Chapter 4: Girl on Fire

Keith

"What's got your girl so upset?" I glanced over to my girl and couldn't help but smile softly.

"That's her embarrassed look. She's fine." I would have gone over there to join in the fun, but the DJ was winding down to allow us to play again. I looked forward to eleven o'clock when I'd be free to dance with my girl a little before taking her home. Watching her watch me and react to our music was the hottest thing I'd ever experienced during a gig. I couldn't help savaging her mouth once the set was done. She was so damn responsive, melting into my touch like she was made for me!

"Ready Keith?" Lisa, our bass player asked flirtatiously, jiggling her assets in my direction like she always did. She and her artificially red hair had been after me since we first met, but I just wasn't interested. She was too eager; a sure thing, and we weren't compatible. The needle tracks on her inner thighs told me more than enough about her life outside the band.

"Let's do this," I said neutrally. Our second set fired up the club even more than the first. We were kicking it tonight! As it had all night, my gaze stayed on my innocent lady. In that light purple dress and grooving to my beat, she was everything that I desired. She hypnotized me with her curves and I couldn't tell if I was following her beat or she was following mine. Either way, forty-five minutes later I put my drumsticks down as we took our final break.

"Keith, I was thinking that-" I passed right by Lisa, determined not to waste a minute of my time on her. I went to the bathroom, then went straight to my lady as if magnetized.

"Are you liking the music?" I murmured in her ear, my arms going around her sides as if they were meant to be there. She jumped, but I didn't let go. It was either striking up a conversation or continuing to 'kiss the daylights' out of her. I'd go with the latter option, but my poor girl looked embarrassed enough to spontaneously combust.

"You guys have a lot of power behind your beat," she said with a warm smile. "I'm glad I stayed up for this. But I can't guarantee how much longer I'll be able to stay awake. When do you guys finish up?" She wrapped her arms around mine and relaxed against me. Was she deliberately feeding my ego? Her yawn said no.

"We should be done by eleven, Sweetling. They usually allow us an hour and a half to pump up the crowd," I told her, nuzzling her temple. She started to sway to the DJ's mix and I followed her lead.

"Yo, Wall, did you know your girl's a virgin?" Renegade asked. Tammy froze and I instantly knew this was the subject that had her in such a tizzy before.

"Why don't I just get it tattooed on my forehead?" she asked angrily. I could feel the heat coming off her body and sought to soothe her. Although I hadn't known, it made sense.

"Relax love. There's nothing to be ashamed of," I told her firmly, squeezing her body to mine. God, she felt good. "I can be gentle," I whispered in her ear, delighted with her shiver and moan. Louder, I asked, "How do we sound tonight?" This launched a series of compliments and comments on our sound that relaxed my lady. I stayed with her for as long as I could, giving her a hug and a kiss before jogging back to the stage.

"Cutting it kinda close, don't you think?" our lead singer griped, sounding like he'd struck out on the break with his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Emily. I shrugged, skirting Lisa and taking my seat.

"Leave him alone, Leroy," Harry laughed, testing his chords for the final set. "Judging by that sweet little honey he was all cozied up to, man had reason to drag his feet." Smiling my appreciation, I grabbed my sticks, ready to go again.

"That tiny little thing next to those fighters?" Lisa said, glaring in that direction. "She hardly seems like your type, Keith. She looks like the only thing keeping her awake is the beat."

"Then let's give her a reason to dance," I said with a smile and a wink in my girl's direction. Imagining the heat of her blush, I counted us into the final set. Everyone was bringing their A-game to the music. Even Lisa kept it together, though the woman was clearly jealous. I just focused on my lady, wanting to see her dance in her adorable dress.

When the set was over, a cheer went up from the crowd. I went to clean my drums and prep them for the trip home and found my arms full of Tammy as my fighter friends surrounded me.

"That was dope," Obsidian congratulated me with a hearty fist bump. I laughed, returning the gesture before caressing my lady's cheek as I'd been dying to do all night. Her moves on the edge of the dance floor had me stiff and standing at attention for her.

"That was fun and definitely more lively than we usually do for a final set," Donny said as he finished putting away his keyboards. I took the hint and got to work breaking down my drums. Tammy yawned into the back of her hand and Lisa immediately picked up on it.

"What? Are we boring you?" she asked nastily. Tamara only gave her a sleepy grin.

"Never. You guys are amazing! I always wanted to learn an instrument, but I'm only good at singing."

