Wrestling Desire 2 (A Contemporary Romance) by Michelle Cary Page A

everything bad happening to him was somehow her fault.  She wasn’t sure what hurt more, his abandonment or knowing she couldn’t do anything to help him.  “What about Bryan?”
    Derek dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head. “He’s just in a bad place right now. He’ll eventually come around.”
    As much as it hurt her, she knew Derek was right.  Bryan needed to find his own path and fight his own demons.  Neither she nor Derek could do anything more for him.  More importantly she needed to focus on her life with Holt and the challenges they’d face together.  Having half of her family behind her was better than no family at all.

Wrestling Desire 3
    Excerpt
     
    Over the next thirty minutes Emma sat by and watched as Holt and Garrett worked out their moves and coordinated with the camera men.  She took her direction on where to stand when she came to the ring and then they were ready.  As No Holds Barred went live her nerves grew.  After three months of working the story for everything they could get, it all came down to tonight.  She wasn’t an actress by any means and had struggled to keep in character.  All she needed to do was pull off tonight and she could return to where she was most comfortable, behind the scenes.  At least until Gene came up with something else to drag her into.
    Twenty minutes later she stood with Jill and watched the monitor as Holt put on his show.  Garrett took the cue and made his way toward the ring and Emma’s stomach began to roll.  They were professionals and would carry her if she screwed up.  Still, she didn’t want any mistakes on her shoulders. 
    “Get ready,” Jill ordered and Emma moved to the entrance.  She watched her friend and Jill gave a nod.  Emma emerged to the roar of the crowd and ran toward the ring.  Focused on the match in front of her she headed for the back side of the ring where they’d told her to stand and climbed up the steps. 
    “Holt stop this,” she yelled and did her best to look distraught.  “Holt, please listen to me.”
    Ignoring her he continued his battle with Garrett who landed against the ropes just inches from Emma.  Holt charged at Garrett who ducked out of the way, but Garrett was too close to Emma and Holt couldn’t stop his forward motion in time.  He ran into the ropes, knocking Emma off balance.  She let loose a scream as she tried to keep her balance and failed.  Falling, her head connected with the aluminum steps and a resounding thud echoed through her skull as she toppled to the ground on her back. 
    Pain bloomed through her head and blackness filled her field of vision as she rolled onto her side and went still.
    * * *
    “Emma!” Horror streaked through Holt’s system at the sight before him and he quickly slid from the ring.  “Baby?”  He knelt down and stroked a gentle hand along her temple while fear slowly began to take over.  They all knew of the dangers when being in or around the ring, which is why so much of what they did was scripted.  Still accidents were bound to happen.  Knowing that fact did little to assuage his guilt.  He’d knocked her off the ring and put both her and their baby in jeopardy.
    Garrett quickly joined him.  “How bad is she?”
    Holt shook his head.  “I don’t know. She took a pretty good crack to the head on the steps.”
    Garrett stood, raised his crossed arms over his head and yelled to any staff members who might be listening. “We need medics now.”  Then he turned to face the ref.  “Joe, call the match because neither of us are getting back in the ring.”
    The clang of the bell immediately followed his order and Emma moaned in response.  “Easy, baby,” Holt soothed and glanced up at Garrett.  “Where in the hell are the medics or Doctor Andrews?”
    “I don’t know?” Garrett shook his head.  “They weren’t expecting anything to happen.  Somebody probably had to go track them down.”
    She needed help now and Holt