Knock Out Curves (Plus Size Loving) BBW Romance (2 page)

She tossed Dawson into the shower to go wash
of the sweat when they got back, then started on mac and cheese and
hot dogs for dinner—one of his favorite meals. She knew it would
put extra fat on her hips, but she didn’t really care. A girl could
indulge every once in a while, couldn’t she?

You probably wouldn’t worry so much about
what you ate if you exercised more,
that snide little voice in
her head reminded her.

“Please,” she thought to herself, as she cut
up the fried dogs and stirred them into the mac and cheese. “I go
for a walk every day during my lunch hour and I eat healthy. What
more can you ask for?” She was an accountant for a small firm and
spent the majority of her time with her butt in the chair.

You could always take up Mr. Buff on his
offer. Karate would go a long way to get you into shape.

An image of Jace flashed in her mind, and
she blushed.

“Not happening. No way is that
happening.”

“What’s not happening?” Dawson piped up from
behind her, causing her to drop the spoon she was stirring with. It
landed in the pot with a loud plop.

“Nothing, honey.” She turned and smiled at
him. “Just thinking out loud. Dinner’s ready.”

They settled in, had dinner, watched TV, and
went to bed… and yet she couldn’t quite stop thinking about it.

****

Jace sat in his little office at the dojo,
tapping the bottom of his pen restlessly against a document he was
supposed to be reviewing. People thought that being a martial arts
instructor only involved being out on the floor correcting punches
and kicks and practicing kata, but there was a fair share of
paperwork he needed to take care of too. There was always a behind
the scenes to everything.

Unfortunately he wasn’t thinking about the
paperwork, but about Dawson’s aunt… the lovely Ms. Shelby Janson.
Ever since she’d walked into his dojo yesterday, looking curious
and a little out of place at the same time, he couldn’t quite stop
thinking about her. He’d taken one look at her, standing near the
doorway, and his own curiosity had been piqued because he’d never
seen her around before.

Up close she’d been a stunner—clouds of
silky black hair and a curvy body shown off by a form fitting top
and jeans. Her green eyes had shimmered with a mixture of fear and
hope when he’d mentioned the private lessons, and the blush that
had spread across her pale cheeks as he’d looked her over had been
very endearing.

Something about her called to him in a way
that no woman had since his ex-wife. His heart clenched a little at
the reminder, and he winced. Cara was the last thing he needed on
his mind right now. The bell on the door jangled as someone pushed
it open, and he looked up to see Dawson and Shelby walk in. Little
Dawson looked as enthusiastic as ever, and Shelby looked a little
more comfortable than she had the other day.

“Hello there.” He walked out to greet them,
exchanged bows with Dawson and shook Shelby’s hand in his. In
contrast to her incredibly full figure, her hands were small and
fine-boned, yet she didn’t give the dead mouse handshake. He hated
it when he shook a woman’s hand and felt like he was flapping a wet
rag around, so it was a welcome change. “And how are you today, Ms.
Janson?”

She smiled, the expression softening the
features of her heart shaped face.

“Please, call me Shelby. We’re doing just
fine today.”

Class was about to start, so he took Dawson
out onto the floor and started class with everyone. But this time
he could feel her eyes on him as he led the class through their
warm up routines. He partnered them up and had them practice
self-defense moves on each other, and as he was walking around
every so often he caught a glimpse of her watching him. Every time
their eyes met she would look away, that very becoming blush
spreading across her cheeks again.

Oh yeah. She was definitely interested in
him. But shy, it seemed, and that didn’t make sense because she was
gorgeous. Those green eyes and black curls gave her a gypsy look,
and though he’d never really been attracted to full figured women
on her it only looked more exotic, more enticing. And it helped
that physically she was nothing like the tall, slender blonde his
ex-wife had been.

After class was over he headed back to his
office to finish up his paperwork. A shadow darkened the doorway
and he looked up to see her standing there, biting down on her full
lower lip hesitantly. Did she have any idea how sexy that
looked?

