Free Unlikely Hero (Atlanta #1) by Kemmie Michaels Page A

then finish up his work for the night. But tonight, a little green light changed his routine. He saw the glowing circle flicker on as soon as he walked into the bullpen of the eighth floor. She had the webcam on! Sneaky.  
    He walked right past the desk without a second glance. He left the bullpen from the other side of the bank of cubicles. Marcus then went to work on the 9th and 10th floors.  
    At one desk, he grabbed a piece of printer paper and wrote "Nice try" before he returned to her through the back entrance. He approached her cubicle from the opposite direction of the webcam and hung the note directly over the lens. He chuckled to himself then grabbed the notebook for his break.  

    E~
    Nice try with the webcam, but you're not so stealth. If you're that desperate to know more, I'll tell you. It's not my actual job, but I really am a fighter — Mixed Martial Arts. I train just about every day and I fight every chance I get. I like to get in the ring and let it all out. It keeps me calm. So if you need a picture of me, just imagine a serious badass bruised-up cage fighter. And just so you know, I don't have a shoe fetish either. I don't even wear them in the ring.  
    ~M

    Erin found the “Nice Try” on her webcam and laughed out loud. People were staring at her and she didn't care. She grabbed the book and headed for her cafe. She read his message in the notebook and almost gasped. A real fighter? After everything he'd been through, he still sought out the violence? She had assumed his fighting was metaphorical.
    She didn't understand at all. After nearly three months worth of writing, she thought she was getting a sense of who M was. She was not prepared to hear he was a fighter. That vision didn't match at all with the calm, stable picture she had. He was analytical, intelligent, and funny. Fighters were cavemen. This just didn't fit , and Erin found herself confused and caught completely off-guard.

    M~
    Sorry about the webcam. I had to try it. But I have to admit, I'm a little freaked out right now. You're a cage-fighter? Seriously? That really surprises me. I don't understand how you can come from all that violence and then keep it in your life.  
    I'm not judging, I promise. I just genuinely don't understand. You are intelligent — you read between the lines and get everything I say even when I won't say it. I see you as stable, and gentle even. You have taken such good care of me and my story.  
    So how is it that you can be all that and still be a fighter? Can you help me understand please? I have no sense of how that can work. Plus, I don't like picturing you all bloody. Be careful with yourself. Knowing that you fight just makes me want to protect you, even thought I'm sure you hate that I just said that. And I want to know your middle name.  
    ~E

    That night, Marcus read that note from Erin and froze. He didn't expect that response. How could he explain? He didn't want to come across as stupid, especially after she had just said he was intelligent.  
    How could he make her understand that fighting was a release for him? Stepping in the ring was proof that he was strong and that he came out of the past without being defeated.  
    Didn't she do the same? Didn’t she have to prove to herself that she could be with someone and not be afraid? God, has she not been with a man in five years? Someone as beautiful as she being alone that long didn't seem likely — didn't even seem possible. But how else could she not just get this as easily as she had understood the rest of him? Now he was confused.

    E~
    I don't know how to answer you, or how you don't get it. I fight because I can, because I'm strong enough. It proves I'm stronger than he is. I can take every punch but I'm in control of it. My choice. Don't you feel strong when you’re with another man besides that asshole from college? Doesn't that prove your victory?
    ~M. Steven

    The next day, Marcus almost crumpled when he read the tear-smudged