All Chapters of Fighting Hard (Fighting For Love 1): Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Nick Spencer sighed as he poured out what felt like the millionth Appletini this week. Why did all the hot girls go for this repulsive drink? Why? He blamed ‘The Bachelor’. Damn reality television, making ditzy girls live vicariously through idiots pining for a rose. The group of supremely drunk women was looking him up and down now, and he pulled himself up to his full and impressive height. Their eyes struggled to focus on him so they could take him in: broad shoulders, chest muscles clearly visible through his staff t-shirt, huge arms and hands. The one woman with long red hair practically licked her lips when their eyes met.Nick was no fool. He knew exactly where his tips came from, and he winked at her. Even from a few feet away, he saw her pupils dilate, and he knew she was imagining him with his shirt off, approaching her full of bad intentions. Hell, he might even make the fantasy a reality later, if she stuck around to closing time and played her cards right. He had nothing

Mia was just about to make some excuses and exit gracefully when her phone rang. She saw that it was Katie and she said to the guy, “Sorry, I just want to take this, OK?”He nodded, and she turned away from him slightly, stared over at her friends again. They were dancing on a table, and a bouncer was clearly trying to cajole them back down to the floor. “Hey, Katie." Mia raised her voice a bit, pushed the phone into her ear, trying to cut out the noise. "How’s the networking conference?”“Urgh. Waste of time, Mia. You were smart not to come.”“Ouch. Sorry to hear that.”“But… Joe is here.”“Joe? Maggie’s ex?”“Yeah.”“What’s he doing there? He’s a chef, not an artist or photographer.”“He’s opening a new restaurant and is looking for people to do some original artwork for it.” Katie snorted. “He asked Maggie to do a sculpture for the main entrance.”“Oh, boy." Mia shut her eyes briefly, picturing Maggie's reaction to that nonsense. "How did that go?”“About as well as you’d expect.”

Nick sat in the hospital E.R., wondering for about the hundredth time just why the actual hell he was sitting in the hospital E.R. His part in this whole damn mess was – for all intents and purposes – over now.He had stayed with the woman, holding her and trying to get her warm, until the ambulance arrived. The attendants took over, and Nick had stepped to one side with no regrets. When Adam came back, the two of them had pulled the dickhead out of the trunk – much to the surprise of the ambulance guys – and practically sat on top of him until the cops came. And that, Nick had thought, was it. The woman was off to the hospital, the cops would take the dickhead. End of story.It had suddenly occurred to Nick, though, that the woman’s friends might be interested in what had happened to her, and they would want to go to the hospital with her. He went back to the club and looked around, his heart sinking. They were gone. He did two laps, even had Farrah check the ladies’ bathroom, but no

The first thing that Mia felt was blinding pain. Her whole head felt like someone had taken to it with a pair of steel-toed work boots. She tried to move her arms, but it was difficult; she tried to move her legs, but that also didn’t work. She couldn’t seem to get her limbs to do what she wanted them to do. She turned her head, slowly, wincing.“Hey,” a deep voice said. “Hey, are you awake?”Mia opened her eyes, closed them again as the light stabbed her head.“Hey.” A hand touched hers. “Are you there?”“Hurts.” Her voice was ragged and rough.“Yeah, I know. I know it hurts. But you’re going to be fine.”She opened her eyes again, squinted at the man sitting next to her. He looked vaguely familiar.Nick met her eyes and noticed for the first time that they were an unusual color of brown – they were so light and clear, they were almost gold. He stared into them, wondering how he had missed them at the bar.“Hi,” he said.“Hi.”“Do you remember what happened?”She closed those amazing

“Dr. Innis said this might happen. It’s the drug.” Nick grabbed an extra blanket from an empty gurney, and wrapped it around her securely. “Is that better?”She nodded. “Thanks.”“Sure.” He sat down again, moved his chair a bit closer. He felt an overwhelming urge to touch her, but he restrained himself. “How’s your head now?”“Better, I think.” She managed a weak smile. “It doesn’t feel like someone stomped on my brain anymore.”“No?”“No. Now I just feel like I have the worst hangover of my life.”He grinned at her. “That’s an improvement, right?”“I guess.” Mia lay back, staring at the ceiling as things started to sink into her consciousness. “So this guy – Trevor. He drugged me?”“Yeah.”“At the bar?”“Yeah.” Nick was quiet for a second. “I must have been right there, but I didn’t see anything. I’m sorry, Mia.”She looked at him, surprised. “Why are you sorry?”“Because I feel like I should have seen something. I mean, I knew this guy was bad news from the word go. He gave off a w