by Lily Black
She snorted. He could probably talk a girl right into his bed without her even knowing how she’d gotten there. The more attractive she found Drew, the more watchful she needed to be in keeping up her guard. Because no way was she going to survive her stalker only to find herself as Drew’s sweet and gullible girlfriend.
Chapter Eleven
The next morning Alexa got up and hopped in the shower early, even though it was Sunday. Every time she’d fallen asleep during the night, her dreams had alternated between hot, steamy affairs focused on Drew, and psychedelic nightmares in which a faceless madman hunted her and everyone she loved. Worst were the ones that came closest to real life, where she found herself making love to Drew, only to look up and see a man’s eyes watching her through the window. Those dreams were not only horrible, but they were an excellent message from her psyche that this was not the time to get involved with Drew, even if she’d wanted to.
Clearly, her overwrought brain needed something to focus on besides her two hot-button topics. Moreover, something she definitely did not need was Drew making her another sumptuous breakfast. She resisted the urge to primp, opting for the light makeup she usually wore to work. She pulled her hair back from her face in two clips, then she slipped out of her room and went hunting breakfast.
After five minutes of scrounging in the cupboards, she settled on cold cereal. Then she plunked herself down at the kitchen table to eat and pretend to read Martial Arts Monthly. She kept an ear out to track Drew’s progress upstairs, so she wasn’t taken by surprise when he came into the kitchen. He looked fresh and fantastic in a pair of slacks and a collared polo shirt.
“Good morning.” She watched him over her magazine as he puttered about, getting himself coffee.
He smiled at her. “Good morning. I see you found breakfast.”
She only nodded, pretending to be engrossed in her article. There was nothing wrong with their conversation, but she was still embarrassed. It would have sounded much the same if they’d spent the night together.
He cleared her empty bowl without being asked, and she caught a hint of his aftershave. Her nostrils flared at the musky scent that held some kind of spice, cedar maybe, which she’d noticed before. It fit him perfectly, and he smelled divine.
Alexa dropped her magazine and stood up. Time to get something productive done, like… The trouble was she didn’t have a lot she could do there. The library donation boxes were all either at the library or at her house, and she wasn’t scheduled to work. There weren’t any classes at Crouching Tiger since it was Sunday. And her usual errands would take her out in public—with Drew. Even worse, her foot was close to one hundred percent, so her body was urging her to do something active. She roamed about, picking up after the kitties and tidying up.
Drew stepped in front of her, placing both hands gently on her shoulders. “It’s okay. You’re not trapped here.”
Alexa backed away from him, not trusting the way her body reacted instantly to his proximity. “Who said I felt trapped?”
Drew rolled his eyes and spread his hands. “You’re pacing. You’ve also refolded the same dish towel three times.”
She glanced guiltily down at the dish towel in her hands and smiled as she set it down. “I guess I am feeling a little… restless. My usual routine has been thrown off, and I don’t like sitting here waiting for my stalker to find me.”
“That’s understandable.” Drew gave her a smile as he grabbed the orange juice from the fridge. He poured a glass and held the jug up, offering her a glass as well. When she nodded, he poured.
“So, let’s get out. Where can we go that there won’t be people who’ll recognize you? And what would you like to do?”
Alexa shook her head. She sipped her orange juice, and after a few seconds of rolling back and forth on the balls of her feet, she let herself pace. Everywhere she could go in Willowdale, people would see her, recognize her. In a small town, where she’d lived for the better part of the last nine years, there weren’t a lot of places she wasn’t known.
“Want to help me work on my routine for the studio’s open house?” Drew asked. “I know it’s kind of aiding and abetting the enemy, but I do need to get some practice time in, and you and I are kind of attached at the hip.”
Alexa turned away while she considered. Her thoughts from last night—that he was using her—seemed a bit maudlin in the morning light, and getting out of the house sounded tempting. Besides, if she worked with him on his routine, she would know what Crouching Tiger was up against, wouldn’t she? Her lips quirked. “What kind of routine is it?”
