Co-dependence
AN: This little piece came after a talk with OtherLuces. The subject was what would we do if we could buy Dean's services and we both did our own twists on the hows and the whys. Check out her version called A Business Proposition. I'm in no way done with Keys to the Heart but this plot bunny ate away at me.
The first two chapters will cover 2 days of their lives. The third chapter will possibly be the full month. The fourth chapter will possibly cover the span of a year. I don't anticipate this going past 5 chapters.
Summary: Mikaela; a successful, wealthy attorney finds herself in need of a significant other during a corporate retreat. Never having time for dating due to her schedule, she finds her solution on a street corner in the form of a down and out Dean Ambrose. This isn't Pretty Woman with a twist, folks, but it has its moments. Dean/OFC
Chapter 1: The Proposal
Los Angeles, 2010
"Are you going to tell me what has gotten you in this mood?" Derek asked while holding the heavy bag. He had known and trained Mikaela in the art of Muay Thai for nine long years, and not once had he ever seen his friend and student this furious.
The 5' 8" beauty was unleashing hell upon the bag and he was finding it difficult to maintain his feet, even for a man that had 9 inches in height and a good 150 lbs on her in weight. Muay Thai was referred to as the Science of Eight Limbs. It was a deadly yet beautiful discipline that one used their hands, elbows, knees and feet to break their opponent down, methodically, viciously, if one chose to and Mikaela was his finest apprentice in all his years of teaching.
"Nothing!" she shouted, taking two running steps forward before leaping into the air and driving her knees into the bag. The chain mounting it to the ceiling of the gym snapped from the abuse and the bag, along with Mikaela flattened Derek on to the mat. She had the decency to look suitably embarrassed when he scowled up at her from his back.
"Bullshit!" he grumbled, tossing the bag aside and caused Mikaela to lay sprawled out to his side, her left leg still draped over his abdomen. "Come on, spill it. You've been costing me a fortune in heavy bags since you've got this wild hair up your ass. Out with it," he beckoned with a hand while he passed her a bottle of water with the other.
"The office has this retreat coming up," she began, stopping to take a generous swig of her water. "It's a month up in the mountains at a private lodge where all the firm's partners, spouses and significant others will compete in games, have 'fun'," she air quoted fun with a scowl on her pretty face, "and meet up with a potential client, a huge client," she sighed, running a towel over head and patting her face dry.
"So what's the problem?" Derek asked, lying on his side on the mats.
"I don't have a spouse or a significant other! Derek, I spend every waking moment in the office, in court or in here with you!" she shot to her feet, pacing back and forth before her friend. "This client is very family-oriented; a family owns it and their fanbase consists of families. It is also a male-dominated company and the chances of me getting assigned as lead on their account; despite the fact that I'm the youngest person to make senior partner in the firm, is slim to none given that I'm a single female," she ranted emotionally, running a hand through her hair.
"Mick, calm down," he took his feet, standing in her path to stop her pacing by taking a hold of her shoulders. "You're a beautiful woman and a brilliant attorney. That alone should sell you to these people but if you feel that you need that edge to make the grade then go hunt down a man to take with you. You're fucking hot and shouldn't have a problem landing one in a heartbeat."
Mikaela was a beauty to the eye. At 5'8", she was statuesque with three feet of the silkiest, jet black hair, black eyes, full lips, naturally long eyelashes, exceptionally tanned, perfect skin, full breasts that strained against the sports bra she wore, tight abs, slim waist, a perfect pert ass in her bikers shorts and long, toned legs. She was a knockout that Derek would have jumped at long ago if he wasn't happily married.
"I don't have time to hunt down a boyfriend. The damn retreat is in 2 days," she pouted, hanging her head in misery. "Besides…I've been out of the dating game for so long, I wouldn't even know where to start on finding a guy, let alone hooking him," she whispered, color flooding her cheeks.
