Hard Knocks: An Ultimate Novella by Lori Foster Read Free Book Online

the first round with a knockout.
    Instead of reacting with everyone else, Harper turned her face up to his. As if no time had passed at all, she said, “That’s not entirely true.”
    Damn, but it was getting more difficult by the second to keep his hands off her. He contented himself by opening his hand on her waist, stroking up to her ribs then down to her hip. “What’s that?”
    “There are plenty of times when I can’t intrude.”
    She was still stewing about that? “No.”
    Like a thundercloud, she darkened. Turning to more fully face him, she said low, “Yes.” Before he could correct her, she insisted, “But I want you to know that I understand.”
    Apparently she didn’t. “How so?”
    Leaning around him, she glanced at one and all to ensure there were no eavesdroppers. As if uncertain, she puckered her brows while trying to find the right words. “I know when you’re in training—”
    “I’m pretty much always in training.”
    She looked like she wanted to smack him. “There’s training and then there’s training. ”
    True enough. “You mean when I go away to another camp.”
    “That, and when you’re close to a fight.”
    Should he tell her how much he’d enjoy coming home to her—every night, not just between fights? Would she ever be willing to travel with him? Or to wait for him when she couldn’t?
    He had a feeling Harper would fit seamlessly into his life no matter what he had going on.
    Being as honest as he could, Gage nodded. “There will be times when my thoughts are distracted, when I have to focus on other stuff. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care. It sure as hell doesn’t mean you have to keep your distance.”
    The next fight started and though a few muted conversations continued, most in attendance kept their comments limited to the competition. Beside him, Harper fell silent. Gage could almost feel her struggling to sort out everything he’d said.
    Again, he found himself studying her profile; not just her face, but her body, too. Her breasts weren’t large, but they fit her frame, especially with her small waist and the sexy flare of her hips. She kept her long legs crossed, one foot nervously rocking. She drew in several deep breaths. A pulse tripped in her throat.
    By the second the sexual tension between them grew.
    The end of the night started to feel like too many hours away. They had at least three more fights on the main card. Cannon’s fight would be last. It wasn’t a title fight, but it’d still go five rounds.
    The current match went all three rounds and came down to a split decision. Gage no longer cared; hell, he’d missed more of the fight than he’d seen.
    Around him, voices rose in good-natured debate about how the judges had gotten it right or wrong.
    “What do you think?” Gage asked Harper.
    She shrugged. “Depends on how the judges scored things. The guy from Brazil really pushed the fight, but the other one landed more blows. Still, he didn’t cause that much damage, and the Brazilian got those two takedowns—”
    Gage put a finger to her mouth. “I meant about us.”
    Her wide-eyed gaze swung to his. “Oh.” She gulped, considered him, then whispered, “I like it.”
    “It?”
    “There being an ‘us.’”
    Yeah, he liked it, too, maybe more than he’d realized before now. “I missed you while I was away.”
    She scoffed. “You were way too busy for that.”
    “I worked hard, no denying it. But it wasn’t 24/7. I found myself alone with my thoughts far too often.”
    She forced a smile. “I’m sure at those times you were obsessed about the SBC, about the competition, about winning.”
    “All that—plus you.” When it came to priorities, she was at the top. He’d just made too many assumptions for her to realize it.
    She looked tortured for a moment before her hand knotted in his shirt and she pulled him closer. With pained accusation, she said, “You didn’t call.”
    Hot with regret, Gage covered her hand with