by Sophia Bond
Lily smiled. “No. I don’t know who it’s from,” she said. “It was just left on my desk.”
“An admirer then,” he said matter-of-factly.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, avoiding the question.
He sat on the couch and pointed to the folder on her desk. The one piece of real work she decided to do that day.
“I’m here for an appointment,” he crossed his arms casually and leaned back against the couch. His long legs spread out in front of him. She was struck by how tall he was, almost intimidatingly tall. He was wearing a dress shirt and grey trousers, but she could still see the edges of his tattoos peeking out from under the collar of his shirt.
Lily looked down at the folder on her desk. The name printed on the edge said “NASH, JAMIE”. Her eyes immediately flew to the paper crane on the shelf. When she had been studying it the other day, the name NASH was printed across one of the wings, with the first name tucked neatly beneath a fold.
“You left me the crane,” she said.
He smiled at her and nodded, his head barely moving. His eyes were studying her, dancing over her face, and she had to look away before she blushed. She had an urge to call someone in and transfer this case, but what would be her excuse? Because she thought Jamie was irresistibly cute? Because he saved her from falling one night when she had too much to drink? Because she seemed to be inexplicably lured to him? That would sound unprofessional, and ridiculous. She took a breath and opened the folder.
“So, Jamie,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He laughed and leaned forward, but didn’t mention they had met before. His eyes never left her face, waiting for her next move, the hint of a smile playing across his lips.
“Do you want to tell me why you’re here today?” she asked, and met his gaze. His eyes were steely blue, intense. They crinkled at the corners when he smiled, but she could see the seriousness in them. Could tell they would flash when he was angry. The thought crossed her mind that they probably looked just as serious when he was in bed, and she tried to push it away before a blush spread across her cheeks.
Lily felt flushed and shrugged out of her jacket before opening Jamie’s folder and scanning his conviction history. It was longer than most she had seen here. The petty crime and theft were typical. But the multiple arrests for assault gave her a little pause. Most recently it was for suspected involvement in a chop shop. That’s why he was here today. To be interviewed by her.
“What happened to your arm?” he said, interrupting her scan of his criminal history.
“There was an incident the other day,” she said, glancing down at the bandage on her forearm. The jacket she usually wore covered the bandage, but now that it was open she saw it afresh. The bandage covered most of her arm, and she wondered, for the first time, what kind of scar it might leave.
Jamie was suddenly at his feet and coming around the desk.
“Let me see,” he said, reaching for her.
“That’s not a good idea,” she replied, trying to pull her arm away, but his hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her arm toward him. His grip was firm, his hands rough but warm. Her heart sped up at his touch and she involuntarily took a breath. Jamie looked at her intensely, and his grip lightened a little. He brushed his thumb along the inside of her wrist and Lily had to bite her lip to prevent a moan from escaping. She knew she should back away, but didn’t want to. Instead she let Jamie pull her into him, he was at least a head taller than she was, and he bent his head and kissed her. It was firm, eager, and he bit her lip before pulling away. Lily’s heart was racing.
“We can’t do this here,” he said, glancing at the doorway and then stepping back.
Lily was flustered, speechless. She knew she should say they shouldn’t do it at all, but she couldn’t bring herself to.
“Tell me what happened,” he said, gesturing toward her arm again. She longed to feel his fingers on her skin again, but she cleared her throat and composed herself.
“I was with a patient,” she said, “and someone who wanted to hurt him broke through the door,” she pointed. “He had a knife, and I was in the way,” she shrugged.
“It’s really not as bad as it looks,” she said after a moment of him studying the bandage.
“It looks bad,” he said. He was right. It was inches from her artery. It was bad, but it could have been worse.
“I’ll have a great scar,” she said with a laugh.
Jamie didn’t return the laughter.
“What if it happens again?” he asked.
“It won’t,” she replied, but she had wondered that herself.
“If it does…” he persisted. “You need to be able to defend yourself.”
Lily laughed. “I work in a building full of police officers,” she said.
Jamie cocked his eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Some help they were,” he said sarcastically.
Lily didn’t say anything, he had a point. In her office back in the US she had a gun in her desk drawer, stuck to the bottom tabletop in a holster. When her colleagues had installed it for her she thought that was something you only saw in films, but apparently not. She had never used it, but she had reached for it on several occasions. The laws were different here. And she wasn’t sure how to defend herself against a knife attack.
“Have you ever taken a self defence course?” he asked.
Lily nodded. She hadn’t taken it seriously, but they were mandatory in her job back in the US. However the subject of knifes was only briefly touched upon.
“I’m going to teach you how to fight,” he said.
“What?” she replied.
“I teach boxing. I own a gym,” he said. “I want to teach you.”
“I don’t need…” she protested.
“I think you do,” he persisted. His voice was serious, firm. She paused, considering it.
“It’s unprofessional,” she said finally, pointing to the folder.
“Fuck that,” he said, waving it away.
He picked up a scrap of paper from her desk, a yellow post it note she had written her lunch order on, and scribbled the address to his gym.
