Jersey Six - Jewel E Ann Page 0,41

to be late if you don’t hurry up.” Max’s scolding tone nipped at his ear.

“Okay.” Ian ended the call and weaved his way toward the ring, planting himself in Jersey’s line of sight.

She dodged another attempt by her opponent and glanced at Ian. He held up his wrist and tapped the face to his watch. Jersey nodded several times and dropped the larger woman with one hard, fast hit. The employee rushed to the woman’s aid, waving another employee over to the unconscious woman.

Ian cringed.

Jersey? She ducked between the ropes like nothing happened and tugged the ties to her gloves with her teeth, trapping one glove under her arm to pull it off and then the other.

“You knocked her out.” Ian watched in concern as they tended to the woman. By the time Jersey stuffed her gloves into her bag and pulled on her hoodie, they had the woman on her feet, pressing a towel to her bloodied nose.

“Coop, it’s boxing. What the fuck did you think I was going to do to her? Braid her hair?” Jersey made her way to the exit.

Ian shook his head, still in shock, and followed her out of the building to the SUV waiting for them.

“Morning. Did you get your shit worked out?” Max twisted her body to scowl at Jersey. With a quick sniff, her scowl deepened.

“It was okay.” Jersey drank from the bottle of water that Ian gave her.

He eyed her, waiting for her to share the story of how she knocked that woman out, but it didn’t seem to faze Jersey one bit.

“We have an hour and a half. We’ll go back to the hotel so you two can get showered … separately,” Max murmured.

Jersey turned her head toward Ian, studying the hickey on his neck before meeting his gaze. A smile played along her lips. That … that was what made her smile? Ian couldn’t believe the fight did nothing, but a hickey made her happy.

His dick stirred in his pants. After Jersey’s striptease on the plane, he needed something. A quick lay. A hand job. A blowjob … or just an extra five minutes in the shower. The woman possessed something he didn’t anticipate—a look. Jersey had a subtle beauty, one you might miss if you didn’t look closely. Over the previous weeks, her body had gained a few soft curves, her face began to fill out, taking the edge off, no longer gauntly. But it was her eyes, it had always been her eyes, that told her story, shared every emotion. Earthy browns, rich like shades of clay, deep, and full of wonder and desire, heartbreak and determination. She could ball her hands and clench her teeth, but her eyes never lied.

Shane pulled up next to the side door, and Max handed Jersey a room key card. “You two have forty-five minutes. We’ll grab food and…” Max rubbed her nose “…new workout attire.”

Jersey rubbed her nose too, but only using her middle finger. Ian bit his lips together and opened the door before he landed on Max’s shit list for laughing at Jersey’s not-so-gracious response.

“Yes, boss.” Ian winked at Max while shutting the door.

“I stink.” Jersey dropped her head as Ian held open the side door to the hotel.

“You do.” He smirked, but she didn’t glance up at him to see it. “I stink too when I exercise. Max will get you some new workout stuff so you only have to wear around one day’s worth of stink.” He pushed the button to the elevator.

“Fuck you,” she whispered.

The doors opened and they stepped into the empty elevator. Ian grunted a laugh, resting his hands on his hips and tipping his chin down on a slight headshake. “You’re trying, Jersey … you’re definitely trying to fuck me.”

She was a million things he could never really explain—least of all his motive for the previous weeks.

A feeling.

An impulse.

An underlying need.

So he kept it to himself, in spite of the looks from Max and Shane. The curiosity of his bandmates. Even the rational part of his own brain questioned his rationale.

Why he felt drawn to her that day in Newark. Why he offered her a job. Why he stripped for her. Why he helped her get off on him on the plane.

Ian ran away from his past. Killed it. Burned it. Scattered the ashes in the middle of the ocean. Then … one day, someone on his crew had to mention Marley’s, and Ian had to drive to Newark.

Newark. Dead is