“Shelby.” He gave her a smile to try and put
her at ease. “What can I do for you?”

“I…” she paused, a glimmer of doubt in those
green eyes. “I was thinking about your offer and I decided I want
to give it a shot.”

“My offer?” he frowned. He didn’t remember
asking her out on a date.

Her face fell. “Well you had offered to give
me private lessons. But if you’ve changed your mind…”

“No!” Her eyes widened and he immediately
softened his tone. “No, no, of course I haven’t. I’ve just been…
preoccupied.” Jesus. He could barely talk straight around her! “I
would love to give you private lessons.”

She gave him a relieved smile. “Oh, good.
How much do you charge?”

“Oh the first lesson is a freebie so you can
decide whether or not it’s something you want to do,” he said,
waving his hand. “If you want to continue then I just charge a flat
monthly fee. But we don’t need to get into all that now. We’ll just
set a time for the first lesson and go from there.”

“That sounds fine.” Shelby paused a moment.
“Would… six o’clock tomorrow night work for you?”

“That should be fine. I don’t have any group
lessons scheduled for that time so I’ll be able to give you my full
attention.”

She blushed lightly. “I will see you
then.”

“It’s a date.”

****

It’s a date.

Those words continued to run through her
mind as Shelby agonized over what to wear to her first lesson. She
knew it was stupid since she was hardly expected to dress nice when
by the end of the lesson she’d be sweaty and exhausted, but she
couldn’t help it. Jace was a hunky guy and she was… well… an
inferior model.

She looked at herself in the mirror and
checked out the black leggings and purple tank top she’d chosen and
sighed. They fit her like a second skin and made it clear she had
love handles, but they didn’t look as awful as the baggy sweatpants
she’d nearly convinced herself into wearing earlier. If she knew
anything, it was that trying to hide your body with overly large
clothes made you look even worse than if you just wore clothes that
fit you.

“It’s not
really
a date,” she
muttered, wondering if she should scrape off the makeup she’d
applied earlier in the day. She didn’t want to look like she was
trying too hard. But a glance at the clock told her she didn’t have
the time—she was going to be late if she didn’t leave now.

Pulling her glossy black curls into a high
ponytail, she grabbed her keys and purse, locked up, then drove her
Jetta to the dojo. She’d left Dawson with the next door neighbor,
who had a son his age. Kyle and Dawson loved playing with each
other and Emily, his mom, had told her it was alright for him to
stay a few hours. So, she was covered.

When she arrived at the dojo Jake was
waiting for her just inside the door, dressed in his
gi
with
that crooked smile on his face that made her heart skip a beat. His
eyes traveled down the length of her body and she fought not to
blush, feeling very self-conscious about the skintight, yoga-like
attire, but the derision she’d expected never entered his
expression. In fact, if she didn’t know better she’d have said his
deep brown eyes lit with admiration.

“I’m really glad you came,” he told her.

“Thanks. I appreciate you taking the
time.”

“Not a problem. Let’s get started.”

He led her over to the wooden gate that
separated the training floor from the observation area. “This is
called a torii,” he told her. “Basically it’s a gate, an entrance.
When you step beyond the torii, you leave any concerns, fears,
problems about the outside world behind you. Out on the floor the
only thing we focus on is the improvement of ourselves. When we
enter the training floor, we always make sure to bow in, facing the
floor.” He demonstrated for her, then stepped through the gate.
“Now you try it.”

She did as he asked, feeling only slightly
foolish.

“When we’re on the floor, you may refer to
me as sensei, sir, or Mr. Wilson,” he told her. “We make sure
always to show respect to each other. You might’ve noticed that all
of my students refer to each other by last name. I’ll be referring
to you as Ms. Janson. Any questions?”

“No.” When he arched a brow and simply
smiled, she blushed. “No, sir.”

“Very good. Let’s begin.”

He took her through some very basic stances,
then added in two punches and two turns. He was very patient, very
gentle and took it slow, correcting her by making minute
adjustments to the positioning of her fist against her hip, pushing
her knee to bend just a little bit deeper. Every time he touched
her a little tingle went through her body, which made it incredibly
hard to focus but she did her best.

