Caged
Page 51
woman, D.”
“She’s the best.” Deacon formed a fist with his right hand and released it. “Speaking of women . . . Presley is here.”
“I thought Molly could use a friend on fight night.”
No fucking way. Maddox was blushing. “Right. You brought her a thousand miles for Molly.” Deacon couldn’t resist making kissing noises.
“You’re a fuckhead.”
“You ain’t denying that you brought Presley here for yourself, dude.”
Maddox sighed. “It’s complicated, all right?”
“You fucking her won’t uncomplicate it.”
“I’m not fucking her.”
“Not yet,” Deacon said. “How long has this been goin’ on?”
“Since LA.” Maddox finished wrapping Deacon’s left hand and reached for his right. “And since when do you care about this personal crap? I thought I could count on you not to give me a rash of shit about it.”
“You thought wrong. I’m a new man, bein’s I’m in lurve and all. I’m a softer, more understanding man. A kinder, gentler—” Deacon snorted. “Fuck. I couldn’t even say that shit with a straight face.”
“Yep, it’s obvious you’re still an asshole. So let’s get back on track and go over fight strategy.”
An hour later, when Deacon entered the event center, he wasn’t nervous.
That’s because you’ve got this, bro.
After the glove and body check, he scanned the seats until his gaze landed on her. Sitting in his corner.
Deacon knew that no matter what happened tonight, he’d already won what mattered most.
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WRAPPED AND STRAPPED
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HUGH nearly knocked Harlow on her ass when he entered the main reception area at the Split Rock the same time she barreled down the hallway.
He clasped her upper arms to keep them both from hitting the carpet. “Whoa, there. What’s your rush?”
When Harlow’s gaze snared his, he saw her baby blues were nearly indigo from anger. “I’m in desperate need to find a bigger pillow in order to smother my father.”
“I thought you hated violence,” Hugh drawled.
“I thought so too, but apparently even a pacifist has limits and I’ve reached mine. Now move it or I’ll practice my first act of violence on you.”
“C’mere, slugger.” He towed her around the corner, crowding her against the wall, blocking her from view of the guests. His body cast hers in shadow and being this close to her reminded him of how small she was. “Take a moment and settle down.”
“You just love manhandling me, don’t you?”
“Yep.” But he noticed she wasn’t attempting to flee from him for a change. “What’s Daddy doin’ that’s ruffled your pretty feathers?”
“Being a bigger pain in the ass than usual. It’s not my fault he’s stuck in his room. He’s bored, but he doesn’t ‘feel’ like reading, watching TV, or working on his laptop.” She let her head fall back. “And I didn’t pack my tap shoes for this trip because I didn’t think I’d need to entertain him.”
Hugh laughed.
Harlow looked at him strangely.
“What?”
“You laughed. You never laugh.”
“Not true. I laugh around you because you crack my ass up.”
That earned him a sweet smile. “At least you think I’m funny. I’m sure not tickling my dad’s funny bone today.”
Hugh’s brain stuck on the word bone. Why, yes, sweet darlin’, I’d love to play a little slap and tickle with you, and then bone you to take your mind off all of your troubles.
“I get that he hates being cooped up,” she continued. “But it was his choice to come here and not return to Chicago to recuperate. Since Tierney is busy gestating baby number two, I bring his granddaughter to visit and play games with him every day. Lainie is here three times a week doing his rehab. Renner’s even roped both you and Tobin into stopping by.” Her gaze hooked his again. “Mandated visits from the bossman, I assume?”
“I don’t mind, Harlow.”
For the first time since they were in the hospital in Denver, she touched him, placing her hand on his chest. His heart skipped a beat. “I appreciate it. He’s a difficult man on his best days and those have been few and far between.” She wrinkled her nose. “So I don’t put much stock in his claim that he’s missing all his lovely lady friends in Chicago. That was today’s complaint, by the way, the one that sent me over the edge.”
“Maybe he is some kinda ladies’ man on his home turf.”
“You did not seriously just say that to me. Eww. That’s not something I ever want to picture.” Harlow broke eye contact and dropped her hand from his chest. “Anyway, thanks for keeping me from committing patricide. I’m feeling much calmer.”
“Good.” He tucked a flyaway section of her hair behind her ear. “How much longer are you gonna avoid me?”
“Hugh—”
“I haven’t pushed because you’ve got a lot of family stuff on your plate. But that don’t mean I’m giving up.” He slid his hand around the left side of her neck, resting his thumb on the pulse point beside the hollow of her throat. “I wanna spend time with you.”
“Doing what?”
Fucking you until you can’t move without remembering my body on yours. “Ah. Normal date stuff.”
“Such as?”
“Such as you come over and I cook you supper. Then we’ll play cards. Or we’ll sit in front of a fire pit. Or we’ll go horseback ridin’ in the moonlight.”
“What if I’m not interested in any of that?”
“Then I’d go with my first choice of stripping you bare, tyin’ you to my bed and reacquainting myself with every single inch of this wicked, sweet body of yours.”
Harlow’s pulse pounded double time at his last suggestion.
He lowered his head and placed a soft kiss on that spot. “Anything you wanna do, hippie-girl, tame or wild,” he murmured against her skin, “I’ll make it happen.” Then he stepped back, knowing he’d probably gone too far.
The heat in her eyes morphed into a challenge. “Tell you what. If you can round up some lovely lady friends to keep my dad company a couple of days a week, I’ll agree.”
“To what?”
“Anything you wanna do, cowboy, tame or wild,” she cooed in that breathy, fuck-me-now voice.
“No foolin’?”
“Not even a little bit. So what do you say?”
That’s when Hugh realized Harlow was confident he couldn’t deliver.
Wrong.
So wrong.
And damn was it ever hard not to grin like an idiot because he totally had this one in the fuckin’ bag. “I accept your challenge.”
“You do?”
“Yep. So we have a deal?”
“If you can deliver? Absolutely we have a deal.”
“Done. Let’s officially seal it.”
She offered her hand.
He laughed. “Nice try. But you know that ain’t gonna fly with me.”
Harlow opened her mouth to protest and Hugh swooped right in. Taking the kiss he wanted. No sweet peck or gentle tease. He devoured her. Twisting his tongue around hers. Sucking on those full lips. Tasting the heat and need that was Harlow. Giving her back that same fire. Reminding her that the desire between them hadn’t cooled one fucking bit in the past three years. If anything, it burned hotter than ever.
And don’t miss What You Need, which kicks off a brand-new contemporary romance series from Lorelei James, out in early 2016!
As the CFO of Lund Industries, Brady Lund is the poster child for responsibility. But eighty hour workweeks leave him little time for a life outside his corner office. To shake up Brady’s staid existence, his brothers stage an intervention and drag him to a seedy nightclub . . . where he sees her, the buttoned-up blonde from the secret
arial pool who’s starred in his fantasies for months.
Lennox Greene is a woman with a rebellious past—which she carefully conceals beneath her conservative clothes. She knows flirting with her sexy but aloof boss during working hours is a bad idea. So when Brady shows up at her favorite dive bar, sans his usual snappy suit, and catches her cutting loose, she throws caution aside and dares him to do the same.
After sparks fly between them, Brady discovers that keeping his hands off Lennox is a much tougher challenge than he expected. She makes him feel alive for the first time in years, but the last thing he wants is to put her job in jeopardy if rumors circulate—and a small part of him wonders if he can really trust that she’s not using him to get ahead.
As they grow closer, Lennox must figure out if he wants her for the accomplished woman she is—or the bad girl she was.