“I’m no dance expert, but you definitely impressed me. You tell me what I can offer that will convince you to spend some more time with me and you’ve got it,” he said as he pulled me back towards him and nuzzled my neck. “I’m pretty sure if you leave it up to me I’m going to end up sexually frustrated again, but I’m free now too.”

I enjoyed the shiver he sent up my spine. It seemed like his littlest touch did that to me every time. “Hey, that reminds me. How did you find me here? Should I be worried that you’re turning into some kind of stalker?”

He chuckled at my teasing question. “I wasn’t looking for you. I just got lucky and glanced inside when I was walking past on my way out.”

“Ah, but what were you doing here in the first place? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in this building before, and I spend a lot of time here.”

“Does that mean you would have noticed me?” he asked before spinning me around.

“You’re kind of hard to miss, Jackson. I think all the girls notice you wherever you go, but that doesn’t mean you get to avoid my question. Now I’m really curious why you were here.”

“I was teaching a self-defense class,” he said.

Now that wasn’t the answer I had been expecting to hear. “You were? I had no idea you did stuff like that.”

“It’s the first one I’ve done here. My sensei asked if I’d do a couple classes on campus when the school reached out to him over Christmas break.”

“Your sensei?”

“You know how you said you’ve been dancing since you were four? Well, I’ve done karate for about that long,” he explained. “But my parents didn’t get me into it because they loved it or anything like your mom with dance. I was a bit of a handful as a kid, really full of energy. My pediatrician suggested martial arts as a way to give me an outlet for some of that extra energy. It worked, too. Karate helped build my self-esteem and taught me how to control my impulses. It’s not all about the fighting. Just the opposite if you learn at the right place,” Jackson explained earnestly. “I know people have a lot of ideas about guys who do martial arts, but I was lucky my parents ignored that crap and still took me there when I was little.”

“Hey, slow down there, bucko,” I said, putting my hand over his mouth. “If you love it, then you don’t have to explain anything to me. I don’t have anything against guys who do martial arts. No preconceived notions here.”

He opened his mouth, and I figured it was to talk, but instead he licked my palm. “Mmmmmm,” he murmured.

“Ewwww, Jackson!” I shrieked. “I’m all sweaty and gross!” I batted him away.

“There’s nothing gross about you, Kaylie. I almost wish there was because you’re pretty damn irresistible so far.”

“Don’t put me up on a pedestal,” I warned him. “There are lots of things you’ll probably learn to hate about me.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked skeptically. “Name one thing, right here and right now, that you think I wouldn’t like about you.”

I wiggled one of my dance-shoe-clad feet at him. “That’s easy. My feet. I absolutely hate ‘em. You can’t dance for as long as I have without doing some serious damage to your feet. That’s why you’ll never see me wearing flip-flops or running around barefoot.”

“How bad could they be, really?” he asked as he glanced down at them.

“Horrendous. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I can do better than that. One day soon, I will get to take an up-close-and-personal look at them. I bet I can even make you like it,” he challenged.

“Nope. No way, no how. Not gonna happen,” I said, shaking my head vigorously. “These feet are off-limits. But the rest of me might be open to negotiation some day. And if you keep it up with all the cute guy stuff, that day might come sooner than you think.”

“Cute guy?” he questioned, acting all offended before he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder. “That’s it. You’ve questioned my manliness. Now I need to show you just how macho I can be.”

He carried me across the room and bent down so that I could grab my bag off the floor. “Wait,” I said as I gasped for air since I was laughing so hard. “I need my phone, too. It’s over there by the sound system.”

He stomped over, staggering slightly as he pretended that I was too heavy a burden, and he swiveled around so I could grab my phone. Then he smacked me lightly on the ass after I had it.