How long had they been there? Denver reached a hand down to Cherry and pulled her to her feet and into his side. "Still coughing?"

"Not much." She slanted her attention at the guys. "Only when some people keep making me laugh."

With two fingers under her chin, Denver brought her gaze back to him. "How do you feel?"

"Fine."

"You sure?"

"Denver," she whispered again, embarrassed. "Stop fussing."

"I don't fuss."

Too late. Given their grins, the guys heard her and now he knew they'd be ribbing him for a month. He took the seat Miles vacated and, setting the overnight case aside, pulled Cherry into his lap.

Rissy gathered up half-empty glasses of iced tea and put them on a tray. "I need to head in, too. Tomorrow is another superearly day."

"You work too much," Miles told her.

She smiled, shrugged. "Not like I have much else to do."

As she started in, all three guys shared a look. Damn.

Miles jumped forward to open the front door for her. "Thanks for the food."

"I'm glad you liked it."

Brand asked, "You aren't dating what's-his-name anymore?"

"That ended a while ago."

"He's still calling," Cherry said. "He wants her back."

Rissy rolled her eyes. "Not happening. Right now I'm just concentrating on a promotion at work. Fingers crossed." She went on into the house, then said through the doorway, "Good night."

After a round of good-nights from everyone, Denver teased his fingers up and down Cherry's bare arm. She wore polka-dot flannel pajama pants and a cute matching T-shirt. A high ponytail held her blond curls away from her face and her bare feet, toenails painted pink, poked out from the hem of the overlong pants.

He wanted her, in too many ways to count.

"I feel like a voyeur," Miles said. "Rein it in until I'm out of here."

"We're not doing anything!" Cherry protested.

Denver just smiled. No doubt both Brand and Miles knew the direction of his thoughts. Guy instinct.

Brand dug keys from his jeans. "We're heading out, too." He gave them each a devilish grin. "You kids be good now, you hear."

As they walked away, Cherry tried to stand but Denver held tight. "What were you laughing about?"

"It's terrible." She turned her face into his neck, but he could feel her smile.

"Tell me." He kissed her jaw, along to her ear. Breathing softly, he touched with his tongue, teasing the lobe, then inside the whorls.

She shifted and he felt her shiver.

"I want to know," he whispered.

A balmy evening breeze drifted over them, heightening his senses. It seemed the more he wanted to protect her, the more he just plain wanted her.

She ducked her face again. "The guys were discussing close calls."

"In the cage?"

She nodded, then looked at him. "Miles said you got...hit in an unfair place."

The grin tugged at his mouth. "No way is that how Miles put it."

"No."

"Say it." Teasing her, his tone a dare, he whispered, "Say it."

Trying not to smile, she slicked her tongue over her lips. "He said you got nutted."

"Yeah." When she smiled, she looked even prettier-if such a thing were possible. "I remember that fight well." A car door closed quietly, then another. An engine started. He turned his head to watch Brand's SUV pull away from the curb. They'd parked a few houses up, maybe to keep any creeps from knowing they were around.

Since they all ended up on the front porch, it didn't much matter in the end. But he appreciated their forethought.

"When you get racked, at first it doesn't hurt," Denver explained. "It takes a few seconds for it to sink in, but you know it's coming, and then you just go sick and weak."

"Miles said the ref didn't see it."

"Not until he watched the replay, and then he was full of wincing apologies." Remembering made him grin. "Bastard kneed me so hard he cracked my cup."

"On purpose?"

Her outrage almost made him laugh. "No, he was going for an inside leg kick. It happens and sometimes even the best ref misses things."

"Tell me how you won."

"If you know I won, then Miles and Brand already told you."

Resting her cheek against his shoulder, she slipped her hand under the neckline of his shirt to stroke his heated skin. "I want to hear you tell it."

Since it ended well, he didn't mind. Shortly they'd have much more serious things to go over. Maybe that's why she wanted to hear it, too.

"When the pain sank in, I dropped my guard. He caught me with a wild haymaker, then followed up with a jab that got me right on the chin. I went down and I swear, I thought that might've been it."

"I'm glad I wasn't there," she said, squeezing him tight.

Usually a woman fussing would grate on his nerves. Not so with Cherry. He liked the shielding way she hugged him.

