Her Protector

by Rianna Campbell

  Connor suspected there was more to it than that, but he didn’t get the chance to ask.

  “You!” A large man snarled from over Alexandra’s shoulder. “Get your scrawny ass up out of that chair and into my dungeon.”

  Connor was on his feet in a blink and halfway around the table before Alexandra held out a hand to stop him.

  “Connor this is Trey.” She said. “My trainer I was telling you about?” A clear signal for him to back off. “Trey, this is Connor… my boyfriend.”

  Connor took a minute to study the man as he stepped forward and offered his hand. He was practically a giant, at least six four. He had broader shoulders and was wider all around than Connor, and it was all muscle.

  “Nice to meet you.” He smiled, his perfect white teeth set off by his smooth caramel colored skin. He was clean shaven, even his head, and he had dark, intelligent eyes.

  “Same.” Connor nodded as they shook. Then Trey turned to Alexandra and scowled, going from affable to ferocious in a heartbeat.

  “What the hell you waiting for, Ms. Hughes? That’s all the invitation you’re going to get. Now move.” Alexandra hopped up, chucked her empty bottle in the bin and grabbed her bag before heading for the door at the far end of the gym.

  “Mind if I tag along?” Connor asked. Trey pursed his lips.

  “You going to backseat coach, cheerlead, or otherwise disrupt my session?”

  “No, sir.” Connor grinned.

  “Good. You might even learn a few things.”

  Connor didn’t roll his eyes, but it was a close call.

  They spent the next forty five minutes in a windowless room only marginally larger than a boxing ring. It had a heavy bag and speed bag at one end and the entire floor was covered in mats.

  Trey knew his stuff when it came to kickboxing, and he was a hard taskmaster. Alexandra was sweating in minutes and he didn’t let up on her until they were done for the day. She practiced drill after drill, kicks, punches, combos, blocks- anything and everything- at least two dozen times. The last fifteen minutes was spent sparring.

  Connor ground his teeth as he watched. Trey must have been pulling his punches, but it didn’t look like it from where he sat. They both wore gloves and headgear, but that wouldn’t stop Trey from making her teeth rattle if he felt like it.

  He gave her a quick once over as she removed her head gear and started taking off the gloves and the tape beneath. No blood, some redness that might turn into bruises on her arms and legs, but nothing more serious. Some of the tension eased and he rolled his neck a little to try and relax further. He hadn’t realized how wound up he’d been.

  It all ratcheted back up again when he saw Trey approaching her with that perfect smile.

  “Look at you, baby girl.” He beamed. “You’re going to be kicking my ass pretty soon.”

  “Thanks.” She said, smiling.

  “Don’t thank me, you did all the work. I’m proud of you.” He said putting his big mitts on each shoulder and giving her a squeeze.

  ✽✽✽

  Connor’s arm was around her shoulder before she could even blink.

  “Great job.” He said with a smile. He leaned over and placed a soft, swift kiss on her temple.

  “Thanks.” She muttered. “I’ll see you next week?” She said to Trey. Connor frowned a little, but she ignored it.

  “Same bat time, same bat channel.” Trey replied with a wink. She couldn’t help but grin.

  Trey had been training her for a little over a year and they had been friends from the first session. She had signed up as a way to learn self defense. She couldn’t stand the thought of taking a class with a dozen strangers, and she had the money for private lessons. Trey came highly recommended by the gym owner and he had an impressive education in martial arts, as well as a military background.

  At their first session, she had been so scared of his coaching persona that she’d hardly spoken a word. He’d pushed her hard and half way through the class she was so shaky that she’d broken down in tears. Angry with him and with herself, she’d launched into a tirade, calling him every name in the book and comparing his class to torture and his studio room to a dungeon.

  When she was done, she assumed he’d yell at her, maybe attack her, or at the very least tell her to leave and never come back. To her surprise, he laughed. He had a great laugh. It was a deep rumble, loud and from the gut. When he’d stopped, he’d told her that just for that, he was never letting her quit and he was extending her classes by 15 minutes.