"Really? You should jam with us sometime," Leroy said, leaning in and obviously trying to make his girlfriend jealous. Tammy backed up into me and I couldn't help my growl at my bandmate. He blinked; I'd never minded his flirting before. But the message was received. A few of the bouncers helped us load our stuff in our van out back and the club owner paid us for our time. We split the money and split up for the night. I usually would hit the bar and pick up a few chicks to work off my aggression from the sets, but tonight I was in a very mellow mood. I accepted the complimentary bottle of water from the bartender and hit the dance floor with my girl. The two of us tore it up until midnight when my poor girl sagged against me, clearly falling asleep.

"I should have taken a nap instead of dress shopping," she yawned, covering her mouth as she blinked tiredly at me. "I'm sorry I can't hang. I just-" My mouth was on hers before she could finish her apology. I possessed her softly this time, fully aware of her exhaustion.

"We should say goodbye to your sister and get you home for the night." She beamed at me and I could only shake my head at her sleepy antics.

We found Mama Bear and her suitor tearing up the dance floor and Tammy quickly said her goodnites.

"You sure you don't need me to go with you?" Peggy asked, clearly torn between fun and her familial duty.

"Stop worrying, sis! Keith is going to drive me to my car and then he's going to follow me home to make sure I get there safely. Seriously, I'm so tired I could fall asleep standing right now. You and Lionel are just getting started. Have fun!" It didn't take much more than that to convince her.

We left the club through the back way, my van ready to transport all of my precious cargo. Poor Tammy was asleep before I left the alley. I thought about taking my exhausted girl straight home, but I didn't for two reasons. First, I had no idea where she lived. And second, I wasn't keen on leaving her Hybrid at the gym overnight.

… …

"Wake up, angel," I whispered, caressing her cheek once we reached Redemption. I felt at peace as I summoned her back to consciousness. She really was the most adorable woman I'd ever met.

My girlfriend sneezed once and woke, looking grumpy as she took me in. "What?" she whined.

"Time to drive home, Sweetling," I said, holding in my laughter with a supreme effort. Tammy thought about it, then stretched with a sigh. Her dress dipped momentarily and I had to quell myself as I rose.

"Night, night, Keith," she muttered, stepping out of my van. She gathered her things and looked surprised when I was there at her side after she opened her door. "Keith! What-" I claimed her luscious lips as I had back at the club. She gasped and backed up, but I didn't let her get away until she was a moaning, needy puddle of compliance at my feet. It was so hard to stop at that point, but I managed it by remembering how tired she was.

"Night, night, Sweetling," I murmured against her lips before gently pushing her into her car. She looked up at me in a daze and I groaned. "Go home, little one. Go home before I forget myself and make love to you in the back of my van." That had the right effect. She gasped and slammed the car door in my face, turning over the engine in a panic. I chuckled and got back in my van, which was idling as I waited for her to stop shivering and drive.

She navigated the streets quite well in the dark, reaching her apartment in twenty minutes flat. I was happy to note that my girl lived in the Marina District, which was one of the safer places in the city. Her apartment didn't have a doorman, but it was closed and locked up tight at night. She was shaking as she walked to her building, so I double-parked and went to her.

"Tammy," I called softly and pulled her back into my arms. She instantly relaxed. After hugging her close for a couple of minutes until she was a drowsy weight in my arms again, I lifted her chin and kissed her forehead tenderly. "I'm not going to hurt you, little one. Goodnight." The smile that lit her face was bright and innocent. So, why did it awaken such dark impulses in me? Instead of giving in to temptation, I turned her around and gently pushed her toward her building. She went willingly, seemingly unaware of my darker impulses.

Once the door was closed, I went back to the van and drove out of the city to my house. It was more of a mansion that I designed myself. I drove into my garage and parked. It was an easy jog through the doorway into my house. I passed room after room on my way to the master bedroom. There I stripped and headed for the shower. I cleaned the dirt of the day off of me and emptied myself from that last encounter with my girl. She really was so innocent. She hadn't noticed that I was hard as steel for her and had been all night. Drying myself, I went to bed naked and dreamt of my girlfriend.

The next day was a drag at work. Usually, I was up and eager to greet the day, especially after a gig, which my whole crew knew about, although I never told them where. But today… All I could think about was getting to see my girl again.

"That's not the way I designed it," I told Pam Henkelstein angrily, rubbing my hand over my goatee in frustration. "There's a reason why I drew it like that. We will need load-bearings or the whole second floor will just collapse."

"Oh…" The woman nodded, finally seeing my vision. It was hard to be taken seriously in the engineering world looking the way I did, but I was managing it. This was my eighth project to date and I hadn't met with so much resistance before. It was frustrating - especially today - but I'd be out of here in another thirty minutes. And Pam was a good engineer. She still had a lot to learn but her instincts were good. Most of the time.

