“I was expecting an Arnold Schwarzenegger type of guy,” Luke said. His tank top was plastered to his torso with sweat, showing every outline of muscle. “Instead, they sent me Secret Agent Barbie.”
All of them roared with laughter. I gripped my bag a little bit tighter on the way to the door.I’m used to boys acting like this. Words don’t mean a thing.
“I don’t know, man,” one of the big linemen said. “We underestimated Coach Gardner, and she surprised the hell out of us.”
“This is different,” the first guy said. “Coach Gardner has game smarts. This is aboutphysicaltoughness. If I were you, I’d want a bodyguard who looks like a pro wrestler.”
Luke laughed along with them. He was in a tough position, I knew. He was the rookie on the team. He could either go along with his new teammates, or join in. Peer pressure was a hell of a thing.
Then Luke said something I couldn’t ignore.
“I ought to be protectingher,not the other way around. I could probably take her with one arm tied behind my back.”
I stopped at the door, took a deep breath, and turned around. “Want to bet on it?”
All of them looked surprised that I had responded. “Huh?”
I dropped my bag by the door and approached them. “If you can knock me on my back,” I said slowly, “then I’ll tell the agency that I can’t complete this job. I’ll ask them to assign someone else to you. One of ourmaleagents.”
They paused for a minute, then laughed it off. “She wants to fight you?” one of them said.
“I can’t do that,” Luke said smugly. “It wouldn’t be fair.”
Don’t do this,whispered a voice in my head.Nothing good can come from this. I ignored the voice and continued forward. “You’re right. It wouldn’t be fair.” I stopped when I had reached the padded workout mat, then put my left arm behind my back. “There.Nowit’s fair.”
For a moment, a wary look passed across Luke’s handsome face. Then he shook his head. “This is ridiculous. I’ve got a workout to start.”
He’s not going to fight me unless I twist the knife, I realized. Once again the voice inside my head told me to stop, but I had gone too far. I couldn’t back down now or they would never respect me.
“So you’re a coward,” I said, forcing myself to laugh loudly. Other players were watching, now. “You’re jumping at shadows in parking garages, and taking an Uber to practice because you’re afraid of your own shadow. And now you’re afraid of a whittle girl?” I pouted. “Not a good first week in the NFL, huh?” I pointed at his bare chest. “I guess it’s fitting you’ve got three flowers tattooed on your chest. And a pair of doves. You’re meeker than a kitten. Maybe your next tattoo will be a turtle on its back, flailing its legs helplessly.”
That did the trick. Anger flashed on his face, and his teammates laughed and hooted. He balled his hands into fists, then stepped onto the mat. “Fine. Are you ready?”
“It’s my job to be ready,” I replied.
He came forward with the confidence of a man, which I had been hoping for. He faked a lunge, then came onward for the real attack. A two-handed grab that he telegraphed the entire time with his feet. I stepped to the side and knocked his arm out of the way smoothly, then grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. At the same time, I planted a foot between his legs. He tried to step forward and around to get his arm untwisted, tripping himself on my leg and going down like a sack of footballs. Before he hit the mat I was already diving on him, grabbing his wrist and kneeling on his chest and neck. I didn’t put any real weight on my knee; I was just letting him know that I had him. The whole thing took about two seconds.
Luke gazed up at me in surprise, and maybe shock. I could feel the strength of his body underneath me, full of warmth and potential energy. His scent filled my lungs, masculine and full of youthful sexiness. I almost felt guilty about putting him in his place in front of his teammates.
I smiled.Almost.
6
Luke
I stared up at Caz, confused. Everything happened so fast that I wasn’t sure what had gone wrong. It didn’t help that I had been admiring the way she looked before she knocked me on my ass. Her black booty shorts hugged the round globes of her ass, and her sports bra showed a surprising amount of cleavage. It was no surprise that Mike had thought she was one of the cheerleaders—she could certainly pass for one.
Then she rose off me and removed her left hand from behind her back. “Hope I didn’t hurt you too much.” She extended a hand to help me up, which gave me an even better angle to look at her chest.
I ignored her hand and climbed to my feet by myself. She had twisted my arm behind my back in a way that was eerily familiar.The way my attacker did. A sickening feeling filled my stomach. All that fear and doubt rushed back into me, along with the humiliation of being embarrassed in front of my teammates.
“Damn, dude,” Kincaid said, “your bodyguard is abad-ass bitch.” He extended a fist toward her. “The next time I get a stalker, I want you watching my ass.”
Double-D appeared next to Caz. “Hey girl, are you seeing anyone?”
She bumped Kincaid’s fist and said, “Sorry, pal. I’m not into guys.”
“I’m sorry too!” he replied. “But naw, that’s not why I’m asking. My sister’s a lesbian. Well, shesaysshe’s pansexual, which I’ve learned is like bisexual but with extra steps, but she hasn’t dated a man since high school. But anyway, she’sreallypretty, and lives in Liberty Wells. I don’t know what your type is…”