by Teagan Kade
“Not one to let bygones be bygones, eh?”
I turned to Jim then and gave him a hard look to let him know I wasn’t about to tolerate any nonsense. “Jim, you and I go back awhile.”
“We do,” he said.
“You have an exclusive behind-the-scenes scoop about the man behind the gloves, plus you are getting a first-hand look inside our marriage and his re-entry into the boxing arena. Don’t fuck that up by asking stupid questions or giving me the slightest hint you’re trying to frame this story in any way that would be negatively viewed on Shaun.”
“I didn’t mean to give that impression,” Jim started.
“My husband was the victim of fraud and slander. He was manipulated to expose a human instinct all of us feel to varying degrees every day of our lives. He lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to the man who was supposed to be honestly managing his business finances. That would have been more than enough money to pay for his sister’s entire treatment after her last relapse. I’d say under those circumstances no one in the world would fault him for sending that man to jail.”
Jim appeared contrite as his face flushed. “I didn’t mean to imply anything else. Of course that’s what I meant.”
I nodded as I turned back to watching Shaun. My hands settled on my rounded stomach again. The following week we were due to find out if it was a boy or a girl. Based on the rather painful kicks I’d started to feel of late, I guessed it was a boy who was taking after his father. Shaun joked it had to be a girl, one that was fierce and uncompromising, just like her mother.
“Shaun must be pretty excited to be back in the ring today,” Jim said.
The crowd started to chant Shaun’s name as he made his way up the stairs and slid through the ropes. He moved with a lithe grace to the center of the ring and smiled, waving to his fans. The roar of the crowd answered him. Everywhere we went now, someone was asking for his autograph. We would stop whatever we were doing and Shaun would sign every one of them.
Even though Shaun hadn’t had a scheduled fight in eighteen months, he’d hardly been idle. We sat down and started sketching out the next phase of his career. That included opening a boxing gym for kids. We scouted all over town and found the perfect location. It opened six months after everything happened with Nigel. Shaun wanted it to be perfect. After that, we developed a franchise strategy and started putting out feelers for interest. It looked like at least four more gyms were set to open around the country next year.
Shaun wasn’t just a boxer anymore. Now he was an entrepreneur. He said it was important to make sure he planned for our family’s future, just in case something random happened to him. I didn’t like him talking like that, but I understood what he meant.
“Shaun’s first love is the ring,” I said. “It has been since he was a kid. I’m happy he’s back doing what he loves.”
“That might have been his first love, but it’s clear it’s not his only love anymore.”
I clapped my hands and hooted with the rest of the crowd as Shaun made a quick pass around the perimeter of the ring. His eyes locked on mine as he came around to my side. He touched his glove to his heart and pointed his arm straight in my direction. I knew the gesture drew every eye and camera in the arena to me, and I didn’t care for one second.
“It’s a one-of-a-kind thing, to find a love that satisfies every need and all the desires you didn’t even know you had,” I replied.
I put my hand on my heart and stomach. I bought two fingers to my lips, kissed them, and shot my arm back out toward Shaun. He pretended to catch the kisses in his glove.
The crowd went wild. My boxer and my love. I rubbed my stomach and whispered to our future child, “If you learn nothing else from Mommy and Daddy, it’s this. Never let go when you find the one you love. Not without one hell of a fight.”
LET ME HOOK YOU UP!
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About Teagan Kade:
Teagan Kade thinks talking about yourself in the third person is silly, just like her collection of snow globes and rare manga. When she’s not being silly, she’s hanging out with her own Brock and two children in the south of Australia, dreaming of new characters and torturous ways they can get themselves into trouble. Teagan loves hearing from her readers, all of whom are as dear to her heart as salted caramel cookies. Shoot her an email at: [email protected]. She doesn’t bite.
Also by Teagan Kade:
Stroker: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
I like my women the way I like my sports. Warm… and wet.
BLAKE
Swimming is my world.
I’ve worked for years to get here, and I have a real shot at the Olympics.
Unless I get kicked out of school for my rowdy behavior.
So when Coach tells me his daughter’s in town, and it’s my job to train her?
“Yes sir” is the only possible answer.
Too bad Tia’s completely off-limits.
Being around her all the time is more than tempting -- it’s torture.
TIA
I’m here to swim.
To get to know the father I haven’t seen in a decade.
Blake makes me feel things no one else ever has…
But the last thing I need is more heartbreak.
Too bad he looks even better out of the water than in it.
I just have to stay strong.
Right?
Striker: A Bad Boy Sports Romance
She’s the perfect score. I’m a dirty player. It’s complicated.
JENSEN
Scarlet's always been a stunner. There was a time we could have been together, but then came the soccer, the fans, the fame... I lost her to my twin brother, Josh.
But Josh is a cheating bastard. I can't stand by and watch Scarlet suffer, not when she should’ve been mine all along.
SCARLET
I've been dating Josh for years. I've tried to steer clear of his twin brother, Jensen, but I’ve always felt a pull towards him, a pull I have to resist.
But when Josh betrays me, Jensen’s arms are suddenly wide open. It would be so easy…
My heart’s torn—I just don’t know in which direction.
Burned: A Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance
My stepbrother Brock—the street racer, the panty-dropper, the absolute and utter as*hole.
He’s back in town, alive, and now we’ve been thrust together in the worst way possible. I’m living with the very guy my investigation is focused on. I’m betraying him right under his nose.
Since that night I’ve tried my best to forget him, done everything in my power to disconnect us, but here he is infiltrating every area of my life. All he cares about is that cursed car of his… or so I thought. You see, try as I might I can’t stop thinking about him, about his hands and his magnetic touch, everything I know is wrong.
But sometimes wrong is the only way to ride…
Royally Wrong: A British Bad Boy Romance
Fifth in line to the throne. Off the rails. Drop dead-freakin’-gorgeous.
I should never have taken this assignment. Prince Panty-Dropper Spencer and his ‘Big Ben’ are too far gone. Even my journalistic wonders aren’t enough to pull him from the public blacklist. He’s a playboy, an arrogant, cocky as*hole in the extreme and the kind of overt man candy that goes against every one of my golden rules.
But I want him all the same, crave his cursed touch. I won’t have a job to go back to if I leave empty-handed, which means we’re going to have to get real close, access all areas. He’s a prick, yes, but I can’t stop thinking about his hard muscles, his slack smile, the complete confidence he has in himself. He might be Britain’s bigges
t player, but if he wants me, he’s damn well going to have to work for it.
London’s calling alright. Question is, can I handle what’s on the line?
