Muriel’s face heated at O’Neill’s expression. He looked...Goddess. She flinched. She wasn’t even sure what that look represented. But it was not excitement at the thought of spending time with her.
Embarrassment hit, followed by hurt.
The mortification was understandable, even expected. She asked him to do something he obviously didn’t want to do. Of course, that was cause for embarrassment. But the hurt? Where had that come from? Why had it come? There wasn’t a deepenough emotional connection between them for his rejection to hurt.
But then, maybe that distance between them was the source of the ache. Maybe she was reacting to crushed anticipation, or the loss of hope. She’d wanted to reconnect. See where things might lead if they explored those emotional and physical ties of twenty years ago.
He, on the other hand, obviously did not want to explore anything with her.
“Never mind.” Her voice was too high. She could hear the shrillness beneath the words. “Forget I asked. It was a stupid idea. I know how busy you are.” She backpedaled furiously, her face getting hotter.
Spinning, she headed for the ER doors. She needed to get out of here before her face exploded, or she burst into tears.
“Muriel,” he called out behind her.
“It’s okay,” she said, walking faster. “It was just a...thought.” She swept out the emergency room door, wishing they were a transporter and could whisk her away.
“Look.” Fingers wrapped around her elbow, halting her agitated march across the parking slots. “I think you might have...misunderstood...my response.”
She closed her eyes for a second. Once she was certain she had herself back under control, she turned around.
“I didn’t misunderstand.” When she took a step back, he released her arm. She took another step, putting even more space between them. He’d just established a boundary, and she was going to reinforce it, no matter how much it stung. “The look on your face made your feelings perfectly clear.”
He scoffed and shook his head. “I doubt that.”
Annoyance replaced the hurt.“Excuseme?”
“Yeah, apparently the look on my face did not make my feelings clear. At all.”
She shrugged dismissively. “Whatever. You don’t have to teach the class. I’ll ask Wolf to do it. Or have him assign another warrior.”
“First off,” he said, his voice flattening, “teaching a self-defense class is more involved than you seem to think. Where am I going to teach it? Up here, on base? Are your friends from The Neighborhood gonna feel comfortable training in the base gym, or out on the obstacle course, surrounded by warriors?”
She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at him—or tried to. “The classes could be held down in The Neighborhood.”
“Yeah?” he asked, his voice hard. “Where? The space would need mats, a punching bag, and room to move. Far as I know, there’s nothing like that in The Neighborhood.”
“Oh.” The last of her annoyance drained away. “I guess we could hold the classes outside once the snow clears.”
“And give the mosquitoes a feast? Yeah, that’s not going to work.” He paused, his voice still flat, but not quite as hard. “You’d need a dedicated building before classes could be begin.”
Before Muriel had a chance to nod, he started talking again.
“But the space complications aren’t the reason I hesitated.” His voice tightened.
“I know why you hesitated.” Muriel steadied her voice. “And it’s fine. Really.”
“Oh, you do, do you?” His voice softened until it was silky smooth. “So, you know teaching self-defense involves touching...the positioning of arms and legs. And the thought of touching you sent my dick into a full throttle salute.” He paused. And his voice lost its silky threat. “The chemistry between us has always been combustible. Judging by the past three weeks, that heat hasn’t evaporated. I’d say it’s gotten stronger. Teaching you how to defend yourself is going to be...complicated.”
This time, the heat that exploded in her face had nothing to do with embarrassment. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.” His voice returned to its previous neutrality. “So how about we have our first session today? Will that work for you?”
Her eyes widened. “Session?”
Was he talking about self-defense or sex?
A smirk touched his lips. The smug bastard knew exactly what she was wondering.
