Clinch Read online

  Leo Gulin used anything as an excuse to come by.

  “Dmitry, you mean? He’s good. I hear he thinks he’s totally healed. No more pain around his kidney at all. Lauren can’t keep him down any longer.”

  She had no idea where Dmitry and Lauren had fled to the morning after she’d taken care of him. Once she and Leo had gotten rid of a very persistent Marshall, she’d declared Dmitry safe enough to travel. His urine output was fine. No evidence of blood. To be safe, she’d sent a blood sample to the lab for further testing, figuring she could get word to him later if there was anything he needed to know. The results from that blood work still made her shudder, but the important thing was his kidneys were functioning properly.

  It was clear Dmitry and Lauren were on the run. Some Russian Mafia guy was after them. Leo never gave her many details, probably for her own protection, but she gathered they were far away in another country.

  Katie smiled at the guy on her table as she finished cleaning up this latest man’s forehead. “What did you say your name was?”

  “Ivan Belinsky, ma’am.” Ivan was another clone to Leo as far as she was concerned. From the neck down, they all looked alike. Ivan had brown eyes and slightly darker hair, but his olive skin was almost the same shade as Leo’s, and he was over six feet tall. Leo stood at about six four. Ivan was only a few inches shorter. Both men had the same distinctly Russian accent that made her panties wet. Their English was perfect, but their accents would never completely go away.

  “Well, Ivan, I think you’re going to live. Keep the area clean for a few days.” She stepped back, pulled her gloves off, and dropped them in the trash can.

  Ivan jumped down from the table and beelined for the door as if coming to see her hadn’t been his idea at all. In fact, she wondered if he’d cut himself intentionally to take one for the team and give Leo another excuse to come see her.

  If Leo weren’t so cute and endearing, it would be annoying. Instead, she found she’d grown rather fond of him. Leo Gulin wasn’t just a pretty body. He was talented in ways that had come in quite handy in the last few months.

  “You want me to take a look at that faucet in your bathroom while I’m here?” he asked.

  “Sure. Give me a minute to finish up out front.” She led him from the patient room, down the hall, and into her office. He’d been in there dozens of times. He’d almost stopped looking ridiculously large sitting on her love seat.

  Almost.

  Five minutes later, she’d sent her staff home, locked the front door, set the alarm, and was leading Leo up the back stairs to her apartment.

  The stairwell was narrow, and it always seemed like he had to turn sideways to get through.

  “Katie, when are you going to move someplace safer?”

  She rolled her eyes, though he couldn’t see her from behind. “Never. I like it here. It’s an easy commute to work.”

  “It’s not a great neighborhood.”

  She opened the door at the top and pushed it hard. It always stuck.

  The building was old. But it was on the outskirts of downtown Chicago, an ideal location for a clinic. The majority of her patients were either homeless or down on their luck. Almost none had insurance.

  “It wouldn’t do me any good to run a free clinic in a wealthy neighborhood, now would it?” she teased.

  Leo shoved the door closed behind him with his ass. “I’ll look at your door again too.” He didn’t meet her gaze as he circled around her and headed for the only bathroom in her tiny apartment. He didn’t touch her either.

  She bit her lower lip as she watched the muscles ripple across his back. He wore his usual tight black T-shirt and worn jeans. His boots were old and muddy. She rarely saw him wearing any other shoes.

  Leo worked construction in the mornings most days and then headed over to the gym, which was only a few blocks from her clinic. At least once a week, he showed up in her office right as she was closing.

  He was often surly, but today more than usual. As he lowered himself to the floor and stuck his head under her bathroom sink, he spoke again. “You don’t have to live in the clinic just because you own it, you know.”

  She smiled down at him, even though his face wasn’t visible. He had a gruff exterior and tried to make it seem like nothing fazed him, but underneath, he cared. A lot. About a lot of people. And she found herself growing increasingly fonder of him by the day.

