“Sure about this?” Duke asked, standing in front of me.
“Gonna back out now that you’ve got an audience to see you get your ass kicked by a woman?” I snapped back. I was still sufficiently pissed off at him, even more so as he hadn’t yet apologized.
“So I’ve got fifty on the movie star, who wants to bet against me?” Harriet called from the side.
No one spoke. And Andrew, Anna, and Tanner were all in the audience. Apparently even a busy ranch can put its morning on pause to watch their son and his girlfriend spar in an underground gym.
I wasn’t sure whether they were being polite or scared of offending me, but no one was willing to put their money on Duke.
This made me happy.
“I punch like a girl, just to let you know,” I told Duke as I began to circle him. “Meaning I do it smart, clean, and in the places that will do the most damage. I’m not striking out to show off, I’m doing it to beat you.”
There was a whoop from the sidelines that most likely would’ve come from Harriet.
Duke’s eyes flared with amusement and a dark heat. I recognized the latter since it was the gaze he’d worn the entire night last night.
My thighs clenched with the memory.
He struck, and I managed to dodge…sloppily.
I glared at him and the smirk on his face. The asshole was trying to distract me with his sexy look…in front of his family no less.
We continued to circle each other, and I made sure not to let his tactics get to me. I was the first to land a punch. It was clean. Effective. Enough to make him go back on a foot. He was as surprised as I was at that.
He recovered with a grin. Impressed. I shouldn’t let it get to me, but it did—and he kicked my feet out from under me so I landed hard on the mat.
Although the wind was knocked out of me, I managed to roll up quickly, smiling. “Good, you’re not holding back.”
He raised his fists. “Baby, I’m not gonna hold back with you ever.”
The fight was declared a tie, much to Harriet’s dismay.
Duke hadn’t held back, but he’d fought so he didn’t land punches anywhere on my face. He was more focused on getting me on the mat. On testing me. He reminded me of my trainer. Tough but not cruel.
It was interesting to me that a man like Duke would even agree to this. I would’ve thought his alpha maleness would’ve stopped him from potentially “harming” a woman. Of course, such a thought was rooted in a belief that women were inherently weaker.
It impressed me that Duke had been willing to fight me. That surprised me.
I was falling more and more in like with him.
The rest of the family had given their praise then scattered off to commence their tasks for the day. Except Harriet, of course. She was on the elliptical with Beats on her ears watching an episode of Buffy on the screen mounted on the wall.
Duke and I were sitting on the mats. I was stretching out, pretending not to want to lick the sweat off Duke’s bicep.
Yeah, it was gross, but it was an urge that came from my growing obsession with him.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” Duke asked.
I shrugged, uncomfortable with the power behind his gaze. I’d been sure I’d seen every expression on Duke’s face by now. But here he was giving me something else. Something that seemed deep. Like…reverence. But surely I was just imagining it or he was trying to trick me with those smoldering baby blues into forgetting I was mad at him.
“I had a role where I was a female boxer,” I replied.
Duke wasn’t willing to leave it at that. “Yeah, plenty of actresses have roles like that and don’t fight like you do.”
I swallowed my water. “I don’t believe in playing a part unless I’ve one hundred percent dedicated myself to the character. Just like I learned how to ride like a cowboy, I learned to fight like a boxer. Same way I learned Russian for my movie set amongst the Cold War. I don’t believe in doing things halfway.”
He blinked. “You speak Russian?”
I tilted my head. Was he faking the impressed tone to butter me up? “Surely you would’ve already known that. I would’ve thought your office did their research before taking me on as a client.”
“We didn’t need to research you deeply for basic security work,” he said. “And things became urgent before we could do the deep dive.” He stepped forward, grasping my hips and pulling me into his sweaty body. I couldn’t help but inhale his natural scent. “And, baby, even Wire, who I consider to be one of the greatest hackers of our generation, couldn’t find the extent of your ability, all of your depths, everything I’m learning.” He moved some hair from my face. “It’s like you have no bottom,” he murmured. “You’re never-ending. You’re everlasting.”