"Oh sweetheart, you can find a guy anywhere and I believe your natural assets will hook him just fine," Derek laughed, wincing from the elbow she drove into his side. "Okay, I agree with one thing given what this month entails. You need a man and he has to be athletic to help you with these games so that you stand out to the client, and you definitely don't have time to hunt for a boyfriend that fits all that criteria, so I have a suggestion…"
"What?" she asked when he trailed off.
"Hire a male escort," he cringed, waiting for the explosion that was sure to follow.
"WHAT?" She didn't disappoint, ranting and raving for a good half hour before she finally stormed out the door.
Mikaela sat in her car outside Derek's gym, thinking over the pros he listed off to her if she 'ordered' a man that fit her needs for the retreat. She had to admit, after several minutes of debate, that his suggestion held some merit. She was pressed for time, sucked at dating and was in need of someone specific that could keep up with her during the activities that were planned.
'This is fucking embarrassing,' she thought as she scrolled through the numbers the search on her phone came up with.
Starting up her car, she drove through the shady neighborhood that Derek's gym occupied, heading back to the upscale side of town. Her brand new Corvette ZR-1 was always safe from theft or stripping in the gym's parking lot. Derek commanded that type of respect in the neighborhood. No one would dare touch the vehicle of his prized student.
Pulling up to a red light, she casually glanced over the names of the different agencies on her phone before someone caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. Leaning against the light pole was a tall, well built dirty blond, wearing a pair of torn jeans and a tight white t-shirt stretched over a gorgeous chest and straining biceps. His hair hung in soft curls over eyes that seemed to shift from blue to green depending on how the light hit them.
He caught her eyes roaming his body through the windshield, smirking at how flustered she got before she averted her attention back to her phone. Even through the dark tint on her passenger window, he could see her jump in her seat when he lightly rapped on the glass.
'Don't roll down the window, idiot,' she chanted in her head even as she hit the button. 'Fuck, I'm stupid,' she scolded herself when he leaned down into her window.
"Looking to have some fun, doll?" he smiled at her, crossing his toned forearms on the door frame.
"I must be high," she mumbled under her breath, covering her eyes for a second. "I can't believe I'm fucking considering this," she whined, bouncing the back of her head off her headrest.
"The light is about to change, sweetheart. Yes or no?" he smiled at her, cocking his head to meet her gaze when she finally dropped her hand. He grinned victoriously when she unlocked the doors, instantly lifting the door and settling in beside her before he pulled it back down. "You're not a cop, are you?" he slid his eyes to her, trying to get a read on the silent woman.
"Fuck no, I'm a lawyer," she sighed, locking the doors once again.
"That's convenient," he grinned with a raised brow.
"Seat belt," she said with a bit more authority in her tone.
"Yes, ma'am," he chuckled, buckling himself in. "So what can I do for you, honey?" he drawled in a raspy voice that sent an involuntary shiver down her spine.
"You can stop with the honey, sweetheart and doll bullshit for one. My name is Mikaela," she slapped the car into gear when the light turned green and quickly accelerated down the straightaway. "What's your name?" she asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, grinning when she saw his white knuckles holding on to his seat and door handle.
"Dean," he replied back while staring at her. "Dean Ambrose," he smirked, chewing his gum while he openly perused her body, still in her workout clothes.
"Cute. Now tell me your real name," she glanced at him, arching her brow when he narrowed his eyes on her. "I'm just as good at reading people in my profession as you are in yours," she smiled when he seemed to deflate a bit, losing his attitude as he turned to stare out the windshield.
"Jon Good," he said softly. "Why are you driving so fast?" he asked, watching as she smoothly switched lanes, darting in between cars with barely a glance.
"I want to get to my side of town so we can have a talk," she said on a sigh, glancing at her side mirror.
"Talk huh? I cost the same for talking, sweet…Mikaela. You sure you don't want to take advantage of what you're paying for?" he wagged his eyebrows, reaching over the stick shift to run his hand up her inner thigh before he found his wrist in a painful grip.
