Yeah, he didn’t believe that thank-you. She was clearly upset, but he wasn’t sure what to say to help. Best to pretend he hadn’t noticed. He preferred when people did that to him. “All right. Same time tomorrow?”
A thumbs-up was her response, then she turned around and climbed out of the ring. What was this woman’s deal? She didn’t seem angry at him, but upset with herself. While he could sympathize with that, had she really expected to just come in here and dominate someone much larger than she was?
He followed her out of the ring. “You do understand that, even though you’ve had amazing training, you asked to go up against someone you would never be matched with in a cage, right? There’s a reason fighters are put in weight classes.”
“I know what I’m doing, and I don’t need a lecture.”
“All right,” he said, throwing up his hands in surrender. If this was what she wanted, then she’d get it. “Anyway, if we’re going to work together”—he lowered his voice—“I need to apologize for my behavior yesterday.”
A shrug lifted her shoulders. “Like you said, that’s none of my business, and it still isn’t.”
He glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying them any mind, he returned his attention to Kelsey, only to find her watching him curiously. He didn’t like the knowing look on her face.
“Either way,” he said, running a hand over his head. “I acted like a dick and I shouldn’t have. You were just trying to help.”
She sidled up to him, and his chest suddenly tightened in the age-old telltale sign of attraction. Fuck. It was one thing to notice she was a beautiful woman—quite another for him to respond to it. He didn’t have time for a woman to spark his interest right now.
“Everybody has secrets,” she whispered. “Yours is safe with me.”
Not only was she beautiful, but she was perceptive. He was grateful for that.
She sent him another tight smile then turned to her gym bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Try not to be late this time. I have no patience for slackers.” She sent him a wink.
Lance had to fight yet another smile.
“I’ll be fifteen minutes late instead of thirty. How’s that?”
A soft laugh shook her. “You’d be headed in the right direction, at least.”
He had the insane urge to continue the banter between them, which immediately propelled him to get the fuck away from her—and fast. Once he was across the gym, he turned to look at her. She was staring at the wall in front of her. Worry grooved deep lines into her face.
All the things that baffled him about Kelsey came roaring back.
She knew he had a secret, but he’d take a gamble and say she also had one. A big one.
Chapter Two
Inhaling deeply, then releasing the breath slowly, Ella tried to control the threatening burn behind her eyes. Tears were weakness. Weakness was unacceptable.
The inner pep talk helped, and the stinging faded. Knowing she finally had control of her emotions, she shoved her towel and water bottle into her gym bag. Today had not gone as planned. Not that she’d really expected to get the best of a light-heavyweight fighter, but after all the years of training, she’d at least thought she’d be somewhat of an opponent.
She hadn’t been. Once Lance had given her his all, he’d tossed her around like she’d weighed no more than a pillow. The whole point of training with a light-heavyweight was to convince herself she wasn’t completely helpless, so that she wouldn’t shut down if she was faced with someone the same weight and build as her ex.
That plan had backfired. All she felt was vulnerable and afraid…again.
Those two emotions would wind up getting her killed. Which meant she had to train harder.
She wasn’t blind to her desperate need to learn more—to feel safer. Nothing seemed to work. She’d taken Krav Maga. The Israeli defense class should’ve been enough, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t real enough. So she moved on to jiu-jitsu, boxing, and wrestling. It still hadn’t been real enough. Everything was pulled back. Too demonstrative. Even when she’d gotten the best of a trainer, she hadn’t felt victorious because he hadn’t been going at her with his all.
She shook her head. She was focusing too much on the negative. Yes, she was still highly intimidated by large men. However, she had just wrestled with one. When Lance entered the ring, her anxiety almost got the best of her. She came damn close to calling the session off. He was so large. Strong. The idea of trying to fight him overwhelmed her with horrific memories. He’d noticed her hesitation. The fact he’d noticed, had commented on it, had given her a strength to proceed that she didn’t know she possessed.
That was something to be proud of—even if he’d been able to subdue her with a few tosses.
“That was freaking awesome.”
At the unexpected feminine voice, Ella spun around. A younger, dark-haired woman, maybe mid-twenties, was watching her with an expression of awe.
“Uh…thanks.”
“How long have you been training?” she asked.