Page 32 of Mountain Security

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Yvette

I’m not.

I’m not sorry at all.

Something clenched inside her. She felt him move away and leaned back into him, following his hips. She didn’t want to lose his warmth, his hardness, his—

And then, before she could second-guess herself, Yvette allowed herself to do something completely out of character.

She reached up, pulled Alex’s head down, and kissed him. His lips were stone, and remained so for a long moment. She’d shocked him. She wondered how she’d misread things so badly. She was good at reading people.

Oh, my God.

She pulled back quickly, looked at the ground.

“I’m sorry,” she breathed.

“I’m not,” he said, his British accent thicker than ever. He placed his hand on her chin, forcing her to look up again. “So not sorry.”

His lips pressed against hers—no longer stone but warm, pliable flesh. She gasped. Her own lips opened, seeking more of that delicious contact. And then his tongue darted into her mouth.

She pulled back, but only because she had to breathe—then turned to find the whole class staring at them. The girls started giggling.

“Right,” Marie said sternly, “maybe we can get back to business now.”

She sneaked a look at Alex. His lips were red and puffy, much as hers felt like. He looked … he looked the opposite of chagrined.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first laid eyes on you,” he whispered. His voice tickled her ear. He took her hand and brought it to his mouth. “I’ll focus,” he whispered, “if you let me take you out to dinner.”

Dinner with Alex?

A real dinner, rather than a fake date.

She wanted that more than anything else.

Yvette blew out a breath, nodded crisply at Alex, and looked back at Marie, only just now realizing she had no idea what was going on in the class. She was usually good at keeping track of multiple things at the same time, but the kiss had made everything else disappear …

She turned sideways and caught Juliette’s gaze.

“Look,” the girl said, miming the move they were supposed to be practicing. Yvette was embarrassed, but her mentee looked happy with the role reversal.

Soon enough, the class finished. Alex hung back while mentors and mentees enjoyed a quick chat together, making plans for their next meeting. One by one, the girls started leaving.

“Are they walking home alone?” Alex asked.

Yvette looked at him. He would, of course, worry about them. “Most of them live in downtown Annecy,” Yvette said. “That’s one of the reasons we meet in this area. But they also walk in groups.”

He looked beyond her shoulder at Marie, who was also packing her things. Yvette walked over to her and handed her a small envelope. The woman didn’t charge half as much as she should for these sessions—hell, what she charged probably didn’t even cover her gas.

“Thank you, Marie,” she said. “Can I drop you off somewhere?”

The older woman shook her head. “My husband’s picking me up. Thank you.”

“Thank you for letting me join,” Alex said.

“Thank you for coming. I hope you will join us again.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve often thought I needed a male co-instructor, so my students could witness men and women working together in productive, nonviolent ways.” She nodded to herself. “Like we did today.”

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