  As he lifted his arms under her sink to fiddle with the pipes, she let her gaze wander down his body. His abs were a woman’s dream come true. His shirt rose, leaving several inches of sexy tanned skin exposed to her view. And his jeans hung low enough on his hips that she wondered if he was commando.

  She almost moaned as her gaze landed on his package. Not for the first time, she wondered if he was always erect and horny or if his cock was that large in its flaccid state. If so, she felt sorry for his women.

  She flinched at the thought.

  Obviously the man had women. Probably dozens of them considering how smokin’ hot he was. Besides, women loved men who spent their evenings getting beat up in the ring.

  “You have plans Friday night?” Leo asked the underside of her sink.

  She didn’t move for a moment. Why was he asking?

  He shoved himself out from under her vanity and met her gaze, lifting up on his elbow. His hands were smudged black, and he carefully held them out to keep from touching anything. “Katie?”

  “Oh, um, I’m not sure yet.”

  He lifted a brow. “Don’t tell me you’re still dating that Marshall guy. He’s a world-class asshole.”

  “No. Of course not. Though not for lack of effort on his part. My mother still thinks he’s the catch of the century. She hasn’t given up on us.” She cringed inwardly. Maybe at one point early in her relationship with Marshall he’d seemed more normal, but she’d seen him through new goggles at the fight that night. He’d gone from boring, rich guy to full asswipe in two seconds flat.

  She’d dated him off and on for months before that night, never feeling a spark but leaving the door open to the possibility to appease her parents and give her something to do in the evenings from time to time.

  It wasn’t like she had anyone else on the horizon at the time, so the occasional date with Marshall had seemed innocent enough. Both her family and his thought they would eventually get married, and she hadn’t had the energy to argue against the case. Until that night when his true colors came out loud and clear.

  Leo smiled, a slow spread of his lips that brought dimples to his cheeks and made her panties wet.

  She squeezed her thighs together, grateful for the pink scrubs she wore that didn’t rub her pussy with enough pressure to make her weak in the knees.

  She was always a little dizzy around Leo. The man made her clit throb and her nipples pucker every time he came near.

  “So?”

  “So what?” She met his gaze, biting the corner of her lower lip to keep from swaying.

  “Friday night? I want you to come to a fight with me.”

  “What?” Her voice squeaked.

  “You don’t get out enough.”

  How did he know that? Did he watch the lights in her apartment in the evenings? Shit. Had he seen anything else through her windows?

  She jerked her gaze to twist her head around and make a mental note to close her blinds more often. From where she stood, she could see every window in the apartment. It wasn’t difficult. The one next to the kitchen table was to her left. The larger one at the end of the sofa in the living room was to her right. And the one visible through her open bedroom was above her dresser.

  The place was only four hundred square feet. And all hers.

  Leo chuckled, the deep sound radiating through her small space and reaching in to clench her heartstrings at the same time. Even his voice was sexy. “No. I don’t watch you undress in front of your windows. I just know you. You work your ass off, and you never take time to play.”

&n
bsp; He did know her well. She’d fed him dinner at least two dozen times in the last five months. The first time he showed up with one of his injured friends in tow and she’d asked him to fix the lock on the front door of her clinic, she’d offered to pay him.

  He’d taken offense and almost stomped from her office without saying goodbye. “You don’t owe me anything for tightening a screw on your front door, Dr. Schwan.”

  “Katie,” she’d muttered, “and let me fix you dinner then.”

  That had made his face light up, and he’d winked. “Now that sounds fantastic.”

  She shook herself from her reverie. “I play,” she responded.

  He lifted a brow. “When? When was the last time you went out? I’ve never seen you in anything except scrubs.” He glanced down at her loose-fitting outfit.

  “I was wearing a dress when we met,” she responded, crossing her arms.

  “Yeah, that’s right. It was too short and too tight if I recall. That crazy asshole you were dating must either be gay or he gets his rocks off elsewhere because no way would I have taken you out wearing that dress and left you alone in a bar without making every effort to get my hands under your skirt.” He shook his head and ducked back under the sink.