  “Tell Cassie I said hello and to call me for lunch soon.” She said over her shoulder.

  “Will do.” He called after her.

  “Who’s Cassie? His wife?” Connor asked.

  “No, his sister, Cassandra. She trains here sometimes. I like her.” Alexandra shrugged. She was also intimidated by her. She was a professional boxer and was scary built. She was also loud and funny and had a great sense of style. Every once in a while they went shopping.

  Connor didn’t reply and when she glanced at him he seemed to be thinking about something.

  “You going to shower here, or at home?” He asked casually. She hadn’t thought about it. Normally she’d just walk home and shower there, but she didn’t like the idea of climbing into his car all sweaty.

  “I think I’ll grab a quick one here.” She said. She didn’t have her toiletries with her, but she could at least have a quick rinse and change her clothes. Assuming she had any clothes in her bag.

  “Alright. I’ll wait for you outside the locker rooms.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Fifteen minutes later Alexandra was showered and dressed in the only change of clothes she had in her gym bag. Clearly it had been a while since she’d put them there because they consisted of cut off jean shorts and a white t-shirt. With her sneakers on and her sweatshirt zipped up, she should be alright for the short drive home. At least she was clean.

  Connor was leaning against the wall across from the ladies’ locker room and he didn’t move as she approached, aside from a tilt of his head so he could take in her bare legs. His gaze was, at first, appreciative, which made her blush. Then, he frowned and looked away. Alexandra wasn’t sure what to make of that, so she asked, “All set?”

  “Just a sec.” He murmured. He walked over to the girl manning the check in desk and they had a quick conversation before he handed her his credit card. A moment later he returned and handed her a pair of sweatpants with the name of the gym screen printed across the butt.

  “Here. It’s way too cold for you to run around in shorts.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I’ll only be outside long enough to get to and from the car. I’ll be fine.”

  “Already done.” He smirked. “Put them on.”

  “Fine.” Alexandra dropped her gym bag and pulled on the sweatpants over her jean shorts. They were loose enough that it wasn’t an issue, but not so loose they would fall off. He’d picked a good size.

  “Thanks. I’ll wash them and get them back to you tomorrow.”

  “Keep them.” He waved her off as he picked up her gym bag.

  “No, really.”

  “No, keep them.” He ground out. “They won’t fit me. It’s no big deal. Everyone can use an extra pair of sweats, right?” He smiled.

  “If you insist.” Alexandra rolled her eyes.

  “Come on.” Connor grabbed her hand and tugged her out the door. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t pull away. It was… nice.

  His hand was big and warm and having it wrapped around hers made her feel safer, more secure. Before she could stifle it, a sigh escaped. She tried to cover it with a cough, but from the half smile Connor gave her, she knew he wasn’t fooled.

  Connor unlocked the car, helped her in and closed her door before tossing her gym bag in the back seat and climbing in himself. This time the silence was a different kind of awkward. Connor grabbed her bag, helped her out of the car and kept a wary eye on the street as he herded her u
p the steps to her door. She unlocked it and he pushed them both through and shut the door before she knew what was happening.

  He set her bag down on the floor and glanced around the foyer.

  “Stay here a minute.” He said, with an apologetic smile. She obeyed, and a few minutes later he gave her the all clear. Alexandra stood awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do with herself.

  “I’m just going to run this to the laundry. I’ll be right back.” Connor nodded and she brushed past him, through the living room and dining room, to the laundry room off the kitchen at the back of the house. While she was there she surreptitiously removed the sweats, removed the shorts, and then put the sweats back on.

  “You want something to drink?” She called from the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, which she almost dropped when she turned and found Connor leaning against the door jamb.

  “Water is fine, thanks.” He smiled.

