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“Hang on.” At least, that’s what she tried to say, although it came out more like “ham hon.”

“Are you okay?” He sounded as if he was laughing.

“Mouf fool.”

“I’ll give you a minute to swallow.” Then, she heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a stifled laugh. Another sound and Hannah grimaced. Yep, that was a definite chuckle.

She got it down and took a drink of her coffee. “Sorry, I had just taken a bite of a banana when you called.”

“It’s okay, sorry to catch you at a bad time.”

“It’s fine, really. What’s up?” Did she seem too eager? It was hard not to be when she’d been waiting two days for him to call.

“Well, I wanted to let you know that if you’re available tonight at seven, I can teach a couple moves.”

Hannah’s heart slammed in her chest. “Tonight?”

“Yeah, sorry for the late notice, but I just got permission to use our training room at the program. So, what do you say? You up for it?”

Was she up for rolling around with Blake, letting him put his hands all over her?

Milo had finally woken and started sharpening his puppy teeth on her big toe. “Ow!” she cried, jerking her foot back. “You little punk.”

“Did you just call me a punk?” he asked.

Hannah’s whole face caught fire in mortification, and she was so glad he couldn’t see her. “No, sorry. Milo bit me, and his teeth are really sharp. Tonight would be great. I just need the address.”

He rattled it off, and she typed it into Google Maps on her laptop as he spoke. It wasn’t very far from her place, maybe ten minutes.

“Great,” she said. “And this might be a bit of a girly question, but what should I wear?”

He laughed again. “Just comfortable clothes, sweats or yoga pants and sneakers.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate you doing this. It’s just, after that man held a gun on me, I want to feel like I can take care of myself again, you know?” She stood up and grabbed Milo when she spotted him sniffing suspiciously, carrying him to the front door so she could take him out to go potty. “Not that I didn’t appreciate your timely rescue, but since I haven’t see you in the diner after the whole saving-my-life thing, I thought you might not be coming in anymore.”

As she hooked Milo’s leash on his collar, she realized Blake was dead silent on the other end and replayed what she’d just said in her head. Had he taken what she’d said the wrong way? Did he think she was keeping tabs on him?

“I just meant because of what happened. I don’t know if I’d frequent a restaurant that was robbed again, no matter how good the food was.”

Finally, he spoke up. “I’m still coming into the diner. I’ve been busy the last few days, is all.”

Hannah didn’t fully believe him, but there was no use in talking about it anymore. He’d called her and was offering to teach her self-defense. That had to mean something, right?

Yeah, that he is a good guy who doesn’t want me to not be able to defend myself.

“Well, then, I’ll just see you at seven,” she said.

“See you then. Bye.”

She slipped her phone in her pocket and set Milo down before opening the door, the urge to whistle a merry tune while she skipped around the yard overwhelming.

“What do you think, Milo? Isn’t it going to be a beautiful day?”

The puppy peed on the lawn in response, but Hannah was excited. Her and Blake, alone in a room. Sweating, gripping each other as their bodies strained against each other . . .

The sheer imagery made Hannah wish seven o’clock wasn’t so far away.

BLAKE STOOD IN the lobby of Alpha Dog just before seven, waiting with security for Hannah to show up. Unfortunately, Sparks and Best were standing behind him. Best had told Sparks he thought Blake might like Hannah, so Sparks decided he needed to get a look at her.