  Katie’s stomach plunged. Was it hot in her apartment?

  “You still didn’t answer me,” he said to the pipes as he twisted something and wiped is hand on a rag. She’d left the tools and supplies he’d used right under the sink the last time he’d worked on it. Only because she’d been lazy, though. The sink worked fine. Not a single drip had fallen since he fixed it.

  But it was worth it having him take another look just to stare at his fine ass and chest. Not to mention the bulge in his jeans.

  Her mouth was dry as she tried to find words. “You asking me out on a date? Because the last time a man asked me on a date, it was to the same event. I didn’t like it then, and I’m not more fond of the sport now.”

  That was a lie. She’d learned a lot about MMA since that night. She’d googled the sport and watched clips on her computer. Except for the fact that Leo and his friends fought in unsanctioned venues for large sums of money, the world of MMA itself was a growing sport thousands of people enjoyed.

  Leo paused, his arms not moving. “You haven’t been on a date in five months?”

  Shit. She didn’t mean to reveal that much.

  She stepped closer, staring at the bend in his knee now and the way he set his foot on the floor to get the right traction. She did need to get out more. “Not to a boxing match thingy,” she hedged, backpedaling.

  He chuckled. “MMA, babe. Not boxing. That’s an entirely different sport.”

  Frankly, she would give her right arm to watch Leo in action. But she wouldn’t admit it out loud. “Are you fighting?”

  “Not this week.” He finished what he was doing, shoved himself out from under the sink, and sat up, his hands dangling over his knees to avoid touching his jeans. “I wouldn’t ask you to come if I couldn’t keep an eye on you. Every man in the place would have his hands on you in less than a minute.”

  Yep. Her mouth was indeed very dry. His green eyes were smoldering.

  He pushed himself to standing and turned to wash his hands, leaving her with her favorite view, his ass and his muscular back. She needed to get a life.

  “Were you serious?” he asked without turning around.

  “About what?”

  “Dating. I find it hard to believe you haven’t been on a date since the night Dmitry got injured.”

  Damn. She did sound pathetic.

  As he turned around, wiping his hands on a towel, she shrugged.

  His mouth quirked on one side again. “I’ll pick you up at seven. Is that too early?”

  She cocked one hip to the side and set her hand on it. “I didn’t agree to anything yet.”

  He stepped forward and tapped her nose, the first skin-on-skin contact she’d had with him yet that evening. “You know you want to.”

  “It’s so…barbaric. All that testosterone filling the room. Men shouting over each other. It smells like sweat and blood. As a doctor, it makes me cringe to watch people intentionally injure themselves.”

  Leo stepped around her and pulled out a kitchen chair to lower himself onto the seat. He planted his feet wide and reached his hands up to clasp them behind his head.

  Why did he have to be so damn sexy?

  “I promise not to leave your side for an instant. I just thought you might enjoy learning a little more about the sport. The last time you were there you didn’t have much of a guide.”

  “The last time I was there my date placed a bet on your friend and nearly had a stroke when he thought Dmitry was going to lose the fight.”

  Leo laughed. “Well, Mikhail is fighting this week. And he won’t lose, either. Though, I’d advise you not spread that rumor around. Messes up the betting,” he teased. “Ivan will be there also. And Alena.”

  “Who’s Alena?”

  “Mikhail’s sister. He only lets her come when one of us is available to keep an eye on her.”

  “Is she a child?”

  He laughed again. “Nope. He’s just overprotective. Alena is only about two years younger than us—the guys that is. She’s twenty-eight.”

  Katie’s eyes widened. “And you don’t think she can take care of herself? Are all your friends so high-handed?”

  “Pretty much, yes.” He glanced down at her body and then back up. “You’re impossibly tiny, Katie. Alena isn’t even as tall as you. She’s barely five feet. Some drunk asshole could lift you over his shoulder with one hand and cart you from the room. Either of you.”