"We talk first," she lifted his hand, both of their biceps bulging before she released him. They drove in silence for a long while until the city streets changed around them, heralding their arrival to the ritzier area of town. "I have a proposition for you. If you're interested, it'll require…an audition of sorts and if you pass then I'll make it very lucrative for you to accept."
"How lucrative?" Jon glanced at her, his interest piqued already.
"I'll leave that up to you," Mikaela grinned, hitting the remote on her dash to open the huge iron gate shielding her driveway from the rest of the world. Jon's eyes went wide as he leaned forward to get a good look at the two-story mansion before him. "Come on," she jerked her head at him, opening the door and stepping out, sealing it once she pulled her gym bag from behind her seat.
"Aren't you worried that I'll hurt you, rape you, rob you or kill you?" Jon asked uncomfortably, crossing his arms over his chest while he waited for her to unlock the front door.
"Jon, if you can do any of that and walk away, let alone live, then you're welcome to every damn thing I have. Now come on," she laughed, standing aside to let him enter her home before shutting the door behind him. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, taking in the marble floor of the foyer, following close behind her as they passed the dining area and kitchen, to a sitting room with a large fireplace and plasma TV hanging above it. The further they ventured into her home, the more uncomfortable he appeared to be. "Do you see all this shit?" she pointed at the leather couches, expensive electronics, up to the second floor before she took in Jon's haunted eyes. "It is one huge as shit possession for me to lose myself in, nothing more, nothing less. I have some comforts here with the entertainment systems but other than that, all of this is meaningless."
"Why did you buy it then?"
"Because it's fucking huge," she laughed, looking up at the ceiling and loft. "Being alone in something so big isn't quite as suffocating as being alone in a two bedroom apartment. I know that sounds stupid but I have enough shit here to occupy my mind long enough to forget for a few hours at least," she shrugged, leading a slightly settled Jon into the den.
"So let me get this straight," Jon leaned back and melted into the soft leather recliner, watching Mikaela pace nervously before him in the den. "You want me to pose as your fiancé for a month, at a retreat for a bunch of rich ass lawyers and a potential client, competing in games so you can prove you're the one that should be the lead on their account. Do I have it right so far?" he smirked when she nodded her head while she kept pacing. "And why don't you just get a boyfriend? Why me? You're one hot piece of ass. I don't see the problem," he chuckled, running his eyes down her form.
"I don't date! I haven't been on a date in fucking forever! I work nonstop and workout during my only free time. I don't have time to date, no fucking interest in it really," she rambled out quickly, turning and ran into a solid chest.
"Maybe you need my usual services after all," Jon lifted her chin with his index finger, running his thumb over her bottom lip. "You seem awfully tense, darlin. I can help loosen you up, make you feel good," he said in a husky whisper, leaning down until his lips were centimeters from hers before she crossed her right leg behind his and shoved him. He fell back but kept his grip on her arm, pulling her down with him; ending with Jon sprawled on his back and Mikaela pressed firmly along the length of his body. "Aren't you a little firecracker?" he grinned, rolling them so that he ended up on top.
"You have no idea," she smirked, locking her legs around his waist and twisting her body to toss him to the side, rolling until she was once again in the dominant position.
"Where did you train?" Jon asked, eyeing her warily when he sensed the power in her limbs. He noticed immediately that a different side of her came out when she was sparring; one that was wild and unrestrained, unlike her normally reserved, shy persona that she used to interact with people on a normal basis.
"Derek's," she gasped out, feeling his hard length beneath her cotton-covered pussy.
"You train with Derek?" he cocked his head, narrowing his eyes at her when she nodded her head. "Why his downtown gym? Why not his gym in your swanky neighborhood?"
"And learn the watered down version he teaches to the elitists? I don't think so," she growled between clenched teeth. "I've trained with him for nine years, long before I moved up in the world, surrounding myself with these pricks and I'll be damned if I lose my edge just because my zip code changed. Where did you train?" she asked, glancing at his sculpted arms before taking in his well-defined abs through his thin shirt.
