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I let out a big sigh, “I get it, alright.  And what the hell is Sassy?”

She lets out a belly laugh and I can’t help but laugh with her.

“It’s a local prominent women’s magazine.  Typically they just interview women but they’ve finagled some way to get you in there.  My bet is so she can be alone with you.  Now remember before you get all uptight, you will have commercial and residential units.  Women make up a large segment of business owners and homeowners.  Just keep that in mind when she’s undressing you with her eyes.”

“It’s not going to be like that, I’m sure she’s a professional.  Ok, thanks, Liana, as usual nice work.” 

“Oh, Marco, what about the Halloween event for UE?  This is a very important function for you.”

Sighing because I would rather bring Elizabeth with me, I answer, “Yes, RSVP for me, you and Steve.”

“Excellent.”             

“And Liana, leave whatever you need for me to get with Christine if I’m not here.  She is instructed to not let anyone in my office, don’t put her in that position again.  Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Master, I’m sorry.  I just like being in your personal space.”

“What did I tell you, don’t call me that.  You’re very good at your job, Liana.  And that’s all this is, a working relationship.”

“Marco, I am a professional but don’t ever forget what an asset it is having me on your side.”

This is the opportunistic woman I know so well.

“Believe me Liana, I realize it that’s why you’re here.  Bye.”

I hang up before she can bust my chops any further but I can’t help but give her the credit she deserves.  She might be a pain in my ass but she’s very good at what she does which is public relations and marketing. 

Christine comes in with the little white cup filled with the thick black liquid from heaven.

“Here you go Superman, get ready for lift off.”

Why do I surround myself with women who love to harass me?  Maybe because Christine is adorable and very competent.  And I’m a glutton for punishment, I’m sure.

Elizabeth

Getting to Evolutions on Wrightsville Beach took me longer than I expected.  When I walk through the door I am enveloped in hot, sexy male testosterone.  Where the hell have these guys been?  Obviously nowhere I’ve been.  But in reality I haven’t actually been anywhere for almost three years, unless it was in an office, grocery story or movie location, one movie location technically.  And here I am surrounded by Wilmington, NC’s most delectable male specimens.  One question plagues me though:  do I let the secret out to the rest of the female population in our little city or do I keep this treasure trove all to myself?  I might tell just one or two special female friends, maybe even a couple of gay male ones too, just to be fair.

A man’s deep voice stops my ogling and I lift my jaw up from the floor.

“How can I help you today?”

“Um, yes,” yep, I’m a little flustered, “could you tell me, does Evolutions offer any classes or instruction for women?” and boy, I think they could teach us a few wonderful things.

“Yes, we do, Miss…,”

“Oh, I’m Elizabeth DiStefano,” I extend my hand to shake his and he takes it in his big calloused one.

“I’m Scott Edwards, it’s nice to meet…,” he’s interrupted by someone shouting my name from across the studio.

“ELIZABETH!”

I turn and see one of the two Hulks, the dark haired one, who was in my apartment the day Santino showed up.  The only thing I remember from that day is Santino had me in a choke hold and I passed out as Marco was coming towards us.  When I woke up, this guy and another MMA fighter from here had Santino pinned down on the floor, my door was broken in and Mr. Jones, my landlord, was standing in the doorway looking flabbergasted.  I was hoping I’d run into one of them today.  I’ve never been one for ‘class’ exercise but I think being around men in this situation is a lot better than being around women.  Women are so caddy, judgmental, and downright vicious.  He is closing the space between us with big steps that match his big frame, and he’s wearing a panty melting smile from ear to ear.

“Hi, good to see you, Elizabeth.  Marco mentioned you might be coming by today.  How are you doing?”

Of course he did.

“Um, hi, and it’s good to see you too, under better circumstances.  I don’t think I ever had an opportunity to thank you for everything that day.  I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate everything you guys did.”

I catch a glimpse of Scott, the guy behind the desk, who greeted me.  His eyes are darting between this giant and me, mouth agape, looking totally confused. 

“Please, don’t thank me.  We were glad to help.  I don’t think we were properly introduced, I’m John Wolfe.”

He holds out his hand and I take it laughing lightly, “Elizabeth DiStefano.”

Scott cuts in, “It appears you two know each other.”

John turns his head to him but keeps his slightly slanted eyes looking at me.  I’m thinking he’s probably Native American Indian with the skin tone, dark eyes, high cheekbones and defined features, and the beautiful long black hair pulled back in a loose ponytail.  I can see him sitting proudly on a beautiful black horse at the top of a mountain in suede leggings and bare chested, an Indian warrior, with his hair blowing in the breeze.

“Yeah, Scott, she’s a ‘friend’ of Marco’s.”

“Oh, now I see.”  

See what?

“I’ll take care of her.  What can I do for you today, Elizabeth?” he asks as he begins to lead me slowly through the studio.

“Well, John, I wanted to find out what classes you have for women.  Marco gave me the name of your place and told me you guys are MMA fighters.”  I blush a little bit from the statement, I don’t know why, but to be perfectly honest it’s probably because I find the idea to be sexy as hell.

He seems a little embarrassed, turning his face down to look at the floor as a shy smile plays at his lips, very nice lips if I do say so myself.  It’s like they say, just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean you can’t look at the menu. And I can’t help but study him.  He’s probably in his early thirties but carries himself very confidently, I know he’s got to be over six feet with a body built like a brick shit house but he moves quite gracefully for such a big man. I think he’s still got a little of that wild little boy in him that this big, secure, kind-of-intimidating man takes out sometimes and likes to play with.  He’s wearing a grey gi but it’s different from the ones I’ve seen before, that’s probably because of the type of martial arts that’s practiced here.  I move my gaze to survey the mirror walled room.  There are at least 10 body sized punching bags lined up in a row with those fine specimens of men glistening with sweat kicking, punching and round-housing on all of them.  Metallica is being pumped in to feed the aggression of the would-be warriors.  On the other side of the room is an area with weights, a section with padded mats, a large cage which is, I’m sure, where they spar to practice for the MMA fights, and a couple of smaller rooms which is where John is leading me.

