“Good. I wasn’t really at my best, though. I wish you’d seen me on a different night when I’d practiced more. I’m only just getting back into everything.” He downplayed his performance, feeling self-conscious.

“Seriously? I thought you were amazing.”

“Not even close. I was a mess.”

“Stop being such a girl,” she huffed, causing him to turn and glare at her.

“Excuse me?” No one he knew had the courage to say something like that to him. Ballsy.

“You heard me.” She stuck her chin out defiantly, but he caught a glimmer of nerves pass through her before she tightened her jaw and stood by her statement.

“Clare, I spent five years on the circuit as one of the top-ten fighters in the nation. They called me Knockout Kavanagh. I think I know what I’m talking about when I say that tonight wasn’t great.”

“Nope, you don’t. You’d say that no matter what. It’s your attitude that is the problem, not your moves in the ring.”

“It’s a cage.”

“Whatever.” She waved him off, unfazed. “You were great tonight. I know it and everyone in there cheering for you knew it, too. But if you’re not going to believe in yourself, then why should anyone else?”

He opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it just as quickly. Only his parents ever called him out on a personal level like this, never a peer and most certainly never any woman he had been interested in.

“Plus, didn’t you just tell me that you were going to train me one-on-one? Since you’re the teacher to the best? What happened to that confidence?”

“Just because I’m one of the best doesn’t mean I’m at my best,” he corrected her, his voice icy.

“I don’t want to hear it.” She slid her hand out of his. “I’m so tired of the constant pity party you’re always throwing yourself. As if I can’t smell the alcohol on you. As if we all can’t, every single day. You have an amazing life—why would you not want to experience it?”

“Clare,” he interrupted, but she put up her hand to stop him.

“I’m not done.” Her hands were on her hips now as she glared at him, illuminated under a streetlamp. “You’ve got more money than you know what to do with. A job that isn’t really a job, letting you make your own schedule. And I’ve met your parents and your brothers—they’re wonderful. Do you know what I would do to have a family like that? Or a family at all?”

Guilt passed through him as he remembered her story of her deceased parents.

“Shit, Clare, tell me how you really feel,” he said and exhaled slowly, with sarcasm.

She stared at him, unrelenting. Worry etched her features and he felt an overwhelming urge to run and hide. Fuck, I’m an ungrateful jerk.

Here was this woman before him who had clearly been through hell in her own life and she was still stronger than he was. He had nothing to complain about and yet it’s all he ever did. Guilt dug at him as he raked his hands through his long, thick hair.

“I’m sorry, Rory. I just can’t stand to hear all that self-pity talk anymore.”

“Fair enough.”

“Plus, I’m only going to let the best of the best train me.” She smirked, lightening the tension that had descended between them as she sauntered down the sidewalk.

“I’m going to be your trainer, Clare,” he growled, not enjoying the image in his mind of another man’s hands on her, training her. The thought irked him as he slid his arm protectively across her shoulders.

“Then you better be the best. Otherwise, I’m going with someone else.” She fought back a smile, but he didn’t miss the twitch of her lips.

“Fuck, I’m the best, okay? Is that what you want to hear?” He loved the way she had just turned his own words against himself.

“You’re what? I didn’t hear you.”

“I’m the best fucking fighter at Legends and probably in New York. No, definitely in New York, maybe in the nation. So I, and only I,” he stressed, “will train you.”

“Well, if you insist,” she jested, and he snorted at her sarcasm as he squeezed her against him.

Within a few more blocks, they reached her apartment, and he unlocked the building’s front door for her as always, then handed her back her keys. She turned around in the doorway to study him, two steps down from her yet on eye level with her.

“Rory,” she paused, fiddling with her keys as he took the two steps up to close the gap between them.

“You want me to kiss you again, don’t you, mhuirnín?” She narrowed her eyes at him, her nostrils flaring, but he knew that he was right.

“Maybe you’re not just an acquaintance.”

“I need more than ‘maybe’ if you want me to kiss you, Clare.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead, surprising her.

“Maybe you could come inside for a few minutes and I could show you.” She spoke so softly, he almost hadn’t heard her.

His brows shot up in surprise at the invitation as he watched her shuffle her feet nervously, glancing up at him through long, thick lashes.

“Are you asking me to stay the night, Clare?” He leaned forward slightly.

“Depends on what your answer is…” A small smile crept across her face as she kept her eyes trained on his.

“Fuck, yes.” Rory didn’t need her to ask him twice.

He stole her keys out of her hand and slid them into his pants pocket. With both hands free, he took hold of her and swept her up into his arms, cradling her against his chest.

“Rory!” she protested, stiffening at the unexpected contact. He ignored her as he continued moving quickly up the stairs to her apartment.

“What’s your apartment number?”

“It’s 3B,” she said, giving in, curling farther into his chest, with one hand hooked over his shoulder for support.

It didn’t take them long to reach her floor and turn down the hall toward her apartment. Her eyes were trained on him the entire time, nervously taking in the determination on his face. His eyes had darkened from their usual light silver, and the change caused butterflies to swirl through her body.

Chapter 8

Using his one free hand, Rory fished her keys out of his pocket and expertly unlocked her door, letting them inside. He swung the door shut behind them while his hands grabbed her hips and slid her down the front of his body, slowly, until her feet were on the floor.

Clare gulped nervously as she stared up at him, trying to calm her heart rate and slow her breathing, which had rocketed the moment his eyes bored into hers. It was damn near impossible with the dazzling, mischievous smile he was flashing at her. She could get lost in the dimples in his cheeks, the only boyish part of him. Everything else was rock-hard muscles, towering build, and rugged good looks. He had yet to touch her, but his eyes were doing something more intimate to her than she had ever experienced.

Suddenly, she realized that he was waiting for her. He wanted her to make the first move—just as he had done earlier, forcing her to tell him she wanted him to kiss her. She hadn’t thought it possible, but her heart rate increased more at the pressure of the moment.

She knew if she said yes right now, it would be the end of any denying what was happening between them. It would be officially erasing the line she had drawn between herself and everyone else in the world, the line she had drawn all around her. Was he right earlier? Was she trying to keep everyone out? She bit her lip at the thought, watching his silver eyes darken.

“Clare.” His voice thundered deeply in warning. She knew what he wanted her to say, but her throat was dry.

Her body hadn’t responded this way to anyone in as long as she could remember, not since she first dated Travis in high school. But even then, it wasn’t what she felt now. This was something entirely different. It didn’t stop at butterflies in her stomach; it entranced her entire body. Warmth crept through any part of her that was near him, which right now was every part of her. Her heart swelled just from looking at him; her skin shivered at the mere closeness of his.