With no plans to head to Cali any time soon, he dismissed that possibility. "Let's get back to your phone number." The second he said it, her phone chimed with a text message.

They stared at each other.

Making no move to check the message, Yvette said, "Are you ready?" and she gave him her number.

After saving her in his contacts, he glanced at her phone. "Want me to put my number in for you?"

That got her feet moving. "No, I can do it." She s.n.a.t.c.hed up the phone, read the message, then clicked over to a new screen. "Okay, what is it?"

While reciting the number, Cannon moved closer. When she finished, he tipped up her chin. "Now. About tonight."

Her gaze dropped to his mouth, then his chest, down to his abs and beyond. "Tonight?"

Keep it up, he thought, and I won't last past the next five minutes.

CHAPTER SIX.

without realizing it, Yvette went up on her tiptoes, drawn to Cannon, swaying in closer to his appeal.

The rough edge of his thumb teased under her chin, then up to her bottom lip again. He made a low sound of encouragement. "You're begging to be kissed."

That deep, affected tone stroked over her-until she realized what he'd said. Her heels landed back on the linoleum floor with jarring impact. "I- What?"

His s.e.xy mouth quirked at her confusion. "Mindi called, remember? Did you want to meet with her tonight?"

Humiliation hit her like a dash of icy water. Good grief, she'd sent so many mixed signals, the poor guy was going to crash before she got her head on straight. "Right, sorry."

"On second thought..." He scooped her in close and took her mouth in a warm, blessedly brief kiss. "I like your idea better."

How could she resist so much temptation? She could, because she had no choice. "Cannon-" He shushed her with another, longer kiss.

With him moving at Mach speed, she couldn't think clearly, especially when her bones turned to b.u.t.ter and his scent left her dizzy and he tasted so d.a.m.n good.

Looping his arms loosely around her waist, he eased up but kept her against him. "You want some time, don't you?"

An eternity, but grateful for the reprieve, she only nodded.

"I'll try, all right?" His next kiss landed on her forehead. "Won't be easy, though."

She'd always known that Cannon was rock solid and s.e.xier than any guy should be. But she hadn't realized that being a fighter would ramp up his already considerable confidence and hone his appeal, both emotional and physical. "I could tell you about hard."

"That should be my line." He nudged into her. "Any more kissing and I'll have a full-fledged b.o.n.e.r."

What she felt wasn't full-fledged?

"Again," he added.

Right. Of course she'd noticed earlier. Impossible to ignore, really, though she'd tried.

His amus.e.m.e.nt kicked up another notch. "Looking at me like that isn't helping."

Realizing that she'd been staring at him while thinking about his erection, Yvette tried to wiggle out of his arms.

Cannon didn't let her.

"Settle down." He drew her in closer, one hand between her shoulder blades, the other just above her behind. "We have a lot of ground to cover yet, and to be honest, I prefer to settle it just like this." He nuzzled against her temple, sending gooseflesh up and down her arms. "Okay?"

"Do I get a say in it?"

"Sure." He tilted her back, his expression serious. "I'm listening."

What could she say? I don't want to start something I can't finish? That'd lead to more questions, and she didn't have enough answers.

Without meaning to, she smoothed her hands over his chest. There were so many wonderful places to touch him, each more enticing than the other. "I need to know how we're going to work this."

"This, meaning us?"

"This, meaning both of us here in this house together." She tipped her head to judge his reaction. "I'm fine with us being considerate. It's true that I'm still a little jumpy over being here and I'd appreciate knowing when to expect you, or when...when I might be here alone."

"Ditto."

Right. Surely Cannon didn't expect her to believe that being in the house disturbed him. He was so much stronger than her. "But I don't want to step on your toes."

"I don't know what that means, honey."

His use of endearments kept throwing her. "It means that you're back in town and plenty of women want your attention. This is rightfully your home-"

"Yvette-"

"-and if you're staying here, it's inevitable that you might want to bring home...company." Just saying it made her stomach sick. "When you do, you should feel comfortable about it."

His hands moved up to her face, holding her steady for his uncompromising stare. "Let's get something clear up front."

He had such big hands that he left her feeling tiny. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling, not with Cannon. "Okay."

"I don't want you dragging in other dudes."

Wait, what? That was so far from what she'd expected that she went blank.

He gave a soft growl, kissed her hard and fast and finally freed her to run a hand over his dark hair. "Are you planning to see other guys?"

Other guys meaning men besides him? "I'm not seeing anyone."

His blue eyes went flinty. "We'll be living together, so you'll be seeing me."

Not the way he implied. "Sharing the same house is not-"

"Sharing the same bed? We'll see."

Her mouth opened, but no protest emerged.

