Alex introduced me to her three fellow instructors, and that’s when I found out that she had arranged for me to be their only student for the next hour or so.
“So you’re all Krav Maga teachers,” I said, and looked at Alex. “I thought you were mostly into jujitsu and black-belt-type stuff.”
“I’m into a lot of things,” she said. “I would usually recommend that you balance your self-defense fighting with some sort of Eastern discipline, but right now, we want to teach you how to kick someone’s ass and leave him crying in pain.”
“Sounds good to me.”
For the next hour, the four experts taught me some great moves. Even if Grizzly came at me with a gun, I knew in theory what to do to change the balance of power.
Unless he decided to shoot me at point-blank range.
I shook off the little chill that skittered across my shoulders at that thought.
We talked about how large Grizzly was, and two of the men showed me how to use Grizzly’s own weight against him. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The brief training session gave me a little boost of self-confidence, but I knew I would need a lot more before I would be ready and willing to tackle Grizzly.
At precisely oh-nine-twenty, I walked out of the gym with Alex and ran to Derek’s car. As I slid into the passenger’s seat and slammed the door shut, I glanced across the street. Leaning against the wall of a seedy check-cashing center, smoking a cigarette, was Grizzly Jones.
His look was one of pure arrogance, as though I was helpless to stop him from harassing me.
I screamed and pointed. “That’s him, that’s him! Right there! Do you have your gun? Shoot him!”
Derek jumped out of the car. “Go inside and stay with Alex. Call the police.”
“He’s getting away!”
Grizzly flicked the cigarette into the gutter and took off running. As soon as there was a break in traffic, Derek raced across Hayes and down the block. Instead of going back inside, I ran right after him, afraid to leave him alone with that horrible creep.
For a man as stout as Grizzly, he could run pretty fast. It figured with the kind of life he’d led, he had to be used to being chased down by cops or other violent criminal types all the time.
Sadly, Grizzly jumped into a car and screeched away before Derek could grab him.
Derek turned and saw me. “I told you to call the cops.”
“I was going to, but . . .” I had no reason not to call the cops, except that my first instinct had been to join Derek in the chase.
“You could’ve been hurt.”
“You, too.”
“I can defend myself,” he said, his voice a low growl.
“So can I,” I said, my fists bunching up in frustration. “I just learned some moves. Want to see?”
He muttered some expletive and grabbed me by the arm.
I pulled away, anger and adrenaline still coursing through me. “Don’t do that.”
He yanked me into his arms and held me, rubbing my back like a recalcitrant toddler until I calmed down. “I will kill that man if he comes this close to you again.”
I was still annoyed, but his words and touch helped dispel it. I breathed in his masculine scent, an intoxicating blend of expensive leather, exotic spices, a touch of the rain forest. I relaxed against him. Damn it, I loved the way he smelled.
I was bordering on delirious. Probably from too much exercise or endorphins or something.
After another minute, we walked silently, arm in arm, back to the car.
Alex was standing outside her studio, watching us. She nodded once at Derek, then went back inside.
We didn’t speak on the drive home, but once we were inside our apartment, I turned on him. “You might think you’re James Bond or some superhero, but you’re not. I was scared to death that you’d be hurt. That guy is huge and mean and completely evil. I couldn’t let you face him alone.”
“And just how could you have helped me take him down?” Derek demanded. “I’d have been so distracted by you possibly being hurt that he would’ve ended up clocking me royally.”
I fumed. He was right, but that didn’t mean I was going to admit it out loud.
He cupped my face with his hands. “And let’s get one more thing straight right here and now. I am James Bond.”
He sounded exactly like Sean Connery, and he spoke so seriously that I laughed out loud. “Now that you mention it, I might’ve noticed a slight resemblance.”
After a long moment during which he studied my face intently, he leaned in and kissed my neck. “And you bear a rather striking resemblance to a former associate. Miss Moneypenny. Perhaps you’d be interested in a bit of role-playing?”
“Perhaps,” I said, smiling as his lips moved up to my earlobe. “As long as it doesn’t involve handcuffs.”
? ? ?
Way too early the next morning, Ian called. “Edward Strathmore can meet with you for one hour if you can get there by noon.”
It took me a few seconds to shake off my sleepiness and realize it was Sunday. Derek and I had nothing planned that day, so I figured I’d better jump at the opportunity Ian presented.
“That’s perfect,” I said. “Where and when? And thank you.”