The next morning, Shayla took orders and got food and thought about the man she’d left sleeping. Her heart clenched. She couldn’t believe what an amazing person Scar was. Everything was changing inside of her, but she couldn’t say Scar wasn’t right about possibly being a “rebound” after Jason. She had loved Jason and dreamed of a future with him.

She stared out at the ocean and folded silverware into napkins on autopilot. Even with all the homesickness, even with the stalking, she did love being in San Diego. Lately, she loved sharing adventures with Scar.

He would be gone in a few weeks. What would she be to him? She thought about the chemistry between them. The palpable chemistry.

Bob came over to her and sat, folding silverware with her. “So talk about the guy who helped you with your car.”

Jerking her gaze to Bob’s eyes, she smiled. “It’s nothing.”

He shook his head. “Hey, you’d have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see the way you two flirt when he’s in here.”

She knew she was turning bright red. Dang, she hated being so pale.

Bob laughed. “You got it bad for him.”

“No, it’s nothing,” she insisted.

“Yes, it definitely is.”

She hesitated, but she could confide in Bob. She didn’t really have a ton of people here. “I broke up with my boyfriend just before I came here. I’m worried it’s too fast.”

Bob hesitated, put down the silverware, and turned to her. “I’m almost sixty. My wife and I moved here and started this business together, and it’s been great.” He cleared his throat. “We moved from a small town in Nebraska.”

“What?”

Bob pointed at her. “Carpe diem.”

She frowned. “The movie?”

“That’s right, Dead Poets Society. Seize the day. Seize the day.” His eyes widened. “Do what you want. What you love. Of course, be good, but you are. So have some fun! Go with the military guy and do exciting things. Have fun!”

Letting out a light laugh, she thought about his words. Carpe diem. Yes. She needed to do that. She was here. She was living the dream. She should enjoy it. For so long, she’d dreamt about Jason showing up unexpectedly and wanting her back. Now, she could see a different future.

About ten minutes before her shift would end at four, Scar walked in.

Shayla’s heart sped up. Their eyes met.

A brilliant smile lit up his face. “Hey.” He got to her and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. He looked a bit awkward, which was funny because he would probably be the picture of cool if she had to put his picture by a word in the dictionary.

“Hey.” She wondered if she sounded awkward too. After finishing up organizing the receipts, she took off her apron and put it by the cash register. “I’m just getting off.”

He nodded, then tapped his forehead. “Mind like a steel trap.”

She grinned and began walking out.

He kept pace with her. “I can’t believe I slept through you leaving this morning.”

“It’s a skill I have. Growing up on a farm, you just tell your body when to wake up and you train your body to do it.”

“You sound like a SEAL.”

She considered what she knew of SEAL training. “No way.”

He laughed. “So you need to finish the paper?”

“Yeah, but I’m almost done.”

“Would you mind changing into workout clothes before you go to the library? I’ll pick you up after.”

The intensity in his eyes made her insides flutter nervously. “O-kay. You want to put me through sparring? I’m not too coordinated, just so you know.”

Scrunching up his face, he shook his head. “Not exactly, but I do want you to meet some buddies of mine.”

Excitement and wonder filled her. She was starting to accept these feelings were a part of hanging out with Scar Walker. It was kinda like that all the time. “Okay.”

He opened the door for her and held it. “Great. Oh, pack a change of clothes for dinner too. We’ll be at a gym, so you can change there.” Before she could protest, he added, “This dinner doesn’t cost anything, so don’t worry about it.”

She gazed into his deep, blue eyes, and her heart rate accelerated.

He leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek. “You look beautiful today, dream girl. Just thought you should know.”

* * *

After finishing her paper at the library and then rushing over and handing it in to her English teacher, Shayla felt great. Proud. She’d finished her first college class!

Five minutes later, Scar pulled up. She hopped into his baby-blue convertible, but her excitement cooled to nervousness as they pulled up to a gym in downtown San Diego.

He ran around the car and opened her door, holding his own gym bag. “The guy I’m introducing you to is a vet too. He’s trained in hand-to-hand combat.”

As they entered, she noticed it wasn’t one of those fancy gyms, but rather a boxing gym. It looked about thirty years old, and a lot of the furniture in the entryway looked worn and retro.

Scar opened the door for her and didn’t slow down as they passed the front desk, taking her lightly by her bicep and nodding to the receptionist. “She’s with me.”

The guy grunted and went back to his phone.

Her heart raced. “He’s going to teach me how to fight?”

He didn’t respond, just kept taking her back through the maze of hallways until they opened up into a boxing room with a ring and assorted gym equipment. He let go of her arm, took her bag off her shoulder, and hung both their bags on some nearby hooks. “That’s exactly what he’s going to do.”

Confused, she saw two guys coming toward them. “You could teach me, right?”

“I can. I thought about just doing it myself. Then I realized we have a guy who trains women in Special Forces combat. And, like it or not, women have different strengths and weaknesses than men. He knows how to capitalize on those strengths, so I called in the favor.”

They finally reached the guy. The look on his face gave her chills. He looked even meaner than Scar would be when confronting her stalker. He was about an inch shorter than Scar and leaner, but his body was still completely ripped. At the moment, he wore tennis shoes, gym shorts, and a black tank top. His facial hair was neatly trimmed into a goatee.