"Still." He chewed the corner of his mouth while forming his reply. "It could be uncomfortable for both of us, don't you think?"

With no idea what he meant, she shook her head in confusion.

"You with someone else, me with someone else. Not cool, right?"

Shoot, it wasn't as if she wanted to see him with another woman! "It could be uncomfortable, yes." His insistence started to wear on her. "But what about Mary?"

"Forget her."

"There will be other women-"

"Forget them, too." He drew a slow breath. "I've made it as plain as I can, honey. I don't mind giving you some time, but you need to understand the facts. The only woman I'm interested in right now is you."

That was so blatant, so bold, she fell back a step. Elation tried to burst free, but she stomped it into submission and took a stance instead. "Since when?"

"The truth?" He leaned in close, angling his body down to hers, nose to nose, aggressive and annoyed. "Since you walked out on me three f.u.c.king years ago." armie watChed as Cannon and his lady walked into the rec center. Trouble in paradise, he thought, noting the difference in how they both held themselves today.

Funny.

Yesterday Cannon had been so territorial that he'd half expected him to start shoving the other guys out the door. Course, that just made Stack and Denver and Miles more interested.

Grabbing up a towel to mop the sweat from his face, Armie winced. His cheek hurt like a son of a b.i.t.c.h and his swollen lip still smarted. He prodded the cut inside his mouth with his tongue before saying to Denver, "Finish up and then have them spar. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Denver followed the direction of his gaze and grinned. With his long brown hair half out of the tie, he looked more like a barbarian than a good instructor for kids. "Cannon looks a little out of sorts, doesn't he?"

"Yeah." Armie slung the towel around his neck. "Think I'll see what I can do to tweak his bad mood."

"You have a death wish," Denver said on a laugh before turning back to the youths he instructed, showing them the proper way to kick a heavy bag.

Stepping off the mats, dressed only in athletic shorts, Armie walked up front to meet his friend.

Yvette-such a doll-looked at him and grimaced. "Ouch. Are you okay?"

"Fine." He glanced at Cannon. "'Bout d.a.m.n time, man. You're only four hours late."

Rather than reply to the jibe, Cannon looked him over, taking in every bruise. He lifted a brow in query.

"I'm so sorry." Yvette raised a dainty hand. "It's my fault."

Ignoring Cannon's curiosity, Armie turned his attention to her. "What is?"

"Cannon being late."

Trying not to grin, Armie asked, "Yeah, how so?"

Cannon gave him a shove. "Not what you're thinking."

With his whole body bludgeoned, Armie almost groaned. But never in front of a lady. He sucked it up and laughed at Cannon. "What was I thinking?"

Cannon glanced at Yvette, and, d.a.m.n, he looked hungry.

Okay, so maybe he hadn't tapped that yet. Poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d.

Either unaware of the undercurrent or adequately pretending, Yvette explained. "I went jogging this morning without realizing that Cannon wanted to talk with me. He waited for me to return and it put us behind."

Huh. Armie eyed his friend. "Why didn't you just jog with her?"

"She didn't tell me she was leaving."

Yvette flushed, more over being ratted out than from embarra.s.sment. "I didn't, at that time, realize that we'd be checking in with each other."

Oh, man. This was hilarious. "So let me get this straight."

Shifting, Cannon said low, "f.u.c.k you, Armie."

Unfazed, Armie said, "You and Cannon are...what?"

Appearing unsure of how to answer, Yvette deferred to Cannon.

Tight-lipped, Cannon shared with him the brunt of his disgruntlement. "You don't have enough bruises? Looking to get a few more?"

"Nope. Idle curiosity, that's all."

Cannon appeared ill at ease, but only for a second. He was not a man who suffered insecurities of any kind. He turned to Yvette. "You want to look around, check out the place? Break room is through that back door. Johns are back there, too. Looks as though Denver is teaching a cla.s.s. You can watch that for a few minutes if you want. I'll join you soon."

Armie smirked. "Yeah, take in all the sights while Cannon vents his bad mood."

She tilted her head, studied each of them and, given her serene smile, must have decided they were joking. "Take your time."

Little did she know that fighters often joked with their fists. And seriously, Armie wouldn't shy away from a little one-on-one practice with Cannon, but he really wasn't up for it if he could avoid it without losing face.

Yvette was barely out of hearing distance when Cannon said, "What the h.e.l.l happened to you?"

Pretending not to understand, Armie asked, "What?"

"Someone-maybe a small crowd by the looks of it- beat the s.h.i.t out of you."

Giving up, on at least that small bit, Armie admitted, "There were four of them."

Disbelief narrowed Cannon's eyes. "Only four, huh?"