“What are you doing?” Dare demanded from beside her.
“Mmm?” Leonora hummed without taking her eyes off the boxer.
“Stop grinning at him like that.”
The man’s eyes turned to Dare again before narrowing. Interesting. Her gaze tilted up to him as well. “Do you know him? He looked at me as if he knows who I am.”
“If he knows who you are it’s because he knows who I am, and I’ve spoken of you.”
He did know the man? Wait—“You spoke about me to him?”
Dare nodded.
That set her heart into another furious flutter. He’d talked about her. To someone else. “Then are you friends?”
“You could say he is family.”
You could say? “What sort of answer is that? Either he is family or he is not.”
“He’s my cousin, Drake Fury.”
Her jaw went slack, before glancing back at the behemoth readying himself for a match. Dare had such a scary yet dangerously handsome cousin? Who would have known?
She tracked over that bold scar again. “You look nothing alike.”
“Your mouth is hanging open.” A big, gloved hand obscured her view. “I’m quite embarrassed for you.”
“Whose mouth is hanging open?” She swatted his hand away. “I’m merely amazed you have such a handsome cousin.”
“Handsome? There must be something wrong with your eyesight.” A grumble. “He is not handsome.”
She shot a glance back at the scarred man, who’d now turned his attention to his opponent. “Handsome.”
The hand returned. “He doesn’t like people looking at him.”
Leonora turned to Dare with an I-can’t-believe-you-just-said-that look. “Then he shouldn’t be boxing in front of a crowd, should he?”
“He doesn’t like pretty women staring at him.”
She snatched his hand and yanked down. “Now you’re just spouting nonsense.”
He grinned at her, although his grin only lasted until both men discarded their shirts, putting their bare, hulking chests on full display.
Leonora’s eyes widened in delight.Such a treat!
Beside her, Dare cursed.
The match started and Leonora had to admit, every punch—whether it missed or connected with flesh—brought a shock to her heartbeat. Cheers and cries filled the spacious room, and foul curses whipped through the air every time Dare’s cousin effectively blocked his opponent. It seemed he wasn’t the favorite today.
She clutched at her chest, watching in fascination as the two men sparred.
They danced on the balls of their feet with mesmerizing lightness, yet when an arm snaked out, the punches that landed were hard and heavy. Then the scarred man landed a blow to the other man’s head, and he hit the ground almost instantly. Blood trickled down the side of his face.
Her hand flew to her mouth. This was... Just as quickly, the man leaped back to his feet and the match continued with a roar of cheers. She didn’t know where to focus. The bloody punches, the dancing feet, the rippling muscles.
“No wonder these matches are frowned upon.”
“Why is that?” Dare’s breath tickled against her ear.
