Brooklyn's Baddest: A Bad Boy Fighter Romance by Susan Westwood Read Free Book Online

tall dark wooden cabinet against the wall, and she opened one door of it, reaching in and pulling out a gi. “You’ll need to put this on for your tryout.” Lisa said as she went to him and reached her hand out to give it to him. When he took it, he stretched his arm out and ran his hand down her bare forearm and over her hand, closing his fingers around her hand as he touched it.
    “Do you want to stay in here with me while I change into it?” he asked, the grin still on his face and the spark of a gleam in his steel blue eyes as they locked on hers, challenging her; taunting her with possibility.
    Her breath caught and she pulled her hand from him quickly. Her expression did not change at all, and she did not look away from him for a moment, but then she turned and simply walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. He watched her go and heaved a breath, chuckling and shaking his head as he looked down at the fighting clothes in his hands. She was going to be a challenge , he thought to himself, but he was going to do everything he could to change her mind and get her to tell him yes.
    Lisa stood outside of her office and planted her back firmly on the wall, closing her eyes and exhaling the breath that she had been holding. She told herself that she absolutely could not under any circumstances let a student at the dojo have any kind of effect on her. She forbade herself to feel anything, and reminded herself that she was there to work and that she had an obligation and duty which was more important than anything.
    Nothing else could interfere with that, especially not a gorgeous, wild, hot looking man who was there to train and fight. She was going to have to be extra careful with him until she had pushed him away enough that he didn’t have any effect on her at all. It wouldn’t take long. If he did make it into the dojo, he would be training and she wouldn’t see him much.
    She shook her head as if to clear it and opened her eyes again. Telling herself that it was just the fact that it had been a long while since a man had touched her, and certainly nothing more, she shrugged it off and waited. When Jake finally came out, he looked as if he fit into the scene of the dojo around him perfectly.
    Giving him a nod of approval, she turned and walked toward the studio where the class had been going on, and they entered, staying against the back wall. The class moved in unison, ending their session, and bowing low to their instructor, who bowed back to them out of respect. They filed out silently, and Lisa looked over at the two men at the far end of the room and gave them a genuine smile.
    She prayed that both men would approve of Jake. She knew that Jake was different than the kind of young men they normally took into the dojo, but she was a good judge of character, and she had an excellent track record when it came to discovering good competitor talent and introducing them to the dojo. Many of the fighters she had found had gone on to become world class competitors and champions.
    Jake seemed the type who didn’t quite take to discipline, however, and discipline was the first rule of the dojo. It was why the place had succeeded for so many years, and why it worked like a well-oiled machine. It was easily the most respected dojo on the entire eastern coast of the country, if not the best in the country.
    Part of her own work over many years had contributed to that, and though Jake might not be quite the same sort of fighter that they took on, she hoped that the two men walking toward them would be able to see what she could see; even through his attitude and flirtatiousness.
    One of the men was older, with white hair and slightly browned skin. He was obviously of Japanese heritage, and he moved with a gracefulness that bespoke gentility and power; not unlike a tiger who came with watchful eyes, padding silently through grass. The other man was younger than the old man, but still older than Jake by at least ten