Heartwishes (21 page)

“Go on, get dressed.”

She hurried to a powder room off the kitchen and put on the skimpy gym clothes. She wasn’t used to working out dressed in so little, but she reminded herself that today she wasn’t around a bunch of boys with rampant hormones and little impulse control.

When she was ready, she went through the house in search of Mike and saw him outside. He had on a pair of hand pads, and Luke was taking some half-hearted, bare-knuckle punches at them.

She started toward the door when she saw a flash of something in the sunlight. It was a bracelet and it was on Jean’s arm. It looked like she had arrived, and she’d taken a chair close to Colin. If possible, Jean was better-looking than Gemma remembered. Not as beautiful as Tess, but then Jean was older. That thought startled her. She’d not realized it before, but Jean was older than Colin by at least six or seven years. If she’d had anything done to her face, it might be more.

Jean was laughing about something Rams was saying, and she reached out to pat Colin on the thigh. “Bet she wishes he were Tris,” Gemma mumbled, then felt a surge of guilt run through her. Jean was the innocent party in all this. Gemma opened the door and went outside.

She was glad that the sight of her in the skimpy clothes brought the conversation to a halt. Her years of sweating were worth it if for just this moment! She kept her eyes on Mike and walked toward him.

When Mike lowered his pads, Luke stopped hitting and turned to look Gemma up and down. “If this is what boxing does to a body, sign me up for lessons.” He took a breath. “I mean—” He turned to his wife. “I meant—”

“We all know what you meant,” Joce said as her husband took the seat next to her. “Come on, Gemma, let’s see you knock Mike out.”

“I have five on my brother,” Tess said.

“I put fifty on Gemma,” Luke said.

Mike smiled at Gemma as he helped her on with the big gloves. Instantly, they were trainer and student, and that special bond of trust mixed with teaching flowed between them. A trainer might have no sympathy when a boxer complains about a hard hit, but if he’s knocked out, it’s the trainer who’s the first on the scene.

“Just show me some punches,” Mike said softly. “I want to see your form. You kick?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I brought the side pad.” He leaned his head near hers. “Show Colin what he’s missing—and what he doesn’t remember.”

Startled, she looked at him.

“I’m a detective. I figured it out.”

“Do they all know?”

Mike was lacing her glove about her wrist. “I doubt it. No one’s said anything to me. Ready?”

At her nod, Mike picked up the heavy pads and slipped his hands inside.

“Two left jabs, right cross, left hook, dip, right, left, dip, repeat. Got it?”

She nodded again, and slowly, she punched at Mike’s gloves. Correct form had been drilled into her. What most people didn’t know was that the lower half of a woman’s body could be as strong as a man’s upper body. The average woman would never be able to beat a fit man on arm strength alone, but the trick was to throw the muscle of her lower body into her arm punches. It had taken months of repetition for Gemma to learn how to do this. Like a marionette on a string, when her arm shot out, her hip and leg went with it. If she made a punch correctly, she felt it in her glutes—where so many women held so much muscle.

“Good girl,” Mike said when she’d finished the slow round, and she knew he was complimenting her on her technique.

“Squash the bug,” she said, referring to the way a fighter twisted on his toes to put power behind his fist.

Mike stepped back from her. “So I hear you think you’re faster than me,” he said loudly.

She’d already seen enough to know that she wasn’t, but it would
be good to pretend she thought she was. “I sure am, old man,” she said just as loudly.

Mike winked at her and put his hands up again. “Luke! Time us. Three minutes.”

Gemma knew that three minutes of flat-out, no-holds-barred punching was hard. She hadn’t worked out for weeks, but she was determined to do it.

Mike raised the pads, Luke yelled, “Go!” and there followed three minutes of a lightning fast drill. Gemma kept her eyes on Mike’s face, keeping his hands in her peripheral vision. He’d decided that her technique was good enough that she could also take some random punches. He didn’t tell her when he’d be coming at her head and she needed to duck to miss him. Sometimes he lifted a left hand pad, sometimes a right—and sometimes his hand shot out, aimed directly for her face. She had to drop straight down, then come up with a left uppercut. If she leaned forward, which was bad technique, he reminded her by clipping her on the chin with his mitt.

When Luke called time, sweat was running off Gemma’s face. She made a swipe at it with her glove, but it didn’t help.