“Call me if you change your mind,” he said. He bent down and gave her another firm kiss, holding her face between his hands. She wanted to give in to the kiss, to reach around and hold him to her. To kiss him back eagerly. But then he broke away and walked toward the door.
“You can chuck that folder in the bin. I wont be back here,” he said, and disappeared around the corner.
Chapter Four
It was dark by the time Lily got out of work, the night cool and autumnal. It got dark so early here. She always forgot just how far north the UK was compared with the United States. It might get colder on the east coast, but the UK had very long winter nights.
It was raining and she covered her head with her broken umbrella as she dashed from the office block she worked to the tram stop a few streets away. It was raised up, on top of an old railroad trestle, and at the edge of the city, so she could see the skyline clearly. The lights from office block twinkled on and off as people left work, ready to begin their weekend. Below, on the street, she could hear the shouts and laughs that made up the soundtrack to a typical Friday night in the city.
She had to wait for her tram, and the light above her flickered on and off. She stood under the stop, which was unusually vacant for a Friday evening. A group of young kids stood at one end, laughing and kicking a plastic bottle between them. A homeless man had set up shelter on the far edge next to a garbage bin. He was wrapped in blankets and sitting on a cardboard box.
It had been a week since she had seen Jamie in her office, and every so often she would pull the slip of paper with the address of his gym out of her purse. But she hadn’t called him for the boxing lessons. There was a part of her that wanted to. But when she thought about her career, and how much she valued being professional, she held back. Although she had thought of him every day.
Lily fis
hed some loose change out of the pocket of her jacket and dropped it into the cup resting at the man’s feet. He didn’t even glance up at her, his eyes closed and head down. When she turned back to shelter from the rain again she noticed a man had joined her on the platform. As she got closer she realised it was Steve from work. Her stomach sank. She wasn’t in the mood for polite conversation. She thought about backtracking and going along the platform toward the kids, but he had already seen her and waved.
“Horrible night, isn't it?” he asked.
“Yeah, I just want to get home and have a hot cup of cocoa,” she replied.
“And a hot bath,” he said, his tone was suggestive and he winked at her. Now that she was standing next to him she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She took a step back. He must have been drinking at work to be this drunk already, they had only just left the building.
She laugh awkwardly. “Yeah, maybe,” she said, and reached into her purse for her phone. She still couldn’t place why he made her so uncomfortable.
“Can I join you?” he asked.
“For the cocoa?” she replied, feigning innocence. A tram pulled into the station, its breaks squealing and drowning out what Steve said next. It was heading in the opposite direction, away from where she needed to be. She glanced at the board and saw her train was in two minutes.
“This is me,” Steve said, he stepped toward the opening doors.
Lily waved, flooded with relief.
“See you Monday,” she said with a smile.
Before she could move away Steve reached out and grabbed her wrist.
“Why don’t you join me?” he asked. His foot was inside the carriage, but the doors hadn’t yet closed. He was pulling her toward the tram.
“You’re hurting me,” she said, pulling back, raising her other hand, ready to hit him. But his grip was strong.
“Is there a problem here?” a voice called from down the platform. The ticket inspector was leaning out of the last carriage, making sure the doors were clear before the train could move on.
Steve let go of Lily’s wrist and stepped backwards onto the train without a word. The doors closed in front of him and he watched her with dark eyes until the tram turned down the track out of sight.
Lily gasped and sat down on one of the benches, rubbing her wrist. He heart was racing and the thought that she had almost been kidnapped crossed her mind. She tried to push it away, telling herself she was overreacting. But she still felt uneasy. When her tram pulled up he hurried on, looking over her shoulder to make sure Steve wasn’t lurking behind her.
The metro was well lit, and there were other people in the carriage, but she still felt startled. She dug in her purse for her phone.
“I’m up for the lessons,” she typed, and sent the text to Jamie.
A few seconds later she got a return text that read simply “tmrow 9am x”.
***
The next morning Lily woke up early and went for a run along the canal that snaked through the city and by her sister's apartment building. It was cool and the sun created tendrils of fog off the water that hung in the air and half obscured the skyline, turning the buildings a hazy blue. When she got back she felt energised, but nervous. She had already picked up her phone half a dozen times to cancel this boxing session with Jamie. But she wanted to see him again. And she felt like if she cancelled this, she would lose the opportunity.
By the time she was showered and dressed Victoria was awake and making coffee.
"Are you sure you should be getting mixed up with this guy?" Victoria asked, pouring Lily a cup and leaning back against the kitchen counter. For as long as she had lived in the UK, Vic had never given up her coffee drinking habits for a cup of tea. And the coffee maker was a permanent fixture on the side. The electric kettle, an indispensable icon in British kitchens, was tucked away in a cabinet above the refrigerator.
"I'm not mixed up with him," she replied and shrugged. "I'm just letting him teach me some self defence moves. So I feel safe," she sipped her coffee and averted her eyes.
Vic made a noncommittal noise and drained her cup. "Just be careful," she said. "This guy is a lot different than Dereck."
Lily's ex husband's name being spoken aloud made her feel like she'd been slapped. She felt defensive for Jamie all of a sudden, even though she barely knew him.