Drew put a slice of bread in the toaster. “Nothing too showy, just a demonstration of basic fighting moves and how they would translate into self-defense.” He cocked his head and grinned at her. “Think of it as an exposé of what works and what doesn’t.”
Oreo wandered in and nudged Alexa, so she dropped her hand to stroke the kitty’s head. “Whatever you may think of us, Crouching Tiger teaches self-defense, too. We make all our students testing for a black belt prepare a self-defense routine. It’s an opportunity for them to demonstrate that they’ve internalized fundamentals well enough to improvise.” She looked back up at Drew. “So, yeah, I think I could help you. Maybe even teach you a thing or two.”
Drew laughed. “Sounds good. I look forward to comparing notes.” His toast popped up, and he flipped it out onto a plate then grabbed the butter. “There are painters at my place. The guy has a job during the week and mostly paints on the weekends. So, I can clear him out, or we can work out at Crouching Tiger. That is, if it’ll be empty?”
Alexa topped off the cats’ food bowl, since Fieldgar hadn’t left much for the other two. She felt mixed emotions about Drew coming to her dojo, but she liked the idea of staying cooped up at the house with him all day even less. She tried to speak casually. “Crouching Tiger will be fine. We don’t hold classes on Sundays and haven’t scheduled a seminar for this week, or I’d be there.” She paused to consider. “It’s the most obvious connection to the stalker, though. What if he sees us going in and out or something?”
Drew nodded. “Good point. I’ll text my painter, so we can use my place.”
“Wait.” Alexa held up her hand. She was suddenly loath to go to his MMA studio—partly because that would definitely be seen as aiding and abetting if it ever got out, but also for the purely irrational reason that she wanted to be somewhere that felt homey. “Do you really think Crouching Tiger isn’t safe? I miss my house, even though yours is lovely, and I just… I’d rather be somewhere… familiar.”
Drew considered that while he took a bite of toast and chewed. “There’s no reason anyone would suspect you of being there, right? You don’t usually go in on Sundays, even just to skip rope or something?”
“Never.” Alexa shook her head. “Sundays, I’m usually home or running errands. Sometimes at the library.”
“It should be all right, then,” Drew said. “We’ll slip in the back. We’ve got to go somewhere, or we risk having you take my house apart.” He gave her one of those slow smiles, the kind that suggested intimate secrets.
Alexa headed back to the bedroom. “Let’s go, then. I’ll grab my gi.” Getting out of the house was one thing they agreed on.
Not an hour later, Alexa was beginning to doubt the nuances of their conversation over breakfast. She and Drew had been working on his routine, just as promised, but that wasn’t all they were working on. If she didn’t know any better, she would suspect Drew of designing his routine with the express end goal of intimacy. He seemed to be gearing every move to maximize physical contact. If he’d set out to seduce her through her favorite pastime, he couldn’t have done a more effective job.
Of course, when was the last time she’d worked out with a fellow black belt? Not as another instructor, not even as a peer… but as someone she could get close to without embarrassment. Was she
falling for Drew just because she’d shut all the other guys out?
“Now let’s go for the throw,” Drew said. She was tucked into him with her back to his chest, and his arms were wrapped around her in a spooning bear hug. “Make it look good—I want to impress the women in the crowd with the studio’s practical skills.”
Alexa shifted her hips so they tucked in close to Drew’s groin, and dropped her center so she would have the heft she needed. Her whole body compressed, ready to pop up out of his grip and shift his upper body mass into the throw. “You want me to make it look good?” she asked. “Maybe you’d better work this move on them one-on-one. I suspect that’s the most effective way to impress the chicks.”
Drew laughed, the sound starting down in his chest, where Alexa could feel it building against her back, then bursting out. She took advantage of his momentary distraction to execute the move. Pop, shift, dip the shoulder, and throw! She flipped him harder than she meant to, but she took pity on him and used her grip on his right arm and shoulder to soften his landing.
But perhaps she should have thought through her “pity” and remembered whom she was dealing with.
