Page 24 of Forced Proximity

‘This all feels very wrong,’ he says with a chuckle. His knees tuck against my side as he hovers. ‘Hey, you’re strong and all, but I’m like one-ninety. Am I gonna hurt you?’

‘Nah, you’re good.’ I refuse to focus on the compassionate tone. And I’m definitely not focusing on his strong thighs pressed against my legs. ‘Now choke me.’

Fingertips brush my ponytail to the side. A jolt of unexpected electricity sends tingles to the top of my head. It takes a few moments, and a little shifting, but soon warm hands gently grip my neck.

In a swift, seamless motion, my highly trained muscle memory kicks in. I push my forehead into the mat, throw my body into a fetal position and knock him off balance. I swing, wrap my legs around his chest and use my arm for additional leverage to flip him on his back.

‘Holy shit!’ He chokes out a laugh and takes in gulps of air. ‘Jesus, I wasn’t expecting that.’

I hop off and stand over him, scanning his body for any signs of distress. ‘Are you okay?’

He tosses his arms above his head before leaping up. ‘Yep, just trying to breathe.’

Satisfaction fills me. Not that I want to hurt him, of course. But a client never knows my abilities unless they face an actual threat, which is pretty rare. ‘Now you try.’

So many years have passed since I taught self-defense, and the rush flies back. I spar with Marcus or colleagues almost every day, but this is different. Teaching fulfills me in a way that few other things do. ‘Lay on your stomach with your face down.’

Justin lays down and I ease myself onto his lower back. God, he smells so good. The scent is different than what he was wearing the other day. Today, it’s oak, raindrops and cedar, and every bit as yummy as his other scents. I really shouldn’t breathe through my nose right now or he might have an unfair advantage.

I wrap my fingers around his neck. Dammit. Later I need to have a stern talking to my physiological system. It’s not cool the way the warmth of his skin travels up my arms, or the way my heartbeat kicks in my chest. This weekend, I should probably get on an app and see if there’s someone I can take home for a few hours to release this feral energy. It’s been a good seven, eight months since I last had sex, and it’s clearly messing with me.

‘The first thing you want to do is push your forehead into the mat, which allows air through your nose. If you can’t breathe, you can’t fight.’ God his back is muscular. I see it every day, obviously, but have never been close enough to see the cut of his deltoids against his white shirt. Focus. ‘Then, rotate your hips, move into the fetal position, and wrap your legs around my stomach to flip me. Got it?’

‘Got it.’ He bucks me off with a heavy breath, gets into the fetal position, but struggles to get me on my back. ‘Fail.’

Honestly, if he had finished the move, I’d be worried. I’ve been a dedicated, practicing martial artist for over twenty years. He’s been doing it for two minutes. ‘Good job for your first try. We’ll keep practicing until you can complete the move.’ I shift away. ‘Let’s try a different one. This is the armbar we talked about earlier. You can do it standing or laying, but lie down on your back this time instead of your stomach. We’re gonna pretend that we’ve been fighting and I’ve gotten you on the floor.’

He positions himself on his back with his hands to the side. When I lower myself to straddle him, he reaches up like he’s going to grip my hips but quickly folds them on his chest. Heat invades my body and pools between my thighs. This is what he’d look like if I were on top of him, riding him. He’s fucking beautiful. At this angle, his jaw is sharper, his shoulders round and strong, his chest like chiseled brick.

Jesus Christ. Enough of this. Get it together, Lexi.

‘Okay, ahem.’ I hope to God I’m not being too obvious. It’s just the lack of sex, forced proximity and the fact that Justin is probably voted the most fuckable actor on a dozen sites. ‘If we were fighting, you’d have your elbows up to protect your face from hits, right? So put your arms up to block.’

He lifts his forearms. ‘Got it.’

I’m trying to concentrate on my words and not the feel of his body, or the definition of his pecs and biceps stretching the capacity of his T-shirt. This spell needs to break. Now. I push his arms out of the way, set my knee on the mat next to his neck and put my right hand against the other side of his neck.

‘I’m going to loop my arm and grab your shoulder, okay? This allows me to control your arm.’ I place my foot next to the side of his face and lay backward, with my butt at the corner of his head, and his arm between my leg. ‘Now that I have your hand – and can isolate it with my thigh muscles – I’ll make sure your thumb is pointed to the sky to provide more leverage.’

He groans. ‘You’re hurting me.’

‘Holy shit, really?’ I leap off as heartbeats thud in my ear.

He starts laughing and throws his hand on his stomach. ‘Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. No, you weren’t.’

‘Such a jerk.’ I slap my hand to my forehead. I’d probably win the worst bodyguard in the world award if I accidentally bruised my client.

He tugs the bottom of his shirt. ‘But for real, that’s a great move. Can I try?’

‘Yep.’ I lay on the ground and now he’s straddling me, and if I’m not mistaken, his eyes soften. As he looks down at me, his mouth parts as his chest lifts.

Great. Now I not only know what it looks to straddle him, I also know what it looks like to be underneath him. Cool, what’s next? Me throwing my ankle over his shoulder to get the full effect? Hopping on all fours and catching the reflection of my perched ass high in the air? This is ridiculous. These thoughts are unprofessional and unethical and will cause nothing but problems if I allow them to continue.

Justin’s athletic, but since he’s never done this maneuver before, he rotates his arms the wrong way with jerky movements.

‘You’re doing great.’ I lift my arm. ‘Now take my hand and put it between your legs.’

His eyes widen and he remains silent for way too long. ‘If you say so …’ he says with a devilish grin as he bounces his eyebrows.