“You run.”
“What if it’s not an option? Like, maybe he’s got that gun to your head?”
“If you want to stay alive, you do what your attacker wants.” Jessie turned to the rest of the class, and Uma’s body sank, just a little, with an odd sense of relief. “I can show you a couple of moves, but really, ladies, these are last-ditch choices. Weapons up the stakes. If someone approaches you with a gun, your best bet may be to talk yourself out of it.” She caught Uma’s eye, delivering this message right to her. “If all else fails,do what he wants. There’s no shame in doing whatever it takes to stay alive.”
Uma blinked and looked away.
Jessie called them all forward to teach them a disarm and paired them off to practice. Uma’s awkward moment was quickly forgotten.
Beside Uma, Binx stage-whispered to her partner, “You guys see Ive yet?”
Uma stiffened.
“No. Why?”
“Oh man, he looks goood,” she said, looking as lascivious as a five-foot-tall blond pixie could. “I might not fight back tonight. Might just let him jump me.” She pushed Anne’s hand away and twisted into the follow-through.
“Hey, Binx, that’s my brother you’re talkin’ about,” Jessie called from the center of the room where she was walking one of the women through a leg sweep. “Keep it clean.”
“I know it, girl, butgreat day, that man is lookin’ G-U-D good.” Binx’s eyes landed, for one long beat, on Uma. Was that a challenge?
“He is?” said Uma’s partner, Monica, a cozy-looking woman with cats printed in pink across her sweatshirt.
“Mon, honey, you have no idea. Saw him at Southern States today. Thought I might faint right there next to the fertilizer.”
“You sure it wasn’t the fumes?”
“Shush, Anne,” Monica broke in. “So, what happened? Why’s he so hot all of a sudden?”
“Y’all are gonna have to see for yourselves. But he’s mine, ladies. I got dibs.”
Uma tamped down another wave of hostility toward the woman, this time not for the ad, but for talking about Ivan like that. Like a piece of meat. She didn’t like that one bit, because he was hers, damn it.
Which was one hell of a thing, wasn’t it? Wanting someone but knowing you had to stay away.
* * *
When he saw Uma’s car in the lot, all the air whooshed out of Ive’s lungs. He pulled up beside it and sat for a few seconds, watching the women through the front window. There she was, looking so much taller than the first time he’d seen her. She smiled at something one of the women said, and he realized that was the first time he’d seen that expression on her face—relaxed, easy, happy. Man, she waspretty.
He moved to get out, then froze when she bent forward to grab her “attacker” around the waist, tackling the other woman to the ground.Oh, fuck. He couldn’t wait to get under her.
She made to get up but hesitated on all fours in a perfect reenactment of the fantasy he’d gotten off on the night before. That thought stopped him cold, and he sat back, giving himself a moment to tamp down his eagerness.
Uma was avoiding him. He was almost positive she’d been hiding in the kitchen when he’d gone by to see her. He just couldn’t figure out why. The night they’d spent together hadn’t been awkward. It had been perfect. The only issue he’d had was with her taking off like that without waking him up. He planned to confront her about that, but…was that it? Did she think he’d be mad about that? Was that why she’d avoided him for two days? No way. He’d been nothing but gentle with her. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her.
Or did she?
It took more than one night of intimacy to gain the trust of someone who’d suffered at the hands of others. He knew that. Knew it well. He’d seen it with his dog, and he’d seen it in people.
She stood again and moved off to the side of the room, away from where the other women stood, deep in conversation. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t a hundred percent confident yet. But she looked like she was getting there.
And Ive intended to do whatever it took to help her.
17
Mid-mental argument, the door jangled, and ten pairs of eyes locked on to the man entering. He came inside and stopped, self-consciously brushing his chin. Uma could see him get pink from fifteen feet away.
His “What, I got somethin’ on my face?” was met with laughter by everyone but her, and looking around, she could tell the other ladies were as floored at his loveliness as she’d been.
