Perfect Match (2 page)

“Because that boy is going to be a wrestler,
come hell or high water. He’s going to be a damn good one too. It’s
in his blood.”

“So.”

“No daughter of mine is ever going to be
involved with a pro-wrestler.”

“But, you were one, Pop?”

“Yes, and that sort of life isn’t what I want
for my girls. Your mom, bless her heart, worried about me all the
time. You deserve more. JJ is a good kid, but he is destined to be
in the ring. You will not be involved with a wrestler. Ever.”

Noelle was fine with that. She had no
interest in wrestlers. She never hung

out with JJ again after that summer. She
learned how true her mom’s advice was and promised herself that she
would always remember it, because not following it left her with
not only a scar on her arm, but on her heart as well…

CHAPTER ONE

“Margaritas and lots of them!” Noelle Reid
heard her best friend, Chelsey, call out as they both made their
way to the bar. Noelle smiled at her friend and at her infectious
personality. They were college roommates and had been best friends
ever since. Thinking back on those college years, she remembered
when they would plan a “study night.“ Well, the “study night”
somehow always ended up being a “margarita night” instead. Didn’t
matter the occasion, it was just the way it was whenever her friend
was in charge - and she wouldn’t have her any other way.

Tonight is going to be one of those
“margarita nights,” Noelle thought. Chelsey always looked for
reasons to celebrate and she decided that Noelle finally landing
the job working as the on-site physical therapist for BRAWL, as the
perfect reason. BRAWL is a wildly popular wrestling federation that
is based out of Pittsburgh. It’s a company that is near and dear to
her heart. It’s same company that her Pop had spent most of his
life affiliated with. Helping good looking injured wrestlers get
back in shape sounded like a dream job for most women her hands all
over sexy men. Well, that wasn’t what she was after. She wanted to
make a name for herself, in a field that she loved, within a
company she had been around her whole life. She couldn’t wait to
start her job on Monday, but tonight was about celebrating.

Chelsey handed Noelle a large drink, and they
headed toward a booth near the bar. Noelle smiled at her best
friend as she danced back to the booth without a care in the world.
She couldn‘t help but to admire Chelsey’s passion for life. Noelle
decided that, in an attempt to break away from her more
conservative lifestyle, she was going to be more like Chelsey
tonight, she was just not going to think. She was going to let
loose and not dwell on the past heartbreak that she keeps to
herself. If she would ever tell Chelsey what happened, maybe then
Chelsey would understand why dating was near impossible for her.
Tonight was not about that. Tonight she was determined to see all
of the possibilities around her. Maybe, just maybe, she could
remember what it was like to be the life of the party where she may
be able to break a few hearts of her own.

“You know something, Chels?”

“What’s that?”

“Tonight is going to be a great night.”

“That’s what I want to hear! Let loose and
allow yourself to have a fling!”

Noelle wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
“I don’t know about that, but I do want to have a good time.”

“Since when is a fling not a good time? My
goodness, Noelle! You are so gorgeous that most of these guys here
would give anything to hang out with you tonight. I dare you to
pick one up.”

Noelle couldn‘t stop smiling at her friends
dare. Funny thing was, she was actually considering it. “No way.”
She protested, though not very convincingly.

Chelsey raised an eyebrow and, flashing her a
challenging smile, she taunted, “I bet you don’t even remember how
to flirt.”

“
I do too!”

“Prove it. It’s been way too long since you
had a decent date. I dare you to pick up a guy tonight.”

“Chelsey!”

“I think it would be good for you. I don’t
know why you shy away from this kind of thing, but, really, Noelle.
Take a chance. You never know where Mr. Right is going to show his
face.” Chelsey hugged her friend and they clanked their glasses
together. Noelle raised her glass, taking a long sip of her drink
as she scanned the bar. Maybe Chelsey’s right, she mused. It has
been a long time since I flirted with a guy. She hoped that she
remembered how, though she wouldn’t dare admit that to her friend.
She took another sip because she knew she would probably need a
little more liquid courage to get through this night.

