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Dang, the man was potent.
“So, to wrap up,” Mike continued to his boss, “the Mellie-faction had already done their dirty and cut my brake lines by the time Elle arrived. I was under my truck when I saw her walking a circuitous route around my ride, so I took her down. Luckily, before we got into a major battle of strength, we shared explanations and cleared things up.”
“Did you damage her face?” Everlee looked at Mike sourly.
“Nope. I did that all on my own,” Joe cut in, more than willing to save his rep. “Clumsy geek that I am. And your man Alvero did a fine job stitching me up.”
Finally, the chief relented. “That’s a lot of information to take in on an empty stomach. I don’t suppose you’d like to join us for some food?”
Joelle grinned. “Alvero already invited me, which is why I’m here,” she revealed. “But if there’s not enough…”
“There’s plenty,” Everlee stated. “It’s just campfire stew, but I always make a lot. And I brought a bunch of homemade bread I cooked yesterday, so nobody will go hungry.”
“Sounds great,” Joelle replied. “Do you need any help?”
Everlee opened her mouth. “I?—"
“No. She doesn’t,” Mike stated unequivocally, cutting her off while pulling on a clean T-shirt from his go-bag.
What a shame. The view had been so freaking enticing.
Joe wondered what his next move would be, but didn’t have to wait long. Taking her elbow in an unrelenting, but gentle grip, Mike moved them both a few steps back, away from the crowd.
“You and I need to talk.”
Oh, craptastic. He was using his “authority voice”.
His mistake.
Joe never responded well to that.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mike wasn’t exactly sure why he was dragging Elle away from camp, but he knew she was more than up for whatever he could dish out. Both verbally and physically she was undoubtedly his equal. She’d crossed lexical swords with him ever since their first encounter, and he was fully aware of the impressive muscles in the well-toned arm under his grasp. Not to mention her core. Needless to say, that rock solid wall of abs had made itself known when she’d arched into his hard cock earlier, telling him everything else he needed to know about the rest of her body. Elle was a finely-honed fighting machine.
But she wasn’t fighting him now as he searched for a place they could be alone.
“You’re making this abduction pretty easy,” he quipped as they rounded a ledge of granite.
She snorted. “You do understand that if I hadn’t wanted to hear what you have to say, I would have dropped you like a sack of potatoes back there in front of your friends.”
“You could have tried,” Mike smirked.
“Ooh, confident,” she retorted beguilingly.
“With my team watching? Are you kidding me? I’d have no choice but to win or take shit for the rest of my life. And it would have made for great entertainment since every one of those eager assholes would have been betting on the outcome.”
“Would anyone have put money on me?” she asked cheekily.
“Seriously? Every one of them would. Just to bust my balls.”
Elle snickered. “Then we might have to give them a show later.”
Mike thought about all the things he wanted to do with Elle, and one of them was, indeed, grappling with her to see what kind of training she had. But that was better left to some later date, at the gym. Here? Not optimal. He shook his head. “You’re a little busted up, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“And I don’t want to hurt you,” she countered. “But we could schedule a sparring session in your gym for a later date.”
Now she was a mind reader.