  She stared at him. He was serious. And it was so fucking hot the way he spoke to her. He never implied she was in any way stupid. He was just protective. It was his style.

  She nibbled on her bottom lip again while she inhaled long and slow. The best part about Leo coming into her small apartment was that he left his distinct scent around for hours. The time she’d had him fix a loose screw on her headboard to keep it from squeaking, he’d sat on her bed and touched her pillow with his hands.

  She’d inhaled his scent off her sheets for days, wishing she could legitimately come up with another reason for him to fix her bed. Maybe she could have him flip the mattress or something…

  She stepped around Leo, needing to distract herself from the way his pecs rose high on his chest with his arms in the air. A sliver of his abs peeked out from under his shirt again too. To avoid looking at him, she opened the fridge and peered inside. She needed to make dinner anyway. But she wasn’t seeing anything in her current state of drooling.

  “Let’s order a pizza. My treat,” he said from behind her.

  She released the door to the fridge and turned to lean against the counter. The idea of cooking at that moment seemed impossibly foreign. Pizza was an excellent idea. “That’s not how it works. See, you won’t let me pay you to help me around the apartment and clinic, so the only way to make it equal is if I buy.”

  He smirked, pushing himself to standing. “Woman, we’re way past that. You know you only have me over because you’re lonely. And bored.” He nodded toward the bathroom. “There was nothing wrong with that sink.”

  Busted.

  She lowered her shoulders. “I’m pathetic.”

  He stepped over to the door. “I’ll fix the door so it doesn’t stick to earn my way into your weak, pathetic life. And then you can pretend you only keep me around for the hard labor.”

  She smiled at his back. He was teasing. And she loved having him around. Some nights she wished she could make shit up to get him to come over. But then she’d be stepping over the friendship boundary. Except for a few innuendos on both their parts, they were just good friends.

  Right?

  She reached into the pocket on her scrubs and pulled out her phone. “Here. You call for pizza. The closest place is programmed under ‘pizza.’ I need a shower. Some kid vomited on me today
. I changed, but I can still smell the foul odor.” It was a lie. She just wanted an excuse to get away from the heat that was Leo for a few minutes to regroup and ponder his intentions for Friday night.

  Chapter Four

  Leo sat on Katie’s couch, flipping through the channels on her TV. Nothing was on. And even if it was, there was no way he could concentrate with her shower running yards away from him. Visualizing her naked body under the cascade of water made him fidget and adjust his cock every few seconds.

  He’d busied himself calling the local pizza parlor and then fixing her door so it closed by itself, but now he was out of things to do. His brain was filled with images of her long blonde hair hanging wet down her back. What color were her nipples?

  He’d give anything to taste them. And her pussy… God almighty. Sometimes he was sure he saw her squeezing her legs together when he teased her. It changed nothing, however. She was way out of his league.

  He had no idea why she ran this run-down clinic where she undoubtedly operated at a deficit and lived in a place smaller than any apartment he’d had in the United States. She was a doctor. Weren’t they supposed to make millions of dollars and live in a penthouse?

  The answer to that was obvious after all these months, though. Katie didn’t give two fucks about money or appearances. Her parents did. She mentioned that often. But not Katie. She truly cared about people and helping them.

  The bathroom door opened, making him jump.

  When he twisted his head around, he nearly swallowed his tongue. His eyes widened as she slipped out of the bathroom and ducked into her bedroom wearing nothing but a towel. It wasn’t a luxurious bath towel, either. It barely covered her ass and her tits. If she hadn’t been holding it at the top, he might not have to wonder what color her nipples were.

  Jesus.

  Was the woman trying to kill him?

  “Did you order the pizza?” she called out from her room.

  “Yeah. It should be here soon.” He stared at the entrance to her room. The door was wide open. He’d been inside a few times to fix things, but currently his glimpse of the dark wood of her slatted headboard made his cock harder than ever. The deep purple silky comforter was one of the few luxuries she appeared to own. He wanted to pull the soft spread back and find out what kind of sheets she owned. And then lie on them…