Jackson Smith had a rare Friday night off, so
he decided to get meet his cousin, Chad for some wings and beer.
Tonight, Jackson was walking on air. He loved his job as a
pro-wrestler and felt certain that management was pleased with his
work, both in and out of the ring. He was getting a steady push,
which allowed him more TV time than ever before. Yep, things were
looking pretty damn great. His in-ring character was The Bullet, a
fast, high flying dare-devil that had been becoming more popular.
He was hearing talk of his next feud being with the current North
American Champion, Kevin Donnelly, in the near future. That would
be a huge step in his wrestling career, as becoming the North
American Champion was the first step in becoming World Champion. He
had worked so hard since he was a teenager to just land a job at
BRAWL. Being able to do a feud with Kevin was a huge deal for him,
all of that hard work was beginning to pay off. Jackson was all
smiles as of late, and he planned on enjoying every minute of his
good fortune. A night out at Monroe’s was just the perfect way to
end a near perfect week.

The guys took a seat at the bar. Jackson
dressed in a baseball cap, jeans, and a t-shirt to try to stay
under the radar of any potential wrestling fans that may be hanging
out. He knew he wasn’t extremely recognizable yet, but wrestling
fans were intense fans. Hardcore wrestling followers would pick him
out in an instant. He’d like a chance to just be himself tonight,
and he hoped the baseball cap helped him blend in with the
crowd.

The bartender, a mid-twenties scrawny guy
with too much cologne, set down their beers as he eyed Jackson,
drawing his eyebrows together in deep concentration. Shit. This guy
recognized him. Jackson nodded his thanks as took his beer and
handed off the other one to Chad. Smiling to himself as he drank
his beer, he named the nosey-eyed bartender “Skippy.” Jackson
silently enjoyed giving people nicknames in his head. He hoped that
“Skippy” would just let Bullet stay home tonight.

Trying to keep the bartender from ratting him
out to the other patrons of the bar, he put in a food order. “Run
along, Skippy,” Jackson wanted to say but once the menus were
closed, Skippy entered the order and moved along.

Chad turned on the barstool to scope out who
was there tonight. He was a notorious “dawg” and offered no
apologizes for it. He loved this scene. He wasn’t after a
relationship, and had been trying to convince Jackson to stay away
from relationships as well. He reasoned with his growing popularity
at work, he didn’t need anything serious.

“Jackson, trust me. You’re not gonna have any
issues hooking up with woman. Ever. You’re gonna have women
throwing themselves at you, even if you are ugly.”

Jackson snorted. The thing was, he wasn’t
like Chad. He didn’t have commitment issues, he just didn’t want a
commitment with his ex. What was so wrong with him wanting to be
with a woman that consumed his thoughts? It didn’t make him any
less of a man. He was all man, and he played that card well. He had
his fair share of one night stands, most of which started at this
very place. Now, it was time for him to find the kind of love where
he would go down fighting for his girl. It existed, this he knew
was true. His parents were all the proof he needed to know that
kind of love exists. It just didn’t exist between him and Kayla.
She was the last person he wanted to think about. As Jackson
scanned the bar noticing swarms of beautiful women, he began to
think that maybe Chad’s idea wasn’t so bad.

Noelle was having a great time dancing with
Chelsey. They ran into a few girls from college, making it feel
like a mini reunion. Noelle hadn’t danced like that since those
days, and had to admit it felt great! She forgot about how much she
loved to dance and laugh!

They made their way to the bar to get another
drink, carrying on without a care in the world the whole way there.
They were out of breath and it felt good! Waiting for a free
bartender, they took the moment for a much needed breather. They
were still young, but at twenty-four Noelle couldn’t dance non-stop
the way she did at nineteen.

Noelle’s gaze came to a dead stop when she
noticed a very good looking guy at the other end of the bar,
holding his beer and talking with the bartender. Their gazes met
and she couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He was sexy in his black
t-shirt that hugged his chest like a glove, not hiding his muscular
build. It did way more defining than hiding, that’s for sure. He
was football player big with no bulk. This man was all muscle and
so damn yummy. His big hands wrapped around his beer bottle as he
brought it to his perfect lips set on a very male square-cut jaw.
She watched as his kissable lips gave her a slight smile as he once
again spoke to the bartender, never taking his eyes off of her.

