LITMIR.BIZ

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it’s too soon,” he quickly.

      “No, I can’t keep hiding out at your house. I know there’s a bus stop right down at the end of your street, and I shouldn’t be afraid to use it.” She nodded, a flicker of fight in her eyes. “Yeah, show me how I could have kept that creep from dragging me into the alley that night.”

      “That’s the attitude,” Joe said with a victorious smile. She smiled back, that spirited flash intensifying.

      “Okay.” He clapped his hands once. “I saw the guy grab you by the wrist and pull you away that night. So, first off, a lot of the information that’s on the internet for ladies’ self-defense is bogus. Here’s something that works. When that guy grabbed your wrist, you could have used your other hand to push into his eyes, or, if he wore glasses, you could have gone for his throat. With either move you also could have included a knee to the groin. That stuff hurts the attacker and surprises them. Knocks them off balance. Let me show you.”

      He grabbed Carey’s right wrist and immediately felt her tense, making him think maybe he was right and it was too early to do this lesson with her. But he was committed now and pressed on, and she had enough anger in her eyes to put it to good use.

      “Okay, use your left hand and go for my face,” He showed her how to make an open, claw-like spread with the fingers and how to jab it at a person’s face to do the most damage. “Get those fingers on my eyes and press with all your might.”

      She followed his instructions and went for his eyes.

      “Ow!” He reacted and pushed her hand back to keep her from injuring him.

      “Sorry!”

      “Don’t be sorry, fight for your life. It’s up to me to keep you from hurting me. You just caught me off guard. Got it?”

      She gave one firm and committed nod.

      “That’s the spirit. If the guy foils that move with his other hand, like I just did, make sure you put your knee to his groin at the same time.” He flashed a charming grin. “Don’t actually do that one now, okay?”

      She laughed, and it felt good to get her to relax a little.

      “Just knee him in the groin area and later you can practice kneeing the heck out of that boxing bag.”

      “Got it, boss.” Yes, she was really into this now.

      He said, “Go!” and grabbed her left wrist this time, and she moved like lightning for his face and eyes, driving her knee into his groin at the same time. Being prepared for the move, in case she got overzealous, which she obviously had, he brought his own knee up and across to protect himself, letting her full force hit his thigh. If he hadn’t, he’d have been on his hands and knees, riding out the pain, right now.

      He didn’t want to discourage her efforts but, damn, that could have hurt! “Good.” Up close, their eyes locked. He could hear her breathing hard and felt the pulse in her wrist quicken. The fire in her green-eyed stare made him take notice. He stepped back, releasing her wrist. “That was good.”

      She rubbed her wrist and searched the floor with her gaze, making a quick recovery. This wasn’t easy to relive, he understood that, but keeping the same thing from ever happening again was more important than her current comfort zone.

      “Now do the same thing, going for my throat.” He showed her the wide V of his hand between the thumb and index finger and demonstrated how to drive it into the Adam’s apple area of the attacker’s neck. “Since most guys, like that scumbag the other night, will be taller than you, force your hand upward with all you’ve got. Okay?”

      Carey agreed and he immediately grabbed her hand, trying to catch her off guard. Something clicked, like she’d gone back in time. She went into attack mode and because he wasn’t ready for it she got him good in the throat. He coughed and sputtered and backed away to recover, and only then did she realize she’d shifted from demonstration to true life.

      “I’m sorry!” she squealed, grabbing her face with her hands, as if just snapping out of a bad dream.

      He swallowed, trying to get his voice back. “That’s the way. See how it works? I dropped your hand, and that means you could have run off screaming for help at that point.”

      “Oh, Joe.” Carey rushed to him. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.” She touched his shoulder and, without thinking, he reacted by opening his arms. Carey threw her arms around him and squeezed. “Can I get you some water? Anything?”

      “Maybe a new throat,” he teased, though he really liked having her arms around him, the realization nearly making him lose his balance. She smelled a hell of a lot better than he did, and up close, like this, her eyes were by far the prettiest he’d ever seen in his life, though fear seemed to have the best of them right now.

      Surprised, no, more like stunned by how moved she’d been when grappling with Joe, Carey held him perhaps a second too long. Fear still pounded in her chest. At first the lesson had brought out all the bad memories she’d been trying to force down a few months before leaving home and definitely since coming to Hollywood. Ross had changed from attentive boyfriend to jealous predator. He had frightened her. He’d also grabbed her by the wrist like that on several occasions, each time scaring her into submission. Then the creep at the bus station must have seen her as an easy mark, sensed her fear, and grabbed her the same way, pulling her into the alley.

      She hated feeling like a victim!

      Anger had erupted as horrible memories had collided with Joe’s grip on her wrist. She’d never be a victim again, damn it. Never. Suddenly fighting for her life all over again, she’d switched to kill mode and had practically pushed his larynx out the back of his neck. Darn it! She hadn’t meant to hurt him, not the man who’d saved her and taken her in, but she clearly had.

      Now, being skin to skin with her incredibly fit and appealing roommate had changed the topic foremost in her mind. Being in Joe’s arms wiped out her fear and she shifted from fighting for her life to being completely turned on. What was it about Joe?

      So confusing. It wasn’t right.

      Obviously her concussion was still messing with her judgment.

      In a moment of clarity she broke away and strode to the kitchen to get him a glass of water, trying to recover before she brought it to him.

      “What about pepper spray?” She schooled her voice to sound casual, completely avoiding his eyes, as if she hadn’t just survived a flashback and had flung herself into Joe’s arms. There was nothing wrong with a decoy topic to throw him off the scent, right? The man had turned her on simply by touching her. Pitiful. Blame it on the head injury.

      “First you have to get it out of your purse, right?”

      She nodded, quickly realizing the fault in her premise. He stood shirtless, damp from his workout, skin shiny and all his muscles on display. Cut and ripped. A work of art. She handed him the glass. Thought about handing him his T-shirt so he’d cover up and make her life a little safer for the moment, or less tempting anyway. At least it seemed easier for him to swallow now and that made her grateful she hadn’t caused any permanent damage. Could she have? If so, he’d just given her a huge gift of self-protection. No way would she let herself be a victim. By God, she’d never let anyone hurt her again.

      “Plus, I’ve heard about guys who’ve been sprayed and didn’t even react,” he continued. “Also, when you’re scared or nervous, you might spray all over the place and not hit the eyes.”

      She kept nodding, watching him, completely distracted by his physique, unable to really listen, wishing she’d brought herself a cool drink too. Surely her head injury had left her brain unbalanced, taking her back to the worst moments in her life one second and then the next rushing into the realm of all things sensual.

      “Your hands and your knees are your best defense. Want to practice again?”

      She sucked in a breath and shook her head

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