Full Contact (Redemption #3)(101)

“Good point. If you were my girl, I’d be watching you too.” His gaze drops to Jess, and I catch the slightest reddening of his cheeks, so faint only a sister can see.

“You…still with Blade Saw?”

Jess freezes, and I poke her in the side.

“Uh…no. Didn’t work out.”

Tag smiles the devastating smile I haven’t seen for years, the one he used to charm his way into all sorts of trouble. “You want a protein shake? Everyone’s watching the fight.”

Jess gapes. I nudge. She stumbles on recovery. “Uh…yes. I like protein. In shakes. And out of shakes. Generally, protein is good. But not meat. I don’t eat meat.”

I cringe on her behalf, but Tag doesn’t seem to notice her sudden awkwardness. Instead, his face softens and he holds out his hand.

“I know.”

After being abandoned by Tag and Jess, I head back to the studio to lock up. Christos and Rose are making out on Rose’s desk, clearly visible through the glass door.

“Hey. Get a room,” I shout.

“That’s my line,” Torment says from behind me.

“Except you used Rampage to deliver it.” I knock on the door, and Christos and Rose break their clinch.

“Gotta keep Rampage out of trouble. He knows too much about what goes on here.” Torment lifts an eyebrow as Christos and Rose push open the door and murmur their apologies on their way out.

“Never got a chance to say congratulations.” Torment follows me into the studio and stands by the door as I turn off the computers and make a quick check to make sure all the equipment is off. Our new Phoenix Ink, Redemption logo—flames with a phoenix rising from the ashes and the studio and gym names in script below—is everywhere. Torment spared no expense.

“And I never said thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“I don’t take business risks unless I’m fairly certain of the outcome. I know you’ll make this place a success.” Torment stands to the side as Ray pushes open the door. Ray’s got his leather jacket on, so I guess he wants to go.

“How?”

“Because once you find the path to Redemption, you never go back.” He nods at Ray and then disappears out the door.

“He’s a bit of an enigma.” I turn off the back lights and push in Rose’s chair. “Sometimes he just comes across as a mindless, ruthless fighting machine, and other times he seems to see into your soul.”

Ray scowls. “You’re mine. Only person who should be seeing into your soul is me.”

I slide my arms around his waist and pull him close. “Yes, I am yours. All yours. Only yours. Forever yours.”

“Good.” He kisses my forehead and then pulls an open bag of potato chips from the pocket of his leather jacket. “Got you something.”

“That’s very sweet.” I take the bag from his hand. “I know how hard this must have been for you. After all, they are filled with salt and bad fats.”

Ray shakes his head. “You got no idea. Eat them.”

Laughter bubbles in my chest. He seems so earnest, I hate to turn him down.

“I still have a bag of chips in my purse.”

“No. These. Eat them.”

I glance down at the bag in my hand. “Why? I thought you didn’t want me eating unhealthy food.”

Ray heaves a sigh. “Please. For me.”

“Okay.” I pull out a chip and eat it slowly, my cheeks heating under Ray’s intense scrutiny. “That was delicious. Thank you.”

He waves at the bag. “More.”

“Are they poison?” I lower the bag and frown. “Are you trying to get rid of me? Is that why you’re pressuring me to eat them?”

“Siahhhh.” He draws out my name, his voice a plea I can’t ignore. I put my hand in the bag and grasp something that is definitely not a chip.

“What’s this?” I hold up a ring bearing an oval-shaped diamond surrounded in a lattice of tiny diamonds that twinkle—nothing ostentatious but quietly different. Like me.

Ray beams, puffing out his chest like he’s just won the underground championship belt. Although now that he’s formally joined the Redemption team, it might one day be the state title.

“Ray Black.” I grab a tissue from Rose’s desk and clean off the ring. “Are you proposing to me?”

“Man loves a woman, wants to spend the rest of his life with her, raise a family together, he asks her to marry him.”

“It’s beautiful.”

A smile spreads across his face. “Does that mean yes? ’Cause my mom said I’d better make an honest woman of you or she’d whup my ass.”

I wrap my arms around his neck. “I didn’t know CIA agents were afraid of their moms.”

“Don’t know anything about CIA agents,” he says. “But I am afraid of my mom.”

“Well then, I’d better say yes.” I lean up and kiss his cheek. “If anyone’s ass is getting a whupping, it had better be mine, and I know just where I want it to happen.”

“Naughty girl,” he says.

“The naughtiest.”

Ray’s lips brush over mine. “My beautiful girl.”

“Yours.”