Knockout

  SIXTEEN

  “Are you even listening?” Jami asked, tapping her on the wrist to get her attention. They were lounging on his bed, in his upstairs bedroom, listening to soft music playing on the radio and catching each other up on their weekend.

  Jami had been so busy training that they hadn’t gotten to spend any time together since their movie date last Friday. Tonight, Don was staying in. Since their fight at the gym, Alyson wasn’t so sure about being in his house. When she told Jami this, he scoffed at her, reminding her that it was his house too, and he could have guests over. That if Don had a problem with it, he could take it up with him, but that she didn’t need to feel awkward or scared, because he was there to protect her.

  Ever her protector…

  That didn’t mean she felt any better about the situation, but she still came over. Now, she was using his bedroom as her hideout, refusing food and drink, so she wouldn’t risk having to leave the room to use the bathroom and running into the old man. She felt like a teenager again, hiding away from the big bad parental figure. Was this what they called coming full circle? It sure felt like it to her.

  Alyson blinked out of her ruminations and smiled ruefully. “Sorry, you lost me. What were you saying?”

  Tilting his head, Jami regarded her curiously. “It wasn’t anything important,” he said dismissively. “I would rather know what you were thinking about just now. You were a million miles away.”

  She’d been keeping to a mental three-mile radius, actually. Aside from her current position of awkwardness and discomfort, Alyson had left her mind at the office, ever since walking in that morning to find the place completely ransacked.

  “It’s nothing. Just tired,” she dodged, smiling widely in hopes that she would be lucky enough that he wouldn’t push, but no one had ever accused her of being lucky.

  “Nope, something is going on. Tell me,” he insisted, then sat back in his desk chair and folded his arms over his chest, waiting.

  Hesitant to tell him, but knowing she couldn’t get out of it, Alyson decided to confess everything and just let the chips fall. Blowing out a puff of air, she braced herself for his reaction. “Someone broke into my office over the weekend.”

  As she explained everything—the police investigation, and the possibility of some missing files—Jami’s face stayed completely impassive. He didn’t react in any way, so she couldn’t tell how upset he was, but she knew he had to be. Jami wasn’t the type of guy to hear about trouble and not react to it.

  “I’m worried about my clients and their safety. Their whole lives are in those files. Whoever did this would have had access to everything, including where they live and work.”

  “Who gives a fuck about your clients,” Jami bit out. “What about you?”

  Alyson gave him a puzzled frown. “What about me?”

  Eyebrows shooting up, Jami looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Are you telling me you didn’t even consider that you might have been this guy’s target?”

  Frown deepening, Alyson looked down at her hands, considering his words. “But what would anyone want from me?” She wasn’t the one with a disgruntled husband. She was not and had never filed for divorce, and she certainly wasn’t in the midst of a custody battle. No, whatever this person had been searching for, it had nothing to do with her, she was sure of it. “No, this was something else. It has nothing to do with me.”

  “You don’t know that for sure.” Standing, Jami paced the foot of the bed. “You might have some crazy guy out there watching you right now, and you don’t even look worried,” he said, his voice rising.

  Glancing at the door, Alyson patted the air. “Just keep it down, okay?” The last thing she wanted was to have Don come charging up here and start yelling at her for getting Jami riled up and “distracting” him.

  Holding out his arm, Jami pointed. “You think I care if he hears me? I don’t give a shit if the whole neighborhood hears how stupid I think you’re being right now! You could be in danger, Ally. Don’t you get that?”

  Alyson felt her skin begin to heat as her anger flared. Crossing her arms, she glared at him. “You’re overreacting—”

  “Overreacting?” Jami spluttered.

  “Yes, you are overreacting!” Alyson shouted at him, losing her temper almost as fast as Jami had. “Maybe it was the janitor. Maybe he was cleaning and knocked over a file cabinet and got scared and took off.”

  “Are you even hearing yourself right now?” Jami laughed in disbelief.