Mike picked up the big leather pad that was leaning against the tree and said, “Colin?”

For the first time, Gemma looked at the others. They were all still seated and watching her with varied expressions on their faces. Sara looked as though she was worried Gemma would be hurt; Joce was frowning; and Tess was smiling in approval. As for Jean, she seemed to have no expression at all.

All the men were grinning—except for Colin. He walked toward them and buckled the big pad over Mike’s ribs.

“She hurt her side,” Colin said. “I’m not sure this is good for her.”

“I think it’s exactly what she needs,” Mike said.

Colin looked at Gemma. “If you don’t want to do this—”

“You think I can’t?” she said belligerently. “But then, even you said that I’m ‘smart and brave.’”

Colin looked puzzled for a moment, then his face showed that he remembered. “Holy crap!” he said under his breath. “It wasn’t a dream. It was you.”

“You want to get back?” Mike said.

“Gemma,” Colin said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

Mike stepped between them. His hands wore the pads and his ribs were protected from her kicks. “Three minutes,” he said to Luke. Gemma gave more punches to Mike’s raised hands and when he turned to the left, she slammed her right shin into his side. The resounding smack echoed off the trees and made everyone gasp.

Colin had stepped back, closer to the tree, but he was directly behind Mike and she couldn’t help but see him.

When Rams yelled, “Come on, Gemma, show him up,” her kicks increased in speed and force. She knew Rams was referring to Mike, but in Gemma’s mind she was hitting Colin. How dare he
forget
her? Like she didn’t exist! But then he was a Frazier and rich, while she was—

Her punches were frantic, getting harder and harder. When Luke called time, she didn’t hear but kept kicking and hitting.

She stopped when Mike threw his arms around her and pinned hers to her side.

“That’s enough,” he said into her ear in that special voice that trainers use. It was half dictator, half guardian angel.

She buried her face in his sweaty neck so no one could see her. “Did I make a fool of myself?”

“Far from it. Even my sister is looking at you in awe, and Sara wants to adopt you.”

“Yeah?” Gemma asked as she pulled away from him.

The audience started clapping in appreciation of the show, and they came forward.

“You were great,” Joce said.

Tess said, “Mike tried to teach me to do that but I wasn’t any good at it.”

“See you in the gym next week?” Luke asked Gemma, then he elbowed Rams. “Maybe if you show up, Gemma will go a few rounds with you.”

“No thanks,” Rams said and there was such sincerity in his voice that everyone laughed.

Gemma enjoyed the accolades, but when she looked past them, she saw Jean still seated and watching all of them. When Jean stood up, she looked like she wasn’t sure what to say or do. As for Colin, he was still standing by the tree.

Sara pulled a clean towel from Mike’s bag of equipment and handed it to Gemma. “Who wants some watermelon?” Sara asked. “Luke, will you help me with it?”

In the next minute everyone had left, leaving Gemma standing alone with Colin. She still had on her gloves and she couldn’t get them off by herself. She looked for Mike, but he was talking to Sara.

Colin took Gemma’s hand and began untying the laces. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “Really, really sorry. If you want to bring charges against me, I’ll understand.”

“Charges? What for?” A lot of her anger was gone, worked out in sweat and exertion.

“Rape,” he said, his face serious. “If I pulled you to me, you wouldn’t have been able to get away. Even if I was asleep and dreaming, that’s no excuse. Legally, it’s still rape.”

Gemma shook her head. “It wasn’t forced. If it was, I was the one who did the . . . You know.”

“Yeah?” he asked, his eyebrows raised. “If you . . . ? Then why are you angry at me?”

“Because you
forgot
!”

Colin looked like he wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. “Only partially. My dreams have been haunted by you. Maybe we could—”

“Colin,” Jean said as she walked close to him and slid her arm through his. “I think you should let Gemma clean up now, don’t you?” She looked at Gemma. “You were really impressive and you look great in those shorts. Doesn’t she, Colin?”

“Yes, she does.” He looked like he was trying to remember seeing her out of them. “Jean,” he said, “I need to talk to Gemma. In private.”

“Of course,” she said as she backed away. “How about if I meet you at your apartment later?”

“Fine,” he said. As Jean left to go to her car, Colin kept his eyes on Gemma. When they were alone, he said, “I’d like to talk with you.”

