"If this is your attempt to make a move on me, I can tell you right now it's not going to happen."
Heather followed Mark down to his basement, frowning at his well-muscled back as they descended the narrow stairwell. She could almost see his cocky smile in response to her comment so she glared at the spot between his shoulders for another few steps. He was hot and she was attracted to him, but she was determined to resist him and his sexy physique no matter what her traitorous body wanted. He had hurt her once before and she wasn't about to let him do it again. Still, when he had offered to teach her some self-defense moves she had bristled at his condescending tone and her competitive nature had compelled her to accept his thinly veiled challenge.
Mark didn't know it, but there was nothing he could teach her that she didn't already know. She had taken lessons in several martial arts for several years, however, she decided to play dumb and let him try to impress her for a while before she put him in his place – preferable on his ass. Grinning at that thought, Heather gamely changed into her yoga pants and tank top and followed him down to the workout space in the basement. The floors, she saw, were lined with mats and pads. A weight bench and some free weights took up one corner of the room but the rest of it was open and spacious. Surprisingly, it smelled fresh and clean. She had half expected it to smell like dirty socks and sweat and man.
Mark watched Heather as she surveyed the room. When she met his gaze he grinned and winked at her. His blood was pumping and he was ready for a good workout session. He had to admit that he was also looking forward to having an acceptable excuse to get her into his arms. Having spent the last few days with her, his fingers were itching to touch her silky skin if only in the context of sparring. He wanted to touch sure, but that is as far is at could go. He was confident that he had enough self-control to keep his hands away from certain tempting parts of her anatomy. She was still off limits to him but she sure was fun to flirt with.
"If I wanted to make a move on you, you'd know it. What's more, you'd beg for it."
Heather snorted and rolled her eyes dramatically at his response to her dig. Ignoring her reaction, he took up a stance on one of the mats in the middle of the room.
"Okay, lets start with some simple moves. Come over here and I'll show you a few things."
Cautiously she approached him and allowed him demonstrate some of the basics. He pushed and prodded, bent and moved her body where he wanted her to go and when his hands slipped a few times to brush her breasts, they both ignored it. He showed her how to balance, how to hold her arms, and then things got a bit more physical as they started to get serious. Thirty minutes later they were both covered in a light sheen of sweat. Impressed with her skill, Mark quickly realized that Heather was no novice at this type of workout. At some point she had taken some kind of training. Curious, he paused for a moment and grabbed a water.
" You've done this before."
Taking advantage of the break to regain her breath, Heather grabbed her water and took a long swig. "I never said that I'd never done this before." Smirking, she added, "You are the one who assumed I was a beginner at this. I didn't see the point in telling you otherwise."
A little peeved at her deception, Mark decided to find out just how proficient Heather really was. Grinning, he issued a challenge that he knew she wouldn't refuse.
"Ok then miss hot shot, how about you show me what you've got?"
"No holds barred?"
"Nope. I can take it. Don't hold back"
