Free Down for the Count by Christine Bell

little rush of delight that swept through her when Galen tipped his head in approval.
    At the suggestion of their waiter, she and Cyrus ordered the pork mofongo while Nikki and Galen opted for the catch of the day. Conversation flowed easily, and by the time their meals were served, Lacey felt at ease.
    “This is unreal,” murmured Galen around a mouthful of grilled red snapper.
    He and Lacey ended up passing their plates back and forth for tasting, and Lacey agreed wholeheartedly. The native spices were new to her and sent her senses into overdrive in the best way. She scraped the last remnants of tender roasted meat from her plate and sighed with regret. “Just perfect.”
    “I tell you, we haven’t had a bad meal since we got here,” Cyrus said, pushing his almost empty plate away with a groan. “It’s only all the walking that’s kept me from packing on the pounds.”
    “Well if that works, I guess that means we can have dessert. Prepare for a marathon tomorrow, Galen.”
    He turned a lazy, half-lidded gaze toward her. “Dessert? You’re going to have to roll me out of here as it is. I haven’t eaten like this in eight months.”
    Cyrus raised a questioning brow.
    “Galen is a boxer. He just came off a fight in Atlantic City. It’s months of intense training and piles of chicken breast,” Lacey confided.
    “Ooh, how exciting,” Nikki said, eyeing Galen speculatively. “So did you win?”
    “He did,” Lacey said, pride swelling in her chest. “Knockout in the fifth.” It had been a real nail-biter up to that point, and she had spent the majority of the fight pacing in front of the TV. In fact, Marty had snapped at her because she was distracting him from his word puzzle.
    “Shit, man, I recognize you now,” Cyrus said. “Whalin’ Galen Thomas! That’s very cool. I don’t get the chance to watch too much boxing, but you held the heavyweight belt for a while, didn’t you?”
    Galen didn’t answer, instead raising his brows at Lacey in a clear challenge. She flushed. “He did. From summer of 2009 until mid-2010 when Manny Hermosa stole it in a controversial split decision.”
    His slow grin melted her insides like butter in the sun. She cleared her throat. “So, uh, hopefully he’ll get it back before he retires.” Although her gaze was on Cyrus, she could feel Galen’s stare.
    “I’m impressed,” Galen murmured.
    “I like boxing,” she said, her cheeks burning. “So what do you do for work, Nikki?” she asked, desperately hoping for a change of subject, which Nikki warmed to quickly. She talked about her job in advertising, which she joked was at least as bloody as boxing, but Galen’s gaze stayed locked on Lacey, and she struggled to keep from squirming under the weight of it.
    Today marked the first time she’d ever admitted that she’d followed his career. Closely. She and Cat had spoken of it in passing, and she’d gone to a couple of the parties the Thomases had hosted on fight nights. Marty had been in the apartment when she’d watched the most recent one, but no one else knew her secret. She hadn’t only watched his fights; she’d studied them. In fact, she had an entire collection of DVDs full of every televised matchup he’d ever had.
    She always figured, if anyone found out, she could rationalize it with a response like, Hey, if you went to high school with Britney Spears, you’d buy her albums. But that wasn’t it at all. It was an opportunity to watch him in his element without him seeing the truth on her face.
    She was crazy about him.
    “What about you, Lacey?” Nikki asked.
    “I work for my family’s law firm as the marketing director.”
    “Wow, big job. Do you enjoy it?”
    She opened her mouth to give her standard affirmative reply but stopped short. Did she enjoy it? She considered the question carefully. More than some things. Like jury duty and going to the gynecologist. But it wasn’t as much fun as, say, karaoke or taking in an action flick on a