by Katie Ruggle
Shoulders up, tuck my chin, thrust palm, connect with the side of his wrist, shove his arm away, move my face in case I miss, and return hand to guard position.
“Good.” The compliment was a mere grunt, but it still warmed her insides. “Again.”
Over and over, slightly faster each time, he threw punches at her face. Gradually, her movements became automatic, and she didn’t have to think about each step. Her body just started doing what needed to be done.
“Okay,” he said, shifting his balance back. Norah felt a line of sweat tickle her spine, and she wished she could take off another layer. If she took anything else off, however, she’d be down to her underwear, and Dash was much too attractive for her to be that close to naked in front of him. “Let’s work on breaking some holds.” His voice was even as he continued, either ignoring the fact that she’d turned bright red or not noticing that she suddenly resembled a stop sign. As warm as the gym was, he probably just thought she was overheating because of the physical effort, rather than embarrassment.
He was waiting again, so she gave him a slight lift of her chin in response. That seemed to be what he’d been waiting for, because he shifted closer and waited for her to imitate his ready stance.
“If I grab you, what’s your first impulse?” He closed his fingers around her forearm, the rough rasp of his skin in direct opposition to the gentle, careful way he held her.
She blinked down at his hand, surprised that she wasn’t more upset. Normally, she wasn’t a big fan of strangers touching her. Her gaze moved to Dash, and she wondered why it was different with him.
“Your first impulse is to stand there?” She felt her cheeks warm again, but he sounded surprised, rather than mocking.
Norah tried to think of how to explain that he didn’t trigger the usual alarm in her brain, but she couldn’t even understand it herself. If anyone except her sisters—well, apparently her sisters or Dash—touched her, she would have yanked away. “No,” she answered belatedly. “I’d pull back. If someone else grabbed my arm, I mean.”
The revealing heat was returning to her cheeks, annoying her. Why am I being so extra awkward with him?
Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice anything off about her as he increased the pull on her arm. His fingers stayed gentle, even as he hauled her close to him. She wondered if she was supposed to fight back, but her brain was still preoccupied by her strange behavior, so she couldn’t think of the best way to get free from his hold. As careful as his grip was, it was still firm and unyielding. Her forearm looked tiny and frail in contrast to his thick, rough-looking fingers.
He pulled her closer until their fronts were almost touching. She kept her gaze on his face, checking for clues about what he wanted her to be doing in response. All she knew from looking at him was that his eyelashes were as black and thick as a mascara ad, and he appeared to be…baffled.
“Why aren’t you pulling back?” he finally asked, pulling her attention away from her study of his eyelashes.
“Am I supposed to?” she asked.
“No.”
She frowned slightly, confused.
“Most people do, and we have to train a different reaction. You’re the first person I’ve trained with such a…passive response.”
Norah’s frown deepened. “Passive?” She didn’t like to think of herself as passive. Even in her less physical role in her family’s bounty hunting business, her contribution felt active, like she was accomplishing something. Her method of chasing might be computer-based, but it was its own type of hunt. Though…she had to admit that she hadn’t done very well in the field. Maybe if she hadn’t been so passive, she wouldn’t have ended up on the wrong end of a gun so often.
Her chin set as determination coursed through her. This was why she was here, after all. She wanted to get better at the physical part so she could do her part to protect her sisters. She was tired of always being the one tied to the railroad tracks. Instead, she wanted to be the hero riding to the rescue, for once. “What should I do instead?”
The corner of his mouth twitched in something so close to a smile that she blinked, startled. “Just what you did,” he said.
Shaking off her distraction, she looked up at him, confused. “I thought I was too passive.”
“Not in this case.” He stepped back without releasing her arm. “Like I said, most people pull back when someone grabs them. That’s what the assailant expects you to do. If you step in closer, instead, it throws them off guard.”
Norah could understand why the attacker would be thrown initially, but there were still holes in his logic. “I haven’t gotten away, though.”
