Fight for Her by Kelly Favor (classic children's novels txt) 📕

leave him alone. Heprobably thought you were crazy. He values his privacy, can you blame him?

She couldn’t really blame him at all.

But then there was a tinkling as the door opened, and instead of another retiree coming in to sit at the counter, Gunner strode inside.

Her heart leapt in her chest and started galloping a mile a minute.

Gunner nodded to Cole, who was filling coffee mugs for a couple seated near the window. “Hey,” Cole said, upon seeing Gunner. “You want the usual?”

“No,” Gunner said. “Just coffee.” He glanced around the restaurant until his gaze fell on Krista. There was no smile, no warmth, just a subtle acknowledgment that he was here and so was she.

He strode towards her booth with an easy stride. He was wearing a different pair of jeans, and they were clean and fit him well. Instead of a plain white tee, he wore a black t-shirt with some logo that she didn’t recognize on the front. But that didn’t matter, because all she could do was try not to stare at his chest as he came over and slid in across from her.

She could instantly smell him, a combination of fresh shampoo and a manly cotton scent that she associated with her daddy’s t-shirts fresh out of the wash.

Those intense brown eyes locked on hers as he settled into the booth. He was so tall that his knees were brushing her legs beneath the table, and the touch sent a shock of electricity through her entire body.

“Thanks for coming,” she said softly.

“I’m a man of my word,” he replied, and that phrase cut deeply, like a knife to her stomach.

She winced inwardly. She liked to think of herself as an honest person, too. Until now, anyway. “So,” she said, taking a breath, “should we jump right into it, then?”

Cole stopped over and put down a second mug, filled it expertly, topped off Krista’s and then departed.

Gunner brought his cup to his lips and took a small sip. She couldn’t take her eyes off his lips. They were perfect, she decided. They looked soft, but not too soft—

and she imagined that if those lips touched hers, they would be warm and insistent, and passionate.

“Fine, let’s jump into it,” Gunner replied, startling her out of her imaginary make out session.

“Okay,” she said, trying on a phony smile. She worried that he’d see her shaking hands and start to pick up on the fact that she wasn’t being honest. She hid her hands under the table. “So, let’s start with when you decided to pull out of your upcoming fight.”

Gunner placed his cup on the table again and sat back. “Wow, you really are new at this journalism thing,” he said.

“What—why?” She twisted her hands in her lap. “I mean, I am new, I told you that. But am I doing something wrong already?”

He raised his eyebrows and scratched his cheek. “Well, normally they do tend to record these things.” His eyes met hers and he cracked a small grin.

“Oh, shit,” she said, immediately fumbling for her purse. “I…I have a recorder…you know, on my phone. It’s an app. I have an app for that.”

When she got her phone out and finally looked at him again, she saw that he was trying hard not to laugh at her, but failing miserably.

“I’m glad you have an app for that,” he said, chuckling.

A wave of embarrassment rose up, threatening to bring tears to her eyes. This was humiliation at its finest, and on top of that, she felt she deserved it for lying about who she was and why she was really here.

Krista managed to control her emotions and get the voice recorder working on her cell phone. Then she placed the phone in the center of the table, something she was sure she’d seen journalists do in the movies. “There we go,” she said. “It’s all on the record now,” she added, throwing in another phrase she’d heard in a movie.

Gunner nodded, as if impressed by her newfound professionalism. “I’m glad to get something on the record,” he told her. Then he sipped his coffee and looked at her.

“You know, you’re kind of cute when you’re nervous.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling the color rise to her cheeks. “Ummm….so…moving on…”

“What? Why do we have to move on? I mean, I kind of like talking about how you’re cute when you get nervous. I think it’s a great subject for an article.”

“But not this article,” she said.

“Are you sure about that?” His eyes twinkled playfully.

Is he flirting with me? Is Gunner King truly flirting with me?

She couldn’t be sure. She also thought he might either be making fun of her, or just trying to throw her off balance so she wouldn’t be tough during the interview.

Whatever the reason, Krista knew that she needed to remain poised at all costs.

A mistake at this point could prove very costly to her.

“I’m sure that we have way more important topics to discuss than my cuteness or lack thereof.”

“I disagree.”

“It’s my interview,” she said.

He shrugged, took another sip of coffee. “Who’s going to run this piece anyway?”

She froze for a moment. “Well…I’m…you know…” she swallowed.

“God, you’re writing this on spec?” Gunner shook his head.

She didn’t have a clue what spec was, but it didn’t matter. He was still talking.

“You really must be naïve,” he continued. “What year are you in school anyhow?

Don’t tell me you’re a freshman or something.”

“Actually, I’m in graduate school,” she told him. She’d been considering grad school, at least, so that wasn’t a total fib—although she’d intended to do it for business.

“Hmmm. Good.”

“Why is that good?”

“I can’t be calling some freshman in college cute. It’s too weird,” he said. “So, good, you’re in grad school. Where?”

“Boston University,” she replied promptly. She’d thought that one up last night before falling asleep

“That’s a decent school,” Gunner said. “But journalism, for a career?” He grimaced. “I’m not sure that’s the best decision.”

“I can understand why you might not appreciate that career path,” she