Drew quickly turned the tables on her and used the momentum of his fall to pull her off-balance, tugging her down on top of him. Alexa landed half on and half off of Drew’s torso, her chest thumping into his. But she wasn’t crying uncle yet. She still had a hold of Drew’s right arm, so she folded it back on itself to put him in an arm bar. She also raised her body up and shifted her weight so her knee could apply pressure to Drew’s chest.
He gasped a chuckle but didn’t tap out. His eyes found hers, and the seductive light inside them had gone from warm embers to a full blaze. “I could try a roll-out, but I think you’ve got me. The question is, what are you going to do with me?”
Alexa pulled back in confusion, and the tension went out of her arm bar. Drew quickly shifted his hips and flipped her over. It was a classic Brazilian jujitsu move and allowed him to roll free of her. But he didn’t follow it up with any of the takedowns or holds she was sure he knew.
Instead, he let his arms hang loosely around Alexa, in what was almost a hug, and rested on his knees so he knelt in front of her. They were so close, it was hard to tell where his body left off and hers began. They were both breathless, and more than a little sweaty, but somehow Alexa was sure the tiny tremor in her hand as she lifted it and set it on his chest wasn’t fatigue. Had she put her hand there meaning to push him away or pull him close? She couldn’t remember anymore.
It felt as though the moment they had shared the previous night in the library, when they’d almost kissed, was a small wave that had pulled back to sea, grown in power, and crested at this moment. The attraction between them was undeniable, and their differences suddenly seemed insignificant.
When Drew gently raised his hand to Alexa’s face, she didn’t pull away. He waited half a breath, just long enough to see she was with him on this, then leaned in to brush his lips across hers—a gentle caress full of tantalizing promise.
And suddenly, it was all too much—all the emotions, the self-control of staying okay as her life pinwheeled, the storming hormones she’d felt since coming to stay with Drew. In this moment, she didn’t care about anything but riding the crest of this surge and enjoying it. Her hands came up and wrapped around Drew’s neck, twining her fingers in his black curls. She pulled his mouth down to hers and hungrily nibbled at his lips.
Drew chuckled, a sexy rumble in his chest that made her teeth vibrate. He bent his head, and his tongue slid into her mouth, teasing her lips open and dancing with her own. Deepening the kiss, he shifted so Alexa was in his lap. She slipped into the mold of his body, and they fit together as though they’d never been apart. Drew’s mouth on hers stirred up echoes of passion from years ago then took her to new heights.
When she pulled back to breathe, he nibbled at the corner of her mouth then trailed kisses along her cheekbone until he reached her ear. His teeth inched their way over the tender skin of her ear, and Alexa moaned. It felt so good, but he was moving too slow. She nuzzled her mouth against the curve of his neck and nipped him playfully. Squirming a bit to buy her hands some space, she tugged at the cloth V formed by his uniform top. She knew there were ties somewhere that would release his top, but her fumbling fingers couldn’t seem to find them. Then Drew recaptured her mouth, and she forgot what she was trying to do.
Drew wrapped one hand around her backside, squeezing her bum, and Alexa arched up against his chest. Her mouth was too occupied to speak, but her body was begging him to go under her gi and touch her skin. Drew seemed to pick up on the signal and pulled her uniform up so his hands could trace up and down her back while their bodies rocked together.
The outer door of Crouching Tiger opened and banged shut with a clang that echoed around the dojo.
Alexa rolled away from Drew, and he was on his feet in one swift movement. Running in a half crouch so he stayed below the lobby windows, he positioned himself by the doorway between the lobby and the dojo.
Alexa jerked at her uniform, hurriedly trying to shove her top into place and get her belt positioned like it was supposed to be. Had the stalker found them? Should she hide? Should she get ready to fight?
Keri stepped into the open doorway.
“Drew, wait!” Alexa’s cry was instinctive, but she realized immediately that she didn’t have to worry. Drew knew better than to launch himself at an unidentified target.
