Chapter 9 Liam #2
I called the police, asking them to just go check to be sure everything was okay.
Apparently when they got there Seraph was huddled in a corner, crying for God knew how long.
She was only three at the time. Mila was one, her diaper was soaked, and she had a horrible rash.
Her face had been beet red from crying. When I finally pulled them into my arms that night, I broke.
They both were evaluated at the hospital just to be sure there was no lasting damage done.
That was the beginning of the end for us.
I hung in there, doing everything I could to support my wife, help her get better. I was fully signed up for the “in sickness and in health” part of my vows. And then things got worse, a whole hell of a lot worse.
“Hello?”
I blinked, shaking myself of the thoughts.
Haley rounded the front desk wearing a puffy coat and snow boots. Once she shed the layers and stepped out of her boots, her eyes landed on me, and her easy smile nearly floored me.
“Hey,” I managed to respond after taking her in.
She wore yoga pants that cut off at her calf, and a cropped T-shirt that showed her sports bra, it left her stomach bare and fuck if it didn’t feel like I was in high school again, getting worked up over seeing the smallest patch of smooth skin from the girl I was crushing on.
Was I crushing on her? Fuck, I couldn’t be.
“So, did the girls get to school okay? Sorry if I messed with your routine this morning,” she said, lowering her duffel bag to the ground. For some strange reason I hoped that bag would be packed full of enough clothes for her to stay at my house again.
I lifted my shoulder, “It was no problem, they enjoyed it and yeah, they got to school fine, and got all excited on their way in.”
“Oh, good.”
I had to get my mind off her and the memory of waking up to her in my house. I had to stop thinking about how perfectly she seemed to fit there.
I grabbed her bag from the floor and then headed in the direction of the floor mats where we’d be working.
The sooner she was out of my gym and away from me, the sooner I could breathe again.
Haley lowered to her haunches and pulled out two pink boxing gloves from her bag and a mouth guard.
“Okay, I came prepared. I even purchased head gear, but I don’t want to put it on unless you say I have to because I know I’ll look ridiculous.”
She was rambling and it was cute as fuck, and the gloves she got seemed tiny. Like her.
“We’ll get to those, but we’re going to just get the footwork down first.”
She stood and gave me a slight nod.
“Come here.” I held my hand out, not really even meaning to, but her hand suddenly landed in mine and it was like all the blood rushing around in my chest quickly shot to my cock.
Her hand was so soft, and me holding it wasn’t necessary, but she didn’t know that. It was like last night when I grabbed her wrist and trailed my hand over her delicate skin. She never pulled away. It still felt like a firework had exploded in my chest when I thought about it.
It made me wonder what else I might be able to get away with.
“Should I stand here?” She looked down, watching her feet as she positioned them on the mat.
Tugging her hand, I made her shuffle directly in front of me.
“There will be some scenarios in which I’m going to stand behind you and direct some of your movements, so you get the hang of it, okay?”
Her shiny hair was swept up into a ponytail, which made the ends kiss her neck when she dipped her head down.
“So the first thing we need to establish is what you already know?”
I was still standing in front of her, but I’d dropped her hand.
Her green eyes tipped up as she met my stare, then she swiped her tongue across her bottom lip as she seemed to think over my question.
“Um…I picked up a few things from this YouTube video. I know I need to trust my instincts, and show confidence, right? I can’t remember if that was one of them or not. Um, what else?” Her eyes went to the ceiling.
She snapped her fingers excitedly. “Keep a safe distance…”
“Yeah, that’s a great place to start.”
She let out a small chuckle. “I need to get better at using this stuff. Sometimes I just dive into things headfirst.”
I began stretching my arms above my head, curious at her odd statement. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing, it’s just last night, before you texted, I was going to go to McGrady’s.”
I scoffed, not liking the image of her there, drinking…getting hit on.
“You’re not old enough.”
Her cynicism transitioned into a full-bellied laugh as she began to follow me into a series of stretches.
“Technically not, I suppose, but I have a fake ID and I really needed to be around people last night…or at least not be alone. I didn’t go so it doesn’t even matter.”
I moved my arm in front of me and watched as she did the same. I had texted her to come over, but she seemed almost like there was another reason she chose not to go.
“What happened?”
