Chapter 2
LUNA
Luna regretted telling Rocco to meet her at the gym almost immediately. Not because she didn’t want to see him. God no—she wanted to see him more than she wanted anything in a damn long time, and that was the problem. She wanted to see him too much.
The entire day, she had been distracted, and her patients seemed to notice it.
Gia definitely noticed it. Hell, even her receptionist gave her a strange look when Luna accidentally scheduled two people at the same time because that never happened.
Luna thrived on organization and control, and Rocco was apparently ruining both.
“You look stressed,” Gia said casually from the doorway of her office near the end of the day.
Luna didn’t even glance up from her laptop to answer her. “I’m not,” she lied.
“You just typed the same sentence three times,” Gia pointed out. Damn it.
Luna sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Why are you lurking?”
Gia smirked as she stepped into the office. “Because I’m curious about the mysterious reason you suddenly transferred one of your favorite patients to me.”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “I never said he was one of my favorite patients.”
“You didn’t have to,” Gia said. She really had no idea what to say to Gia, so she said nothing.
Gia crossed her arms over her chest. “So, are you sleeping with him yet?”
Luna nearly choked on air. “Jesus Christ, Gia.”
“What?” she laughed. “You’ve been weird for days.”
“I am not being weird,” Luna almost shouted. She was totally being weird. Hell, weird didn’t even seem to begin to cover how she was acting.
“You wore lipstick to work today,” Gia pointed out. Luna froze, trying to remember what makeup she applied this morning. She was trying to change what she wore each day. She told herself that it had nothing to do with hoping to run into Rocco, but that was a lie.
Gia’s grin widened. “Oh my God,” she breathed dramatically. “You like him.” Luna grabbed a pen from her desk and threw it at her boss. Gia dodged it easily, laughing harder.
“This is why HR hates you,” Luna muttered.
“Sure,” Gia said. “So, are you going to tell me about him, or am I supposed to psychoanalyze you now?”
Luna groaned and scrubbed both hands over her face. “I hate you.”
“No, you don’t,” Gia insisted. Unfortunately, she was right.
Besides being her boss, Gia was one of her best friends.
In fact, she had been one of Luna’s closest friends since grad school, which meant she was also one of the few people capable of reading Luna like a damn book.
And right now, the woman was picking up way too much.
“He’s just—” Luna stopped, trying to find the right word.
Gia’s expression softened slightly. “Important to you.” That landed harder than Luna expected, because yeah, he was, and that terrified her.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Luna admitted quietly.
Gia leaned against the desk. “That’s because this matters to you, Luna.
” She looked away because she hated how accurate Gia was.
Most relationships had always been easy for her to walk away from.
If a guy got intimidated by her personality or annoyed by her work schedule, she let him go without much thought.
But she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to do that with Rocco.
She already knew losing him would hurt, and they hadn’t really even begun yet.
“You deserve something real too, Luna,” Gia said softly.
Luna scoffed lightly. “Since when did you become wise?”
“Since you started looking at one man like he hung the moon,” Gia said. Luna flipped her off, and Gia laughed again, pushing away from the desk. “Go to your gym date, psycho. Try not to ruin the poor man emotionally.”
“I’m not emotionally ruining anyone.”
Gia paused in the doorway. “You absolutely could. Just be careful,” she said.
Then she left before Luna could argue. The worst part was that Luna knew she was right.
That was why she kept checking herself around Rocco, because she could already feel herself wanting too much with him—wanting more, and that was dangerous for both of them.
By the time seven o’clock rolled around, Luna had changed into black leggings and a fitted tank top, her hair braided back tightly.
That was her usual gym attire because it was comfortable and familiar.
It was a safe choice—much safer than the cocktail dress she wore on their date.
She thought about the heated kisses that she and Rocco shared at her apartment door, and debated rethinking her outfit, but she was pretty sure that wearing a cocktail dress to the gym was overkill.
At least that was what she told herself.
The second Rocco walked through the gym doors, her stomach flipped immediately, which was annoying.
He made her feel like a teenage girl, and she was not the kind of woman to swoon over a man.
But Rocco made her want to swoon. He wore gray sweats and a black T-shirt that stretched across his chest and arms like the fabric was fighting for its life.
And he was smiling—actually smiling. It wasn’t the guarded half-smirk she usually got from him.
This one was real and warm, and it hit her straight in the chest.
“Well,” she said as he approached, “you actually listened for once and showed up on time.” Rocco stopped in front of her, his eyes dragging slowly over her body before meeting her gaze again.
“I always listen,” he said quietly. “To you.” Damn him.
Luna crossed her arms like that would somehow help to shield her from his charm. “Careful, you’re getting smooth.”
“Nah,” he said. “Just honest.” She still wasn’t used to his honesty. Most people hid behind something—charm, ego, or even humor, but Rocco just said the things that he wanted to say, and every time he did, she was left speechless.
“You boxing tonight?” he asked.
Luna arched a brow. “Thought you were afraid to spar with me.”
“I’m not afraid,” he insisted.
“You refused to get in the ring with me last time we were here,” she reminded.
His mouth twitched. “Because I was trying to be respectful.”
“And now you’re not worried about that?” she asked.
His eyes darkened slightly. “Now I know you’d probably kick my ass.” She laughed before she could stop herself. God, she liked him. Way too much.
“Come on,” she said, nodding toward the ring. “Let’s see what you’ve got then.” Rocco followed her without hesitation this time. He was giving her his blind trust, and that realization settled strangely in her chest as they climbed into the ring together.
The gym around them faded into background noise as Luna pulled on her gloves and bounced lightly on her feet. Rocco mirrored her movements across from her, focused completely on her. “You gonna hit me this time?” she teased.
His jaw flexed. “You’re enjoying this too much.”
“Absolutely,” she teased. She moved first, throwing a quick jab his way, and he blocked it easily.
Luna smiled slowly. “Oh,” she breathed. “There you are.” Something shifted in his expression then.
Something sharper and more instinctive. He circled her carefully as she threw another punch, this one harder.
Again, he blocked it, but this time his hand caught her wrist afterward, holding it for half a second too long before letting go.
Heat curled low in her stomach instantly.
“You’re distracted,” he murmured.
Luna tilted her head. “Am I?”
“Yeah,” he breathed, “you are.”
“So are you,” she countered. That earned her a look—one that said he knew exactly what game she was playing. The problem was that she wasn’t entirely sure it was a game anymore.
They moved around each other slowly, tension building with every blocked punch and every accidental touch, until finally, Luna threw a hook. Rocco caught her around the waist before she could recover, using her momentum to pull her against him.
Her breath caught hard as they stood chest to chest with sweat and heat pulling between them. His arm locked around her lower back as her gloves pressed against his chest. And suddenly, neither of them seemed interested in boxing anymore.
“You did that on purpose,” she accused softly.
A slow grin spread across his face. “Maybe.” Luna swallowed. Yeah, this thing—whatever it was that was happening between them, was definitely becoming a problem.