"All over the place but not martial arts," he thrust his hips up, distracting her long enough to push her on to her back between his legs. He quickly scrambled forward, catching the back of her knees in the crook of his arms and pinning her shoulders to the ground. "I was a wrestler, working for several independent circuits across the country," he grinned, running his tongue over his bottom lip when he fitted his pelvis to hers.
"No shit?" Mikaela smiled at the irony of it all. "Are you interested in my offer?"
"Yeah, I'm interested," Jon chuckled, grinding his erection against her hot crotch once again. "If we're going to pull off playing fiancés then you're going to have to get comfortable with my touch, my kiss, to be believable," he moved her legs to his shoulders, taking her face between his palms and softly kissed her lips. "What the hell, honey?" he choked out when her legs locked around his neck.
"You forgot your audition, honey. Now while I'm not a wrestler, I do know Jiu Jitsu and will use that so that I don't mark that pretty face of yours," she laughed at his growl.
"How far do you want to take this, baby?" his eyes flashed feral at her, loving the competition.
"While you still have the chance to opt out of this thing, I unfortunately have to attend so it would be best if we aren't bruised too badly," she gasped when she felt him slip her guard, both of them rolling to their feet to size up the other. "We could move this to my gym. I have a set of mats so that we don't hurt each other impacting with the hardwood floors," she arched a brow in question.
"After you, Princess," he waved his arm out in an arc, chuckling when she rolled her eyes at yet another term of endearment from him. Jon took in his surroundings as he followed her through the house. Her wealth was beyond anything he'd ever seen before and if he was honest with himself, it intimidated the hell out of him, while the woman herself seemed pretty down to earth. If his first impressions were anything to go by, he'd say she was a lot like him; private but with a wicked streak. Unlike him, however, she seemed to have intimacy issues that would make their performance difficult to pull off. Her home still made him nervous though, until they finally entered a very impressive gym. "You have more shit here than Derek has in his place," he mumbled, looking around while he kicked off his shoes, stripped off his shirt and stepped on to the mats.
"I work out here on the days I don't train with him," she lowered her head, blushing from the admission.
"Why don't you go out?" he asked, walking a circle around her still form. "You're a beautiful woman," he stepped up behind her, pressing his bare chest to her back. "I can't see you staying single long if you put yourself out there. Maybe if you did, you wouldn't have to settle with finding someone like me selling myself on a corner," he whispered in her ear, taking in the scent of her hair while letting his hands trace over her abdomen.
"I guess I've always been too driven, too focused on my career to make room in my life for an outsider. There are concessions to be made when you let someone in, allowances I wasn't prepared to make," she whispered, letting her eyes close when she felt his lips ghost over her neck. "As for you, I think interesting things can be found on the streets," she let a smirk tug at the corner of her mouth, reaching over her shoulder to flip him forward, on to his back.
"Fair enough," he smiled up at her, pulling her feet out from under her. "I guess we can use this time to get to know each other. I will have to know things about you to pass inspections from your co-workers and the client. You can make up whatever you want about me," he said, taking his feet in sync with her, shrugging his shoulders when she regarded him coolly.
"I'm a very private person, Jon. No one knows shit about me except where I went to school, when I passed the bar and my hometown," she circled the mat, both of them sizing each other up again before locking up. "Harvard, 2005 and Las Vegas," she answered before he could ask, pulling against his side headlock before leg-sweeping him, crossing over his body as they both fell and breaking his hold. He quickly reasserted himself, wrapping his legs around her waist to pull her flush to him and rolled until he had her pinned with her wrists trapped in one large hand above her head. "So you can make up anything else about me too, including how we met," she gasped, staring into his eyes before he glanced down at her breasts brushing his chest before returning his gaze to hers.
"Why don't you let people in, Mick?" he asked, seeing her eyes widen at the use of that nickname. "Is it okay if I call you that?" he breathed out against her lips.
