Mac grinned. “What? The poor girly-girl can’t keep up?”
At having her words from earlier tossed back at her, she chuckled softly. “This girly-girl can think of a few better ways to work up a sweat than killing my arms.” She ripped off her gloves, tossed them on the ground, and walked the tips of her fingers across his forearm. “Come on, handsome, why don’t you show me some body-to-body combat?”
Red crept into Mac’s face. God, he was so easy. With a grin, she dropped her hands and went over to the black mat covering the middle of the floor. “I’ve watched Lance train a few times. How about putting me in one of those holds and letting me squirm around?”
“You’ve watched Lance train?”
That was what he took from her suggestion? Jeez. “Skylar likes to watch him. I’ve sat in a couple of times.”
Mac’s lips pressed together, then he shook his head. “Okay. Which move do you want to try?”
She blinked. Holy crap. He was game. Quickly flipping through her limited knowledge of MMA, she decided to focus on the one that would get her pressed closest to Mac.
“There’s one Lance did that was really interesting to watch,” she said, trying to keep an innocent expression in place as she delivered the rest of her description. “He wrapped his legs around the other guy’s head.”
Mac’s eyes widened a fraction. “You want to try a triangle choke?” A croak cracked his voice and made her struggle to keep up the innocent charade.
“Is that what it’s called? It looked…intense. Can you show me how it’s done?”
The conflicted expression she’d seen a couple of times crossed his face. As though he wanted to, but didn’t, at the same time. She remained silent, letting him make the decision without pressure from her. If he said no, or tried to get her to do a different hold, she’d let him off the hook.
“Okay. Lie on your back on the mat.”
She had to stop herself from doing a giddy dance. The man was slowly warming up to her. When he’d completely thawed, she wanted the attraction he was fighting to be filled to the brim with all the naughty images she’d deliberately put in his head.
She had every intention of reaping the benefit of all her hard work.
Was he really going to do this?
Mac shot a glance at the woman now lying on her back with her knees bent. Not once had he ever thought about the intimacy that came with this hold. He was an MMA fighter. He grappled. And grappling meant very close contact with his opponent. All he thought about in those moments was what his opponent was going to do to break out of his hold.
Now? All he could think about was Gayle’s legs wrapped around his head.
He wasn’t fool enough to believe she just happened to choose this submission hold out of thin air. She’d picked it on purpose, and again he found himself flamed by the silent challenge she’d tossed at him.
Now that he’d agreed.
What the fuck was he thinking?
As he inhaled a small breath and released it, he paced back and forth at the edge of the mat.
You can do this. Think of it as just a training exercise.
“All right, first thing you need to know is the triangle choke comes in handy when you’re caught on your back and have your opponent punching you.”
He swallowed but made himself drop to his knees in front of her.
“Oh, that’s right,” she said. “Lance was on his back and his training partner was between his legs. Like this.” She parted her thighs and scooted forward.
Fuuuuck.
He wasn’t completely inserted between her legs yet, more bordered by them, but for him to show her the move correctly, he’d have to get intimately close to a certain very appealing area. His breath locked in his lungs. He’d give his left nut right now to have on a cup. Anything other than her womanly center to rub against.
She’s a dude. Just another guy you’re grappling with.
As he moved his body deeper between her knees, the back of her thighs brushed against the top of his. His chest tightened more.
Focus.
“When your opponent throws a punch at you, his body will come forward,” he explained. “That’s when you grab the arm while wrapping one leg around his neck. Then you grab the shin of your other leg and pull it close to the opposite knee, locking the hold into place.”
“Okay. Come at me.”