“That’s the next step.” He pulled her in again, and she allowed herself to be tugged toward him, even as the word passive rang sourly in her brain. This close, she had to tilt her head back to meet his gaze. “Now, you’re in a position to get some hits in. You could knee me in the groin or stomp on my foot or do a palm heel strike to my nose. All my tender bits are at your mercy.”
The words tender bits coming from cranky Dash made her smile, but his meaning sharpened her grin. “Nothing passive about smashing your…tender bits.”
This time he really did smile, and it looked just as fierce as hers felt. “Nope. As tiny and fragile as you seem, they won’t see it until it’s too late.”
Her surge of confidence faltered. “See what?”
He gave a light tap on her sternum. “Your ferocious inner badger.”
Her smile returned at full force, and she started asking him to show her how exactly to crush his bits when a thunderous knocking made her jump. His scowl snapped back into place before he released her arm and headed for the entrance.
She watched him flip the deadbolt and yank open the door, as butterflies danced around her insides. When she’d walked in the gym for the first time a few days before, the most she’d been hoping for was to possibly learn to throw a punch. All she wanted was to never again be a liability in a fight, but Dash made it seem like even more was possible. With time and training, she might become a true bad-ass. It was a powerful feeling.
“What?” Dash snarled, but even his cranky tone couldn’t erase her smile, especially since his ire wasn’t directed at her.
“Why’s the door locked?” Another voice, almost as deep as Dash’s but not half as gravelly, asked. “This place is never closed. I thought you were dead or something.”
“Private session. Come back in an hour.” Dash swung the door shut, ignoring the other man’s protests, and clicked the deadlock back into place.
As he rejoined her where she waited in the center of the gym, she felt a twist of anxiety thinking that all the usual gym clients were locked out, waiting in the alley, getting more and more annoyed because she was having a private session with Dash. “You didn’t have to close the gym down just for me.”
He gave her a level look. “You don’t need a bunch of meatheads staring while you try to learn this stuff. Archer’s right—this place is almost always open. He can come back later.”
The thought of having an audience as she struggled through the motions made her nauseated, and she gave him a grateful nod. “Thank you.”
With a grumbly noise, he waved his hand as if dismissing her thanks. “Let’s not waste this time then. Palm heel strikes, when you do them right, can be even more effective than a punch…”
As Dash continued, Norah focused on him, filing every word into the proper place in her brain. At the back of her mind, she was almost giddy with the knowledge that he’d closed down the entire gym for her because he knew she’d be uncomfortable with people watching. The happy butterflies in her belly took flight again, but she batted them down, determined to concentrate.
After all, empty-gym time was precious and not to be wasted.
* * *
Norah peeked around the door before stepping into the entr
y of her house, feeling a bit guilty that she was learning self-defense from someone other than Felicity. Rather than the mostly empty house she’d expected, it sounded as if all of her sisters were home—and all speaking at once. Giving up on her plan of slipping in unnoticed, Norah stepped inside, curious as to what was happening.
“Norah!” her oldest sister, Molly, called from where she was pacing the kitchen, a cellphone pressed to her ear. “You’re home. Good. Cara and I need some help in here.”
Charlie spun around from where she and Felicity were deep in discussion by the bottom of the stairs, their heads so close they were almost touching. “Wait your turn, Moo. We need Norah. We’re so close to finding Mom.” Charlie crossed the living room and grabbed a fold of Norah’s shirt, as if to hold her in place.
Eyebrows shooting up, Norah looked at her sister’s fingers and then met Charlie’s amped gaze. “What’s happening? You really have a lead on Mom?” Her stomach twisted with a mix of emotions. Although it wasn’t a surprise that Jane disappeared after using the necklace as collateral on her daughters’ home, Norah still felt sick every time she thought about it. She also hated the thought of her mom going to prison, and she was annoyed that she even cared. After all, Jane didn’t seem to mind that her actions were about to make her daughters homeless.