"It is the nickname that close friends call me; the few that I have, but it sounds nice coming from you," she smiled softly, gently easing her legs out from under his until he once again fitted his pelvis between her thighs. "I had a shitty life before I clawed my way to the top, Jon. A lover would pry, wanting to know things that I'm unwilling to share. If I want someone to know then I'll tell them in my own time and not because they get all butthurt that I won't open up on their schedule. The assholes I'm surrounded with are exactly those types too, entitled little pricks," she rolled her eyes in irritation.
"Guess it's a good thing you wandered to my side of the tracks and came across me then," he smiled down at her, kissing her lips when he felt her feet run up the sides of his legs. "My life sucked too, Princess, and; believe me, I don't like to talk about it either so I can relate about pushy people. You don't have to tell me anything or you can share what you want. I'm no one to judge," he whispered, darting his eyes between her shining onyx orbs. "Fuck, you're flexible," he rasped out, glancing down at her hips that she rolled back, her feet slipping between them on his hips. "Fuck!" he yelled out when she launched him up and over her head to land on his back. "You are fucking amazing!" he laughed, rolling on to his hands and knees at the same time as Mikaela.
"You too," she grinned, slowly getting to her feet as he did. "So why aren't you wrestling anymore?" she asked, ducking his grab at her and repositioning on the mat.
"I was supposed to sign with the WWE, cut ties with all the promotions I was with to make the move and when the day came, it fell through," he said in a melancholy tone, trying for a leg sweep but she back-flipped out of reach. "I never made much on the circuits to put aside a decent stash of cash to fall back on, so when I burned through it, I was left with little options to survive off of. I just assumed you were curious why I'm doing what I'm doing," he shrugged his shoulders when she stood up straight, just staring at him. He tried to hide his embarrassment but had the feeling that she saw straight through him.
"Why didn't you go back to one of your former promotions?" she cocked her head, walking a circle around him.
"You think the fucktards you associate with get butthurt over shit?" he chuckled, shaking his head while his eyes darkened with his mood. "Even the loser promotions I worked for got all bent out of shape when I told them I made the bigs. They laughed in my fucking face when I crawled back!" he picked the perfect moment to strike, hip-tossing her on to the mat. "I was their fucking champion, all of them, and now they're laughing at what I've become!" he flipped her on to her stomach, wrapping one arm around her slender throat while wrenching her right arm up to the center of her back. "Are you going to tap or just wait until you pass out?" he hissed in her ear, grinding his erection against her ass while he continued the chokehold and arm-lock.
"I don't quit…and neither do you," she gritted out of clenched teeth, struggling for air. "Are you done…feeling sorry…for yourself?" she gasped, feeling light-headed already.
"Shit, I'm sorry!" Jon released his hold on her, gently rolling her over on to her back. "Mikaela!" he panicked when she began to wheeze, curling up on her side while she violently coughed before dragging air deep into her deprived lungs. "Mick, baby, I'm sorry," he cupped her face between his palms, concern in his gaze when he saw her hazy eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, brushing a few loose strands of her long hair out of her face.
"I'm fine," she coughed out behind a hand. "You passed my test if you want the job. I need some water," she said in a rush, jumping to her feet and rushing out of the gym with Jon right on her heels.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked while she quickly drained a bottle of water from the refrigerator, taking in her nod with a look of guilt on his face. "I'd like the job if you're not convinced that I'm some fucking lunatic that you'll have to lock the bedroom door to feel safe from," he mumbled, his hands fidgeting while he rested his arms on the marble countertop.
"I don't think you're a lunatic," she chuckled, handing him a bottle of water while she opened another for herself. "If I thought that, you never would have made it into my car, let alone in my house. I just stumbled across a raw nerve and you let me in," she looked into his eyes from across the island, taking in his masked pain.
"I did, damn it," he glanced down at his hands, releasing a deep breath. "I never let anyone in. I'm going to have to watch that around you," he met her gaze with a cocky grin.
"Not meaning to get to the business portion of this arrangement but we have a lot to do before we make the trip," she averted her eyes, pulling a pad of paper and a pen from the drawer behind her. "Do you have a figure in mind?" she hesitantly met his intense stare once again.
