Read Online A Night With Knox by Eve Jagger - Free Book Online Page A

was
fighting, my girlfriend at the time used the hours I was knocking
guys’ blocks off to get her rocks off. She even slept with some
of my opponents, who I beat anyway, but still—I don’t
know if she was just bored or mean, didn’t love me or herself
or both, but when we broke up two years ago, I swore off
relationships. My motto is get in and get out, in all ways possible.
    So Tight Dress standing in front of me, just the right size to
straddle my lap in the front seat of my Audi, would usually be the
perfect ending to a night.
    But I can’t abide dishonesty, not even from a one-night stand.
Like I said: there are standards.
    “Your date’s not doing it for you?” I say, nodding
at Grey Suit who’s now standing by the door where people are
starting to exit. It must be after two a.m. by now and a weeknight,
which means most of these people are six hours away from clocking in
at the office tomorrow. Thrill seekers by night, executive decision
makers by day, that’s a lot of our audience, and even though
I’ve never been able to tolerate living that kind of rigid,
conventional lifestyle for myself, their money’s just as good
as anyone else’s. They may even have a greater appreciation for
the brawls, since bare-knuckles fighting is a far cry from whatever
uptight Fortune 500 company or corporate law firm they work at.
    She glances at Grey Suit, then turns back to me. “He’s
okay,” she says. That pretty mouth of hers widens. Despite the
darkness of the warehouse, her teeth gleam like white stones. “But
you’re Ryder Cole.” She runs her hand lightly over my
arm. “And I’m willing.”
    My bicep belies my intention to be behave, contracting instinctively
as her fingers linger on my suit sleeve. “To do what?”
    “Anything you want.”
    I lean close to her. “I want you to go home with the guy that
brought you and fuck his brains out like a good girl,” I say.
“But you can think about me while you’re doing it.”
    I cross to where Tyler waits by the door. Security will close up.
We’ve got business to attend to.
     
    What happens next? Discover the rest of the story in HARD .
    Available now !

CHAPTER ONE
     
    Cash
     
    There are two things in life that need
to be handled with care: cocktails and women. Push a woman too far
and you’ll end up stuck outside in nothing but your boxers—take
my word for it, it’s not pretty. Shake a cocktail too hard and
you kill the flavor. But when it all comes together, it’s magic
in my very capable hands.
    Altitude is packed, but it’s been
this way since we opened. The long bar spreads out before me and the
crowd gathers, ready for a show. I fell into tending bar as a way to
put myself through school and even after four years of grade-A
education, I’d still rather shake, stir, and muddle my way
through life.
    The bottles fit easily in my hands as I
measure out rum and lime juice. The woman across from me wears a blue
dress that she might have had painted on, and the gold chain around
her neck leads the eye straight to her assets .
I give her a winning smile that’s been proven to melt more than
one heart.
    To all the men in the bar: I’m
not sorry, but her attention’s on me.
    She twirls a piece of a hair around her
finger and I can imagine what it’d look like spread out on my
bed. Straining the cocktail into a glass, I reach for the garnish but
Blue Dress Beauty is already reaching for her drink. I grab her
wrist. Under my fingers her pulse jumps and I meet her eyes. This one
is definitely ready to play. She gives me a wink.
    “Not done yet,” I say,
releasing her.
    “I don’t
know if I can wait.”
    “Oh, I think you can. You’re
gonna enjoy this,” I tell her, my voice low and deep. I grab a
fresh sprig of mint and tear off some leaves, keeping eye contact the
whole time.
    “What did that mint ever do to
you?” she asks, flirty.
    “It’s been very bad.”
    She arches an eyebrow at me. “It’s
not the only thing being bad