by Codi Gary
She was only going to be twenty-five at the end of April. When had everyone suddenly gotten their life together?
Her cell phone buzzed on the table, and she glanced at the screen. A number she didn’t recognize flashed, and Hannah’s breath caught. Maybe Blake was calling her from his work phone?
Sliding her thumb across to answer, she put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Hannah?”
Hannah’s shoulders slumped as she heard the feminine voice on the other end. “Yes.”
“Hi, Hannah, this is Georgia at Watt Avenue Veterinary Clinic. How are you doing, girl?”
“Hi. I’m tired but doing okay. How are you, Georgia?”
“Oh, fine. Dr. Standen just wanted me to call and let you know that Milo’s blood work checked out just fine, but we’ll need to see him back in a month for his boosters and another dose of dewormer.”
Hannah glanced down at the sleeping pup fondly. “Sure, I’ll call you back when I know my schedule better.”
“All right, dear. But hey, it was good to see you.”
“You too, Georgia. Take care.”
“Good-bye, Hannah.”
Hannah set her phone down and stood up. She might as well make something to eat and then take a shower instead of waiting around for some guy to call. Why did she keep putting herself through this?
After that, maybe she’d check for available teaching jobs again. She didn’t really think she was going to get the job she’d interviewed for, so she might as well continue applying. As much as she loved Dale’s, she needed to move on.
Grabbing a banana and a package of strawberry Pop-Tarts, she sat back down. It was stupid to think that the fruit somehow made up for the sugary breakfast pastry, but she loved them too much to give them up.
She peeled the banana and took a large bite as she closed Facebook. She opened up Microsoft Word, planning on starting the next chapter of her book, when her phone started singing “Have a Nice Day.”
She chewed quickly, trying to swallow the wad of banana as she glanced at the screen.
Blake’s Cell.
Excitement zipped through her. He hadn’t forgotten.
Trying to chew the banana in her mouth, she finally gave up and answered.
“Hewow?” she said around the glob.
“Hello, Hannah? It’s Blake.”
He sounded completely unsure, and no wonder. She sounded like Chewbacca. Why the hell had she answered the phone with a mouthful of food? She should have just let it go to voicemail and called him back.
“Hang on.” At least, that’s what she tried to say, although it came out more like “ham hon.”
“Are you okay?” He sounded as if he was laughing.
“Mouf fool.”
“I’ll give you a minute to swallow.” Then, she heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a stifled laugh. Another sound and Hannah grimaced. Yep, that was a definite chuckle.
She got it down and took a drink of her coffee. “Sorry, I had just taken a bite of a banana when you called.”
“It’s okay, sorry to catch you at a bad time.”
“It’s fine, really. What’s up?” Did she seem too eager? It was hard not to be when she’d been waiting two days for him to call.
“Well, I wanted to let you know that if you’re available tonight at seven, I can teach a couple moves.”
Hannah’s heart slammed in her chest. “Tonight?”
“Yeah, sorry for the late notice, but I just got permission to use our training room at the program. So, what do you say? You up for it?”
Was she up for rolling around with Blake, letting him put his hands all over her?
Milo had finally woken and started sharpening his puppy teeth on her big toe. “Ow!” she cried, jerking her foot back. “You little punk.”
“Did you just call me a punk?” he asked.
Hannah’s whole face caught fire in mortification, and she was so glad he couldn’t see her. “No, sorry. Milo bit me, and his teeth are really sharp. Tonight would be great. I just need the address.”
He rattled it off, and she typed it into Google Maps on her laptop as he spoke. It wasn’t very far from her place, maybe ten minutes.
“Great,” she said. “And this might be a bit of a girly question, but what should I wear?”
He laughed again. “Just comfortable clothes, sweats or yoga pants and sneakers.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate you doing this. It’s just, after that man held a gun on me, I want to feel like I can take care of myself again, you know?” She stood up and grabbed Milo when she spotted him sniffing suspiciously, carrying him to the front door so she could take him out to go potty. “Not that I didn’t appreciate your timely rescue, but since I haven’t see you in the diner after the whole saving-my-life thing, I thought you might not be coming in anymore.”
As she hooked Milo’s leash on his collar, she realized Blake was dead silent on the other end and replayed what she’d just said in her head. Had he taken what she’d said the wrong way? Did he think she was keeping tabs on him?
“I just meant because of what happened. I don’t know if I’d frequent a restaurant that was robbed again, no matter how good the food was.”
Finally, he spoke up. “I’m still coming into the diner. I’ve been busy the last few days, is all.”
Hannah didn’t fully believe him, but there was no use in talking about it anymore. He’d called her and was offering to teach her self-defense. That had to mean something, right?
Yeah, that he is a good guy who doesn’t want me to not be able to defend myself.
“Well, then, I’ll just see you at seven,” she said.
“See you then. Bye.”
She slipped her phone in her pocket and set Milo down before opening the door, the urge to whistle a merry tune while she skipped around the yard overwhelming.
“What do you think, Milo? Isn’t it going to be a beautiful day?”
