Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
The image of Kayla punching, not slapping but actually punching, Brent flashes through my mind and I grin at the sheer awesomeness of it. “Well shit, now I wish I would’ve waited too. If I’d known that was a possibility, I could’ve held off a few seconds longer,” I joke, holding up my finger and thumb a skinny half-inch apart. “That would’ve been hot as fuck and probably more embarrassing to him too. This way, he’s gonna brag about taking a punch from The Maddox Brooks.” I glance down at my hand, noting that my knuckles aren’t even red since that guy’s jaw was like hitting warm butter.
Kayla shakes her head, but she can’t hide her growing smile. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Nothing a little blow job won’t heal.”
We’re teasing in some ways, but tonight highlighted a deep line in the sand, where we’ve both made our positions known. It’s another thread weaving into the connection between us. One where no one has to compromise or change their core values. We accept the others’ stance and filter that into our future decisions. I won’t always be the savior running into the fray for Kayla, but this time, I did. Next time, it might be her saving my ass. Or Riggs saving ours. Or, most likely, both Kayla and I saving his.
I glance at Riggs, noting he’s been eerily quiet throughout this exchange, which is very unlike him. He looks up from his phone, informing us, “If anyone cares, I’ve already found the video of that interaction on TikTok and posted Brent’s name and the company’s name. They’re eating him alive in the comments.” Riggs holds his phone out so we can see. “Think he’ll regret it now?”
For a monster of a guy who could’ve done some real damage, Riggs played it smart, using his brain more than his fists this time. Smarter than me for sure. The irony of the flip-flopping of our typical roles isn’t lost on me. I went physical to protect him, and he went strategic to save me.
“I hope so,” I answer, but I have a more important question for Kayla. “I know you wanted that deal and were already putting up with that guy’s bullshit to get it. Are you mad about losing it?”
Kayla waves off the concern. “No. I’m frustrated that I let it get that far. There’s no need for me to raise my voice like that or for you to resort to violence. Jessup has a patent I want, but there’s always another way to achieve the goal. I should’ve redirected a long time ago. He was just the easiest path.”
“That was the easy way?” I balk, confusion knitting my brows.
“Dealing with a misogynistic asshole?” She laughs. “That’s been my working life every day that ends in Y for a decade. Now I have to figure out how to get the process he has patented another way. That’s definitely harder.”
“But you like a challenge, right?” I lean my head toward Riggs, making it obvious I mean her taking us on as a passion project.
“Apparently,” she says, rolling her eyes even as her voice says she’s not annoyed by that at all.
KAYLA
There’s going to be fallout from what happened tonight, and dealing with the complications of that mess will land on my desk soon, but the still churning adrenaline partnered with the unexpected opportunity to go home with Riggs and Maddox feels like the biggest victory of all and I’m flying high.
By the time we bust through my front door, we nearly tumble to the foyer floor in an ungraceful attempt to keep our hands on each other. Both Brent’s clumsy insults and David Jessup’s patent are long forgotten, replaced with a need to touch and be touched.
I’ve become one of those annoying clichés where the white knight steps in to save the damsel in distress and she thanks him by dropping to her knees.
Except I was never in distress and I’m most definitely not the one falling to the floor. That would be Maddox as he gets on his knees, not to apologize again but for the prize he’s definitely earned.
I gasp as his hands grip my thighs to push my skirt up. A shiver runs over my skin as his thumb grazes over my clit through my soaked panties. A soft whimper fills the air as his touch is replaced by hot breath. I want to melt into the pleasure, but Riggs catches my face in his big hands, forcing my attention to him.
“Kayla.” His voice is silky gravel, demanding. I blink through the haze clouding my vision and when I focus, I can see that he’s pained. “I wanted to kill that man with my bare hands for what he said to you.”
He’s telling the truth. It’s as clear as day in his eyes, and though he did no such thing, the guilt is there all the same. In my preoccupation with Maddox being the one to actually throw a punch, I kind of forgot to consider Riggs’s reaction to Brent’s words. And now, he’s warning me about some perceived darkness inside him, but to me, it sounds familiar, and wanted. He matches my own aggressive tendencies, just in a much different form. I channel them into cutthroat negotiations while he sticks to hockey, but tonight was an almost dangerous detour from that for the both of us. For all of us.