Page 29 of Anders and the Girl Worth Fighting For
“You’ll get the hang of it. Every time you leave the room, I’m going to change something about it. It might be small or big. I want you to practice noticing what it is.” His voice wasencouraging and instructive, like he had done this many times before. Maybe he had. “When we leave the building, I want you to pay attention everywhere we go. What stands out to you? What differs from what you would expect? Even in a new location, you might notice something off. Those differences are likely what will be the danger if there is any.”
He moved over towards me again and sat by me on the couch. He propped his foot up over his knee and stretched out beside me.
“You’ve lived in Savannah your whole life,” he continued. “You know what is normal around here and what isn’t. Trust yourself when something seems off.”
“Wait. You put on socks!”
He answer with a sly smile that warmed me to my core.
“I did. Good job. I was wondering if you would notice that.” He reached down to remove them now. They were dark blue with swirling star patterns on them. Obviously, he only donned them to see if I noticed. I chuckled at that and moved closer to him on the couch. Even in his letters, he always put me at ease, his words wrapping me in comfort.
Anders made himself comfortable again after taking off his socks. I guess the talking portion of training isn’t done yet.
“The next thing you need to know,” he said as he stretched his arm back over the back of the couch, “is that most likely anyone coming after you is going to be stronger and bigger than you. You won’t be able to fight them off. Getting away is your best bet.” He didn’t say those words with any kind of malice, just in a straight forwardthese are the factssort of way. I appreciated that he wasn’t putting me down for something I couldn’t control.
I realized that before now I likely would have seen that as an insult. Bill had constantly put me down for things I couldn’t control. My mother put me down for things Icouldcontrol, but that I wouldn’t let her control. Everyone was always telling mehow I was wrong.
Not Anders. Anders said it like it was just a fact, something we had to consider in training, but not like I was wrong for just existing. I swallowed at the lump that formed in my throat.
“When you do your scan, I want you to mark your exits. Always know where to run to so you don’t have to stop and think about it,” he continued, oblivious to my inner turmoil.
“Ok. Run. Good thing I do cardio,” I joked. I wanted to lighten the mood, but I think it was only my mood that needed lightening. His smile came easily at my little joke.
“Where would you run to in this place?” He gestured to the room around us. “Say someone got in here. Where would you go?” I didn’t need to look around. This one is easy.
“The front door,” I said instantly. We did a tour yesterday and there was only one way in and one way out. “And then down the stairs because I would go crazy waiting on the elevator.”
“Good. What about the windows?”
His question threw me off. What did he meanwhat about the windows?
“We’re four stories up and you said there wasn’t a fire escape for someone to climb up,” I said, a bit defensively. I remembered that well.
“Correct. There isn’t a fire escape for someone to climb up, but did you really think I wouldn’t have a fire escape plan if I couldn’t get to the front door?”
I actually didn’t think about it at all. I watched as Anders got up and moved to the nearest window. “Look here,” he said as he waved me over. “What do you see?”
The sill was deeper than I expected, a faint line running along the middle of it.
“What is that?” I asked as I stepped closer, trying to figure out what I was seeing. Anders came in behind me, close enough for his body heat to seap into mine. I wanted to lean into him,feel his arms come around me, holding me close. I shook it off.Focus, Grace.
“That is an exit plan,” he said. He sounded almost proud. “Push this button here,” he pointed to a button that blended in with the wall and I wouldn’t have known it was there had he not pointed it out.
“It will open the compartment here,” he leaned over me, so tall and big that his chest barely brushed my back as he pushed the button and showed me what he meant. My breath caught, not from the contraption, but from the warm hand he placed at the small of my back, pushing me closer, crowding into me as he explained.
“From there, you pull out this ladder and drop it out the window. It will get you out of the apartment and down to the landing below.” He pointed out the window and sure enough, there was a landing two stories below. Far enough that someone couldn’t use it to climb into the apartment, but close enough that we could climb down to it with a ladder.
“Oh! Clever,” I said, impressed with the forethought.
I turned to beam at him so fast he didn’t have time to move his hand and then I was there, in his arms, so close I could smell the fresh, masculine scent of him, feel he breath on my cheek, his arm around me. Just an inch more and I could taste those full lips, feel his tongue tangle with mine, have his arms wrap around me, pulling me close until our bodies melded into one.
He cleared his throat, let go of me, and stepped back, rubbing the back of his neck before he put the ladder away and closed the compartment with a faint click. “Are you ok with climbing down? I didn’t consider that until now. Are you afraid of heights?”
“No, I’m not afraid of heights. It’s been a while since I’ve had a reason to climb something, but I used to climb the trees at my grandma’s house all the time. Between that and Bill insisting Istay in shape, I’m sure I could manage,” I assured him. I didn’t worry about whether I could climb down it. If it came down to it, I think I could do anything to survive.
“Good.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together as he moved back to the center of the room. “Now on to the fun stuff.” He turned back to me with a mischievous grin that warmed me to my core. I’m not entirely sure how I am going to survive close contact with him without burning from the inside out.
“We will keep things simple. I’m going to come at you in a few different ways, and I want you to try to get out of it. I want to see what you already know and what your instincts are.” He didn’t give me a moment to absorb what he said before he came at me.
