Before an hour was over, she’d been shown pictures of wives and children, listened to sob stories over sweethearts and stopped being ogled—unless it was at a discreet distance.
“You sure you want to do this?” Alex asked again, tapping his gloved hands together.
“Absolutely.” She smiled at Rocky as he himself laced up her gloves. “I couldn’t leave without one sparring match.”
“You watch out for his left—it’s a good one,” Rocky advised her. “Kid could’ve been a contender if he hadn’t wanted to be a cop.”
She winked at Rocky. “I’ve got fast feet. He won’t lay a glove on me.”
Two of her new admirers held open the ropes for her so that she could step into the ring. Enjoying the sensation, she adjusted her padded helmet. “Aren’t we supposed to wear those funny retainers?”
“The what—Oh, mouth guards?” He couldn’t resist, and he leaned over and kissed her to an accompaniment of hoots. “Baby, I’m not going to hit you.” In a friendly gesture, he tapped his gloves to hers. “Okay, put your hands up.” When she did, lifting them toward the ceiling, he rolled his eyes. “It’s not an arrest, McNee.” Patiently he adjusted her hands until they were in a defensive position.
“Now, you want to guard, see? Keep your left up, keep it up. If I come in like this—” he did a slow-motion jab at her jaw “—you block, jab back. That’s it.”
“And I fake with my left,” she said, and did so.
“If you want.” Lord, she was sweet. “Now try for here.” He tapped his own chin. “Go ahead, you don’t have to pull it.” When she punched halfheartedly, he shook his head. “No, you punch like a girl. Put your body behind it. Pretend I’m Dawn Gallagher.”
Her eyes lit, and she swung full-out, only to come up solidly against his block. “Hey, that’s good.” Impressed, she swung again. “But I’ve got to move around, right? Fake you out with my grace and fancy footwork.”
She did a quick boogie that had the onlookers clapping and Alex grinning at her. “You got style. Let’s work on it.”
He was enjoying himself, showing her the moves. And it certainly didn’t hurt for a woman living in the city to learn how to defend herself with something more than an ammonia-filled water pistol.
“It’s fun.” She ducked her head as he’d shown her and tried two quick jabs with her left.
“Always room for another flyweight,” Rocky called out to her. “Come on, Bess, body blow.”
Chuckling, she aimed for Alex’s midsection and dodged his light tap toward her chin. “You look so cute in gym shorts,” she murmured.
“Don’t try to distract me.”
“Well, you do.” She danced around him again, and, laughing, he turned toward her.
“Okay, that ought to—” He ended on a grunt when she connected hard with his jaw and set him down on his butt.
“Oh, God.” She crouched instantly, battering his face with her gloves as she tried to stroke it. “Oh, Alexi, I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”
He wiggled his jaw, sending her a dark look. “Right cross,” he muttered as men climbed through the ropes to cheer and hold Bess’s arms in the air.
“I’m really sorry,” Bess said again as they started down the iron steps. But she was fingering the little bit of tarnished metal Rocky had pinned—with some ceremony—to her sweatshirt. “You said not to pull my punches.”
“I know what I said.” He’d be lucky if he didn’t have a bruise, Alex thought. And how the hell would he explain that? “You only got through because I was finished.”
She ran her tongue over her teeth and stepped outside. “Uh-huh.”
“Don’t get smart with me, McNee.” He snatched her up and swung her around. “Or I’ll demand a rematch.”
Wildly in love, she tossed her arms around his neck. “Anytime.”
“Oh, yeah? How about...” He trailed off with a grimace as his beeper sounded. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right.” She only sighed a little as he tracked down a phone and called in. As she stood beside him, watching his face, listening to his terse comments, she realized that their plans for a picnic in the park and some casual shopping were about to go bust.
“You have your cop’s face on,” she said when he hung up. “Do you have to go in?”
“Yeah.” But he didn’t tell her they’d found another victim. It was bad enough that he was spoiling their plans for the day. “It’s probably going to take a while. I’m really sorry, Bess.”
