Kiss Me That Way: A Cottonbloom Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

strength training, she’d expanded into martial arts and self-defense over the last year, taking over two more storefronts and giving the Louisiana side of the city an economic boost. She’d turned down his offer to help financially with the expansion, and another year would see his initial loan paid in full. If she bragged about him, he was equally as proud of her—even if he hadn’t had a chance to tell her yet.
    He was regretting his decision not to swallow his oversize pride and text Sawyer for a ride. His stomach churned but not from hunger this time. The slight breeze that had sped down the river and mitigated the heat was cut off by the buildings, leaving the air stagnant, the humidity smothering.
    A middle-aged woman in tight spandex pushed through the door of Tally’s gym. A burst of air-conditioning welcomed him inside. He leaned a hip against the front desk and took the weight off his bad leg.
    Behind the desk Tally put down the papers she was sorting. “You look like hell warmed over. Come sit before you collapse.”
    He didn’t argue. Plopping down on a metal folding chair, he stretched his leg out and massaged his knee.
    She joined him, her mouth tight. “Did you seriously walk all the way over here? Sawyer’s going to have a fit when he goes to pick you up and finds you gone.”
    “How about you text him for me? You can give me a lift back, can’t you?”
    “You scared of Sawyer, big brother?” Her face sparked with a familiar tease, and the tension across his shoulders eased.
    Cade made a phish ing sound. “Please. I’m not scared of anything anymore. But Sawyer and I are getting on like two crawdads trapped in a bucket.”
    She bumped his shoulder with hers. “It’ll get easier. Can I get you a drink?”
    “I would kill for a whiskey.”
    “I can do Coke.”
    “Jack and Coke?”
    “Just Coke, you lush.” Tally walked off, presumably to retrieve him a plain Coke.
    A self-defense class was in progress on the matted floor. A bunch of youngish women gathered in the far corner.
    The semi-circle parted to reveal a woman in tiny black shorts and a tight red top with straps crisscrossing defined shoulder blades. A long blond braid swung when she stepped forward and kneed a dummy in the crotch. She slow-motion punched its nose with the heel of her hand. Then, she quickened the pace, performing the combination move several times in succession. On the final hit, the dummy’s head bounced across the floor and the girls dissolved into high-pitched giggles.
    Tally plopped back in the seat next to him and held out a can. He took it with his left hand, the icy metal helping dampen the tingles of firing nerve endings. His gaze never left the woman on the mat.
    She could have posed for a fitness magazine. Although toned, she was shapely, with long legs and arms. Her movements were reminiscent of a choreographed dance rather than a fight sequence. She bent over to retrieve the dummy’s head, her backside high in the air. He swallowed, pretty sure if someone wanted to draw him as a cartoon character his eyes would be bulging comically.
    When she turned, it took a few blinks for her face to come into focus. The sweating can slipped out of his numb fingers, a good amount of Coke spilling over his crotch before he could right it. Their gazes clashed briefly, and without taking his eyes off her he asked, “What is Monroe Kirby doing here?”
    “She teaches a self-defense class. She’s a double black belt in jujitsu and karate, you know.”
    “How was I supposed to know that?”
    Monroe’s attention was back on the giggling girls, so Cade transferred his to Tally, who sat with a Cheshire cat smile, examining her dark-purple-painted fingernails.
    “Gee, I don’t know. Come visit more often? I assume you were Monroe’s late add-on. I didn’t get a chance to grill her.”
    “Why didn’t you warn me?”
    “Should I have? Didn’t realize you two were so well acquainted.”
    Ironic that he’d said