Lingerie Wars (The Invertary books) (9 page)

"You can't force me to stay," she said.

"Yes, I can."

She'd amused him again.

"One demonstration in return for freedom," he said. "Come on, Kirsty—I'll show you something cool."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Your etchings?"

He smiled.

"That's funny, but I've got something far more impressive than that."

"Hey, Lake," someone shouted. "Are we having a class or not?"

He cocked an eyebrow at Kirsty.

"One demo, or one scene. Your choice—either way, there's a punishment for spying."

The way he said those words made her breath hitch. Her lips itched to ask what alternative punishments were available. Her brain was scared of the answer. She tore away from his gaze and turned to the women in the room. She smiled over brightly.

"I guess one little demonstration couldn't hurt," she said to the group.

Lake grabbed her hand and dragged her to the middle of the room.

"Okay," he told everyone. "I'm going to show you what to do if someone attacks you from behind."

Half the women started to giggle. Kirsty rolled her eyes. Really, this was the high-class event he was hosting?

"It's been a long time since I've been approached from behind," someone said.

More giggles. Kirsty waited patiently for the women to get their minds back out of the gutter.

"As interesting as that is," Lake said drolly, "this is serious."

"Yes, sir," the woman said and saluted, which made him chuckle.

"Kirsty, come here and stand in front of me."

As heads turned towards her, Kirsty stuck her nose in the air and did as she was told. She glared at Lake. His eyes sparkled in return. Kirsty shrugged out of her coat and hat and put them on the chair at the side of the room.

"Right here," Lake said, pointing at the spot in front of him.

Kirsty stood where she was told and folded her arms. A wave of whispers, nudges and winks went round the room.

"What would you do," Lake said loudly behind her, "if someone grabbed you like this?"

He put an arm around Kirsty's shoulder and pulled her back, flush against him. Kirsty sucked in a breath as his other arm snaked around her waist. She was wedged against him. She felt the full power of his physique running along the back of her body. Her cheeks began to burn. She fought the overwhelming urge to wiggle her hips against him. To distract her senses, Kirsty prodded his bicep with her fingernail.

"Steroids, right?" she said, and the women laughed, which made her feel slightly more in control.

Lake's thumb gently caressed her stomach and Kirsty stood rock still.

"Answers, anyone?" he said, his voice a warm breath on her ear. "What would you do if I attacked you like this?"

"Bend over," someone called.

More raucous laughter. Kirsty was distracted by the circling thumb on her stomach. It took all of her self-control not to relax into his hold and close her eyes.

"Having fun yet?" he whispered against her ear.

Her eyes narrowed as she cursed him loudly in her head.

"She could give him a Glasgow kiss," someone shouted.

"That's for when you're facing people," her friend told her. "Not when you have your back to them. You can't header someone from the back."

"Yes, you can," Lake said, back in teacher mode. "If you're as tall as Kirsty here it might work. If you're the size of Jean, all that will happen is your head will bounce off their chest."

More laughter. Excellent idea, Kirsty thought. She lowered her head then jerked it back fast. There was no connection. Lake had obviously seen it coming. He planted a tiny kiss on her burning cheek.

"Good try," he told her.

Kirsty fumed, as she was—yet again—the entertainment of the night.

"I can't wait until you leave town," she said in a voice just soft enough for him to hear.

Part of her brain branded her a liar. Part of her brain—and probably most of her body—wanted the infuriating man to stay.

"Ah, but I'm having so much fun I may never leave," he told her. "Now, pay attention."

He squeezed her tight and she felt a little dizzy.

"Okay, here's what to do," he told the room. "You elbow your assailant in the side as hard as you can."

There was a pause. Kirsty wasn't concentrating. All she could think about was that lazy thumb on her stomach and Lake's whispers in her ear.

"Kirsty," he said. "You're not helping."

She blinked hard as she tried to remember what they were doing.

"You want me to elbow you?" she said at last.

"Yes," he said with patience.

"I think she wants to do more than elbow you, Lake," someone called.

To prove them wrong, Kirsty jammed her elbow back. It glanced off him. Kirsty was okay with that; she didn't like the thought of hurting anyone—even Lake.

"That was pathetic," he said.

"I didn't want to hurt you," Kirsty said.

He actually laughed, which made her frown.

"That's not going to happen."

"Fine, then."

With a grumpy frown she elbowed him again, putting more effort into it this time. It connected, but he didn't even flinch.

"Better," he said, and gave her another kiss on the cheek.

"You don't kiss me when I do well," someone protested.

"Yeah," someone else said. "That's favouritism."

"Suck it up, ladies," Lake said with good humour. "Now, the next thing you do after you elbow your attacker is to follow up with a stamp on the foot."

Kirsty stamped down on this instep, but missed by a mile. She could almost feel him grin.

"That should—if you do it right—make your attacker release his hold enough for you to elbow him in the face."

Kirsty just screwed that up completely. It was as though she didn't have control over her elbow. Her shot missed him entirely. The women started to laugh.

"Lastly," Lake said, "you punch him as hard as you can in the groin."

Kirsty grinned wickedly. Now that she could do. As Kirsty's arm swung out, Lake released her and took a wide step backwards.

There was more laughing. Kirsty glared at him.

"That's cheating," she told him.

