C4 FOUR

My Heart

DEREK

Did my heart love 'til now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

— William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

WHAT HAD MASTER Kyoung just gotten me into? I followed him back to his office, waiting until we were out of earshot of Rose and Ocean before speaking. "What's going on? You just had your website redesigned last month. Why are you giving away free lessons for something you don't need?"

The compact Korean sat behind his desk in silence, waiting for me to sit and breathe before he answered. "She special. She special for you, so I take new website and you take girl and teach her. She need your help."

"Master, with all due respect, if you're trying to play matchmaker, I'm not available. I'll be leaving town as soon as we sort things out with my brother." My pulse rose when I thought of the girl out there, so I shoved her from my mind. "I can't afford any attachments."

The walls of Master Kyoung's office were lined with imaginative weapons of all kinds. This room, so different from the book-filled library at home, had been a second home to me growing up, and where I learned not just how to fight, but when to fight and when not to fight. The latter was still a much harder lesson for me to grasp.

Master Kyoung twisted the wedding ring on his left ring finger. "You have too much unattachment. You like a tree with no roots. You think you tall but you die soon. This girl, Rose, she save you from that, if you let her."

"You're putting an awful lot of expectations on a girl that just walked into your studio about three seconds ago. Besides, her friend is more my type." That last part would have been true before Rose walked into my life. Ocean was sexy, assertive, flirtatious, everything I liked in a woman. But as soon as I looked into Rose's eyes, everything had shifted under me. Even saying I would be leaving soon felt wrong, like a lie, and that scared the crap out of me, because I didn't want anything tying me to this place and this life.

"I know things, secret things, and I know this. Ocean, she meant for another, but Rose... she meant for you. Now go, teach her to fight. She need you and I hired you." Master Kyoung looked back down at his paperwork, clearly unwilling to discuss the issue any further.

The choice was mine. Stay and train a girl my psychic Master thought would be my one true love, or quit the only job I had in this area and depend on my dad for money. If I was going to be in town for more than a few days, I couldn't hustle my way into cash—too risky. Looks like I would have to keep my defenses up. Shouldn't be too hard, I had a lot of experience keeping women at a safe distance.

With renewed confidence that one petite girl could not be my undoing, I focused on the job at hand. Grabbing two black uniforms, I walked back to my waiting clients.

Ocean should have attracted more of my attention, but as soon as I saw Rose, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Her petite frame wouldn't be affective in a full on attack, so I'd have to teach her how to use her opponent's body weight against him. She pulled her hair back and tied it up with a rubber band, leaving her long pale neck exposed. Everything about her was so delicate, so fragile, that I wanted to protect her more than teach her to protect herself.

She looked like a porcelain doll with her multicolored hazel eyes, dark curly hair and skin the color of cream. When she saw me, she smiled, transforming her face from pretty to stunning and making me feel like the only person in the world. I had to resist the urge to lean in and kiss her right there. I pulled myself back in time, not wanting to attract any sexual assault charges my way. Instead, I offered her a uniform. "Did you want to get started now or...?"

"Now, if you're available." I wanted to say no, I wasn't available in any way, but I choked on the words and nodded.

Ocean grabbed her uniform from Rose's hands. "Where do we change?"

I pointed to the women's bathroom. "I'll be in the studio when you're ready." Hopefully the bulge in my pants would be gone by the time they got back. This was ridiculous!

When Rose came back out, she had on the pants and jacket, but it hung open, revealing flashes of her smooth stomach. She held out the white belt. "I'm not sure how to put this on. Can you show me?"

Heat flooded my body with each step I took toward her. "Sure."

She handed it to me with a gloved hand. When she saw me noticing, she blushed a flattering pink. "I... have a condition... and I need to wear gloves. Will that be a problem?"

"Um, no, I don't think so. Put your arms out so I can wrap this around you."

Her jacket fell open even more, and I saw more than just her skin. Her black bra peeked through, the lace forming a pattern over her cleavage. I inhaled and forced my arms around her waist, trying not to touch her for fear of what my response would be if our skin connected. Pulling her jacket together, I wound the belt around her until I had just enough to form a knot. She watched my hands, likely memorizing the technique so she could do it herself.

I yanked the knot closed and stepped back, hoping she didn't see the effect of being so close to her had on me, as hard to hide as that effect might be.

She stepped back at the same time, her skin still flush pink. "Thank you. Um... Ocean should be out soon, she takes a bit longer to get ready. Is there something I should do while we wait?"

Me. You could do me. I mentally swatted myself. "Why don't we warm up with some stretches?"

Ocean joined us after a few minutes, and I helped her with her belt. Despite a killer figure, my body gave no reaction when I wrapped my arms around her. I could've been helping my sister, for all the attraction I felt.

I was in serious trouble.

The hour-long lesson nearly undid me as I adjusted Rose's stance, molding her soft body into hard shapes with my touch, and watched her bend over, twist, kick and punch. She had surprisingly good form and strength for someone who'd never fought before, but she seemed nervous every time I touched her, like she was scared I would hurt her. This triggered warning bells in my head. Was she in danger? Had someone else hurt her? I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but that didn't seem my place. Instead, we focused on the drills and the lessons, and I bit my tongue but kept my eyes peeled for unusual bruises.

At the end of the hour, both girls had put in a good workout. Rose's face shined red from the exertion and beads of sweat clung to her neck and chest, dripping seductively into the valley between her breasts.

She disappeared into the bathroom to change and emerged in her regular clothes. She held out a gloved hand to me. "Thank you for the lesson."

I took her hand and we stood there, not really shaking hands, not really holding hands, just... suspended in the moment.

Before I could still my tongue, I blurted out, "Would you like to go out with me? On a date?" What? No. I needed to take it back, but I couldn't.

She pulled her hand out of mine and looked down at her feet. Ocean walked up behind her and smiled. "She'd love to. How about tonight? Say, 8:00? You can pick her up at this address by the gate." She handed me a slip of paper with an address in Olympia.

Rose looked up in surprise.

As much as I wanted this date, Rose had to agree or it was a no-go. "Rose? Do you want to go out with me? It's okay if you don't. I probably shouldn't have asked since I'm training you. You can forget I ever said anything."

"No!" She reached for my hand again. "No, I mean, yes. I'd love to go out with you."

A lightness of being infused me. "Great. So, does 8:00 work for you?"

"Yes, that's fine. I'll see you then, Derek."

When she said my name, it floated in the air like the wind, and like the wind it caressed my skin. "See you then, Rose."