I
pass Chloe's door, pausing to listen for sounds. The shower is running. I
picture her naked in there and have to force myself to head to my own room. It's
been a long day for her. She got stuck in the clothes she’d been wearing since
last night.
I
head into my room, two doors down from hers, and lie on my bed. Jo and Colt's
bedroom suite, along with the nursery, is downstairs and far from this upstairs
section of the house. We can’t hear each other.
I
run through thoughts of last night in the hotel room, and the one the week
before. And I have no doubt that I’ll be unable to stay away from Chloe
tonight.
I
don't know if she’ll feel the same. I’ll have to judge the situation on the
fly.
I
force myself to wait ten minutes, then I jump in the shower myself. It's the
second one for me today, but I could use it to cool off and gain some control.
My hands sting in the flow of water, and I examine the cuts on my hands from
last night. It might be a good thing that I have a couple days off from
training. Let them heal a bit before I start punishing them again Monday.
Hell
of a weekend. But when I think about Chloe, it’s completely worth it.
When
I'm out, toweled off, and wearing a pair of loose blue shorts, I head down the
hall. Her shower is off. I wait a few more moments, straining my ears to see if
I can get an idea of what she's doing. Then I rap lightly on her door.
“Just
a sec!” she calls.
When
she opens the door, I have to take a step back. She’s wearing this barely-there
tank top and tiny boy
shorts that cover hardly anything.
She
lets out a startled “Oh!”
“Expecting
someone else?” I ask.
She
looks me up and down, and I'm gratified to see the extremely visible nipples beneath her shirt
tighten into buds.
“You
knock exactly like your sister,” she says.
“Do
I?”
“You
do. That quiet, ‘am I bothering you’ sort of knock.”
“Huh.”
It's not the first time someone has said Jo and I have similarities, even
though we didn’t grow up together.
She
opens the door wider. “I assume you want in?”
No
way to hide my answer in these shorts.
She
glances down and then back up to meet my eyes, her brows raised. “Come on in.
It's a nice room.”
“Jo
gave you the best one,” I say. “Note that they did not give it to me.”
She
laughs. “You're just family.”
Chloe
doesn’t sit on the bed, but on a padded bench beneath the window. She seems
comfortable there, and I wonder if she spent part of the afternoon in that
spot.
I
choose the bed. “I hear Bear loves his Auntie Chloe.”
“He
did, I think. As long as a slobbery gnawing on your arm is a sign of
affection.”
“Bear’s
highest honor.”
Our
distance is a clear departure from how we’ve acted all the other times we were
alone. I get it, though. She's in my sister's house. And no doubt she's aware
that she has not been a popular topic of conversation in the past.
I
don't know how to reassure her.
“It's
a nice house,” Chloe says.
“If
you like mansions,” I say.
“I
don't know why anyone wouldn’t.”
We
fall silent.
I
need to figure out a way to make her comfortable, but I'm not sure how.
“You
were a great back-up this morning,” I tell her. “You circled that guy like you
were deciding his rightful end. I was impressed.”
She
brushes her hand along the surface of the padded bench. “I never found myself
in a tough situation like that before. It's nice to know that I don't panic.”
“You’re
awesome.” I scoot down to the corner of the bed closest to her. “We were a real
team.”
“You
really think they’ll come after me again?” she asks, pushing a long piece of
golden hair behind her shoulder. God, she’s killing me.
I
shift again, leaving the bed to sit beside her on the bench. It’s not large, so
our thighs touch.
“They
know that my family is involved now. They'll back away and take a more
diplomatic approach. I expect there will be some sort of meeting between The
Cure and The General soon.”
“Will
I have to be there?”
“I
doubt it.”
I
take one of her hands in mine and run my thumb along the inside of her palm.
She shivers, and by now, I know that that is a very good sign.
“I
guess I knew this job would have its rough patches,” she says. “I just never
dreamed I would walk into my apartment to find my roommate being held hostage
by someone angry about an action that I took at work.”
“MMA
fighting is not corporate America,” I say. “We have our own system of justice.”
“I
see that now.” Her thumb moves along with mine, a dance of light touches.
It's
a good start. The thought of having Chloe so close to me full-time is
intoxicating. I’ll get to see her every day. Mornings. Evenings. I’ll be able
to look across the breakfast table and see her. It's what I want. I already
told Zeba how I felt. But maybe it’s not the right time to say it directly to
Chloe.
When
she lifts her chin to me, I lean in and press a kiss on her mouth. Something
about this time is different from the others. There's no craziness, no wild
collision. It's just the two of us, touching each other like everything is new.
The trilogy ends August 10!
Reckless Attraction Vol. 1
I wish this were the usual love story.
Boy meets girl.
Boy falls in love.
They live happily ever after.
But it’s not.
In this one, I find the most awesome girl. Chloe. Smart. Funny. Sexy as sin. With convictions. She takes risks for what she believes in.
We connect. Completely. Awesomely. It’s literally the best feeling.
But then she screws me over. I wind up in f*ing jail.
The worst part?
I still can't get enough of her.
Read my story and tell me what the hell to do.
_____
Fans of Uncaged Love and Fight for Her will see their favorite characters Colt & Jo and Parker & Maddie as they try to help this MMA fighter and his new love untangle their destiny.
Amazon: http://www.deannaroy.com/Reck1-Zon
iBooks: http://deannaroy.com/Reck1-iBooks
BN: http://deannaroy.com/Reck1-BN
Kobo: http://deannaroy.com/Reck1-Kobo
Google Play: http://deannaroy.com/Reck1-GP
Reckless Attraction Vol. 2
I know we’ve got this huge problem between us.
You want to MMA to go away.
And I can’t give it up.
But cut me some slack here.
What is going on between us is rare. Perfect.
It needs our protection.
Say you’ll give it a chance.
_____
Hudson, you know I feel as strongly as you do.
And you’ve charmed me into your heart and your bed.
You showed me things I didn’t know existed.
And brought out emotions I never thought I could feel again.
But we have to fact some facts.
You do terrible, violent things.
And I can’t live with it.
My job is my life, and my mission is the right one.
You do nothing but hurt people.
I make it right.
So it’s time for you to choose.
Fighting.
Or me.
Amazon: http://www.deannaroy.com/Reck2-Zon
iBooks: http://deannaroy.com/Reck2-iBooks
BN: http://deannaroy.com/Reck2-BN
Kobo: http://deannaroy.com/Reck2-Kobo
Google Play: http://deannaroy.com/Reck2-GP
Reckless Attraction Vol. 3
The final book in the heart-pounding trilogy about an MMA fighter and the woman who seeks to end the sport he loves.It’s happened.
The illegal MMA circuit has gone after Chloe.
Everything is upside down.
Friends are enemies.
Old battle lines have been redrawn.
It’s not just about the sport anymore.
It’s about saving the love of my life.
She can reject me in the end.
But for now, I have to make sure she gets that chance.
Amazon: http://www.deannaroy.com/Reck3-Zon
iBooks: http://deannaroy.com/Reck3-iBooks
BN: http://deannaroy.com/Reck3-BN
Kobo: http://deannaroy.com/Reck3-Kobo
Google Play: http://deannaroy.com/Reck3-GP