"Rough gig?" Adam London asked as he walked by me. I ignored him, fixing Pam's errors on my drawings. If the plans weren't fixed, some idiot in construction would actually try to build it like that, and someone would be hurt or die. Once the plans were back to their original design, the team gathered together to meet with the contractor. The meeting was brief, thankfully. Just a little one to confirm that those changes weren't going to happen. Everything that happened in my firm was ultimately my responsibility. It was a responsibility I took very seriously. And since I'd struck out on my own five years ago, things were going well.

"Go home, everybody," I said in a commanding voice at six. I refused to let my team keep late hours unless we were hitting a deadline. "See you all bright and early tomorrow." Everyone scattered, making plans for dinner or drinks.

"Hey Keith? I was wondering if… If you… See, there's this new restaurant and I was wondering…" Was this woman seriously asking me out? Locking eyes with Teddy Cordova, another member of my team and my best friend, I sighed heavily.

"No, Pam. I'm sorry, but I'm not interested. I need to meet my girlfriend at the gym. Goodnight." Best to shut this down cold. As I said, her instincts were good, most of the time.

"Y-you have a girlfriend?" she asked quietly, her hazel eyes filling with tears.

"Yes," I said laconically.

"Excuse me," she said ruefully, dashing out of my office. It was for the best. I left immediately after, joining Teddy at the front door so I could lock up and set the alarm. Pam came barreling out of the building, her eyes red and her face puffy.

"Such a heartbreaker," Teddy laughed once she was out of earshot.

"I can't believe she asked me out," I groaned. "Not only was it unprofessional, it was unwanted. I may have to fire her now. I can't have awkwardness on the team. Diavon's contract is too important."

"Nah," the husband and father of two chuckled. "Don't fire her. She's still a good fit for the company. She just made a… An error. Talk to her tomorrow and tell her how uncomfortable her proposal made you. Ask her if she wants to keep working here and go from there." I nodded, seeing the wisdom in his suggestion. "So… was it a rough gig? You've been in a mood all day." I groaned again.

"Nah, the gig went great. Better than great, actually. I'm just thinking about my lady. It's only been a couple of hours and I legit miss her."

"Uh-oh," the man laughed heartily. "I remember those days."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, honestly confused.

"You've caught the love bug," he announced. "This isn't one of your typical flings, you're serious about this girl. Who is she? It's not that junkie from your band, is it?"

"What? No!" I confirmed angrily. "There's this girl at my gym. She had to be at least a hundred pounds overweight. She's been coming in daily to work out for the last six months and has dropped at least half of that. She's sweet and kind, a genius with hair and… what?" Teddy was smiling at me like the cat that caught the canary.

"Bro, what was the first thing I noticed about my wife?"

"That she was… Oh no," I slapped my forehead, making the connection right away. Teddy was head over heels in love with Heather and had been since the moment they first met. But I clearly remembered him boasting about how sweet and kind she was when he first met her. I was against the union at first, the two are complete opposites, but in time the stoic woman won me over.

"So when do I get to meet her?" he grinned. My first instinct was to yell 'never' and quit my gym. I'd vowed never to fall in love a long time ago. Love sucked. It complicated things. I'd had my heart broken enough times in high school and college to be over that phase of my life. But the need to see her was almost a physical ache.

"I'm headed to the gym now," I sighed.

"Oh no. I'm not nearly fit enough to be caught dead in a place like Redemption."

"Neither was she," I winked at him as I opened my car door. "The band is likely going to practice later this week, maybe Sunday. I was thinking about inviting her along."

"That sounds more like my speed," he laughed. "I want to meet the girl who tamed the beast. She must be something-"

"I'm not tamed," I said petulantly.

"Sure you're not," he prodded me. "That's why you're running out of here like your ass is on fire. See ya tomorrow! Jonas is waiting for me. I promised him we'd build forts tonight. And little Sarah is teething. Heather could use a break after dealing with her all day." He walked away at that, clearly caught up in domestic concerns. I watched him go, my mind troubled. Was I really in love?

… …

The gym was buzzing with news of my 'good fortune' to my annoyance. I endured the jabs about my lady's virginal status with decorum, glad that she was blasting her music on the headphones I'd bought for her and couldn't hear the talk. She'd likely quit the gym to avoid the stares and comments. As for me, I planned to challenge the next idiot who brought it up in the cage. The last thing I wanted was for all this talk to get back to her.

I kicked and punched the bag, distracted by my lady as usual. She looked tired, her lifting sluggish today. Maybe I should go spot her?