  Alyson continued, ignoring him. “It could have been anyone. We don’t even know yet if anything was taken, so all of this yelling and worrying is a bit premature, don’t you think?”

  “The only thing premature here is you,” Jami said scathingly. “Why can’t you see what I see? Someone broke into your fucking office, Ally. They went through your files. If that doesn’t put you squarely in the middle, I don’t know what does.”

  Popping up off the bed, Alyson started putting on her shoes. Her anger had reached a level so high, she was shaking. If she had to look at Jami one more second, she was liable to hit him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Putting on my shoes. What does it look like?” she spat back.

  “Where are you going?” Jami followed her to the door, placing himself in front of it so she couldn’t leave.

  “Leaving, now move.”

  “No. I’m not done talking to you.”

  “Well, I am finished talking to you. Now get the hell out of my way.”

  Grabbing one of his arms with both of her hands, Alyson shoved against him, trying to move Jami to the side so she could clear her exit, but he wouldn’t budge. “Dammit, Jami, move!”

  “What the hell is going on up there?” she heard Don call out as he started up the stairs.

  “Go sit down, Ally,” Jami told her calmly. Alyson kept pushing, determined to leave. She had had enough of Jami’s aggressive, domineering ways and she was so out of there.

  Wedging one of her legs behind his, Alyson somehow managed to set Jami off balance, and he stumbled to the side. The second the door handle came into view, she grabbed it, but Jami moved fast, and before she knew what was happening, he was lifting her off her feet and carrying her back across the room.

  They fell together onto the bed. All the air whooshed from her lungs as Jami fell on top of her. “Get off me, you big, fat oaf!” Alyson grunted, as she shoved against Jami’s chest with every last ounce of strength left in her.

  To her aggravation, he started to laugh. “Did you just call me fat, Ally Blake?”

  Alyson bit her tongue. She was so mad at that moment, but she wasn’t looking for a fight. Pinned down, she turned her head away from him, determined not to be swayed by his quick and easy charm.

  “Are you avoiding me now?” he asked, placing his face close to hers. “Ally,” he crooned. “Come on, don’t be like that.”

  “I’m mad at you right now,” she muttered.

  Slumping down on top of her, Jami rested his cheek on top of her chest. “I’m mad at you, too.”

  “Me?” Alyson cried. “What in the world do you have to be mad at? You’re the one who called me stupid.”

  Lifting his head, Jami looked into her eyes. “I would never call you stupid. I said you were acting stupid.”

  “Oh, there’s a difference?” Alyson asked rhetorically.

  Shaking his head, Jami’s body shook with laughter. The action caused his hips to move against hers, making her very aware of how hard he was. “You are so damn stubborn. You drive me crazy.”

  Alyson forgot why she was angry in the first place when she saw the way Jami looked at her, his brown eyes burning. The way he spoke to her, looked at her, touched her, it was all so disarming. He only needed to use one of those, and he knocked down all of her defenses. When he used them all together, he decimated her.

  Now, the way her body cradled his, bringing her throbbing core into direct contact with his cock, inspir
ed some very wicked thoughts to take root. Bringing her hands up to his sides, Alyson flattened her palms against his hips. Her legs followed, and she hooked them over his thick thighs. Feeling all the restrained power lying in her arms made her feel wanton and needy. “Good, because you drive me crazy, too.”

  “Is everything good in there, or do I need to lay one of you out?” Don called through the door.

  Alyson bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Here they were, sharing an intimate moment, and just as if he really were their child, Don completely obliterated it. He was the best method of birth control she could think of.

  She shoved against Jami’s chest and he rolled off her so she could get up. “Go away, old man,” Jami growled, folding his hands behind his head while his eyes rested on Alyson. “You’re messing with my sexy time.”

  “Sexy time?” Alyson mouthed.

  “Fighting,” Jami stated. “It’s the best kind of foreplay.” He winked at her, and she flushed.

  “You’re sick,” she whispered. Although when she considered it, she couldn’t disagree. He had her all worked up, and for a moment there, her body was responding to his in a very primal way.