  Alexandra handed him her bottle. She retrieved another from the fridge and pointed toward the living room with it.

  When they were seated in the same places they’d sat last night, she started to speak, but he held up a hand.

  “First things first. We have some things to talk about, but I’m starving. What would you like to eat?”

  “Oh, I’m fine, thank you.” Alexandra demurred.

  “Lass, you haven’t eaten for hours. You must be half starved after all that exercise. I’m not going to eat in front of you, either, so what will it be?”

  She stared at him, eyes wide. Then she laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more until she was wiping tears from her eyes.

  Connor said nothing. He just waited for her to stop with the barest ghost of a smile. Alexandra noticed that his eyes were not amused, they were intense. Hot. Her laughter immediately died away.

  “Anything you want to share with the class, Ms. Hughes?” Connor’s voice was barely above a whisper, which gave his deep voice a bit of a rasp that she swore she could feel in her bones. It was intimidating and sexy as hell. She swallowed hard.

  “It’s just that I’ve never actually heard anyone say ‘lass’ before. It was a bit surreal.” And adorable.

  He gave a slow shake of his head. His eyes never left hers and the hunger in them made her shiver. Not at all what she’d expected to see. She cleared her throat and stood, walking to the desk.

  “These are my usual places.” She said, handing him the stack of menus she kept on hand. She liked to cook, but didn’t have much time to do shopping, so when she was busy, she ate a lot of take out. She’d cultivated quite a few favorites over the years she’d lived here through a lot of trial and error. She’d eaten a lot of bad takeout to find a few good places.

  “Any preference?” He asked, fanning out the stack on the coffee table.

  “Not really.” She shrugged.

  Connor took a few minutes to browse through the options before holding up a menu for an Indian place a few blocks away.

  “What’s good here?” He asked.

  “Everything I’ve tried, which is almost everything on the menu. I’m not a big fan of spicy food so I can’t vouch for the vindaloo, but the tikka masala is good, and the tandoori chicken is my favorite. The saag paneer looks gross, but it’s good, too. Oh, and the samosas are amazing.”

  Connor smiled and dialed his phone. He ordered everything she mentioned and asked for extra garlic naan before she could even ask. She grabbed plates, napkins and silverware and set them on the coffee table.

  “You want to eat here?” He asked.

  “I usually do, but if you’d rather use the table, that’s fine.”

  “Here’s good. Just figured you’d be worried about curry stains on the furniture.” He grinned.

  “Please.” She rolled her eyes. “You see that?” Alexandra pointed to a purplish stain on the rug under the coffee table. “Red wine, three weeks ago. And that,” she added, pointing to a brown smudge in front of his chair. “Chocolate, last Halloween.”

  Connor laughed.

  “My furniture is meant to be comfortable, not just decorative.”

  “Good to know.” He nodded. “Speaking of things I should know, if we’re going to pull off this boyfriend thing, you said we should agree on a story, and we should. But there are also some basic facts I should know first.”

  “Agreed.” She nodded. “Would you like to start, or shall I?” Alexandra asked. Her spine straightened and she slipped into professional mode without even thinking about it.

  Connor frowned, but said nothing for a minute.

  “Why don’t we just wing it. If you think of something you want to know, ask. I’ll do the same. For a start I want to know about your family. I’ve met your da, so tell me about the rest of the Hughes clan.” He cocked his head to the side and waited.

  “Not much to tell, really.” Alexandra shrugged. “I have a sister, Amanda. Parents are divorced, but civil. Neither remarried. Mom’s still in the city, and I see her every couple weeks. Usually.”

  “How long have your parents been divorced?”

  “About eight years now.”

  “So you would have been…”

  “21.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Hmm, what?” She asked.

  “Well, it seems like, in my experience, there are two periods in life when divorce is most likely. When the kids are young and the strain of raising them is too much for a couple to deal with, and when the kids are grown and they’ve forgotten how to be a couple on their own.”

