The Florist and the Fighter

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Ryan Sloan is a professional cage fighter. I arrange flowers for a living. We have literally nothing in common, except that he’s my new upstairs neighbour.

Our first meeting isn’t my finest moment. After weeks of putting up with drilling and hammering overhead, I’m woken at two in the morning by music thumping through my ceiling. That’s when I finally reach my limit.

I march upstairs in my flannel pyjamas, my rescue dog tucked under one arm, and come face-to-chest with a towering, tattooed man with a broken nose and piercing green eyes.

Ryan decides I’m a stuck-up princess and refuses to take my noise complaint seriously. I decide he’s arrogant, intimidating, and probably no stranger to trouble.

He’s also, inconveniently, gorgeous.

Avoiding each other would be sensible. But, of course, we keep crossing paths. I catch him working out topless in our shared garden and discover that sweat-slicked tattoos are surprisingly difficult to look away from. Worse—much, much worse—a mix-up with the post means he opens a very intimate parcel meant for me.

When a mugging leaves me shaken, Ryan surprises me by offering to teach me self-defence. The training is hands-on, and soon the lesson is the last thing either of us is thinking about.

But giving in to temptation would be a mistake. Ryan believes loving someone only gives them the power to hurt you. And me? I’ve spent years running from danger. Ryan runs straight at it.