Page 11 of Pink

“All the time,” he lied.

Sort of.

He did fight often enough—still not a regular thing, though. He wasn’t concerned either way.

Gigi’s stare traveled over Lev’s shoulder at whatever was waiting for him at the other side. “At least you’re taller than him, I guess? I have no idea how any of this works.”

That made him laugh.

Height?

She was worried about size? Clearly, no, she didn’t know how any of this kind of thing worked, and he seriously doubted she expected her night to end up like this with a man she had just met. A man who, despite being behind the bar, hadn’t even offered her a drink. But if there was anything Lev had learned in his lifetime it was that when shit just worked and it felt right, it was better to go with it.

What would it hurt?

This chick felt the same.

Not even considering his choice, because all he wanted to do was wipe that worry from her pretty face, Lev leaned over the ropes and pressed a bruising kiss against those plush, silken lips of hers. He didn’t even think about it—just did it. His tongue swept out to take a taste, and she answered it back with a shuddering breath that stuttered with her surprise. The sweet heat of her mouth only made him want more.

It was a good incentive. After all, he wouldn’t be tasting that again tonight if he didn’t walk out of this ring with a clear head. Everything he did had a purpose.

As fast as it had happened, he pulled back.

Still wide-eyed, she let out a soft laugh.

“Guess I’m sticking around,” she said.

Lev winked. “Hope so, woman. I might want to do that again.”

“You better.”

Well, then …

Lev turned to finally face his opponent.

Like he thought, he didn’t recognize the bull of a man stripping down to boxer-briefs on the other side of the makeshift ring. Three minutes. That’s what Andino wanted, huh? The whys didn’t really matter—cash in his hand at the end of the night did.

Lev sized up the guy.

He could make Andino’s demand happen in two.

• • •

Lev got that knockout with ten seconds to spare.

Yeah.

He’d been counting.

It was easy, all things considered. Southpaws like him were rare in a ring, and a lot of fighters who stepped up against him didn’t even know he was one until it was too damn late. One of the few benefits of fighting occasionally instead of making it a regular thing like some of these guys did. The second his opponent’s head hit the floor and the guy’s eyes remained closed, Lev’s bruised fists raised high. He stepped back from the prone body. Keep it clean. He never liked a win to be questioned.

It cut into his money.

Simple as that.

As the ropes of the makeshift ring bit into his tense back muscles, he felt the small hands that wrapped around his arms and slid down to the crook of his elbows. As though with her strength and touch alone, she might be able to hold him right there, and he wouldn’t go forward into the middle of the ring again as men started to climb into the space with the fighters.

Except those men didn’t come near him.