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She followed me into a lunge, shoving her foot in front of her. Her little ankle socks were white and looked vibrant against her tanned skin.
“He just wanted me to go in with him. I mean, I insinuated I wanted to go in, and he just offered to go with me. But my point is––regardless if he’s totally harmless or not––I should have considered these self-defense tips I had already looked up and put them to use. I feel like I need a reprogramming session or something.”
“How do you know he’s harmless?” She was right, Jeffery Akers was harmless.
But I didn’t like that he was talking to her outside of a bar at night and was comfortable enough to invite her inside.
“I guess I don’t, but while I was home this morning, he swung by with coffee and flowers.”
That knot in my gut grew.
I pulled my leg behind me, stretching my quad. “Sounds a little dangerous to me. How did he know where you lived?”
Those beautiful green eyes rolled as she shifted her leg to mirror mine, but her head dipped.
I didn’t like that, so I released my leg, and stepped forward. Those eyes were back on me, and she didn’t seem to be bothered that I had grabbed her chin, or that we were standing so close.
“Tell me how he knew where you lived.”
She searched my face as her fist clutched at the hem of my shirt, which made me feel wildly possessive.
“He texted Cole, asking for my number.”
There was a roaring in my ears, and it wasn’t good.
Why did I care if Jeffery Akers asked for her number or if my best friend gave it to him? Why did it matter that he showed up with coffee and flowers?
I took a few steps back and cleared my throat.
“Okay, well, let’s get back to the lesson. You’re right, those are all great places to start with self-defense. Your instincts will betray you, so something we’re going to work on is sensing tells and when to start getting yourself into a defensible position.”
“I think I have pretty good instincts.”
She was joking, but I caught the hint of offense underneath her tone.
Remembering that this woman already owned a few companies made me realize it was her professional instincts she was taking offense over. But instead of explaining rationally what I meant, I decided to be an asshole.
“Well, you’re dating Jeffery Akers, so…”
I was petty and pissed, and for some shitty reason, I felt like I was in high school again and not thirty-two years old. It was a good thing that she was dating someone else, it would draw a line in the sand between us that I personally needed to be there.
She had been watching her feet again, but when I said that her head snapped up.
Green eyes narrowed on me as her lips thinned into a serious line.
“I’m not dating him. He’s a friend. Not even that, he’s an acquaintance.”
“Coffee and flowersisdating, babe.” I moved around her until she was following me.
She scoffed, her face flushing all the way down to her neck.
“I’m not. That’s not—”
“Can we get on with the lesson?” I gave her a serious look, and I knew she was flustered. So, I decided to take advantage.
She was still fuming when I advanced. It was so quick there was no room for her to do anything. One second, I was across the mat, and the next, my chest was pressed against hers, her wrists cradled between us, and my grip was firm.
Her eyes went wide as her chest heaved.
