Free The Fighter's Fierce Temptation by Leslie North Page B

hours.”
    ***
    Tavvy entered the main cabin and quickly located Alice in her father’s room. After trading pleasantries with the older man, he told Alice he needed to speak to her outside. They walked into the hallway.
    “What’s up?” Alice asked, glancing at her wristwatch. There were still several hours before the training day would be finished.
    “I made a decision. I’m going to go with Bryant back to Utah and help finish his training there. That will give your father a chance to recover without being discovered, give you a chance to recover from your little deception… I just think it would better for everyone involved.”
    Alice nodded, relieved that her deception would be coming to an end, but saddened that she wouldn’t get to see Bryant every day. Even though her interaction with him had been limited by the strict boundaries she’d drawn, she enjoyed watching him train, and she knew her memories would fuel her nighttime dreams for months to come. God, I’m pathetic! Maybe I could take a trip down to Utah after his next fight… and just happen to show up in his home town?
    Keeping those thoughts to herself, she smiled at Tavvy. “I appreciate your willingness to do this, Tavvy. When is this going to happen?”
    “I think one more week will be sufficient. Zac has to get back to work then too, so Bryant will have to leave and take him home. I figure I’ll follow behind them and stick around until at least after his fight with Macken.”
    Alice didn’t let her anxiety over Bryant’s upcoming fight show. Instead, she focused on the fact that she’d only have one more week left with Bryant around. “Well, let’s get him as ready in the next week as we can. I’ll continue his morning runs. His endurance is already up tenfold.”
    Tavvy nodded. “Zac was commenting on that very thing when they were in the ring earlier. Bryant’s maintaining his breath control and not getting tired nearly as quickly.”
    “That’s going to be vital in a match against Macken. That man’s part machine.” Alice had watched Macken’s last fight the night before, alarmed to see the man literally regain his breath control in under a minute between rounds. That was a critical skill and it usually took years to master. Bryant needed to learn that quickly if he wanted a chance in this fight.
    “Tomorrow afternoon we’re going to add sprints to the mixture. Uphill and then down and then I want him sitting until his breath control is back. His goal is to gain control in less than two minutes. We’ll keep shortening the time each day until we’re under a minute.”
    “I doubt he’s ever trained that way before,” Tavvy said.
    “Well, there’s a first time for everything, and you know my father is a firm believer that whoever maintains their breath support has a better chance of winning the match.”
    “I’ll see that it happens. He asked about you.”
    Alice looked up and barely kept from grinning. “He did?”
    “Yeah. What happened between you two at the lake?”
    “Nothing. And he needs to train and focus right now.”
    Tavvy shook his head. “You’re not telling me everything. Did he try something?”
    Alice smiled at the older man who had taken on the role of surrogate father since her own dad’s illness. “No. We kissed a little bit and we decided that anything more needed to wait until after his fight. That’s all.”
    Tavvy nodded. “A wise decision. Maybe not the easiest to pull off, but wise nonetheless. Are you willing to see him after the fight?”
    “Yeah. I thought maybe I’d come down and watch.”
    “I’ll look forward to seeing you then. Are you going to tell him you’re coming down?”
    Alice shook her head. “No. In fact, I need you to train the kids on Saturday. I think it would be better for him if I just stayed out of the way until he left.”
    “He’s going to keep asking questions. What do I tell him?”
    “Tell him I had a chance to participate in a small study at the