Page 20 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

I ignored his entirely inappropriate comment and walked past him toward the stairs. I hated elevators, they were way too slow, and the stairs were a good work-out.

“Wait,” he said, catching up with me and following me into the stairwell. “What gym?”

I rolled my eyes. “Spartan Martial Arts. Want to check up on me, make sure I’m not lying to impress you?”

He trotted down the stairs next to me, his elbow bumping mine.

I needed more space, needed to get away from him because his proximity was making it hard to think straight. His spicy male scent and the warmth of his large body were overwhelming all my senses.

“Would you do that?” he asked, a flirty tease to his tone. “Try to impress me?”

“Nope.” I stopped on the next landing and faced him. “Are you going to follow me all the way home? Or am I free to go? I want to get a run and dinner in before the class.”

“I want to take your class,” he said, not a hint of teasing in his expression.

My immediate reaction was to run screaming, but I squared my shoulders and remained passive. If I was emotional about this, if I admitted I didn’t want him to take the class, he’d want to know why and my only explanation, that I didn’t want him in my personal life, because he’d already invaded my thoughts would most likely do little to deter him. “The class is…Well it’s not easy and you need…You’d need to have a mouth guard and hand wraps and…”

“Great,” he said, his grin so wide it threatened to do real damage to my heart. “I’ll see you there at seven.”

He climbed back up toward the tenth floor, and I stomped down the stairs and hurried home.

I shoved all thoughts of Alex out of my brain as I pushed myself through a hard run, showered, and had a quick meal of leftovers.

I arrived at class, dressed in loose-fitting yoga-pants and a t-shirt, about fifteen minutes early. The room was empty, so I stretched and went over the plan for the day.

My class was for beginners, and I had a consistent group of eight to ten people who showed up.

“Heya, Jilly,” Said Mart, an older gentleman with graying hair, and a body most twenty-year-olds would envy. He walked over and gave me a warm hug. “How’s it going today?”

“Going alright,” I said. “Got a new student coming to class tonight, unless he chickens out.”

Mart grinned, his brown eyes twinkling. “Oh, yeah. What’s his story?”

“He’s my boss and he’s never taken a Krav Maga class before. I thought maybe you could partner up with him.”

His smile widened. “He a good boss?”

“He’s a good boss, but he’s obnoxiously cocky. Wouldn’t hurt to take him down a peg or two.”

He chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I do know. No problem, Jilly. I’ll take care of him.”

“Take care of who?” Alex asked. He walked in, followed by two more students.

I sucked in a sharp breath and tried to maintain my composure, as I took in his cut, hard body in a pair of shorts and a sleeve-less work-out shirt. Even in his business suits it was clear the guy was fit, but to see his smooth skin over tight, firm muscles just did something to me. The sort of something that made it hard for me to focus on anyone else in the room. He smiled and walked right over to me. As he got closer, I thought I saw the dark lines of a tattoo peeking out from the edge of the sleeve of his shirt.

The Alex I knew would never have a tattoo. It was probably some frat party dare.

“Welcome,” I said, shoulders back, mask on. “This is Mart. He’ll be your partner today for most of the exercises.”

Alex’s smile pinched just a touch at the edges. “I thought you’d be my partner.”

“She’s the teacher,” Mart said, slapping Alex’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.”

Alex smiled at the older man, probably underestimating Mart like so many others had before him. “No need to be gentle. I’m tough.”

Mart chuckled. “We’ll see, pretty boy.”

Alex’s smile only got wider. “I see Jill’s been talking about me, she just can’t stop saying nice things about me.”

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