Page 23 of Some Cowboys Brave the Flames

Ash had no idea. Charlie’s pulse had already accelerated. She didn’t dare move, her hands remaining at her sides.

“Now,” Ash murmured, “you need to make sure to keep your head turned away from the closest arm. This is to avoid letting them choke you. Bring your hands up to hold my arms. That will help prevent it, too.”

She did as she was told, her hands wrapping around his forearms. Still, she felt completely helpless. How was she supposed to get out of this hold?

“There are a couple things you can do next.” The low rumble of his voice made it incredibly hard to focus. “If they’re trying to pick you up, you can wrap your foot around their ankle. That makes it really hard to move you.” He demonstrated it when she did just that. “Yes, see? This is all about making it difficult for the assailant. It isn’t to overpower them.”

Charlie smiled.

“You’re going to want to get away, and the best way to do that is to hit them where they’re most vulnerable.”

She didn’t have to be told what to do next, but he said it anyway.

“While holding one hand on my arm, use your fist to strike back at me. You can also throw your head back and try to break my nose.” His voice, no longer husky, was full of authority. She could assume this was how he spoke to the men he worked with.

They went through the motions of several positions, from her arm to her hair being grabbed. A lot of it focused on making sure the assailant didn’t want to put any more effort into taking her.

Ash made sure to remind her that she wanted to face them, if possible, as well. “Always be aware,” he insisted. “None of this looking at your phone while you’re walking down the street.”

When they finished their lesson, they moved to a bench at the edge of the room. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back and down her temple, but Ash didn’t look like he’d done a workout at all.

He caught her staring more than once as they cooled down. Each time, he gave her a funny look, and she ended up looking away. “You did a really good job today. I think with a few more sessions, you’ll be as ready as you can be.” Then he wagged his brows. “Unless you want to learn some boxing.” That grin made it so easy to forget that he was off limits—especially when it was just the two of them.

“I’ll think about it,” was all she said. Her gaze shifted to the boxing ring where two women were sparring, and she watched with interest. Ash’s voice was the only thing to cut through her intrigue.

He took a drink of his water, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I always thought self-defense should be a class girls were required to take in school.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Boxing would be nice, too. I’m surprised the concept hasn’t taken root yet. I’ll tell you this much. If I have daughters, I’m going to make sure they know how to defend themselves. There’s too much anger in the world. I want them to have their best shot.”

She stared at him with not only surprise but awe as well. Already he was thinking about his family and how he was going to take care of them—protect them. That day in the park had been her first experience when she’d been scared for her safety. Chances were slim that she’d have to deal with something like that again, but it was nice to know she had options. “You want kids?”

He nodded. “Oh, if I had the choice, I’d have a big family.”

She bit back a smile. “How big?”

“Well, maybe not as big as yours… but big.” He nodded more to himself than to her. “Eight? Yeah, I could see myself with eight little ones running around.”

Her eyes rounded. “Wow. You think you can handle that?”

This time his eyes locked with hers. “I just need to find the right partner.” He made it sound so simple. Find the right person and anything was possible. “What about you?”

She let out a long breath. “Whataboutme?”

“What do you want? Big family? Small? Where do you see yourself?”

There wasn’t even a degree of hesitation when she responded. “Oh, I know exactly what I want.”

He waited, his gaze delving into hers with unyielding interest.

“I always thought I’d marry a cowboy who would buy me my own piece of land. We’d have a big house with a wrap-around porch and a family farm.” She closed her eyes and smiled as the vision came to her mind. “Enough land for a couple horses, some goats, chickens… every animal you could think of. And we’d have a garden and some fruit trees.”

Ash let out a low whistle, causing her to open her eyes and glance in his direction. “That sounds like quite the dream.”

Her smile faded slightly. “You think it’s crazy, don’t you?”

“On the contrary. I think it sounds perfect—a worthy dream to have.”

She gazed at him, studying him with new eyes. Her brothers would have put down her idea. They would have scoffed and told her that she was just fine to live at the family ranch for as long as she lived. She anticipated that her older sister, Annabel, would have done so if she’d wanted. But Charlie wanted freedom. It wasn’t that she felt trapped by her family. She’d always just been the baby sister. She was the kid who never had anything she could call her own—only hand-me-downs and whatever theothers cast off. But it was what Ash said next that really gripped her heart.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind having the exact same thing.” His eyes locked with hers, and something sparked in them. What she wouldn’t give to be able to read his thoughts right at this moment.

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