  Jami blew her a kiss.

  “You two keep the foreplay to a minimum,” Don called to them. “I’m not in the mood to explain to the cops why two grown adults consider shouting a precursor to their sexual escapades. And I damn sure don’t want to hear it!”

  “Oh, my God,” Alyson gasped. “He’s still here?”

  Apparently, Jami couldn’t care less. Sitting up, he shrugged as he reached out for her and pulled her over to stand between his legs. He looked solemnly up at her. “I know you don’t think you are in danger, and I know you don’t want my help,” he started, and Alyson couldn’t help tensing up. She had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

  “I don’t agree. I think there is something going on here, whether you want to believe that or not, and you know me… I don’t take chances, Ally.” His hands gripped the backs of her knees to his chest. “So until I think you are safe, I’m coming to stay with you.”

  “Jami…” Alyson cast her eyes to the ceiling, praying for patience. “You can’t stay with me.”

  “Why?”

  Resting her hands on his shoulders, she tried to make him see reason. “Because I don’t have enough room, for one thing. I live in a two bedroom apartment, Jami, and I already have two people living with me. You wouldn’t have anywhere to sleep.”

  “You have a couch,” he pointed out. “But if you were feeling generous, you could always share your bed with me.” He waggled his brows suggestively and Alyson popped him on the shoulder.

  “Be serious.”

  “I am.”

  “What about Don?” she asked, trying a different tactic. She loved Jami, but she couldn’t let him move in with her. She might have wanted a relationship with him, but even she recognized that was moving way too fast. “You said it yourself. You don’t know how he would be if you left him here alone.”

  “Don is a big boy,” Jami said plainly. “Whether it’s tonight or a year from now, he’s going to be alone sometime. I can’t babysit him forever.”

  “Okay, Jami, look,” Alyson said somewhat pained. “I appreciate you worrying about me, I do. But I can’t let you stay.”

  “Is this about your independence?” Jami questioned. “Because I’m not suggesting that you give that up. I’m just saying that I would feel better if you let me keep an eye out for any trouble, at least until we get some answers.”

  “No. This isn’t about my independence. This is me saying that I don’t need or want a body guard.”

  Jami watched her closely, staring her in the eyes as he weighed her words. Seeing her determination triggered his, and Jami pulled her down onto his lap, adjusting her legs so one rested on either side of his, and putting them on the same level. “Alyson, listen to me. I hear what you are saying, but I’m not taking no for an answer. Either I stay with you, or you’re staying with me. It’s that simple.”

  “Oh, it’s that simple is it?”

  “It’s that simple,” Jami said definitively.

  Alyson shook her head. “Every time I talk to you I get whiplash. Can’t you ever just be agreeable?” The corners of his mouth turned up, and Alyson realized that he was drawing her into him again. “Jami, this isn’t going to work. You are not staying with me, and I am not staying here with you. You need to accept that.”

  “I can’t accept that.”

  “You mean you won’t,” she shot back. She was disappointed. Sometimes Jami was completely unreasonable.

  “Same difference.” He looked away briefly, the same disappointment she felt flashing in his eyes. When he looked back at her, he was resigned. “So, I guess we’re at an impasse?”

  “I guess we are,” Alyson agreed, running her fingers through his thick, dark hair.

  “Then I guess I should take you home.” Lifting her up, Jami set her on her feet and retrieved his keys from the bedside table.

  Alyson felt a sense of rejection settle in the pit of her stomach. “I don’t have to leave yet. It’s still early,” she said, pointing at the clock.

  Brushing by her, Jami held open the door. “I have to be at the gym early.”

  Alyson studied him. He was a pillar of masculine fury, the muscle in his jaw clenching. He wouldn’t even look at her, and the air around him had turned glacial. Swallowing tightly, Alyson walked out. If he didn’t want to share the same space as her, then she would get out of his hair as quickly as possible. It just sucked that it had to hurt so much.