  Alexandra thought about it for a moment and it made sense.

  “I suppose generally speaking, that’s logical. Big life changes can be hard to deal with. I know my mom seemed to get a little restless when my sister went away to school. We were both in college and she didn’t feel like we needed her as much, and my father wasn’t slowing down the way she’d probably expected he would. She seemed… lost.”

  She frowned.

  “You know, I always wondered what happened. They both seemed happy to me. They were affectionate with each other when I was growing up. We all laughed a lot.” And we all cried a lot. “They never had any serious problems. There was no cheating, certainly no money problems. They just kind of… drifted away from each other at some point.”

  “I’m sorry.” Connor reached forward and put a hand on hers. “It’s never easy, even when you’re an adult.”

  “What about you? Are your parents still together?” She asked, trying to steer the conversation away from herself. He shook his head.

  “No. But at least I know why.” He smiled bitterly. She waited for him to explain, but he didn’t. Instead he asked, “Where did you go to school?”

  “I went to private school, then NYU for undergrad. Columbia for law school.”

  “Must have been a good student.”

  “I was always a nerd. I read a lot, still do. I was a shy kid so I didn’t get into trouble for throwing wild parties. I was on a few teams, a lot of clubs, but mostly I studied.”

  “No offense, but sounds pretty boring.” Connor said.

  “It was.” She laughed. “I didn’t have much fun until I got to college. That’s where I found myself a bit, I think.” And lost myself.

  “Takes longer for some than others.” He nodded sagely.

  “What about you? Where did you grow up? Were you a good student?”

  “Terrible.” He said with a devilish grin. “I was born in the U.S., New York, but I spent a fair bit of time in Scotland, especially in my teens.”

  “No, really?” Alexanda deadpanned.

  “I ken. Hard to believe, isnae?” He replied, purposely thickening his Scottish burr.

  “Very.” Alexandra laughed.

  “Got into a few scrapes here and there. But, I made it through high school and joined the Army. Learned a lot there and earned enough money to get my own place when I got out.”

  “What did you do in the Army?”

  “I could tell you, but then I’d
have to kill you.” He replied with a wink. She laughed again.

  The doorbell rang, and he motioned her to stay where she was and went to the door. After checking carefully, he opened the door, paid the delivery man and brought the food in. They unpacked it all, served themselves and ate in silence for a bit.

  “I’m curious,” Alexandra finally said between mouthfuls of naan. “How did you end up in Scotland? Do you have relatives there?”

  “My Da is there.” He said, not looking up from his plate.

  “Did your sister enjoy Scotland?” She asked. He stopped chewing for a second. He finished his mouthful and eventually swallowed.

  “She’s never been.”

  Alexandra raised an eyebrow and waited. He didn’t speak and neither did she. She stared and him until he finally looked up and met her eyes. He sighed, shrugged, and set his plate down.

  “Angel is my half sister. My father is in Scotland, and her father was from Brazil.”

  “Wow.” Alexandra couldn’t think of anything else to say. She didn’t want to pry, but it was killing her not to ask how that had happened.

  “You’re wondering how that happened.” He chuckled.

  “Yes! Oh, my God! I’m sorry, I don’t want to pry, but yes I’m wondering how that happened!” She blurted.

  He chuckled and his blue eyes seemed to sparkle.

  “My mother was a flight attendant. International flights were her favorite, apparently.” He smirked.

  “Was?” She asked quietly. His face sobered and he nodded.

  “She died while I was in the Army.”

  “I’m sorry.” She said. It was her turn to offer comfort and she put a hand on his forearm and squeezed. She started to pull away when he surprised her by catching her hand and bringing it to his mouth. He kissed her knuckles, twice. His mouth was so warm and soft that she couldn’t help imagining those lips on other parts of her body.

  “Thank you.” He murmured against her skin before releasing her hand. His hot breath drifting over her skin raised goosebumps all the way up her arm.