Molly laughed so hard she feared she might’ve wet her pants. All she had to do was look at Katie clutching her belly and Fee wiping her eyes and they dissolved into laughter again.

“Thanks a lot,” Fee grumbled. “Now I’ll have my brother asking me if I ever got that twelve-inch Russian salami for him.”

“I guarantee Ivan’s twelve-inch Russian salami is a lot harder to get in your mouth than out of it.”

Molly reached over and stopped Fee from whacking Katie again. But she couldn’t help asking, “You’re kidding about twelve inches, right?”

“Ivan is a big guy all over. But his Rasputin is closer to ten inches.”

“Can we be done talking about cocks now and find out why Molly is here?” Fee asked. “What brings you by?”

“Do either of you have plans Saturday?”

Katie clapped her hands. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Guess whose birthday it is?”

“Yours?” Molly said dryly.

“Ask Fee what she’s got planned,” Katie said smugly.

“You bitch! The party was supposed to be a surprise!” Fee’s shoulders slumped. “You suck. Now you’ll just have to go to Dave and Buster’s like everyone else over twenty-five does on their birthday.”

Molly choked and tried to pass it off as a cough.

Katie eyed her suspiciously before she refocused on Fee. “You can still have a party for me. You were being stealthy, Fifi, I promise. I just overheard you talking to Jaz.”

“Jaz knew about this surprise party before I did?” Molly demanded of Fee. Jaz was the new black belt instructor that Sensei Black had hired six months ago. No one knew too much about her. She mostly kept to herself. Apparently Fee had broken the ice with her, which was good. Molly remembered what it felt like to be on the outside looking in.

“I was gonna call you this week, okay? I only decided to do this yesterday. Jaz offered to help.” Fee sighed. “I’ll need all the help I can get so the princess isn’t disappointed.”

“I will need to add a few people to your guest list,” Katie said, grabbing a pen.

“Fine, but you aren’t planning this,” Fee warned. “I am.”

“While I’ll be happy to help you celebrate, Katie, I was really looking forward to girl time.”

“It has been a while,” Fee said. “But your lack of girl time is self-inflicted. You’ve been holed up with Deacon.”

“She means with Deacon filling your holes,” Katie said with a rowr.

“Presley mentioned the same thing. Only not so crudely.”

Katie tapped her pen on her desk. “We’ll do that the weekend after the fight. Shopping, food, drinks, then hitting someplace for kinky fun. I suppose I have to be budget conscious when making the plan?”

“Since it’ll be me, Fee, and Presley? Yes. So it’s three slim wallets against one fat one, moneybags.”

“You have to admit I am getting better at the budgeting thing,” Katie said to Fee, buffing her perfect manicure on her silk shirt.

Fee snorted. “You spent fifty-eight hundred dollars on a pair of leather pants last month. Your idea of budgeting was not buying the twenty-seven-hundred-dollar matching vest.”

“Hey! Denial of self-gratification counts as budgeting for me. But luckily for you, I am equally adept at sussing out cheap thrills for us.”

“Cool. Text me the details about the princess’s partay, Fee. Later.”

Molly took the stairs and ran into Deacon.

Immediately he hooked an arm around her waist and his mouth landed on hers. His lips and tongue were cool, but his mouth heated up as the kiss became urgent. As if holding her and kissing her was exactly what he needed.

The post-workout musk of Deacon’s body filled her lungs with a giddy sense of possession. Now she knew his scent intimately. His taste was addictive, the hint of salt from his sweat, the underlying sweetness of the protein bars he ate all day, and the dark flavor of the man himself that no mints or gum could mask.

He kissed her harder, pulling her closer. His happiness had shifted into hunger.

Molly found her back against the cement wall and one hundred and eighty-five pounds of turned-on fighter grinding against her. And like always, when faced with his passion, she melted into him.

Deacon shifted until he could fit the upper section of his thigh between hers. He slowed the kiss and moved his mouth to her ear. “I’ve had a shit day. And I was thinking . . . I can’t wait to see my woman.” His breath left his mouth in ragged bursts of air. “Can’t wait to touch her. Can’t wait to slide inside her deep. Can’t wait to lose myself in her. Gotta be fate or karma or something. I was thinking of you, babe, and here you are.”