“You’re a quick study,” he told her about
half an hour into it, when she’d worked up a decent sweat and her
skin was flushed. “We’re going to add two kicks now.”

The first one was relatively easy—a front
snap kick. Raise the knee, snap out the leg, retract it, bring it
down. But she floundered horribly on the round kick, which required
bringing her back leg up, swinging it around, and then snapping the
leg out.

“I don’t think I can do this,” she said
after nearly falling on her rear for the fifth time.”

He just smiled and shook his head. “Don’t
say things like that. If you don’t think you can, then you won’t be
able to. Let me help you out.”

He moved to the side of her, then gave her
signal to begin. When she raised her right leg this time he placed
his hand on her left hip to steady her. It would have worked out
splendidly except his fingers grazed her butt, which distracted her
horribly and sent her careening straight into him. Rather than
sending them both to the ground he pulled her straight up against
him. She was immediately aware of just how rock-solid his body was,
and that there wasn’t really very much separating her cheek from
his bare chest, which she could see a slice of from where his
gi
gaped. The warmth of his body wrapped around her, along
with the very subtle, spicy scent of cologne mixed with his natural
essence.

And when she raised her head to look up at
him, her breath caught as she realized his lips were a scant inch
from hers. Their eyes locked, his dark and swirling with an emotion
she couldn’t quite place. She wondered what it would be like if he
lowered his head, if he crossed that tiny distance and laid his
lips against hers…

He blinked then, breaking the spell, and
released her. “You okay?”

“Yes.” She tugged her ponytail in a nervous
habit and blushed. “Umm, sorry about that. I don’t know what
happened.” A blatant lie—he’d accidentally touched her ass and
she’d freaked out.
Smooth move, Shel.

“It’s alright,” he told her, rubbing a hand
against the back of his neck. “Karate is a very physical sport.
Accidents happen. I’ll try to be more careful.” He glanced at the
clock. “Looks like our hour is up.”

“Oh.” She should have been relieved, but
instead she found herself… disappointed? She didn’t say anything
though, just allowed him to show her the proper procedure for
bowing out, then followed his example.

“So… is this something you want to keep
doing?” he asked. “You really did well out there. Most people only
get through about half of what you’ve learned so far today.”

“I… really?” She couldn’t help but admit
that stroked her ego. She’d never considered herself to be athletic
or even particularly inclined to sports of any kind.

“Absolutely. You’re a natural.” He winked at
her. “In a week or two you’ll be out there with your nephew.”

She smiled a little at the idea of being in
the same class as Dawson—who would outrank her, she realized. But
still, it would bring them closer together as family. And if this
was something she could really become good at, and get in shape
with, she could live with two weeks of flustered discomfort from
getting one-on-one lessons from him.

“Alright. I’m game.”

****

Jace mentally kicked himself the entire way
home. He was certain he’d done the right thing by not leaning down
and kissing her when she’d stumbled into his arms… and yet he
couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he had. Her
lips were full, with a natural pout to them that had beckoned. He
imagined they would have been soft and silky and delicious.

When she’d walked into the dojo wearing that
purple top and leggings he’d wondered if his eyes had popped out of
his head. The outfit had hugged her figure in all the right places,
accentuating the swell of her ample bust line, her flared hips, and
her rounded thighs. He could imagine kissing his way up her dainty
calves, and freely admitted to himself that he’d enjoyed being in
close proximity to her. She’d smelled like lavender and sunshine,
and she’d looked like a little gypsy warrior woman.

He knew the reason she’d toppled into him
was because he’d accidentally touched her butt, though she didn’t
seem to want to acknowledge that. And he’d had the feeling that
she’d wanted him to kiss her. But it would have been incredibly
unprofessional for him to do so, and anyone could walk in. If he’d
been caught making out with one of his own students on the training
floor… no. His reputation would be shot to smithereens. He’d never
once become sexually involved with a student.