While rubbing her back, he inhaled her scent. "Every fighter gets caught now and then. Stick around long enough and you will see it."

She sat up to meet his gaze. "I am sticking around."

"Yeah, you are." He gave her a quick kiss.

Appeased, she settled against him again. "So then what happened?"

"He landed on me, going for some ground and pound. Instincts kicked in and I defended by rote, gutted it out, and finally my head cleared. When he thought he'd finished me, he got sloppy and I caught him with an arm bar. He tapped out."

"Miles said the audience went nuts."

"Yeah." One by one, stars burst into the sky. It was a quiet night, only the distant whine of a siren and the occasional bark of a dog disturbing the peace. Such an illusion. They both knew trouble waited right around the corner.

"That's the night the SBC called?"

He nodded. "Signed my first contract with them."

"And soon now you'll be on the main card."

Something in the way she said that set off alarm bells in his head. "A couple of months from now."

"That is such an amazing thing."

It was, but he'd worked so long and hard that it had felt inevitable more than anything else. He curved a hand around her nape, kissing her forehead, the bridge of her nose, nudging her face up until he got to her mouth. "You're amazing." He tried to kiss her hotly enough to show her he meant it.

But she pulled away. "I need to talk to you."

Groaning, he dropped back against the porch steps, arms and legs thrown out, eyes closed. "Somehow, I knew this was coming."

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

CHERRY'S SMALL HAND smacked his chest. "You do not read my mind!"

"No, but I understand you." Still with his head back, his eyes closed, he blew out a breath. Damn, he really just wanted to take her to bed and hold her all night-then in the morning, assuming she'd be recovered enough, he'd finally have her again. "Let's hear it."

Scrambling off his lap, Cherry sat beside his shoulder. "You can't dictate to me."

"Never tried to."

Her knee gave a rude shove to his shoulder. "Baloney. You-"

"Cut to the chase, honey, because I have things to tell you, too." And the sooner they got to it, the sooner he could get her inside, in bed, and against him.

Drawing her knees up and closing her arms around herself, she said, "Fine. I want to have sex with you. I want to be with you."

He cracked one eye open. "If only we could stop right there."

"But," she said, not stopping, "there are some things I have to take care of on my own, and you're just going to have to accept that."

"We're talking about your foster brothers?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. I know you want to help."

"Help?" She made it sound like he wanted to carry groceries for an old lady.

Appealing to him, she added softly, "And I love how protective you are, I really do."

He clenched his molars. Was that all she loved? "Protective, huh?"

"It's part of who you are."

Did she think he got this involved with every woman he'd slept with? Soon he'd have to explain a few things to her.

Once he figured them out himself.

She forged on. "The thing is, I've thought about this all day."

He should have been with her. Never before had he resented his various training, but today his thoughts had stayed centered on her even as he went through his routines. He'd sweated his ass off doing cardio, then strength building. He'd sparred, working hits and kicks, different combos, and then concentrated on his ground game.

And through it all, a part of his mind had been centered on seeing Cherry.

"If you interfere, it will only make things worse."

If he interfered? What a joke, since already she'd interfered with his life in a big way. Heaving a frustrated sigh, he stared up at the moon. "A lot happened tonight."

Jerking around, expression stricken, she stared at him. "What?"

"I think Stack and Vanity are...I dunno. In an arrangement."

The fear faded from her widened eyes and she repeated, "Stack and Vanity?"

"Yeah, surprised me, too," he said, though he knew that wasn't what she'd meant. His change of topic threw her off, and maybe that was a good thing. It'd give him a moment to regroup. Plus, surprising her just might make her less guarded-then he could really make some headway in the trust department. "Stack is such a player and from what I've seen, Vanity hasn't dated at all since moving here."

"You're all players." Diverted, she said, "I kept thinking you'd ask Vanity out."

"No." Even when he'd been resisting Cherry, he hadn't wanted to do anything that might hurt her. As she'd already pointed out, he knew how she felt about him-physically at least.

Knowing he could have her had kept him awake many nights.

Getting together with Vanity without Cherry knowing would have been difficult since they all hung together. It hadn't seemed worth the trouble, and beyond that, it wouldn't have been honorable.