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stone-faced.
     
    “Yes, a girl,” Dalton confirmed. “Her name is Lucie and she’s a journalist and –”
     
    “Let me stop you right there.” Steve held up one of the punching pads he was holding towards Dalton. “I thought we’d talked about this, Dalton.”
     
    Dalton began to pace around the ring in frustration. He knew what was coming next. Steve was about to tell him that he couldn’t have it all. That if he wanted to remain on top he had to be willing to make sacrifices.
     
    “You need to focus on your training,” Steve said quietly. “You know there isn’t space in your life for some girl, not if you want to remain on top.”
     
    Dalton was about to state that Lucie wasn’t just “some girl” but he bit his lip.
     
    “Relationships need time and energy to flourish,” Steve stated sagely. “And you can’t risk sparing time for either of those. I’m not saying this to be cruel, Dalton. I’m saying it to be practical. If you tell me now that you’re done with fighting, that it’s no longer your life’s dream then I’d say go after this girl and make a life with her. But if you still have that hunger in you to get in that ring and dominate then I suggest you forget about her and quickly.”
     
    Dalton parted the ropes of the ring, swung himself out and headed over to his waiting towel and bottle of water.
     
    “Ignoring me won’t help the situation,” Steve called after him. “You’ve got to make a call on this, Dalton. Sooner rather than later.”
     

***
     
    Lucie sat at her desk chewing her nails nervously. She felt like she was checking her phone every ten seconds to see if she’d heard from Dalton. Four days had passed since their steamy session in his dressing room and she’d yet to hear anything from him.
     
    “You know a watched kettle never boils,” Adrian’s comment jolted Lucie out of her thoughts. She glanced over at him in surprise. “You’ve been checking that thing like it might explode all day,” he added. Adrian glanced at the cell phone on her desk.
     
    “I have?” Lucie wondered as her cheeks began to burn. She’d hoped she’d been a bit more discreet over obsessively checking her phone.
     
    “Why don’t you just call him?” Adrian suggested.
     
    “What?” Lucie’s cheeks got even hotter.
     
    “You’re waiting on a guy to call, am I right?” Adrian asked bluntly. Lucie was too stunned by his perceptiveness to claim otherwise.
     
    “You women are all the same with your games. Like you can’t call him and appear too keen. I’ve got news for you, Lucie. It’s 2015, women have just as much right to call as men. So stop torturing yourself and call him.”
     
    Lucie glanced between Adrian and her phone.
     
    “I won’t look too desperate?” she wondered sheepishly.
     
    “How long has it been since your date?”
     
    Lucie wasn’t sure she’d call what happened between her and Dalton a date but she wasn’t about to tell Adrian that.
     
    “Four days.”
     
    “So call,” Adrian shrugged, “now you just seem polite, you’ve gone past the point of clingy.”
     
    “And when was that point?” Lucie asked with a smile.
     
    “Two days,” Adrian nodded, also smiling. “I know I’m married but don’t forget that I used to play the game back in the day, the same rules still apply.”
     
    “Okay,” Lucie grabbed her phone and clutching it to her chest she stood up from the desk.
     
    “I’m going to go and call.” She sauntered off towards the ladies’ room, emboldened by Adrian’s advice.
     
    When she called Dalton didn’t answer, instead it went straight to voice mail. But Lucie had been prepared for that. She imagined that he was just busy training and unable to get to his phone. Taking a deep breath she left what she hoped was a casual, yet sexy message.
     
    “Hey, Dalton, I had a lot of fun the last time we ran into each other. Why don’t you call me so we can bump into each other again sometime?”
     
    She