“I need to shower and change, then maybe—”

“You’ll find a way to avoid me,” he said. “What if I offer to let you practice a few punches on
me
?”

She didn’t smile. “Where do I sign up?”

“There’s a little summerhouse in the back. We can talk there. Please.” Colin looked over her head, and she knew he was letting Mike know they’d be back soon.

With a sigh, Gemma nodded.

Colin led her to a pretty little lattice structure, painted a deep blue-green. Around them were tall hedges and to the right was a huge tree with heavy branches that spread out above their heads.

“This is beautiful,” she said. “It’s like an enchanted garden where nothing bad could ever happen.”

“Far from it,” Colin said, his tone almost menacing.

“Does that mean that something bad did happen here?”

He didn’t answer, but sat down on the mossy grass beneath the tree, and she took a seat a few feet from him. “I don’t usually . . .” he began. “I mean, I’ve never . . .”

“Look,” she said, “it was nothing. No big deal. Women today jump in and out of bed with men all the time. You were my first—and only—one-night stand and it upset me, that’s all. Let’s leave it at that, okay?” She started to get up, but he caught her arm.

“I don’t want it to end between us,” he said.

“Jean,” she said simply.

“Is your only objection to me Jean?”

“Is this a trick question?”

“I mean, do you like me otherwise? I’m concerned that you haven’t seen me at my best. You’ve experienced the speed I need to drive at when I get an emergency call. And you ended up with stitches after I got you to help me. And I can’t imagine that you’d want a repeat performance in bed after what happened the first time.”

“You’re right,” she said solemnly. “I’d prefer it if when someone needed help that you’d feel no urgency, but take your time. And you should have let that little boy stay on that tree branch when it fell rather than risk a bystander getting a little cut.”

Colin was grinning.

“As for our two and a half minutes in bed together—” she said.

“Ow! That hurt.”

“Okay, three minutes.”

Colin groaned, his hand to his heart. “You have wounded me. I’d sure like to try again,” he said. “Try harder, so to speak.”

Gemma ignored his innuendo. “What would happen if I show up, a stranger, then you dump Jean—who is innocent in all this—and you and I start dating? I’m going to look like the worst kind of . . . well, slut. I don’t like that. Not to mention that your mother will fire me from the best job I’ve ever had.”

“My mother hired you because you love the research. It has nothing to do with your personal life.”

“If you discard a woman your mother has a long history with, someone she adores, for a stranger, we’ll find out what she really feels.” Gemma took a breath. “And what if we break up? That’s probable, as we hardly know each other. How do I continue working at your home afterward?”

“I know enough about you not to make you angry. Your punches—” Her look made him stop. “Okay, I see your point. I’ll tell you the truth. First of all, there is no ‘discarding’ or ‘dumping’ involved in this. Jean and I aren’t really a couple. I know it seems that we are, but we aren’t. But, as you said, my family likes her, and because I refuse to date women in my jurisdiction, it’s been easier to let people believe that Jean and I are together. Besides . . .” He grinned. “There hasn’t been anyone else I wanted to spend time with. Do you think you and I could start seeing each other on a more than friendship basis?”

She took a moment to answer as what he said began to sink in. She wanted to yell “Yes!” but didn’t. She had to keep sane about this. “I guess so . . . Eventually. But I think we should get to know one another a bit before we let the world—meaning Edilean and your family—see us as a couple.” She stood up and looked at him. “If it’s true about you and Jean—and no one seems to know this—maybe it would be better if first you told people that you’ve broken up with her. Certainly tell your parents. If they go ballistic . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence.

“I know,” Colin said. “They all love her, and I dread telling them that we aren’t going to give my mother her Heartwish of marriage and children. But it has to be done. Then you and I will get to know each other. We’ll become friends, and I’ll keep my hands off that killer body of yours. Is that what you want to hear?”

“It’s a start.”

Gemma couldn’t help how his words gave her hope. Whereas she couldn’t bear being the Rebound Girl, someone who would get dumped later, it was wonderful to think that they really did have a chance together. That thought and the sight of him made her blood rush through her body. With him sitting and her standing, he was exactly the right height for her to step into his arms. She knew what his arms around her felt like, how her hands felt on him.