Spring Secrets - Allie Boniface Page 0,9

her, she pulled her knees up to her chin and dropped her gaze to the floor.

Billy and Bailey were slapping each other’s knees, so Sienna reached down to put a hand between them and spread her fingers wide on the carpet. “One, two, three, four, five,” she said, wiggling each finger in turn. “That’s how much space I want here, okay?”

They blinked and frowned, but they stopped slapping each other and moved apart a few inches. One of the twins had a small scar on the bridge of his nose, and his hair was a shade darker brown than his brother’s. Okay, so that was how she’d tell them apart. She opened the book and began to read, ignoring the pounding of her heart. Without warning, Dash’s words came into her mind. And his smile. And his bright blue eyes. Oh, those eyes.

“Just take it one step at a time. Self-defense, lists, life in general. That’s how you tackle anything...”

Chapter Five

Dash stared at the clock on his computer. Some days the time flew. Others, it crawled or went backwards. That Tuesday, he found himself checking it about a hundred times before Sienna arrived for her four-thirty training session. Stop thinking about her. You’re gonna behave, treat her like a client, and that’s it.

But he wasn’t sure he knew how to. Flirt with women, kiss them, bed them—he was very good at all of that. In fact, he’d spent most of his adult life perfecting it. Truthfully, he didn’t think there was anything wrong with a good time between the sheets, as long as everyone involved knew what to expect the morning after. Pursuing women was almost as natural as breathing to Dash. That meant maintaining his composure around someone like Sienna was going to be a challenge.

At a quarter past four, she walked inside. She wore a red hat pulled over her dark hair, black jeans, and a winter coat zipped up to her chin. Gym bag over her shoulder. Cheeks pink from the cold. Despite all his earlier advice to himself, despite the fact that he couldn’t see a thing under her bulky clothes, all Dash could do was stare.

“Hi, there,” she said.

“Hi yourself. So how were your first couple days of teaching?”

She pulled off her hat and unzipped her jacket. “Not awful. I survived.”

“Hope you saved some energy.”

She gave him a nervous look. An adorable look. “What does that mean?”

“Just that I plan on working you.” The words were out before he knew it. Whoops. That sentence had about a ton of innuendo inside it. “You know what I mean,” he added. “We have a lot to cover.”

She gave him a funny look as she turned toward the locker room. “Sure. Meet you in the back?”

He nodded rather than risk saying anything else stupid. Thankfully, Mac Herbert and Damian Knight walked into the gym as she left. Dash gave his buddies fist bumps and their usual pre-workout protein drinks. “You guys are early.”

“Crappy weather,” Mac said, jabbing a thumb at the slate-gray sky outside. “Snow’s coming later.”

“We finished the Yang place,” Damian added. “Not starting anything else ‘til next week.”

“Those houses out by you are gettin’ renovated left and right, huh?” Dash couldn’t imagine having the money or the talent to do anything like that. But Mac and Damian had made a regular full-time job of it, thanks to the surging real estate market. All kinds of newcomers were moving into Whispering Pines these days. He glanced at the women’s locker room. And some people, of course, were moving out.

“You two wanna help me with somethin’?”

“Depends.” Mac shrugged off his jacket and downed half his protein drink. “What is it?”

Damian elbowed his friend. “‘Course we will. Name it.”

“I’m teaching Sienna Cruz some self-defense.”

Mac’s bushy brows flew halfway to the sky. “Seriously? Never thought she’d be the gym type.”

“Me either. I guess some guy bought her the package deal for Christmas.”

“Kingsley,” Damian said. “I heard about that. Summer told me they broke up. For now, anyway. Think he’s probably just trying to be nice and get her back.”

No secrets in a small town, that was for sure. Dash yanked at his collar. “Yeah, well, I’m gonna start her with some basics today. You two wanna play the stranger on the street that grabs her?”

“So you can play the hero that shows her how to kick us in the nuts?”

They all laughed. “Something like that,” Dash said.

“Sure, what the hell?” Mac said. “I’m always up for lending a helping hand.”

Ten