he labeled her, “Triple the yearly fee. Man, I thought your kind moved on to the next best thing a few months ago.” His tone told her he resented the idea. She did too. There was no moving on from

already since she’d last seen him. She lightly fingered the tattoo as an automatic reaction. She didn’t care what this

what’s it to be, do we have a

sure Gymhead was about to agree when suddenly two more giant men came waltzing from the back. Their laughing banter died as soon as one of them saw Lita. That man turned to face her and immediately it felt like he overshadowed everything. She forgot about the gym, about her reason for being there. Lita even forgot about the annoying conversation she’d just had with Gymhead as she shifted her gaze to this new man’s piercing

and his eyes hardened, nostrils pinching angrily. It was apparent that he didn’t like her, though, for the life of her,

bit built for fighting—even in

a little unkempt, but his face was shaved and fresh. No hard lines or dark circles like Lita. This man was all rugged beauty. Lita watched his face tighten as he glared at her, rubbing the side of his jaw in what seemed to be confusion. He made her palms sweat with an unfamiliar heat. This wasn’t good. She couldn’t let him break her concentration or disrupt how far she’d gotten

have a deal?” she asked, her voice shakier than she would have liked. She turned to Gymhead and waited. Lita started getting more anxious. She couldn’t lose

gotta go.” Gymhead grumbled as he turned his attention back to her, trying to backtrack his way to the original point: Lita wasn’t one of them and

own! All I need is a place to do it.” Lita was determined to see this through. She hadn’t been sure about the absurd idea when she sat in the parking lot and there was a tiny petty part of her that wanted to just give up. But now that she was inside,

he made heat grow at the base of her spine. Definitely not calm, but he was one man. It wouldn’t be hard to avoid him. However, being surrounded by these other muscular men helped her emotions. She felt safer than she had