She shyly smiled back and looked away for a
moment, not sure if her blush was visible from his view. She got a
good view of his friend, and he was just as hot. His auburn hair
was long on top and styled in that sexy rock star kind of way. He
threw off a laid back and dangerously sexy kind of vibe. His neatly
trimmed beard outlined a smile that would knock any woman to her
knees. Noelle saw his friend’s line of sight - Chelsey. He couldn’t
take his eyes off of her. Noelle laughed at that. Chelsey could
care less about any guy checking her out, because she was so in
love with her boyfriend, Darin.

Noelle tapped her friend’s shoulder. “Hey
Chels, you’re getting the stare down.”

They both looked back over to see Chelsey’s
admirer elbow the sexy man she couldn’t take her eyes off of and
point in their direction. Noelle’s eyes met his and they were
entranced. They locked eyes and couldn’t look away, almost like
some kind of magical spell was keeping their gazes together. All
that was missing was the corny background music and this moment
could have easily turned into some kind of crazy romantic comedy.
Neither wanted to break the trance, but, before they ended up
looking like some crazy fools, he nodded at her and smiled. She
smiled back and, finally, with all of her strength and will, turned
away. Wow! She could feel her heart race and her stomach flip with
excitement at his gaze.

“Looks like you also have an admirer.”

She looked back over and saw that he was
still smiling at her. His shoulders moved up and down a bit in a
laugh as if she amused him. Damn, his smile was near perfect. How
could she be this attracted to him? She wished he would take off
that hat so she could see what his hair was like. How could one guy
make her feel like she was back in high school again?

“You think?”

“Oh, yes I do,” Chelsey said as the bartender
brought them two margaritas.

“These are from the guys over there,” the
bartender tilted his head to the left. “They told me to tell you to
enjoy it ‘Scout and Pixie.’”

“Pixie?” Chelsey said as she turned to
Noelle. “I know that was meant for me.” She rolled her eyes,
knowing they were referring to her short spiky hair and her being
little. “So glad I’m not single.” Chelsey raised her glass to thank
them.

Noelle did the same before she turned to go
back to the dance floor.

***

Damn, she is beautiful, Jackson kept thinking
to himself as he watched Scout and Pixie walk away. He snickered to
Chad, “Girls playing hard to get?”

“Apparently,” Chad said, finishing off his
beer and motioning to the bartender for another. Jackson pivoted on
his barstool to search the dance floor to see where his “Scout” ran
off to. Pixie’s nickname was obvious. She was tiny and cute.
Scout’s nickname came to him because she looked so innocent. She
looked like a good old fashioned good-girl so he named her
Scout.

He caught sight of her dancing to the music
in a way that made him smile. She looked like she was having such a
great time with her friends and he didn’t want to crash their
party. He just couldn’t ignore that feeling inside that told him to
go talk to her. Jackson was a tough guy, but this girl had him
feeling something he couldn’t place yet. All he knew was he
couldn’t stay away from her, and he didn’t want to.

Jackson excused himself from Chad as he
grabbed his beer and prowled over to where Scout was. His stride
was easy and confident, trying to hide the nervous ache in his
stomach. He made eye contact again, searching her face as she
smiled back, but quickly looked away. Shy? Jackson liked the
thought of that. He actually found it endearing. He liked women who
were sweet and caring, nothing like his female counter-parts in the
ring. Those women will actually tackle you down and kick the crap
out of you.

He saw Scout lean over and whisper something
in her friend’s ear, making Pixie smile and look his way. She waved
him down with a hurried hand as Scout kind of stood back with a
startled look on her now blush-colored face. He didn’t hesitate in
accepting their invitation to join them. He nodded his answer and
picked up his pace.

He approached the women and noticed the group
they were in starting to head off the dance floor. Pixie and Scout
waited with anticipating smiles. Pixie turned to him first and
said, “Thanks for the drinks.”