Page 22 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

Ash backed out of the driveway and headed home, berating himself for his mistakes, past and present.

10

Charlie

Charlie wrung her hands as she paced outside the gym. Ash had told her to come to this one specifically because there was a boxing ring in it. She had never boxed a day in her life. When he’d told her he was going to teach her self-defense, she thought he was going to teach her how to get out of a chokehold. But boxing?

She shook her head, hating every second she’d spent waiting for him. There was no way she was going to head inside without him. That was the last place she wanted to be alone.

While she waited, she couldn’t help thinking back to two weeks ago when he’d said the one thing that had broken her heart.

It was the pain of having someone and losing them.

This pain was slightly different.

The ache in her chest came from knowing he was someone she would never have the chance to love.

She shut her eyes and leaned against the brick wall as people came and went. Some of them had given her strange looks. Others looked concerned. But she ignored them all.

Charlie hadn’t told her brothers where she was going. They would have told her to stay home while they had a word with Ash about overstepping. The ironic thing about all of this was that she wasn’t really interested in learning self-defense. She’d agreed because she wanted to spend more time with Ash. The quiet moments they’d shared lately had lingered, had given her a high that she couldn’t get anywhere else.

But he had a girlfriend and that’s not something she’d want to come between.

“Charlie?” Ash’s voice shattered her thoughts, and she opened her eyes to find him looking at her, concern in his eyes. He hadn’t mentioned that conversation from a couple of weeks ago. Not during their lessons. Not when he came to visit her brothers. She had no doubt that he had zero intention of discussing it at all.

She gave him a weak smile.

“Are you okay?” he asked, stepping closer.

Charlie nodded. “I’m good. Just nervous.”

He flashed her a grin. “Nothing to be nervous about.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “You said that you were going to teach me boxing. Do you really think that’s necessary?”

His boyish grin was all it took to unravel the tension in her chest. “I’m not going to teach you how to box. Not unless you want me to.”

“But you said?—”

He draped his arm around her shoulders and wheeled her toward the door. “Isaidthat this place has a boxing ring. That means it’s got a practice area that’s fenced off. And it’s got a padded floor.”

The way he touched her was perfectly innocent. It was one that was so blatantly between friends she had no way of interpreting it otherwise.

Still, being so close to him, just a few inches from being pulled into an embrace, she couldn’t help but imagine it was something more.

Ash whisked her into the gym, waving at the guys behind the counter and guiding her farther toward the back. Once they were at one of the two boxing rings, he dropped the duffle bag he had in his right hand. Then he nodded toward the ring. “Go on.”

Charlie glanced to the ring like it was a prison cell. Had she been so sheltered that she couldn’t bring herself to do something so simple as climb between some flexible bars?

His chuckle did little to ease her discomfort. But then he placed his hand on the small of her back, and she moved easily to her place. Ash followed her, all business. He placed her in the middle of the mat, and it was like he turned into someone else. “When someone attacks, their plans aren’t to incapacitate you. They will likely just try to grab you and move you to somewhere else.” Ash walked behind her, but he didn’t touch her yet. Instead, he spoke quietly, his words slipping into her left ear when he lowered his mouth closer to it. “They’re going to catch you off guard. You will always need to be on your guard.”

She nodded, her throat dry as she waited for him to make the first move. She’d always been taught that she couldn’t let anyone take her to a new location. She needed to fight to stay where she was. That wasn’t news to her. But the act of actually fighting back would be.

“I’m going to put you in a hold, okay?” His breath was hot against her ear.

Charlie nodded again.

He wrapped his arms around her chest, holding her tight. “First, you need to make sure you don’t panic. I know it’s hard to keep that in mind when you’re being held like this.”

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