A Kickin’ Karate Christmas (Single Dads All the Way #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter one

Jake

“Daddy, can I go practice a little more before we go home?” my daughter, Emerson, asked as she tugged at my hand. Her round face was red from exertion and the yellow belt tied around her waist was loose, but she was brimming with excitement.

She’d only been taking karate at this dojo for six months and already there was a marked change in her personality.

She was more outgoing, more confident, and it became more of a struggle to get her to go home after every class.

I loved seeing it, loved watching her blossom and pushing through every new lesson—even when they were hard.

How could I say no to her wanting to practice more on something she clearly loved?

“Check with Sensei Mat. He might need the other room for a private lesson,” I answered.

She dropped my hand and skipped through the crowd of parents and children getting ready to leave the dojo, weaving her way to the front desk where her teacher, Mateo Delgado, sat behind a computer.

I walked behind her, apologizing as I passed the people she’d bumped into in all of her seven-year-old exuberance.

I reached her just in time to hear her sensei give his approval.

Then, she was off like a flash again, this time running back to another little girl in her class and dragging her into the small second practice room the dojo had set up.

I’d barely seen it used beyond the rare student practicing or stretching before class.

I watched through the window as my daughter and the other little girl bowed onto the mat and took their positions.

“She seems really focused.” I looked over to see her sensei watching beside me, the proud expression on his face matching the tone of his voice. “They both do.”

I smiled softly at him. “She loves it here.”

“I can tell.”

I turned my attention back to the display in front of me, watching as my daughter and the other little girl worked their way through the kata they’d been working on in class, correcting one another’s stances and moves.

I watched as my daughter adjusted where her hand was before a punch at her friend’s suggestion and then as she fixed the way her friend was standing. It was amazing.

Six months ago, she’d been shyer. She would have been afraid to correct her friend, even if she knew she was right.

When I signed her up for karate, I hadn’t expected to see that much of a change.

I’d just hoped that she’d have some kind of physical activity.

Maybe I’d secretly hoped that she’d come out of her shell a little, but I hadn’t expected the near one-eighty.

In the dojo, she was quick to ask for help.

She was quick to try new things, even when she didn’t master them immediately.

She was even talking about entering some of the local karate tournaments advertised on posters hanging around the dojo.

As I observed her and her friend, I felt someone watching me.

My eyes darted over to Mateo, and I noticed him studying me with the same intensity that I was watching Emerson.

Warmth blossomed in my gut, and I felt my cheeks warm.

When I stole another glance, he was looking back at his computer.

For a moment, I wondered if I’d imagined it.

His dark brows were furrowed as he studied the screen, concern etched into the lines of his face. “Is everything okay?” I asked, the words forming in the air between us before I even made the conscious choice to speak.

Maybe Emerson wasn’t the only one to change in this dojo. I felt more comfortable there than I had almost anywhere else in a long time.

“Just some boring business stuff.”

Boring business stuff? I sat down in one of the chairs by the desk, left positioned facing toward the window so parents could watch their children in the smaller room in comfort.

They were much more comfortable than the chairs that lined the walls in the main practice space.

“You realize I like boring business stuff, right?” I questioned, angling my body toward him slightly.

Liked may have been too strong of a word for my views on boring business stuff, but he didn’t need to know that.

I watched as the words washed over him. His brow unforrowed, and his dark eyes softened. “Do you need to talk about it?”

He looked over his shoulder. There were still a few people lingering: kids talking by the cubbies where they put their shoes during classes and their parents standing nearby, playing on their phones while they carried on a quiet conversation.

Mateo leaned across the desk. “It’ll come out eventually.

” His voice was quiet, but I could hear a whisper of defeat beneath his words.

“The dojo isn’t doing as well as I’d like, and the building’s rent’s going up. ”

“What does that mean?”

“Even with raising fees a little, I’m not sure it’ll be enough.”

Oh. That explained the defeat in his voice.

I didn’t know how he’d come to own a dojo or become a teacher.

I’d heard him talking to the students in the past, and I knew that he was barely thirty, and he’d had the dojo for a few years.

I could imagine the way it might feel like failure, knowing that a business he cared about was circling the drain when he was so young.

I had almost ten years on him, and it would still feel like a failure to me.

Not that I had a business to circle the drain. My professional endeavors were luckily tied to the success of a small marketing firm. If that went under, I’d be able to find another job. I wouldn’t be out anything, not the way Mateo would be if something happened to his business.

Then there were the children to think about.

Specifically, my child. Emerson loved this dojo, loved it in a way I’d never seen her love anything in her life.

I didn’t want to see her lose that. The idea of trying to find another karate school for her when she was so comfortable with this one didn’t sit right.