"It's self-preservation. Point to a man who willingly wants to be hit in the balls."

He had a point. Kirsty grinned at him. Against her better judgment, she was having fun.

When Lake saw Kirsty smile at him, he wanted to clear the room and have her all to himself. He couldn't. Instead he settled for more practice.

"Right," Lake said. "That's it. Now it's time to practice. Pair up and keep practising until you can do this without thinking. Because when you're in the sort of situation where you need these moves, you'll be too scared to think and your actions have to be second nature."

Kirsty walked over to get her coat.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lake said.

"The demonstration is over. I'm leaving."

"Oh no you're not, not until you've practised."

She smiled.

"The deal was for one demonstration, Lake," she said. "I hope you aren't thinking about backing out on an agreement?"

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"In that case, I'm going home."

She picked up her coat.

"Don't." Lake put a hand on her arm. She was wearing a black ribbed polo neck that made his mouth water. "Stay," he said. "Practice the moves."

Kirsty turned to him, holding the coat in front of her like a barrier.

"Why should I stay?"

"I want you to learn these moves properly."

Her green eyes darkened as she studied him.

"Why?" she asked again.

Lake ran a hand over his hair.

"Because I want you to fight back," Lake told her. "A war is no fun if you don't fight back."

She stared at him for a while, obviously thinking things through. Lake held his breath while he waited.

"Fine," she said at last.

To Lake's surprise, he felt relief that she'd agreed. He took her by the hand to a space large enough to practice in. As he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, he inhaled her scent. Delicious.

"Seriously, Lake," Kirsty said. "Why are you doing this?"

"I told you," he said. "I want you to fight."

There was a pause.

"I don't know how," she said softly.

Lake hated the way she sounded—defeated even before they started. It was a far cry from the hellion in the newspaper photo.

"That's why I'm showing you," he told her. "Trust me, Kirsty, this is going to be a blast."

"You keep telling me that," she said with resignation. "I'm getting a little worried that you might mean it literally."

With a grin, Lake wound his arm around her waist. He felt her relax this time, rather than stiffen against him. He smiled into her hair. Perfect. She was perfect.

With a sigh of long suffering, Kirsty half-heartedly elbowed him in the side. Lake grinned widely.

"That's pathetic," he told her. "Come on, make it a good one. You can't hurt me."

Kirsty elbowed him again. Hard. Well, hard for her.

"That's an improvement, but I'm pretty sure Jean can do better and she's half your size."

She frowned at him and elbowed him even harder.

"You're cheesing me off now," she told him.

"That's just the way I want it," he said, and she groaned.

As he dodged her other blows, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.

By the door to the shop stood a fuming tartan Hobbit.

CHAPTER FIVE

Lake was having a shower after his morning run when Rainne pounded on the door.

"What have you done?" she yelled.

Lake wrapped a towel around himself and threw open the door.

"It's terrible," Rainne wailed at him. "How could you?"

She stomped into the living room, making Lake follow. It was more like dealing with a teenager rather than his twenty-six-year-old sister.

"Want to give me a little more information, sis? What exactly did I do this time that's so terrible?"

He wasn't surprised to see Betty in her usual chair, scoffing her usual pie and making no effort to hide the fact she was ogling him.

"Cut it out," he told her.

"I'm a woman." She shrugged.

He wasn't sure about that. Half the time he wasn't even sure she was human.

"Well?" he demanded of his sister, who was currently pouting on the couch. "Spit it out."

"Kirsty's shop." She pointed to the window. "What have you done?"

Now he was really confused. He strode across the living room carpet, in five long steps, to pull back the curtain. Outside Eye Candy
there was a group of people with placards. A woman wearing an A-line polyester coat and a headscarf was carrying a megaphone.

"I didn't do this," he told Rainne.

"Yeah, right. You always did fight dirty as a kid, but this isn't fair." Rainne came to stand beside him.

"You're too young to remember how I fought. And I didn't do this."

"So, who did?"

Slowly, they turned to Betty, who was doing a poor impersonation of an innocent person.

"Okay, old woman, what did you do?" Lake said, his stomach sinking with the words.

She stuck her nose in the air and made a humphing noise.

"I declared war," she said primly.

Lake let the curtain fall.

"No. I declared war."

"That you did, and it was such a piss-poor job I had to do it again. You don't want a war. All you want is to make googly eyes at the enemy. I saw you last night. Your mind wasn't on attack. It was on getting your hands on Kirsty. You were teaching her to fight. What the heck is that about? You clearly have no idea what a real war is. So I started one. If you want something done right, get a woman."

Lake ran a hand over his head. He couldn't argue. His decision to teach Kirsty how to fight was spontaneous. It had less to do with their war and more to do with getting his hands on her. That and the fact he'd rather see the passionate Kirsty from the paper than the scared one that didn't know what to do with herself. Unfortunately, Betty was right. It was no way to run a war.

"How exactly did you declare war?" Lake demanded.

He suspected he'd have been a lot more intimidating if he was wearing more than a towel. Rainne sat on the edge of the couch and glared at Betty. It would have been more effective if there weren't tears in her eyes.

"When I was getting the pies," Betty said tightly, "I might have mentioned to Morag McKay that Kirsty had started selling edible knickers and sex toys."