The puppy peed on the lawn in response, but Hannah was excited. Her and Blake, alone in a room. Sweating, gripping each other as their bodies strained against each other . . .
The sheer imagery made Hannah wish seven o’clock wasn’t so far away.
BLAKE STOOD IN the lobby of Alpha Dog just before seven, waiting with security for Hannah to show up. Unfortunately, Sparks and Best were standing behind him. Best had told Sparks he thought Blake might like Hannah, so Sparks decided he needed to get a look at her.
“Hey, your girl’s got four minutes, or she’s late. Girls who run late are high maintenance. Just ask Martinez.”
Blake looked over his shoulder and found that Martinez had joined the spectators, thus earning the jibe from Best about his girlfriend.
“You’re just pissed Eve is making you flash that pretty smile of yours at the ball,” Martinez said mildly.
“No, she’s high maintenance. Always got to look on point, even when we’re going hiking. Thank God Dani’s not like that.”
“The way Best talks about her, you’d think the sun rose and set out of Dani’s ass, don’t you think?” Sparks asked.
Blake closed his eyes, trying to keep a rein on his temper. Since Best and Sparks had informed him that all of his friends had been discussing his short temper, he’d tried to get it under control. Even when Sparks had stuck a for-sale listing he’d apparently gotten from General Reynolds on his desk. The house had looked nice, but Blake was getting a little tired of so many nosy Susans managing his life. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been trying to find a place; he just wanted the right one.
And now, with them all waiting here, ready to embarrass him, it was all he could do to stay calm.
“So, what does this Hannah look like?” Martinez asked.
Blake’s eye started twitching as Best jumped in. “She’s about medium height, brown hair. She’s pretty, with a thick, curvy body, and you should see her—”
“For the love of God!” Blake spun around. “Don’t you assholes have an
ything better to do than stand around being a bunch of nosy sons of—”
“Blake?”
Damn, he hadn’t even heard the door open. His three friends were looking past him, and as he turned, he caught Larry Walton’s smirk. Larry was army and worked night security at Alpha Dog, and under normal circumstances, Blake liked the guy.
Not so much right now.
Hannah was staring at him with wide eyes behind her glasses, her hair back in a long ponytail.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Blake cleared his throat. “Yeah, it’s good. Come on through.”
Hannah walked past Larry and gave him a tentative smile. Larry tapped the brim of his cap and said, “Ma’am.”
Blake put his hand on the small of her back and started to lead her toward the training room, but there was no easy escape. Not when Best moved into their path with a wide grin.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, Kline?”
Blake glared daggers at Best but managed to grind out an introduction. “Hannah, this is Sergeant Tyler Best, Sergeant Dean Sparks, and Sergeant Oliver Martinez.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said, taking each of their hands in turn.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Sparks flicked a glance at Blake with a questioning brow, which he ignored.
“You’ve all been introduced, and we have stuff to do, so . . . ” Without finishing the sentence, he pushed Hannah forward and around his friends.
“Have fun!” Martinez called.
“Jackass,” Blake muttered under his breath.
“What was that about?” Hannah whispered.
“They’re just messing with me. Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay, because we’re practically running from them.”
Blake realized she was right; he’d been propelling her forward so fast she’d had to jog to keep up.
“Sorry.” He reached for the door of the training room and led her inside. He flipped on the lights, illuminating the dark weight room. There was a thick blue mat at the edge of the room where they trained the boys in self-defense, which was why he’d wanted to bring her here.
She unzipped her Sac State sweatshirt and draped it over one of the weight benches. Underneath was a purple loose-fitting tank top that, when she turned, showed off a scooped neckline and an inch of cleavage.
God help him.
“So, where do we start?” she asked.
Oh, the responses he had to that question would definitely send her running from him.
Looking everywhere but her impressive chest, he went to the mat, expecting her to follow.
“How about we stretch first, so we don’t pull anything.”
Blake showed her basic stretches for her arms, legs, hamstrings, and neck. As they did them, he talked, trying to sound as professional as possible.
“The first thing we’re going to talk about is prevention. Don’t put yourself in a vulnerable position. Try not to walk alone to your car at night, if you can help it, be aware of your surroundings, and if you are unable to avoid a confrontation, make sure that you remain passive until you are ready to strike. What you did with that gunman, giving him exactly what he wanted, was the right move.”
She shot him a small grateful smile. “I have to admit, it didn’t feel that way at the time.”
“When you’ve got a gun trained on you at point-blank range, there’s not much you can do, and it’s important to wait for the right moment, especially if it’s more than just you. The goal of self-defense is to cause your attacker the maximum amount of damage with the least amount of force so that you can remove yourself from the situation. And remember to use what you have. Walking to your car, place your biggest key between your knuckles. With enough force behind it, it can be used as a weapon, especially on soft areas like the eyes, neck, and stomach.”
She looked up at him from where she was bent at the waist, her caramel ponytail trailing across the floor. “That’s actually a really good tip.”
