Knock Out (The Billionaire's Club: New Orleans) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her. Yeah, if she worked hard, pushed herself, she’d get through this. One thing she knew from bitter experience was that Sebastian Delacroix could focus on his career with single-minded intensity. Even if that meant turning his back on someone he professed to love. That focus was exactly what she needed if she wanted a championship belt in three months. She didn’t have time for anything else. She certainly didn’t have the heart for something more.
    “All right. Show me this state-of-the-art gym.”
    Renata followed Sebastian up two flights of stairs to a wet dream of a personal gym. Free weights and tension machines lined the back wall. Two different punching bags, a speed bag, and medicine balls were aligned along the mirrored wall to the left. A wet bar with a fridge was in the left corner behind her. On the right was some aerobic equipment, a massage table, an elliptical, and some multiuse monstrosity she hadn’t seen before, as well as a video camera and computer setup. In the center stood a boxing ring, not regulation, but close. In the far right corner a door led to what she could only assume was a bathroom. Heck, Sebastian probably had a hot and dry sauna back there. She wouldn’t put it past him.
    Though the gym took up the entire floor, he’d maintained touches here and there of the house that contained it. Pale yellow paint coated the walls like splashes of early morning sunlight, providing a warm contrast to the black, blue, and gray of the machines and the darker blue of the mat flooring. Large posters and photos dotted the walls, and she realized that there were shadowboxes that held each of his championship belts proudly displayed beside a photo taken moments after he’d won: bloody, exhausted, but triumphant. There was also a photo of him in a business suit alongside two other impressive-looking men with the first Hard Knocks Athletics prototype. At the start of the line of photos was a picture of the Sebastian she remembered: early twenties and just coming into his power and talent.
    Somehow she got the feeling that he hadn’t intended the display to crow about his achievements. No, she thought these reminders were placed for motivation, reminders of where he’d been and where he was going.
    “This is amazing.” She shook her head. “I keep using that word, but it fits.”
    “Thanks.” He glanced about the room, pride obvious in his expression and tone. “I test a lot of Hard Knocks’ prototypes here. We pride ourselves not only on setting the standard, but surpassing it.”
    She laughed. “Nice commercial. I can see why they made you the spokesperson.”
    “That’s Raphael Jerroult’s job. I’m the R and D guy. New technologies, weight management and workout apps, new polymers and metals for our equipment, biometrics, that sort of thing.”
    “Wow.” She stepped into the center of the room, spun in a slow circle. “I think my nipples just got hard.”
    Sebastian’s gaze immediately dropped to her breasts, and dammit if her nipples didn’t tighten for real. “Don’t be a tease, Renata,” he ordered, tension filling his features. “It won’t make me go easy on you.”
    She settled her hands on her hips. “Who said I was teasing? And who said I wanted you to go easy on me? I can take whatever you can dish out.”
    The look he gave her should have made her run back down the two flights of stairs and out the front door. Danger and hunger gleamed in that laser-like gaze, rooting her to the spot. She’d thought Sebastian was no longer interested in her in that way. She was obviously so very wrong. The thought thrilled her.
    “You think so?” he asked, his voice as soft as she’d ever heard it. As soft as when he’d whispered to her as they’d lain entwined in bed together, breathless and muscles trembling. He padded toward her, a predator on the prowl, his gaze never leaving hers. When a mere whisper separated them, he stopped. “You really think you can take whatever I