Chapter Four

“OK, look,” Adam said. “First, we’d never suggest that you live with anyone dangerous. You know that, right?”

Reena looked back at the ring. “Um. I guess so.”

“I mean, dangerous to you,” Adam clarified. “Mitch Corrigan is lethal to anyone opposite him in the ring, but he’d never lay a finger on you. OK?”

“OK.”

“Second, I know Mitch. I’ve known him for almost ten years.”

Reena relaxed a bit. “OK, that changes things quite a bit. How do you know him?”

“We trained together for years, and we were sparring partners, and sometimes opponents, even though I was a traditional boxer and he’s a kickboxer. He’s a stand-up guy, Reena, I promise you." Adam looked at the ring, where Mitch was still pounding his opponent to a pulp. "Rough around the edges, sure, but he’d give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. I’d never ask you to consider him as a roommate otherwise.”

“And why does he need a roommate? Is he new to Denver?”

“Yeah. He just moved here a month ago to take up a partial sponsorship from us.”

“You guys are sponsors? For athletes?”

“We are. We’re just starting, though,” Nick said. “We have one full sponsorship and one partial. So even though Mitch has enough money for the basics, he can’t afford a place on his own. He’s been living in some dive hotel since he got here, and he’s looking for a decent place that he can share. And we thought of you.”

Reena looked back at Mitch. He had taken off his head gear and he was standing outside the ring, drinking some water. He was huge, she saw now, almost as big as Adam, with almost as many tattoos. Even from several feet away she felt the fierce strength in that body.

“Reena?” Adam said. “Are you scared of him?”

She looked up at them. “Oh, no. No way. I mean, look at you two… neither one of you would ever hurt Mia or Katie or me, and I know that you’re both thoroughly competent at beating the life out of people.”

They grinned.

“So if you two are telling me this guy is OK, then I believe you.”

“Alright, then,” Adam said. “You want to meet him?”

“Sure.”

****

Mitchell Corrigan watched Adam and Nick approach him with a woman. He drank from his water bottle again, his green eyes looking the woman up and down, liking what he saw, taking enjoyment in steadily gazing at her as she came his way. Not that she was his usual type; not even close. Mitch had always gone for tall, slinky, dark-haired beauties, all legs and flashing dark eyes and wet scarlet lips.

No, this woman was the exact opposite of all of that. She was… well… the only thing that immediately came to mind – oddly – was ‘dainty’, and Mitch meant that in every sense of the word. She was delicate and pale, with long, shiny strawberry-blonde hair and large blue eyes. She looked just like all those fairy-tale princesses that his younger sisters with their unruly dark curls had so badly wanted to resemble growing up. Mitch could totally picture this woman in a flowing pale pink ball gown, long white gloves and glass slippers, dancing in an elegant ballroom. She was tiny and fragile, and the primal part of him longed to slay a dragon for her, save her from a dark knight, sweep her up in his arms and carry her back to his castle.

Where the hell is all this coming from man? Fairy-tale princesses never go for guys like you, idiot. They always go for the princes with chiseled features who spout flowery poems and whose daddies run the kingdom.

“Hey, Mitch,” Adam said. “I’d like you to meet someone. This is Reena Mackay.”

Reena. Gorgeous name.

“Hi,” Mitch said extending his massive hand covered in tape. “Mitch Corrigan.”

Her hand disappeared in his. “It’s good to meet you.”

God, even her voice was sweet. He gazed down at her, noticing now that a faint scent of roses hung around her. Her lips were pink and curved, and her smile was genuine. He wondered just what she was doing in The Rock, and why Adam and Nick had brought her to him. What the hell could he and a woman like this possibly have to discuss?

“Reena’s looking for a roommate,” Nick explained. “You still need a place to stay, right?”

Mitch blinked. The thought that he might actually live with this woman simultaneously took his breath away and freaked the hell right out of him.

“Yeah." His voice was rougher than usual suddenly, and that was really saying something. "Yeah, I do.”