Sweat broke out over his forehead as Hannah’s shirt rode up, exposing her plump rear end pointing sky-high. Blake was so tempted to walk around her, maybe use a ruse about checking her form just to press against her, but this wasn’t a date or a hookup or anything. Hannah had asked for his help, and he was being a horny asshole who couldn’t think beyond the hard-on in his pants.
Just keep talking about self-defense. Don’t look at her, don’t think about her . . . concentrate.
“If they are wearing thick, baggy clothing or jeans, it won’t penetrate it, so you want to look for exposed areas. Once you get free, run and find help.”
She stood up, and he showed her how to stretch her arm across her form, ignoring the way it pressed her breasts up. Brownie points for him.
“What about pepper spray?” she asked.
“You’re more likely to have that turned around on you. A loud personal alarm or pocket-size air horn is good. It draws attention to the attack, and the air horn can damage his hearing enough that you can get away. The ears and eyes are some of the most vulnerable spots on the body. There’s also this thing called a monkey fist you can put on your key chain, and when it hits, I’m told it packs quite a punch.”
“I thought the most vulnerable spot on a guy was . . . ”
She trailed off, and he could tell where she’d been going with the sentence by the blush on her cheeks.
“Yeah, that hurts, too, but like I said, baggy jeans can make it sometimes hard to get to, although if he’s attacking you from behind, reaching back and squeezing the hell out of his nuts is a good way to make him weak.” Blake didn’t want to think about the pain associated with that particular move, but he’d promised to show her the best ways to defend herself, and unfortunately, the groin’s fragility was just part of the lesson. “If you’re stretched out, let’s try a couple of moves. Come up behind me and wrap your arm around my neck.”
Hannah came around his back as he dropped to his knees.
“Oh, I was wondering how I was going to do that, since you tower over me.”
“Hey, I’m always thinking ahead. Go ahead and wrap your arm around my chest.”
Only Blake hadn’t prepared himself for the press of Hannah’s breasts against his back or her warm breath against his ear.
“And now?”
Blake’s cock stirred at the low tone, and he almost reached up and flipped her over his shoulder. Then, when he had her dazed and gazing up at him from the mat, he’d lean down and get a taste of that plump, pink bottom lip of hers.
Instead, he tried to think about anything else. Airplanes. Cotton balls. Jenny.
That sobering thought nearly did the trick.
“Now, if someone ever gets you in a hold like this, you have three seconds to get him off. So, from this position, the best thing you can do is shift to whichever side is opposite your writing hand and reach back—”
He shifted on his knees to the left and reached back with his right hand, his fingers curled like claws.
“And you grab whatever you can get and squeeze it hard. Do you understand?”
Her breath tickled the shell of his ear, warming it in the most erotic way. “Yes.”
Keep it together, man. “An elbow to the face is also good once he releases you, but if he is on the ground and you’re afraid he’ll chase you, I want you to stomp his ankle. If you need to, use both feet and put all your weight into it. If his ankle is jacked up, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, and you have time to run away and get help. And, once you report it, if he seeks medical attention, he’s going to get a big surprise when he’s arrested. Got it?”
“Yeah, except the whole stomping thing. What if I freeze up?”
Blake’s hand came up to rest on her forearm, and he turned his head so he could look at her. “Then you’re going to be hurt. Unless he just wants your valuables, there is no reason for him to try to drag you off. You have to think that whatever he has planned for you is going to be worse than an
y injuries you might get in a scuffle.”
Hannah still looked uneasy, and he squeezed her arm. “I believe that when the time comes, you’ll be a fighter.”
She smiled brightly down at him, and Blake noticed how close their faces were. Their lips close enough that if he just stretched up a few inches, they’d be kissing.
Her eyes fluttered closed, and he watched her lips part in slow motion. This was happening. She wanted him to kiss her, and hell, he wanted that, too, more than anything.
I haven’t kissed anyone since Jenny.
He knew how Jenny liked to be kissed, how she enjoyed being held tight and her lower lip nibbled a little bit until she giggled. What if when he kissed Hannah, she was disappointed?
At the last minute, he panicked, putting distance between them with her arm still around his neck.
“Wanna switch?” he said abruptly, smashing the moment into oblivion.
Hannah blinked at him, surprise and he was sure disappointment flashing in her eyes.
“Sure.” Her response was slow, hesitant, and she sounded so confused. He was confused, too, and he was the one who’d pulled the plug.
He stood up when she released his neck and came up behind her, praying she couldn’t feel the semi he was still sporting.
“Let’s see it,” he said.
“I don’t want to hurt you, though,” she said.
I’m more afraid I’ll hurt you.
“You won’t.”
I won’t let you get close enough.
Chapter Eleven
HANNAH COULD FEEL something hard pressing against her back as Blake set up to attack her from behind. Her body hummed with the desire to rub back against him like a cat in heat, and her cheeks burned in embarrassment. God, she never knew how the hot body of a tall, sweaty wall of muscle could make her lower abdomen clench and quiver with need.
“I’m going to come at you, and as soon as my arms go around you, I want you to reach back and grab me.” His deep, rumbly whisper vibrated against her ear as his words sunk in, and her heart kicked up a notch.
