Masked by Janelle Stalder Read Free Book Online Page A

Probably not, but there was no going back now. Roman lifted his hands and waited.
    Her heart started to race at the idea she was supposed to punch Roman Adamson . He kind of scared her. Okay, he terrified her. How was she going to punch him without instinctively worrying about some sort of retaliation? It’s Roman Adamson for goodness sake. A person doesn’t just walk up and punch him, and get away with it.
    He watched her patiently as she shifted her weight from foot to foot. Her palms began to sweat inside the gloves.
    “What are you waiting for?” he asked.
    Divine intervention. Bridgette took a deep breath. No one was going to magically appear and save her from this, so she might as well get it over with. Lifting her hands in front of her face, she turned so her left foot was in front, and threw out her right hand, pivoting as she did. Her fist barely made an impact, his hand hardly moving. Roman’s lips twitched.
    “Really, Lottey? That’s the best you’ve got? I know we haven’t trained in a while, but you can do better than that.”
    Bridgette rolled her eyes, getting into position again. Focus, she told herself. It wasn’t that hard. Just hit the pad square in the middle, and try to put some strength behind it. How difficult could it be? She swung again, this time completely missing her target. Roman’s laughter rippled across her skin, causing goose bumps.
    “Shut up,” she said, even though her lips twitched at his amusement. “Put your hands back up.”
    His laughter ebbed, but a smile remained, distracting her once again. “You sure? You might hurt yourself.”
    He was teasing her. Bridgette narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll hurt you if you don’t watch it. Now put your hands back up.” She was surprised by herself. That might have sounded a lot like something Charlotte would say, but it was genuinely coming from her this time. She’d show Roman she wasn’t as weak as she appeared. She could do this.
    “At this rate, I doubt you could hurt a fly.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” she replied, hopping on her feet now. “What? You scared I’ll just get better and then take you down?”
    His smile stretched wider as his hands rose again, his feet braced apart. “I’m not scared of anything, darling.”
    Bridgette ignored the rush that his endearment caused and focused on her target. When she swung this time, something felt different. She couldn’t pinpoint what, but her movement suddenly seemed fluid, her fist connecting at just the right speed and strength. There was a loud smacking sound as she hit his pad. Roman grunted, his eyes widening.
    “Nice shot,” he said appreciatively.
    Bridgette smiled, hopping on her feet again. It was a good shot! She’d even made his hand move a little.
    “Again,” he ordered, “And follow-up with the left.”
    They continued like this, Bridgette doing combinations, her punches landing with a smack. She felt exhilarated. Her movements became increasingly more graceful and natural. Finally he called a halt to it, shaking out his hands.
    “I’m impressed,” he said with a smile as they put the pads and gloves away.
    “Thanks,” she replied, grinning like an idiot beneath her mask.
    “Let’s work on some hand-to-hand now.”
    Bridgette watched him walk back to the centre of the mats, frozen in place. Hand-to-hand? She didn’t think that sounded like a good idea. He waited expectantly for her to join him, his eyes burning with something she didn’t understand. Walking slowly to where he stood, she stopped in front of him, unsure of what to do next.
    He didn’t give her much time to think as he made his first move. She was so surprised, that in the next instant she found herself surrounded by his body. His arms were like steel bands around her torso, her arms pinned to her sides. His breath warmed her ear as his chest felt like fire flush against her back. She didn’t even try to fight, her senses overwhelmed by his nearness. Even when he’d visit her at