Page 47 of Read Between The Lines

‘Okay,’ I said, acting as if I was giving up on the argument. ‘I have no desire to hurt you, but if you won’t believe me, then I guess there’s only one way to settle this.’

He looked relieved. ‘Don’t worry about hurting me. That’s the object of the game. And I?—’

‘If you’re about to say you doubt I could do that, think again, Mister,’ I said, hooking my leg around his ankle and using the element of surprise to knock him off balance and reverse our positions so I was the one now holding him in place.

‘Nice moves,’ he grunted, as I placed my right hand on his throat. I didn’t apply any pressure, but the warning was there. He might be pretending to be impressed, but my unexpected show of strength had certainly caused his adrenalin to kick in, judging by how rapidly his pulse was beating under my palm.

For a couple of seconds, I revelled in my superiority, then, without any warning, my own leg hook move was used against me and I found myself tumbling towards the crash mat on the ground. But just as I was bracing myself for impact, Leo grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back against him, this time with my back to his chest.

‘Never underestimate your opponent’s strength,’ I said, trying to keep my voice steady as if I was passing comment on the weather. It came out breathier than I’d intended, which I blamed on the fact that I was once again held tight against six foot something of solid man. I briefly closed my eyes to get myself together, then suddenly pitched myself forward and equally as quickly let myself go limp, making him stagger. He only just managed to stop himself tumbling, but succeeded in rallying speedily enough to grab me before I broke free, and heaved me back into a close embrace.

‘Precisely,’ said Leo. ‘And judging by the way you demonstrated that pearl of wisdom when tackling me, I’m guessing that your understanding of it has not solely come from books.’

I jabbed back with my elbow, pulling the full impact so I didn’t wind the guy. I could tell that he was still going easy on me and it was only fair that I afforded him the same courtesy. He wouldn’t be any use to the investigation if he was incapacitated by my self-defence moves at full strength.

‘You guess correctly.’

Leo responded by leaning backwards, effortlessly lifting me off my feet. I could feel the vibration of his laughter against my back. I could have got myself out of the situation by a couple of sharp kicks backwards, followed by a repeat of the passive resistance move, but if I was being completely honest with myself, there was an element of enjoyment in being lifted by him so easily. It was at odds with my feminist principles, but a girl’s got to get her thrills where she can find them.

‘You are full of surprises. Go on, then. Tell me more,’ he urged against my ear. ‘How did you acquire your secret ninja skills?’

‘The university is running an evening course on the women’s liberation movement,’ I explained. ‘Have you ever heard of suffrajitsu?’

‘Actually no, but I think I know where you might be going with this.’

‘It’s a technique which the suffragettes used during the fight for— That’s completely underhand.’ My explanation finished in a yelp because I suddenly found myself flipped around and pinned down on the floor with Leo bracing himself mere centimetres above me.

‘Never forget the importance of the element of surprise,’ he said, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. ‘Ready to use your safe word yet?’

I assessed my situation and realised I was trapped. There was probably something I could do to get myself out of the hold, but my mind wasn’t working at full capacity, rendered somewhat fuzzy by this far too intimate position.

I opened my mouth, ready to say, ‘Darcy’, but instead found myself saying something else completely.

‘Maybe I don’t want to use it.’

ChapterEighteen

‘And then what happened?’ asked Moira, her expression agog.

‘Can’t the poor woman enjoy her meal in peace without being interrogated?’ challenged Rami. ‘Can I help you to some more roast potatoes, Kat?’

He didn’t wait for a reply before adding an extra couple onto my already laden plate. I was in danger of slipping into a food coma after this generous meal, which was probably a good thing as I’d spent most of last night lying awake, mentally re-living that moment in the gym, and wishing that things could have gone differently.

‘How can you be thinking of something so mundane as roast potatoes when Kat’s in the middle of telling us about how she engineered it so Mr Sex-On-Two-Legs was pinning her to the ground and showing off his manly prowess?’

I nearly choked on my mouthful of Yorkshire pudding.

‘Well, when you put it like that, perhaps you’re right. That is far more interesting than roast potatoes, especially as I’ve already polished all mine off,’ said Rami, looking at me expectantly. ‘Go on, Kat, tell us more.’

‘Not you as well, Mr Moira,’ I said. ‘I’ve always had you down as the sensible one.’

‘How rude,’ said Rami. ‘I’d have thought you’d have realised by now that I’m far from sensible. I take great pride in that fact, just ask Moira. I shall retaliate by withholding dessert– a very fine apple crumble, if I do say so myself– until you fill us in on every little detail.’

‘Well said, love,’ said Moira. ‘As you can see, we both feel very invested in this. Besides, you’ve got to let your old married friends get some vicarious enjoyment from your thrilling life of singledom. Or perhaps not singledom anymore, eh? Should I be looking for a hat?’

She mimed putting one on at a jaunty angle.

I rolled my eyes. ‘You’re as bad as my sister, preparing to rush me down the aisle the second a guy even smiles at me. The pair of you have a completely unrealistic perception of my powers of allure.’

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