I chuckle, used to the reaction. “That’s putting it lightly.”
“What made you choose that?” she asks, taking another sip.
I shrug, twirling my glass in thought. “I guess I kinda just fell into it,” I answer honestly. “I grew up with two brothers, one of which ended up in the military, so my entire childhood was already fighting. Wrestling coach found me in high school, and then when MMA started getting popular, I switched to an MMA gym my junior year.” I look up to see her studying me curiously. “I’ve been training ever since.”
Daisy’s forehead creases with the slightest frown. “But…you’re in the UFC. Are you telling me you justhappenedto end up in the greatest martial arts organization in the world?”
Slowly, a grin forms on my face.She looked me up.
“I didn’t realize you were a fellow MMA fan,” I say casually.
The sweetest pink blush tinges her cheeks. “I-I’m not,” she says. I secretly love the subtle shift from confident escort to blushing woman.
It makes this feel real.
After a moment, she sighs and says, “Okay, fine, I stalked you a little bit. I got curious.”
My grin widens.
“And…I had to. To be safe.”
All humor drops from my face and I nod once, stiffly. “Good. You should be safe.”
But then the reminder makes something else occur to me. When I frown, her eyebrows narrow in confusion.
“Areyou safe?” I demand. “I mean, do they really just send you to meet with strange men? What if I was dangerous? I punch men in the face for a living, for fuck’s sake. What if I hurt you?”
I’m startled out of my rage when I feel her warm touch on my hand where it lies on the armrest of the chair.
The words die in my throat.
“I’m safe, I promise,” she says softly. “We have all kinds of security measures. Background checks, panic buttons, that kind of thing. Don’t worry.”
I don’t think my frown lightens even a little bit. I sound grumpy as shit when I say, “Still. You shouldn’t trust anyone.”
“I don’t,” she responds, amused.
I tilt my head in thought. “You should learn some self-defense. Have you ever taken a class?”
Why does she think this is funny?“I haven’t, no.”
“You should. Security or not, you should know how to protect yourself.” I hesitate before adding, “I can teach you, if you want.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” she says with a smile. “Not tonight, but…if you’d like, we can do it another time.”
My frown returns. “Not ifIlike. Ifyou’dlike.”
“Nico, I’m here foryou,” she says. “You make the decisions here.”
I hate the sound of that.“I don’t like having that kind of power over you. Especially knowing you don’t know self-defense.”
Her smile grows. It’s only when she pulls her hand away that I realize she’s been touching me this whole time, gently sweeping her fingers over the back of my hand.
I stare at my hand, at the absence ofhers, wondering how to get it back.
“How about this,” she starts. “If you decide you want to see me again, you can show me some of the basics next time.”
“Deal,” I agree.Waytoo fast.
