Page 58 of Starcrossed Colorado

Her flirty tone sent a thrill of arousal through me. “Let’s find out.”

When I approached, she barred her arm to shove me back. She had more strength than I’d expected. “Nice.”

“Told you I’ve got moves.”

“I never doubted you.”

“I think you doubted me alittle.”

“Okay. That’s true. Learned my lesson.”

We practiced a few more times. I went back to the front of the room, but the uptick in my pulse and the sweat on my brow didn’t match how little I’d been moving. It had just gotten a lot hotter in here.

I clapped my hands. “Let’s go on to body strikes. When you’re in danger, you fight dirty. That means going after weak points. Eyes, throat, groin. Tim, would you join me? Mrs. Stuckey, you’ve got these moves down. Come up and demonstrate on Tim.”

My assistant glared at me.

After strikes, we moved on to the bear-hug defense. “Let’s say someone comes up behind you before you know he’s there. He grabs you, pinning your arms. Immediately, he’s limited your options. This is how to get them back.”

Tim and I demonstrated how to get free, then I asked for a volunteer. Emma raised her hand. So did a couple of other women, but I picked Emma.

Because I had zero shame.

I placed her in front of me, facing the others. “I’m going to pin you. Try to use the defensive moves we showed to get out.”

I came up behind her. We had no mirrors, aside from the window of one-way glass to the lobby, so I couldn’t see her expression as my arms closed around her. But everyone else in the room was watching us.

Emma twisted her body, just like Tim had demonstrated. With a war cry, she mimed driving her elbow into my torso. Spun and aimed a hammer fist at my face, pulling the punch at the last second. Then, instead of retreating, she knocked me off my balance and had me flat on the mat in two seconds.

Damn.

“She’s a ringer,” Mrs. Stuckey complained. “Why haven’t you taught us that move yet?”

“Sorry,” Emma whispered as I got up. But her grin said she wasn’t sorry at all.

It took every iota of my willpower to tear my gaze away from her. And to not pin her against the wall and see if she could get away from me then.

Everyone paired off to practice the bear-hug defense. I placed Emma in a threesome with two other ladies, while Timothy and I moved around to check form.

Then, since Emma had already taken me to the mat, I asked Tim to help me demonstrate a couple of jiu-jitsu-inspired defenses for the ladies to try on the ground.

By the end of the two hours, my students seemed happy and a lot more confident. They shuffled toward the lobby to grab their belongings. Tim was eyeing Emma again like he might ask for her number, so I clapped a hand on his shoulder and steered him toward the door. “Great job today, Timmy. See you next time. Say hi to your mom.”

Emma lingered, grabbing a sip of water from her bottle. Every part of me was aware of her as I thanked the last of my students and made sure they were out the door.

Then I turned to face Emma, my blood zinging through my veins.

“I would offer to show you those advanced moves I promised. But now, I’m wondering how much you already know.”

She shrugged, smiling. “Gotta admit, that was fun.”

I put my fingertip beneath her chin and lifted it. Her eyes were blue as the cloudless sky outside the front window. “What else have you got?” I said, dropping my voice as deep as it would go.

I figured I was being obvious, but I didn’t have it in me to be subtle right now.

Still smiling, she pivoted and went back to the mats. I followed. When she reached the center of the space, Emma held out her hand and beckoned. “Try me.”

Yes, please. Whatever she had in mind, I was here for it.

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