She started walking toward the exit. Lance’s steps echoed behind her before they caught up.
“I watched your fight,” she said, needing to focus on something she could control, like their topic of conversation.
“What’d you think?”
Naughty things. Watching Lance in the ring had been the only time she hadn’t veered off into her past. Everything about him had held her captivated—his body, his moves, his confidence. She’d found it all incredibly hot. Hotter than she really should have. But only she needed to know that. “I remembered our conversation about size difference from a few days ago and wondered how were you doing it.”
“I used his size against him.”
That grabbed her attention. She stopped and faced him. “How? I want to be able to do that.”
Brows furrowed, he studied her so intently she had to keep from fidgeting. Stop trying to figure me out, Lance, and answer the question.
“There’s a difference between what I went up against and what you go up against, Kelsey. Someone who outweighs you can still have amazing speed. Someone who outweighs me is not as flexible. That’s why most heavyweight fights rely on stand-up. They wrestle, but when it comes to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, it’s rare a heavyweight has a good ground game. There are a few, but not many.”
“That makes sense.” Not that she liked the answer. Watching Lance go up against Kelvin had reminded her so much of her going against Randy. She’d thought, hoped, Lance had some pointers he could teach her. She turned to start walking again, but Lance latched on to her upper arm, stopping her. She turned her face toward him. Concerned confusion etched his features.
“Why are you so focused on size difference, Kelsey?”
Shit. She swallowed. Lance had probably earned the right to know her motivation—at least some of it. The last thing she wanted was to talk about her past, especially not after the emotional wringer she’d been through tonight. “It’s intriguing, don’t you think? A person going up against, and then defeating, someone they shouldn’t be able to. I saw the reaction from the crowd. You were favored to lose.”
“I was.”
“But you didn’t.” She shrugged nonchalantly and hoped her blithe tone relieved his concerns for now. “That’s intriguing. Now, though, I just want to get home.”
Without another word, she opened the door beside the closed bay doors and strode into the parking lot and complete darkness. When she’d arrived earlier, the place had been bright from the lights inside the warehouse and the headlights from the cars. Now there wasn’t even a streetlamp to chase away the night. Hell, there wasn’t even a moon.
The crunch of the gravel underneath their feet and the chirp of crickets in the distance were the only sounds. Besides Lance, how far away was the nearest person?
When they neared her car, she pressed the unlock button on her car keys. The clicking boomed in the silence. She stopped at the driver’s side, opened the door to allow the light from the interior to brighten the area, then faced Lance. Despite the shadows darkening portions of the face, she could still make out his perplexed expression. So her explanation hadn’t fooled him. Damn it. It probably hadn’t helped that he’d also witnessed her in the midst of a panic attack. Double damn it.
“Thank you for staying,” she said. “This would’ve been creepy by myself.”
He reached for a strand of her hair and rubbed it between his fingers. Her breathing hitched tight in her lungs. Need built inside her, about to combust out of control. She wanted to feel his touch. Wanted him. It didn’t seem to matter how involved he was with the cousins. Nothing doused the attraction she had to this man.
As he tucked the hair behind her ear, the feel of his fingers sliding across her scalp sent electrical shocks spiraling downward into a soft, pleasant throb. God, the desire was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.
It scared the hell out of her.
She started to get into the car, but was stopped by his hand slipping into the hair at her nape. Desire made her nipples hard, her body pulse to life. Her gaze latched on to his mouth as he lowered his head. She wanted this. She accepted this. Couldn’t wait to feel his lips against hers.
Instead, he pressed them against her forehead. She clenched her eyes closed against the rush of disappointment that hit her.
“As long as I’m around, you’ll never make that walk alone,” he whispered against her skin, and then pulled back.
She couldn’t stop a surprised gasp. Not only from his words, but how safe and protected they made her feel.