Free Possession by Jennifer Lyon Page B

regretting bringing that out in me one day.”
    He slanted closer. “Think you can take me, baker girl?”
    “Oh man.” Sherry laughed. “I’m going to teach her to put you on your ass, Sloane.”
    Kat ripped her attention from Sloane to study the woman she’d be sparring with. In her sapphire-blue cocktail dress, she popped some serious biceps, yet managed to make it all look feminine and alluring. “Teach me to do that, and you can have desserts free from my bakery for a year.”
    Sherry’s hazel eyes lit up like a firecracker. “Deal.”
    John leaned over his wife. “Dude, you are screwed. These two together are trouble.”
    Sloane tugged gently on a lock of Kat’s hair. “They’re welcome to try. Hell, I look forward to Kat attempting to take me down.”
    His gaze heated her skin, making her flush as the waiters served their meals. Filet mignon, lavender rice, lemon asparagus, all plated beautifully. She barely noticed, too distracted by the feel of Sloane’s eyes daring her to stand up to him in front of all these people. He asked for it. “Careful there, champ, I know your weakness.”
    He lifted an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
    “Lemon cupcakes. I’m pretty sure I could get you to beg for a lemon cupcake.” Okay, she might be pushing her luck.
    “Cheater.” Wrapping his hand in her hair, he leaned in. “You know I’d do anything for your lemon cupcakes.”
    She couldn’t look away, caught up in the utter confidence of this man. Oh sure, they were just verbally sparring, teasing, but some men would have been threatened. Acting angry or defensive in response.
    Sloane handed her the victory and made her feel powerful doing it. She’d never had that in a partner. David had reminded her often that she wasn’t as smart as him. While Sloane, a man who was easily three times as strong as her, made her feel powerful.
    “Sloane,” a new voice interrupted them. “I was hoping you’d fight in the Caged Thunder Event.”
    Kat looked across the table to Ronnie T. Devonshire. He had a couple decades on Sloane in age, but his trademark red hair remained thick, his green eyes tack sharp.
    “Not interested.”
    Ronnie set down his utensils, fully focused on Sloane. “What’s it going to take to get you back in the cage?”
    “An opponent worth my time. Otherwise, I’m more interested in my business.”
    “Name your choice and I’ll make it happen. We’ll do a pay-per-view special. Call it Caged Vengeance .”
    Kat’s stomach clenched at the thought of it. She barely got down her bite of rice. The idea of Sloane fighting again…she couldn’t bear it.
    Sloane relaxed in his chair and replied, “I’ll let you know when I find him.”
    “You’re what, thirty now? You don’t have a lot of fighting years left. We need to strike while you’re still hot.”
    Kat ground her jaw to resist the urge to tell one of the most powerful men in the world to back off. She didn’t want Sloane to fight.
    A man walked up behind them, slapping his hand on Sloane’s shoulder. “Sloane, you should listen. You could use the Pros vs. Amateurs Slam event as a warm-up.”
    Sloane glanced up. “Not happening.” He took Kat’s hand. “Kat, have you met Clay Barton? He owns Rolling Thunder Winery.”
    Kat recognized him as one of the four fighters Sloane had introduced during his presentation. “Nice to meet you. So you own the winery and fight?”
    “Not with UFC anymore.” He winked at her. “I just do it for fun now.”
    Fighting as fun. Huh. Sure, it was fun when Kat and Sloane sparred, but they weren’t trying to hurt each other. She studied Sloane. “Do you miss it? Want to come out of retirement?”
    “No.” He flexed his jaw, and his eyes glinted with shards of pain and determination. “Not until the right reason to get back in the cage comes along.”
    Chills skated over her skin. She thought about Drake telling her that Sloane trained like a demon. It took serious motivation to commit to that kind