The heavy bag hit me in the chest during my distraction.

"Watch it, Wall. Or the bag will have the last laugh," Rampage laughed. I steadied the bag and started again, but the telltale wobble in her knees as she deadlifted had me heading in her direction before I was five kicks in. I grabbed the bar one-handed before she could drop it on herself.

"You shouldn't lift when you're tired," I scolded her, then immediately felt bad as she raised tired brown eyes to me.

"But… I don't want to fall behind in my routine."

"Your routine is going to change next Tuesday anyway," I said more gently as she pulled her headphones off and powered them down. "It's okay to take a break."

"I don't have time to take a break," she said in a panic. "The class reunion is in 13 months and I still have 58 pounds to lose!" I looked at her skeptically.

"Fifty-eight pounds? That seems like a lot."

"I've always dreamed of being 127 pounds. Considering that I'm 75 pounds into my weight loss, it doesn't seem like such an impossible task anymore."

"We'll see," I told her. Looking over her sweat-soaked body, I ignored my twinge of arousal and focused on her routine, setting the bar down. "In the meantime, I think that twenty burpees ought to finish your routine for today nicely. You managed most of your weightlifting routine already. Get to it."

"Yes sir," she said with a cheeky grin and immediately started. I watched her form and smiled that it was correct. I'd never seen her do a burpee. She was good at it; she'd do fine in Fuzzy's class.

Once her exercise was done, the girl started her cooldown. Satisfied that she wasn't going to hurt herself, I went back to my own routine. I beat the bag for the next ten minutes until I felt a soft touch on my back. Twisting around to grab the hand, I yanked the person forward and stopped my elbow drop an inch from my girl's sternum. She looked surprised, but not upset, resting against my knee as I knelt and held her hand over her head in a wrist lock. I stood abruptly, pulling her up with me and steadying her when she stumbled.

"Don't do that again," I told her.

"You're so strong," she said, biting her lip softly. I stared at her mouth, remembering our kisses from last night. She wasn't wearing lipstick today. Did she ever wear makeup? Shaking my head to clear it, I released her.

"The next time you want my attention, stand in front of me and wave," I barked at her. "I could have hurt you."

"Okay," she said, obviously not realizing just how serious this was. "It's just…" I watched her struggle to speak and my severe expression softened.

"What is it, Sweetling?" I asked her softly.

"It's just… I… Um…" she seemed completely tongue-tied at the moment. Smiling, my close call forgotten, I lifted her chin and looked into her fully dilated pupils.

"Yes?"

"I'm about to take off for the day, but your hair needs a touch-up and I was thinking that maybe you wouldn't mind if-"

"Is that an invitation?" I said flirtatiously. She blushed hard and looked away. Gently I caressed her chin. "No love. Don't look away from me. I always want you to see me." The girl obediently raised her eyes to mine and it was the most beautiful sight I'd had all day. God, I was whipped. "Would you like to do my hair?"

"I… wouldn't be able to tonight. I'm too tired. But maybe… maybe tomorrow or Saturday after my workout?" Her sweet voice cracked at the invitation, charming me further.

"I'd like that, Sweetling," I told her, caressing her cheek again.

"Okay," she smiled at me, looking so relieved that I couldn't help my chuckle. "I… I should go." She wrapped her arms around her chest and walked away with a shy glance at me.

"Tammy!" I said. Was it just me or did I say her name really loud just now? Either way, she whipped around and looked at me expectantly. "How about Saturday? We could workout together, go to the Protein Palace, then you could touch up my locs." her smile was like pure sunshine. It actually brightened the room. I'd never seen a smile do that before.

"Okay, sure!" she giggled, wringing her hands like an old granny. "Goodnight, Keith." And just like that, she was gone.

"You need to go kiss that girl," Homicide Hank said. "Swallow your pride and go give her a smooch." The other fighters were nodding and murmuring in approval. That was all the convincing I needed. I turned and jogged out the door. My girl was already outside her car.

"Tammy!" There was no mistaking it. I was shouting the poor girl's name in the middle of the parking lot. She looked up and smiled at me, melting my heart. "You forgot something in the gym."

"Huh? What?" She grabbed her gym bag off the passenger seat, opening it to search. I lifted her chin so she could see me and smiled down at her.

"This." I leaned in and possessed her mouth. It was a gentle kiss this time, warm and lingering. I kissed her with all the longing I'd felt all day. I kissed her like I should have kissed her last night outside her building. And when I finished kissing her, I knew the answer to my question.

Yes. I was in love with her.