Page 44 of Knockout (Whiskey Dolls 2)

Layla

Uh oh.

I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening just then, but as I chased a fuming Jude out of my apartment and down the hall toward the stairwell, I knew for certain it wasn’t going to be good.

“Jude, wait!” I called out as I ran after him. The beast of a man took the stairs two at a time like a freaking machine. Meanwhile, I was winded half a flight up. I guess there’s a big difference between dancing and climbing a gajillion stairs. Ihatedstairs. “Will you slow down?” I panted, grabbing the hand rail and using it as leverage to pull myself up after him. “Oh God,” I groaned pitifully. “Why couldn’t we have taken the elevator?”

Of course, he didn’t answer me. He was too busy barreling upward without even getting winded.

“Where are you going?” I wheezed as he shoved through the door to his floor with so much force it nearly smacked me in the face when it shot back inward.

“To teach that fucker a lesson,” he clipped.

“Wait.What?” I squeaked just as he reached Bax’s door with me rushing up behind him as fast as my burning lungs would allow. “No! You can’t do that,” I cried as I grabbed the arm he’d just lifted to beat on it. “Really, Jude, this isn’t necessary. It worked out for the best. I didn’t even want to—”

Using the arm I wasn’t clinging to, he balled his fist and hammered even harder than he had on mine only a handful of minutes ago.

Well shit.

The door opened a minute later, and as soon as Bax’s face came into view, Jude hauled back and drove his fist right into it.

Okay, so that escalated a whole lot quicker than I was expecting.

“Jesus, fuck! What the hell!” Bax’s shout was muffled as he cupped his what was sure to be broken nose. Blood seeped instantly from between his fingers, making me incredibly woozy. Ireallycouldn’t handle the sight of blood.

“Oh God.” I let out a gag as the floor began to spin beneath my feet. “Oh, that’s gross.” I braced a hand on the wall and bent at the waist, squeezing my eyes closed and sucking in a huge lungful of air. “Yuck, yuck, yuck.”

“You just broke my fucking nose!” I heard Bax whine through the steadywhomp whompof my heartbeat in my ears. “What the fuck!”

“It’s the least you deserve for standing Layla up, you son of a bitch.”

“What the hell are you talking abou—Ah, shit. That was tonight? I totally forgot.”

Okay, ouch.

Sure, I was telling the truth that the night had worked out for the best and that I hadn’t wanted to go out with this guy in the first place. But that didn’t mean what he’d just said didn’t sting a little. I mean, what woman wants to hear she’s so forgettable that the man who asked her out didn’t even remember their date. That would bruise the ego of the most well-adjusted person out there, and I certainly wasn’t immune.

I looked up and swallowed down the bile that came with seeing all that blood again. I needed to get a grip, because this asshole deserved my most withering look, and I couldn’t pull that off if I was busy upchucking all over the hallway. “Youforgot?” I asked incredulously.

“You dumb mother—” Jude cut in with a growl. I caught Bax throw his arms up to cover his face and cower from the corner of my eye, but I was too busy jumping on Jude’s side, wrapping my legs around his waist, and clinging to him like a spider monkey to prevent him from punching the idiot for a second time.

“Jude, don’t! One punch was enough. You already broke his nose, do you really want to knock his teeth out, as well?” That was the wrong thing to ask; I knew it by the way his eyes suddenly sparked, like he’d just heard the best idea ever. “You don’t,” I scolded. “You donotwant to knock his teeth out. That’s the correct answer.”

“Doesn’t feel like it to me,” he said on a snarl, causing me to tighten my grip and lock my ankles to keep in place.

“No,” I barked. “Bad Jude.”

Bax threw his hands up defensively in front of his face, like that was going to do him any good if Jude decided to take another swing. I knew good and well that Jude was a powerful man, but as I clung to him, without him so much as shifting under my weight, I knew there was so much more strength than I’d ever expected. I wondered what all that would feel like in bed—

I quickly cut that thought off at the root, giving my head a shake to clear it of the sudden erotic images flitting around. The NSync fangirl in my head shrieked at the thought of taking Jude Kingsley for a test drive. I really needed to find some duct tape for that pain-in-the-ass voice in my head.

“If you hit me again, I’m calling the cops!” Bax declared, his voice quivering with fear.

I didn’t have a single doubt he’d do it too. What a freaking pansy ass.

“No more punching,” I wheezed as I grappled and clawed to hold myself up on this mountain of a man. You’d think being skilled when it came to pole routines would help with upper body strength, but apparently not. Clearly, that wasn’t a problem for him, because while I was clinging to his side by my nails, he simply wrapped an arm around me, resting his forearm under my butt in a lazy yet effective effort to hold me up so I didn’t fall.

And why the hell was the fact thathewas suddenly holding on tomeinstead of the other way around so damn sexy?

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