  Several times on the way home, and once more when he dropped her off and watched her walk inside, she had to remind herself that she wasn’t his girlfriend. She was someone from his past, a friend. He could take her or leave her, and she would do well to remember that.

  SEVENTEEN

  A double date wasn’t what she had in mind when Alyson wanted to get out of the house, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Since she and Jami had managed to get passed their latest spat over him staying with her, he’d taken it upon himself to surprise her by suggesting they have date night out. It was a rare day indeed when Jami decided to break free of his routine.

  Now she finally understood why.

  “Can I have your autograph?”

  Alyson experienced instant, deep-seeded hatred for the blonde and bouncy duo. They were tall, voluptuous, and done up to the nines in heels that looked painful, and skirts so short a gentle breeze would reveal whether that was their real hair color.

  Jami plastered on a convincing smile and dropped her hand, and Alyson stepped aside as a black permanent marker was thrust into his hand.

  Olivia came to stand by her side and distribute the hate evenly. “Can you believe how short their dresses are?”

  “See the one in the front?” Alyson whispered. “If you look close enough, you can see her womb.”

  “Don’t worry,” Olivia assured her, obviously picking up Alyson’s upset on her best friend radar. “They’ve got nothing on you. They’re probably not even his type?” Her words lacked the confidence necessary to put her at ease as her gaze scraped over them.

  “They’re everyone’s type,” Alyson grumbled.

  “Right?”

  “You’re not helping.” Alyson would have shoved her had Olivia not chosen that moment to go back to Spencer’s loving and devoted embrace. She stood there, watching Jami sign the broad’s shirt. When her friend stepped up to get his autograph, Alyson’s jaw dropped to her chest when the woman lifted her shirt and exposed her incredibly fake breast.

  “Make it out to Brenda,” she said in a bubbly nasal voice.

  Jami capped the marker and handed it back to her friend. “Sorry, the only tits I put my hands on belong to this girl,” he said, taking a step back and finding Alyson’s hand.

  Her chest puffed with pride as Jami pulled her behind him toward the bar. He had publicly claimed her
, even if the manner left something to be desired.

  His words continued to ring in her head as they entered the noisy bar and located a table. “I’m surprised you didn’t take her offer,” Alyson told him, leaning in close so he could hear her better.

  Turning his head, he placed his lips against the shell of her ear. “Why?”

  “Hmmm, I don’t know. Maybe because she whipped her ‘tits’ out.”

  Cupping his hand around the side of her neck, Jami held her in place as he spoke. “Plenty of women whip their tits out for me all the time, but that doesn’t mean I always accept the offer. Besides, they weren’t my type.”

  They did? This was news to her, but then Alyson could just imagine what kind of twisted debauchery went down at the after parties, and Jami was so charming and sexy and kind, he probably attracted all sorts of women.

  She felt sick at the idea that Jami would be exposed to other women like that when he left again, while she remained behind torturing herself with thoughts of the unknown. How could she ever compete? Yet, he said that the girl wasn’t his type. Alyson couldn’t help herself—she had to ask. “What is your type then?”

  Pulling back so she could look him in the eyes when he gave her his answer, Jami’s voice dropped so low she had to read his lips to make out what he was saying. “You are.” Alyson’s heart began to race. His thumb traced a line down her neck, sending shivers down her spine. He leaned forward again to speak in her ear. “So are your tits.”

  Alyson’s eyes slid closed and her nipples pebbled as she pictured him cupping her breasts in his hands. She loved the way he talked to her, the flirty, dirty words he used. He continued cupping the back of her neck, but beneath the table, she felt his other hand touch her inner thigh. Emboldened, Alyson reached under the table and set her hand on his thigh, then lightly scratched her nails across his jeans as she worked her way up.

  Jami’s breath hissed out of him. “Did I tell you how hot you look tonight?”

  Alyson nearly laughed, because she wasn’t anywhere near sexy in a pair of black skinny jeans, an old off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, and her Chucks. But Jami? He managed to make jeans and a t-shirt look designer good. “No, I don’t think you did.”