"Besides yours," he grinned, running his eyes down her body before shaking his head, "I don't have a clue what I should charge for a month to be with you," he said in a gentle tone when he saw the blush tint her already tanned flesh.
"Let's get something straight right now, Jon," she began as she scribbled something on the paper before she ripped it from the pad, folded it and slid it across the island while meeting his eyes once again. "I don't expect anything from you other than some acting, holding hands and an occasional kiss. I don't care how much money I'm paying you, you are not my plaything and I won't treat you like one."
There was sincerity in her midnight eyes that both put him at ease and disturbed him at the same time. It would be a welcome relief and a restoration of a bit of his pride not to have to earn his next meal with his dick, mouth or ass. Just the thought of random women and men using him like that still humiliated him. The fact that he allowed it out of necessity killed him inside.
The other part of him; the man hidden within that he safeguarded from this hellish life, found a kindred spirit in this broken woman and wanted her on a deep, primal level. Yes, she was rich as sin and way out of his league but she was just as fucked up, lonely and miserable as he was. Guess the old saying is true – money can't buy you happiness.
He didn't have any words to say back to her. The ones on the tip of his tongue were 'and what if I want to be your plaything or for you to be mine,' but he thought them inappropriate at the moment and kept them to himself. Nodding his head instead, he unfolded the paper and damn near choked on his tongue.
"A half a million dollars!" he snapped loudly, looking up into her startled eyes.
"Is it not enough?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? What I get in a month doesn't come close to this!" he stalked around to her side, wrapping an arm around her lower back and pulled her flush to his chest. "Why so much? You found me on a street corner, for fuck's sake! If you expect nothing from me, no sex then why so much?" he glared down at her, his chest heaving under her hands.
"It is a very real possibility that you might change my future over the next month. If I land this client then I can get out of the firm and work out of their headquarters and believe me, I want to get the fuck out of the firm. If we pull this off, my life changes," she said softly, tracing one hand up to cup his cheek. "The least I can do is change your life too," she regarded him carefully, watching a stray tear trek down his cheek before he took her mouth with a deep, searching kiss.
"You know you still need to get used to my touch and kiss," he chuckled, kissing her forehead. "You still tense up when we do that," he said into her hair, holding her close while his tears dried on his face.
"We'll work on it after we eat," she patted his chest, stepping away from him to open another drawer. "Obviously, I wasn't expecting your company this evening so I don't have anything thawed out to cook, but we can order out, get cleaned up before its delivered then sit in front of the TV, eat and work on my tension issues," she laughed, handing him the menus. "Feel free to pick whatever you want, tell them you're ordering for Mikaela Tomasini and I want my usual. All of them have a credit card on file and know my usual. I'm a creature of habit in case that wasn't glaringly obvious," she blushed, picking up the phone and dragging him along by his hand. They ascended the stairs, walking to a door that she opened and flicked on the light. "This will be your room until we leave the day after tomorrow. You have your own private bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub and walk-in shower. Place our order, take a shower and meet me downstairs," she stood on her toes, pulling his head down and pressed a light kiss on his lips before she smiled and disappeared out his door to the right.
Taking a long glance around his bedroom, Jon flopped on to his bed and ordered almost everything off of the Chinese menu she gave him. He was fucking starving and didn't realize how badly until he was given the chance to get what he wanted. That mission accomplished, he moved into the bathroom and turned on the multi-heads in the glass enclosure. Unbuttoning his jeans, he stepped out of them and was about to pull down his boxers until he ran into a problem. "Shit," he grumbled, turning off the shower.
'Okay, this place is huge but how hard can it be to find her?' he thought to himself, walking out of his room, turning to the right and followed the turn of the loft until he found an open door. Seeing her clothes scattered on the floor, he crossed over to the lit bathroom while his eyes lingered on her bed. "Mick, I have a problem…" he began before he poked his head in and caught a very naked Mikaela by surprise.