She’d already had enough upheaval in her young life.

She’d had to deal with my divorce from her mother, moving from her childhood home, leaving behind her friends in our old neighborhood.

I didn’t want to see her go through more.

I had a vested interest in this place that I hadn’t even known existed six months before.

And I’d admit it; I had a vested interest in Mateo Delgado.

The stolen glances I’d noticed earlier weren’t the first time I’d caught him looking my way.

I would be lying if I said I never looked at him either.

I’d been taken aback by how attractive he was the first time I saw him, and that hadn’t changed.

Even if I didn’t have the selfish motivation of not wanting to upset my daughter’s life, I would still have the selfish motivation of wanting to have an excuse to look at him.

“What if I came up with some ideas?” I offered.

“What do you mean?”

“I work in marketing. I could look at your numbers, see what’s needed, and then come up with some kind of strategy to close the gap.

Social media marketing, little specials, things like that.

We could figure out a way to get the other parents involved,” I suggested.

I’d heard the other parents talk. Emerson’s experience at this dojo wasn’t unique to her.

Every single parent I’d talked to when we first started sang both the dojo and Mateo’s praises.

They all had stories about the ways their children had changed by signing up for karate.

I had a feeling none of them would want to watch their children lose that either.

“I don’t think I can afford a marketing plan,” Mateo replied, shaking his head.

I sighed, looking back at my daughter. She was running through her routine while her friend watched. “That’s enough of a payment,” I told him, indicating my daughter and her friend. “Emerson loves it here. I don’t want her to lose this place.”

And if that wasn’t enough for him, we could figure out some kind of compensation. Maybe he’d accept bartering. A few private lessons in exchange for my work. Whatever it would take to get him on board.

“Are you sure?” His voice was soft as he questioned the validity of my offer.

If I hadn’t been when I made the offer, that tone in his voice alone would have made me completely sure.

“I am,” I assured him. “You don’t have to agree right now.

Think on it, and then, text me.” I pulled a business card out of my wallet and flipped it over.

I took one of the blue ballpoint pens from his desk and scrawled my personal cell phone number on the back before I passed it over to him. “Or you can call me. Either way.”

Mateo paused for a moment, fingers running along the rounded edges of my business card before he nodded.

I let the conversation drop and turned my attention back to my daughter.

She and her friend ran through their kata a few more times before the other girl’s mom peeked her head into the room and told her it was time to go.

I could hear Emerson groaning as her friend walked away and decided it was time to pull her out of her practice zone, too.

We still had to get home and get her ready for school the next day.

I didn’t expect to hear from Mateo that night, but after I got Emerson put to bed, I began researching ideas.

Even if this wasn’t a paid project, I was going to treat it the same way I would if Mateo had walked into my office and hired me.

I started by looking at his website, making notes on ways it could be improved.

I searched the dojo online, taking notes of the web presence and the limited ads I found.

I searched other dojos in the surrounding areas, and I took notes on them as well.

After an hour, I had a file of notes and a silent phone.

I didn’t even know if he was going to take me up on my offer, if he was willing to let someone help him save his business.

He had to, though, right? Not accepting help would be a bad idea, and Mateo didn’t strike me as the type to let pride interfere with what was best for the children he taught.

Keeping the dojo open was what was best for them. It was what was best for Emerson.

I found myself checking my phone as I closed my laptop and began going through my nighttime routine.

I took a quick shower, and I fought to keep my thoughts off Mateo and the way he’d looked at me that night.

It crossed a line. He was Emerson’s sensei, which would be the same as jacking off to thoughts about her teacher.

Those were lines that shouldn’t be crossed, but images of Mateo’s skin glistening with sweat danced around the corners of my thoughts.

I turned the water to cold and finished my shower.

I’d given up on Mateo reaching out by the time I laid down and put my phone on the charger.

Which was, of course, the moment my phone buzzed.

Mateo

Sorry for texting so late. I was thinking about what you offered, and I’m not sure if I can take you up on it.

Jake

Is there a reason?

Mateo

I can’t pay you.

I feel like it’d be taking advantage of you.

I looked at the words on the screen.

Jake

It’s not taking advantage if I offer my services.

Besides, I’m getting something out of it too.

Mateo

Yeah? What are you getting out of it?

Jake

A happy kid.

The text bubble appeared and disappeared a few times as I watched, waiting for his reply.

Mateo

Ok.

I looked at the two letters. I wanted to know what else he’d been wanting to say, what other rebuttals he’d offered before agreeing, but it was the end result that mattered the most, wasn’t it? It mattered that Mateo agreed to let me help. I wanted to save Emerson’s dojo.

Getting to spend more time with the sexy sensei was just a perk, even if it was a line I refused to cross.