“Yes.” Felicity was the one who answered as she bounced across the room to join them. Judging by the excited gleam in her eyes, she wasn’t feeling the same messy mix of feelings that Norah was. “It’s a good lead, too. Do you remember Evan Sage?”
The name rang a bell, but Norah had to think hard before asking, “He was a deputy who moved away sometime last year?”
“That’s the one.” Charlie grinned as she cast a sideways glance at Felicity. “He got a job with the police department in a small town in North Dakota—”
“South,” Felicity interjected.
“Right.” Giving a little shrug, Charlie accepted the correction with good grace. “I always get those two confused. I wish they’d just merge into one big state called Dakota. Anyway, apparently, he’s still obsessed with our Fifi here, and he texted her when he spotted Jane in some security footage, taking a five-finger discount at their local Wal-Mart just an hour ago. Store security didn’t manage to catch her, so they passed the case to the local PD.”
“He’s not obsessed with me,” Felicity said mildly.
Without pausing, Charlie continued, “Obsessed Deputy Evan sent over the video files of inside and outside the store. Could you go through them and make sure it’s Mom and if you can spot what she’s driving nowadays?”
“Of course,” Norah said, shoving her conflicted feelings aside as a spark of excitement grew inside her. As much as she knew she needed to learn the skills Dash had started teaching her, her first love was doing research, safe behind her computer screen. “Are the files saved in our shared drive?”
“You know it.” Releasing Norah, Charlie grabbed hold of Felicity’s arm instead and towed her toward the door where their two backpacks were waiting. “Text us if you find anything. We’re going to get on the road and head toward Dakota.”
“That’s not a thing,” Felicity complained as she freed herself from her sister’s hold in order to shoulder one of the packs. “You can’t just change two states’ names on a whim to make up for your geographical shortcomings.”
“But it makes so much sense.” Grabbing the other backpack, Charlie headed out the door, and her voice grew fainter as she crossed the front porch. “Think of how much embarrassment it would save people. I can’t be the only one who gets those two confused.”
“Bye Norah,” Felicity said, rolling her eyes at her twin. “Bye Molly and Cara!”
The two in the kitchen chorused their goodbyes, and Molly added, “Keep in contact, and don’t do anything stupid.”
Pausing in the doorway, Felicity called back, “I never do anything stupid.”
Molly stuck her head into the living room. “Try to keep Charlie from doing anything stupid, then.”
“I heard that!” Charlie yelled from outside.
“Good! Then you’ll know not to do anything stupid!” Molly shouted back, although she was smiling.
With a final quick wave at Norah, Felicity left, letting the screen door bang closed behind her. The sound, as familiar as it was, made Norah jump. It seemed to emphasize the finality of her sisters’ exit. This might be the last time they have to chase after Jane.
Norah pulled her gaze off the closed door and headed into the kitchen. It seemed a lot quieter without Charlie and Felicity there, even though Molly was still talking to someone on her cell.
“Ready to research?” Cara asked with a smile that turned puzzled as she studied Norah. “What have you been up to? You look like you just ran a marathon or fell into a pond. Possibly both.”
Norah hesitated. She was reluctant to answer, but she wasn’t sure whether that was because her sisters would feel responsible for dragging her into dangerous situations, or because she wanted to keep Dash her own personal secret for a while. The second option made her uncomfortable, so she quit thinking about it and just blurted, “I was at the gym.”
Cara’s eyes widened. Even Molly, who was supposed to be paying attention to the person on the other end of the line, looked fascinated. “What gym?” Cara asked, the corners of her mouth lifting as her eyes sparked with titillation.
Before Norah could answer, Molly was saying into the phone, “Gotta go. Interesting things happening here.” There was a short pause before she snorted a laugh. “Yes, more interesting than you. It is possible, you know. Love you. Bye.” Ending the call, she shoved her cell into her pocket without looking away from Norah. “You went to a gym? Why? Doesn’t Fifi torture you enough?”