I noticed that her nails had pink on them, hot pink. It was the same color on my girls’ nails this morning as they waved goodbye to me.
Her lips tipped down as she focused on the mat.
“There’s this guy I met at the Community Center. Jeffery Adkins or Aspen…something like that. Anyway, he was nice enough in the center, but he was there last night. He came up to my window, and I rolled it down without thinking and let him get up in my space.”
I lifted a brow as a ball of jealousy tightened in my gut.
“What did he want?” I already knew what he wanted.
He wanted what every guy who saw her wanted. To taste those lips and touch that skin.
She followed me into a lunge, shoving her foot in front of her. Her little ankle socks were white and looked vibrant against her tanned skin.
“He just wanted me to go in with him. I mean, I insinuated I wanted to go in, and he just offered to go with me. But my point is––regardless if he’s totally harmless or not––I should have considered these self-defense tips I had already looked up and put them to use.
I feel like I need a reprogramming session or something. ”
“How do you know he’s harmless?” She was right, Jeffery Akers was harmless.
But I didn’t like that he was talking to her outside of a bar at night and was comfortable enough to invite her inside.
“I guess I don’t, but while I was home this morning, he swung by with coffee and flowers.”
That knot in my gut grew.
I pulled my leg behind me, stretching my quad. “Sounds a little dangerous to me. How did he know where you lived?”
Those beautiful green eyes rolled as she shifted her leg to mirror mine, but her head dipped.
I didn’t like that, so I released my leg, and stepped forward. Those eyes were back on me, and she didn’t seem to be bothered that I had grabbed her chin, or that we were standing so close.
“Tell me how he knew where you lived.”
She searched my face as her fist clutched at the hem of my shirt, which made me feel wildly possessive.
“He texted Cole, asking for my number.”
There was a roaring in my ears, and it wasn’t good.
Why did I care if Jeffery Akers asked for her number or if my best friend gave it to him? Why did it matter that he showed up with coffee and flowers?
I took a few steps back and cleared my throat.
“Okay, well, let’s get back to the lesson. You’re right, those are all great places to start with self-defense. Your instincts will betray you, so something we’re going to work on is sensing tells and when to start getting yourself into a defensible position.”
“I think I have pretty good instincts.”
She was joking, but I caught the hint of offense underneath her tone.
Remembering that this woman already owned a few companies made me realize it was her professional instincts she was taking offense over. But instead of explaining rationally what I meant, I decided to be an asshole.
“Well, you’re dating Jeffery Akers, so…”
I was petty and pissed, and for some shitty reason, I felt like I was in high school again and not thirty-two years old. It was a good thing that she was dating someone else, it would draw a line in the sand between us that I personally needed to be there.
She had been watching her feet again, but when I said that her head snapped up.
Green eyes narrowed on me as her lips thinned into a serious line.
“I’m not dating him. He’s a friend. Not even that, he’s an acquaintance.”
“Coffee and flowers is dating, babe.” I moved around her until she was following me.
She scoffed, her face flushing all the way down to her neck.
“I’m not. That’s not—”
“Can we get on with the lesson?” I gave her a serious look, and I knew she was flustered. So, I decided to take advantage.
She was still fuming when I advanced. It was so quick there was no room for her to do anything. One second, I was across the mat, and the next, my chest was pressed against hers, her wrists cradled between us, and my grip was firm.
Her eyes went wide as her chest heaved.
“Now, your instincts should have told you to stay on the defense. You let down your guard, and I took advantage. Show me how you’d get out of this.
” My voice was low, and fuck, she was about to feel my hard-on press into her stomach in three seconds, but there was nothing I could do about that now.
Her body felt so perfect against mine, and the way she looked up at me––like there wasn’t a single chance in the world I would ever hurt her––was addictive.
She twisted her hips, which had her brushing against my shorts.
I couldn’t help but groan and lower my face until my forehead pressed into her shoulder.
“That is not going to get you out of someone’s hold. It will get you fucked, though, so try something else.”
She was breathing harder now. I could feel her tits press against my fingers as I held her hands in place.
She tried to pull away, but by doing so she thrust her hips forward and fuck, I had trained plenty of people without ever getting turned on, but I was fully erect now and lacking any self-control.