“Well, of course we have kickboxing, Jiu Jitsu, which is the form of martial arts we teach that’s incorporated in the MMA, and boxing.  But I think something you might be interested in that we’ve just recently started offering is a women’s self-defense class.  We’ve partnered with the Wrightsville Beach police department as a ‘safe communities’ initiative.”

His almond shaped eyes turn towards me but their gaze start at my feet perched in my black heels tied with a bow at my ankles, continuing up my legs and over my torso and finally coming to look in my eyes.  He turns bright red and his eyes widen as he’s apparently shocked with himself for looking at me like that, and he quickly turns away.  I think Mr. Big and Bad just checked me out.  I wonder if Marco would be pissed if he knew.  I won’t tell him though, John has been nothing but respectful and I’m sure it was an accident, I don’t think he meant to do it.

“That does sound very interesting.  What’s covered in those classes and how often do they meet?” 

I decide to let the look go and pretend it never happened but it does feel good knowing I really do still have it.  Why is it that when you’ve got a man, and I have the top-shelf-version-that’s-kept-locked-up-$300-a-bottle kind of a man, every other man is interested in you?  Do we give off some kind of mating scent that attracts them to us like wolves after the rabbit in heat?

“They’re given Monday and Wednesday nights at 6:00 for two months and we cover some boxing moves, Jiu Jitsu maneuvers, a little kickboxing, it’s a mix that’s molded to give someone with a, um, smaller frame the biggest advantage over an attacker.  Guaranteed to take down even me if done right.”  He can’t help but smile that naughty little boy grin and I think it’s cute.  Yep, I would definitely do this guy if I wasn’t with Marco.  My nagging voice is telling me to keep my panties on and dry.  Yes, ma’am.

“And I’m assuming that it will help to build muscle tone, strength and stamina?” 

Shit, I blush as the muscles give their little reminder of this morning’s pains from last night’s games.  I can’t look him in the eye, I know he knows what I mean.

The corner of John’s mouth lifts automatically in a half smirk.  I can tell he’s trying to fight it but it’s too late, it’s already there. 

“Yes, it will.”

He definitely knows why I’m asking.

Trying to regain some sort of propriety, but why bother at this point because this guy knows Marco, I ask, “Do I have to wait for the schedule to begin?”

“We are actually beginning a new schedule this coming Monday and we still have slots open.  Brian and I will be taking turns teaching most of those classes.  Why don’t you come down on Monday, try it out, no charge, and see what you think?” 

His body is now fully turned facing me with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his feet spread apart.  He is a very intimidating force, I’m sure he knows that but standing here talking to him I get the impression that’s he’s humble and is not the type of person to flaunt his strength, both his physical and his character.

“That sounds like a great idea.  And I suppose I should wear something like yoga pants and a tee?”

“Yes, nothing loose fitting though.  We don’t want you to get caught up in anything.”

My phone alerts me with a text.  I know its Marco and he’s probably wondering how things are going here.  I don’t bother checking it yet because I’ll be leaving in just a few minutes or else I’ll be late getting back to work.  With all of the time I lost because of the problems brought on with the situation with Santino I don’t think I can afford to be careless.

“I’ll be here then, save me a spot,” I say smiling at him as I turn to walk back towards the front desk.  I glance back at the room and I notice a lot of the men working out are looking at me.  I take it they don’t get too many women in here during the day

At the door I turn to face John and Scott who is still sitting there working.  Scott keeps his attention on whatever’s in front of him but I know he’s taking in our every move, maybe that’s a trait of a good fighter, always knowing what’s happening around him. 

“Take a card, I’ll put my cell number on it.  Call me if you should have any question or if you have any problems.”

John grabs a pen off the desk and scribbles his number on the card then hands it to me.  Should I find this a little weird?  I don’t want to over analyze this so I just take it and slide it into my purse.

“Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you.” 

“I look forward to seeing you, Elizabeth.  Call me with anything.” 

“Me too, good bye, John,” I put my hand out to and we shake hands before I leave.

Once outside I finally take out my phone.

Still at the gym?  Call me when you’re done, baby.

I hit the little phone icon and put it to my ear and he picks it up on the first ring.  Maybe Marco was a little worried about me going to testosterone land all by myself.

“Hi baby.  Finish up at the gym?” 

Do I hear a little concern in his voice?

“Yes, I just walked out.  John was there and he helped me.  He told me you let them know I was coming.”  It might be interesting to find out why he told them I might be stopping by.

“I wanted to make sure you were well taken care of.  Did you find something you might like?”  I wonder if he means any classes or another male. Men, it’s always a contest of dicks pissing to mark their territory.

“Yes, they’ve just started this women’s self-defense program that lasts for a couple of months.  I start on Monday.  I might ask Janie and Elsie if they’d like to join as well.”  Only because I know they’d really appreciate the room full of built hotties grunting and sweating.

“That sounds like a great idea.  Maybe you and I can drive there together and I can work out while you’re in class.”

The idea of watching Marco punching and sweating and being Neanderthal is really pretty sexy.

“I like the idea of that, Mr. Bond,” and I wonder if he can hear the little seductive grin curving my lips as I picture him at the bag with his sleek body glistening with sweat and a wild primitive look on his face.

“Watching me workout turns you on, Elizabeth.”  His voice has taken on that low commanding tone he uses.  He apparently heard that grin.