Page 19 of Nikolai

"Oh, no. I teach the senior class and yoga and sometimes work the front like today. Rhett teaches the self-defense class."

"Did somebody say my name?"

At the sound of a deep masculine voice, I look to my left to see a man approaching. The guy is tall, has short blond hair, and an easy-going smile.

"Hi, Rhett. Leah here was asking about your self-defense class. I was just filling her in on the details," Samantha informs the man.

The guy turns away from Samantha and brings his attention to me. He smiles and offers his hand. "Hi, Leah, I'm Rhett, the owner."

Like with Samantha, I take his hand. "Hi."

Rhett gives me a warm smile, and his kindness instantly puts me at ease.

"There is a class starting in ten minutes. How about you sit in and watch, then you can decide from there if it's something you are interested in."

I nod. "Okay."

Rhett jerks his chin. "You can follow me."

Walking side by side, Rhett leads me to the back of the gym, where he has several large mats set up. "The classes aren't huge. We have eight ladies coming in this afternoon."

As soon as the words leave his mouth, three women make their way toward us—all three dressed in spandex shorts. Short so short, the material barely covers their butts and tops that look more like bras. The women are also sporting full face makeup and perfectly styled hair, which makes absolutely no sense to me. One of the women, a redhead, proceeds to size me up. Her lips turn up in a sneer. She looks me up and down before looking to my right where Rhett is standing, then back to me. Her sneer quickly morphs into a smirk. I know what she's thinking. It's what all women think when they see me. Under her watchful, judgmental eye, I begin to fidget. I want to tell her she has nothing to worry about. Unlike her, I'm here to learn something, not land a man. Not that Rhett isn't cute, I'm just not interested. He's not him.

An hour later, the class has ended, and as the women clear out, Rhett makes his way over toward me, ignoring the redhead. "So, what did you think?" He wipes away the sweet on his forehead with a towel."

I push my glasses up my nose. "I haven't decided yet."

"I can't stress how important it is for a woman to learn how to take control of any given situation. It's sad, but far too often, women are hurt or worse because they didn't have the tools to protect themselves," Rhett tells me, and I can hear the passion in his voice.

"I get it. Something happened to me a couple of days ago. I was scared."

Rhett's back goes straight. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Luckily, my boss showed up and stopped a guy from harassing me. A friend told me about the classes here, and I figured it was a good idea to come check it out. So, I can prepare for next time."

"I'm glad your friend told you about us. I hope you consider signing up, Leah."

"I think I will. Thanks for letting me watch the class today. I think what you do is important."

Rhett gives me a warm smile, then reaches down to the duffle bag at his side and pulls something out. It looks like a business card. Using a pen, he scribbles something on it and hands it over. "Take my card. I put my cell number on the back. If my current classes don't jive with your schedule and you want me to train you one on one, then that is what we'll do."

I take the card from him and put it in my purse. "Thank you."

"Come on. I'll walk you out."

Accepting his offer, I let Rhett walk me out to my car. "Thanks for everything, and I'll be sure to think about your offer."

"You're welcome, Leah. I hope to hear from you soon."

Later that day,I'm chatting with Alba and telling her about my day when she screeches through the phone. "Oh, my God, Leah! The guy is totally into you."

I roll my eyes. "You're crazy. He was only being nice to a potential client."

"You are oblivious."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you are a knockout but don't know it. You don't see what everyone else sees."

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