“Who was that on the phone?” Norah knew her stall tactic wouldn’t work—at least not for long—but she needed a few moments to get her thoughts together. Molly and Cara would feel the guiltiest if Norah explained her true reasons for wanting to learn how to fight. After all, she’d been their backup when her failure to defend herself had become glaringly evident.
“John Carmondy, of course.” Cara was the one who answered. “Who else does she love except for us, and we’re all here—well, we were all here, before Fifi and Charlie left.”
“It could’ve been Lono,” Norah argued. “She loves her dad.”
“Quit stalling.” Molly narrowed her eyes into the stern glare that was guaranteed to make Norah fold. Of course her sister saw right through her delaying tactics. “What’s going on?”
“I…um… I wanted to take some MMA lessons?” Her voice turned up at the end, and Norah knew she’d failed. Her sisters would see through her lame excuse in a second, and then she’d have to tell them the truth—that she didn’t want to be the weak link. She couldn’t live with the idea that she might be the reason they were killed or injured, because they trusted her to act as backup and she miserably failed.
Both Cara and Molly were eyeing her suspiciously, and she braced for the coming inquisition. “Why would you suddenly decide that you’re interested in fighting of any sort?”
“Uh… It’s actually an interesting sport? An art form even.” She resisted the urge to close her eyes and sigh at her utter hopelessness.
The silence from her two sisters was charged as they looked at each other and then back at Norah. The sheer glee in both of their expressions made her pretty sure that they hadn’t reached the correct conclusion, and she let the air out of her lungs in a quiet breath of relief. “Is all this,” Molly sketched a circle in the air, encompassing Norah’s entire sweaty and bedraggled form, “because of a guy?”
“A really fit MMA guy?” Cara, who was usually her steadiest and most practical sister, sounded positively giddy. “One who insists that the only way to learn is if he puts his strong, sinewy hands on you to guide you through each movement?”
&n
bsp; Even Molly’s eyebrows flew up at that, and she turned to stare at Cara. “Where’d that come from?”
“That movie Henry and I watched the other night. The one with the hot Samoan boxing coach?”
“Oh, right,” Molly said, and then both of her sisters refocused on Norah, making her panic a little.
“It’s not… I mean, there is a guy, but that’s not… He’s not…” She trailed off, unable to finish the absolutely ridiculous lie that Dash wasn’t hot and that she wasn’t attracted to him. Her face burned, and she knew her normally light skin was currently bright red. Just go with it, her inner voice urged. It was an easy way out of having to explain her true reasons, which would just make her sisters feel bad. Still, admitting that she found Dash enormously hot felt a little too close to the truth. This was just one more way she could protect her sisters from hurt, though. If that meant a little humiliation on her part, that was a small price to pay. With a sigh, she held her hands up in a shrug. “Fine. He’s really, really gorgeous.”
A sound that could only be described as a squeal emanated from both of her sisters in stereo, and Norah winced from both the decibel and the attention.
“It is a guy! You voluntarily went to a gym because you’re interested in a guy!” Cara was positively giddy. “What about the sinewy hands thing, though? Was I right about that part?”
“Our little Norah is all grown up,” Molly cooed, making Norah cringe. Molly’s delighted laugh was contagious, though, and she found herself giving her sisters a sheepish smile.
“Well? Spill!” Cara prodded, and Norah stared at her blankly. She’d already spilled on the whole Dash thing. What more did her sisters want? Cara rolled her eyes affectionately as she clarified, “What’s his name? Description? How’d you meet him? Are you dating or just working out together?” Cara’s eyebrows bobbed up and down suggestively, making Norah laugh. The truth was, she’d found out about Dash’s gym online, and it was rated the best in the area for mixed-martial arts training. She hadn’t set eyes on Dash until she’d forced herself to walk into his gym, but that didn’t fit with this less-guilt-inducing version of events that she was letting her sisters believe.