He rose calmly from his crouch and nodded to Keri before turning away from her to tug his uniform into place.
Keri stepped forward uncertainly, her eyes taking in Alexa’s tousled hair and hastily pulled-together uniform, then going to Drew, then back to Alexa. She grinned, and her eyes sparkled with laughter. “Should I even ask what’s going on? I feel like the mom who just walked in on her teen and her teen’s boyfriend.”
“Very funny.” Alexa accepted the hand Drew offered to help her up and tried to breathe through the hot flush that was setting her face on fire. “Master Hays requested that we promote good feeling between our schools, so Drew and I were working on the routine he’s using for the opening ceremony of his studio.” She yanked on her uniform again, watching Keri out of the corner of her eye. “We came here because there are painters at his studio.”
Keri nodded sagely, but the glimmer didn’t leave her eyes. “Uh-huh. Just working on the routine, helping each other out. So good of you.” She stepped forward and gave Alexa’s uniform a quick tug to settle it better into place then jabbed a finger at Drew’s neck. “I know you always try to exceed Master Hays’s expectations, but don’t you think giving Drew a hickey was going above and beyond?”
Alexa’s eyes darted up to Drew’s neck, and sure enough, she’d given him a little red love mark. Worse, she could almost hear Keri’s questions from the other day. She knew her friend would conclude from this that she was still as crazy about Drew as she’d ever been. Any minute, Keri was going to ask what they wanted for their wedding.
Ugh! With the way Drew had been acting plus her own crumbling resolve, that was the absolute last thing she needed. Why had she ever agreed to work out with him? “Okay, so maybe we got a little carried away.” Her tone had more force than she’d intended. She sounded as though she was mad at Keri, but she couldn’t seem to soften it. “It doesn’t mean anything. You know how it is with army boys.”
Drew stiffened beside her, and Alexa shifted. That might have come out a little more callous than she’d meant it. But in what way was it not true?
Keri shrugged and turned back toward the waiting room. “Whatever you’ve got going on, you need to decide now if you want it to be public. I came to open up for a birthday party. In five minutes, this place will be crawling with text-happy eleven-year-old girls, and your being here together will be spread all over Willowdale.”
Chapter Twelve
“W
hat?” Alexa rushed to the doorway and looked out through the big lobby windows.
Out in the parking lot, a minivan had pulled up next to two cars, and girls were pouring out of the vehicles. A woman she recognized as Brianna’s mom balanced an oversized cake and a box of party supplies. They all headed for Crouching Tiger’s front door.
“Drew, you’ve got to get out of sight.” Alexa shooed him toward the back door. “Wait at one of the shops down the street, please. I’ll catch up to you as soon as I can.”
Drew nodded, the motion a short jerk of the head. Alexa watched him go and couldn’t help noticing how stiff his posture was. “I’m sorry for the wait,” she called after him. “I should have checked the schedule—”
Drew lifted a hand to stop her protests and walked out the back door without looking back.
Alexa looked at Keri, who also seemed a bit stiff, then out at the crowd of girls approaching and shook her head. “I should have checked the schedule, but we haven’t had a birthday party in so long, I just didn’t think of it. And it seemed like a good idea to use Crouching Tiger, seemed like a good idea to get out of the house—”
“Sweetie.” Keri put an arm around Alexa’s shoulders and steered her toward the office. “I think you should wait in the office and let me get the party going. It’s been a long couple of days. And while I’m sure Drew’s been very hospitable, it’s hard to not be in your own home.”
“That’s true,” Alexa said. “I mean, his place is—” She stopped abruptly and looked at Keri in astonishment. “How did you know? We haven’t told anyone…”
Keri laughed and nudged Alexa toward the open door to the office. “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me. Wait in there, and we’ll talk after I’ve got the party started.”
Alexa nodded and had just shut the office door when she heard the ding of the chime out front and the sounds of girlish laughter fill the lobby. She smiled at the sound then went to the desk and sat down. As long as she was there, she might as well get some paperwork done and catch up on student accounts.