"I'm aware of that," she replied, sticking her mug in the dishwasher and sliding a backpack onto her shoulders.
"Lils," Victoria called after her as she made her way down the hall toward the door, but she didn't answer, and closed the door silently behind her.
She took the metro out of the city in a direction she had never been before. It snaked along between low red brick houses, the neighborhoods changing faces of a huge diverse city. Finally it was her stop, and she got off, trying not to look like she had no idea where she was going.
She had memorised the route from the tram stop to Jamie's gym. It was a short walk, and after a few minutes she rounded a corner and found herself in front of an old railway arch with a gym built into the space between the supports. Above a train trundled past, and she hesitated, wondering if it was even safe.
Just as she was about to turn and walk away her phone started buzzing in her hand. It was Jamie.
“Hi,” she said.
“Where are you?” he asked. From anyone else this might have sounded bossy, or demanding. But his tone was lighthearted.
“I’m right outside,” she said after a minute, and heard the line go dead as he hung up. A second later he appeared in the doorway. Lily’s breath caught in her throat. He was in gym gear, track bottoms and a hoodie, the hood up and his hands shoved casually in the pockets. Everything fit him perfectly, as if the fabric was made to hang from his body. It struck her that on anyone else she might have seen what he was wearing as sloppy, or something to wear to bed. At the thought of that she blushed and tried to push the image of the two of them in bed from her mind. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and didn’t want him to catch her blushing already.
“Hello love,” he said, his hand resting on her arm and pulling her in. He kissed her on the cheek, friendly, but his lips lingered for a moment and she felt something twist deep in her belly.
“Are you ready?” he asked, stepping back. She had worn the only work-out clothes she owned, running bottoms and a fleece jacket with a tank-top underneath.
“Yeah, I guess I’m ready,” she said. “How do I pay you?”
He looked at her and grinned. “Come on a date with me tonight,” he said.
Lily shook her head, but couldn’t help smiling. “Didn’t I say it’s not appropriate?” she asked.
He took her hand and led her toward the door of the gym. “You’ve seen my record, does it look like I listen to what I’m told?” he returned with a wink. Lily’s stomach flipped again, and she couldn’t think of anything to say. Usually she didn’t have trouble talking to people, but something about Jamie left her tongue-tied.
He opened the door and when her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the gym she saw there was a ring in the middle with weights at the back. It was completely empty.
“Isn’t it open?” she asked.
“Not today, private lesson,” he said.
“Is the private lesson mine?” Lily asked.
“It can be,” Jamie turned to her with a grin on his face. He stepped closer, just a few inches, but the closure between them made Lily's heart beat faster in her chest.
Lily felt the heat rise in her cheeks.
“He's not due for another half hour, do you want a quick lesson?” Jamie was looking down at Lily, his voice was low, calm, and the way his voice hung on the word lesson gave her a chill.
“Where do we start?" she asked. Above her head chains and steel beams snaked across the ceiling.
Jamie reached out and placed his hands on Lily's shoulders. "First, I'm going to teach you how to stand, how to balance," he said, twisting her body. His touch was firm, solid. Sh
e could feel the strength in his arms as he adjusted her posture.
"Copy my stance," he said, and looked down at his feet, the right one back slightly and firmly planted. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and moved behind her, his fingertips grazing her hipbones from behind as he adjusted her alignment slightly. She sucked her breath in at his touch, and she heard him let out a low laugh.
"Are you nervous, Lily?" he asked, his voice close in her ear. He stepped behind her and his hands closed on her shoulders, gentle but firm.
“No,” she whispered, lying. His touch made her gasp, and her answer came out in a low throaty whisper. She half hoped he didn't hear how seductive it sounded. He was explaining how she should position her feet, shoulder width apart and staggered, and evenly distribute her weight. He circled around in front of her and rested his hands on her hips, adjusting them slightly. Lily looked up at him to see he was watching her closely, she opened her mouth to say she should go, and to thank him but she didn’t think it was appropriate, but before she could his grip tightened and he pulled her close to him. He lowered his head and kissed her. It wasn’t tender, or slow, or romantic, the way her husband had kissed her. Jamie pulled her against his hips, his body solid and hard against hers. His lips were soft, deliciously full, and they muffled a moan as he kissed her, eagerly, almost roughly. Jamie stepped toward her, backing her toward the wall. He pushed her hips back and she hit the wall almost hard enough to hurt. A squeal of surprise escaped her lips as Jamie pulled away briefly.
His eyes were darker, almost dangerous looking. And Lily’s heart sped up as she looked at him. His hands were under her shirt, the palms pressing the flat of her stomach and then up under her bra.
“I’ve wanted you since the second I saw you,” he said. He was standing so close to her, and she was struck by how tall he was. How much stronger he was than anyone she had ever been with. That thought was surprising, because she realised that she had already made her mind up to have sex with him. Right here, in the middle of his gym.
Instead of answering, Lily wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him down to her hard, kissing him with a desperate eagerness she didn’t know she had. He groaned and pressed her harder against the wall, his hands lifting her shirt over her head and tossing it aside. His thumbs brushed her nipples through her bra and she moaned, arching her back, desperate to feel more.
