Page 60 of Knockout (Whiskey Dolls 2)

Round two with Jude took place directly after thedeliciousbreakfast he’d made, and once we’d been able to move again without our knees collapsing beneath us, he’d gotten up to go hop in the shower so he could get over to Hope House, where he was working that day, starting on the garden for the kids. I’d decided to tag along, getting ready faster than I ever had before since he was on a schedule, and together, we headed out.

I got to spend the day with my man and my kiddos, switching between watching him break a sexy, tempting sweat and hanging with some of my favorite people ever. It had been an incredible day from the very start.

My head was still firmly stuck in the clouds as I moved through the spacious dressing room to my makeup station that I didn’t notice that it was eerily quiet until it was too late.

“Something’s up,” Asher said, her gaze shrewd and examining as I took a seat on the plush velvet ottoman in front of my lighted mirror. “You’re different.” She leaned in close, and I could have sworn she was checking my pupils. “What’s different about you?”

“Nothing, weirdo,” I said with a chuckle, pushing her back out of my personal space.

“No,” Marin dragged out as she came over to my station. “She’s right. Something’s up with you. What is it?”

I did something right then that I’d never done in front of these girls before. I blushed. I hadn’t thought it possible to blush in front of women who knew me better than anyone else on the planet, but there you had it. At their inquisition, memories of Jude’s hands and mouth all over my body popped into my head, and I actually freakingblushed.

“She got laid,” Alma announced, stopping a few feet away from me, already in her costume of artfully ripped up fishnets, boy shorts, and a belly-baring long-sleeved black top for the first number. She had her hands on her hips and an evil smirk on her face. “She’s got that post-bang glow. That’s what’s different. Our little Layla finally got the cobwebs dusted off her va-jay-jay!”

I threw my mascara tube at her as everyone around me laughed, missing by just a few inches.

Marin hooted and clapped her hands together. “That’s so awesome! Who was it?” Her face suddenly fell into a frown. “Wait. Please tell me it wasn’t that jerkoff that stood you up for your date. I’ll seriously question your sanity if you actually nailed that prick after what he did.”

That blush grew even hotter as I spun around to face the mirror, my eyes scanning across the rows and rows of cosmetics. “Uh, no. It wasn’t him.”

Mac spoke next. “Then who—no flipping way!” she cut herself off. “It was your upstairs neighbor, wasn’t it?”

This was what happened when you didn’t work a regular nine-to-five. Jude and I had been going at it like rabbits for days now, but this was my first night on at the club since it all started, so I hadn’t been able to properly fill my girls in. “Things kind of . . . changed between us the past few days.” As I spoke, the corners of my lips began to tilt up until they ended on a cheek-splitting grin by the end of my sentence.

“I’ll say,” Alma spoke. “You came in here all light and breezy like you just had your pipes cleaned out for the first time in years.”

“For the love of God, Alma,” Marin cried. “Please stop with the sexual metaphors. You’re worse than a locker room full of frat boys.”

Alma didn’t look the least bit put out as she shrugged and moved to her station to touch up her face. “I’m just speaking the truth.”

She was… sort of. But she could at least do us all a favor and be a little less . . . colorful while doing it.

Not wanting to give her the chance to throw out another cringe-worthy statement, I spoke up. “Okay, yes. It was Jude. And before you ask, no, I won’t go into detail about the sex. I’ll just tell you that there was a shift.”

“A tectonic one, apparently,” Sloane teased.

I leveled her with a look before continuing. “We aren’t really defining anything yet. We’re taking it slow and just enjoying each other.”Multiple times, I tacked on silently.

“Okay, I call bullshit,” Asher declared, pointing her red-tipped finger at my face. “You came in here practically floating on a cloud. That doesn’t speak to slow and chill. Seems to me, you’ve got it pretty bad for this dude.”

I worried my bottom lip between my teeth, unable to object because it would have been a lie. “He made me breakfast this morning,” I confessed quietly. “And he wouldn’t let me helporwash the dishes when he finished.”

A collective gasp filled the room.

“He called me the very best kind of distraction and said all the guys I dated in the past didn’t know how lucky they were to have me.”

Things grew so quiet that it was a wonder I didn’t hear crickets.

“And he likes to have control when we . . . you know. But he said that even then, I hold all the power every time I let him have me.”

“Holy shit,” Asher breathed, lifting a hand distractedly to fan her face. “That’s freaking hot. I love my man, don’t get me wrong, butdayum. He could take lessons from this dude.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. “So, yeah, I like him. Alot. And I think . . . well, I think he likes me just as much.”

Or at least I hoped so. Because the thought of going down this path alone was already pretty terrifying, and we were only just starting out!

McKenna gave me a gentle smile. “Oh, babe. This guy is totally gone for you. I can’t freaking wait to see how this plays out!”

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