Scar shook his hand. “Jim, this is Shayla. Shayla, Jim.”

Jim cocked an eyebrow at her. His voice was gruff. “I hear you’ve had someone stalking you?”

It was hard to face the fact that it was true. “Yes.” She almost said sir, feeling a bit nervous.

He looked her over from top to bottom. It wasn’t the kind of look a man gives a woman when they are checking them out, though. No, this look, Shayla realized, was assessing her strengths and weaknesses.

Jerking a thumb to the sparring ring, he said, “Let’s get in the ring. The mats are softer up there.”

Once again, her heart fluttered, and she felt uncertain. Meeting Scar’s gaze, she saw the determination in his eyes, and she managed to nod. “Okay.” She wanted to feel more competent, wanted to know how to fight.

They climbed into the ring, and he put out his hand. “I’m Jim Murray, by the way.” The side of his mouth tilted up. “We’re starting right away. I’m going to grab you, and I want you to do what you would do if it were really happening.”

She prepped herself and agreed.

He moved like he was walking past her. Suddenly, he grabbed her around the middle in a hold that felt horribly tight.

“Ouch,” she said, trying to get free with her arms. It reminded her of the other night with the stalker guy.

He let her scramble for a minute before letting her go. “What was wrong with that?” he asked, moving in front of her.

She shook her head.

Jim pointed to Scar. “You attack me like I attacked her.”

Scar did as requested, coming up behind him and grabbing him around the middle. Shayla noticed how he practically loomed over Jim.

Jim held her gaze. “Now, Shayla, watch.”

She watched as he dropped his hips and turned at the same time, describing it while he was doing it.

Scar let him loose, and Jim was at his crotch, a hand about to punch him.

Scar pulled back. “Heeeeeyy.”

Jim turned back to her, giving her an utterly delighted expression.

She laughed.

Getting up, Jim moved to her face, invading her personal boundaries. “What’s the first thing you thought when I was about to hurt our friend Scar where it counts?” He jerked another thumb towards Scar.

“I …”

“What?”

“I thought I didn’t know if I could do that.”

His eyes hardened. There was a flutter deep in her gut. “Your mentality when you go into a confrontation with someone who is trying to take away your God-given right to freedom is that you will destroy this enemy.”

She could smell coffee and cigarettes on his breath, and she could feel an intensity like she’d never felt. It ignited something primal in her, and she nodded.

“If you can get your mind right, that no matter what the enemy will not get you, that there is always another way to hurt the enemy, then you will be okay. Even if they capture you and torture you, you will be thinking of a way to get out.”

Her skin crawled at the idea of this man being tortured and captured and fighting his way to freedom. “Okay.”

Jim paced like a drill sergeant, matching Scar’s determined, fierce expression. “You drop your hips, you go for the crotch, and if you get the crotch, you punch or squeeze like hell.”

She agreed.

He pointed right beneath his chin. “You are always looking for the most vulnerable place on a man. The jugular.” He pointed to his eyes. “The eyes.” His hand grabbed the back of her bicep. “Your elbow is also a great weapon. Use whatever weapon you have. Your car keys are good sharp weapons you can use to stab him. Anywhere soft. His crotch,” he said, indicating Scar. He turned Scar around and jabbed right above his lower back. “His kidney. If you can get that key in there, it will stop him. For a bit.”

He turned Scar back around and let him go, his eyes hard again. “You have to get your game here.” He pointed to his temple. “Your head has to be in it, and you have to believe you are crazier than him. You have to yell. You have to get angry. You have to be that bratty younger brother who is taking down his older brother for the first time and is fighting with everything he has and with nothing to lose. He knows if he loses, his brother will kill him.”

Shayla laughed nervously.

For a fleeting moment, Jim smiled. “Let’s begin.”

For the next hour, Jim went over scenario after scenario for how someone could attack her and how she would use the weakest part of him to get leverage. “Your legs are your friend.” He grabbed her hips. “Kick me.”

“What?”

“Kick me!” he roared.

She kicked on impulse. He swiveled and turned.

“Again!” he commanded. So she did.

He explained the greatest way to utilize her leverage with her hips and how to even kick high at the crotch first, but the jugular was always second choice.

Without thinking, she did it, nailing it.

Jim stumbled, but he seemed proud rather than angry. He and Scar looked at each other, impressed grins on their faces.

Scar turned back to her. “That’s it, Kansas. You’re getting it.”

This encouraged her more than she thought mere words could.

For another hour, they practiced the best way to kick and some punches and where to land them. By the end, she was sweaty as well as mentally and physically exhausted. She was also more confident in her ability to fend off an attacker. “Thank you,” she told Jim.

He gave her an encouraging nod. “You got this, Shayla. You’re far more powerful than you know, and you just proved that you have some skills. Practice with my man Scar.”

She smiled. “I will. Thank you.”

Jim turned to Scar, giving him a fake one-two punch in the air.

Scar dodged and easily put him in a headlock.

Jim laughed as he quickly escaped.

For a few minutes, they went through some complicated sparring moves together. It amazed and delighted her to watch them.

Before she knew it, a couple of guys from around the gym had gathered and were all yelling out to them, cheering them on.

The intensity kicked up a notch. Shayla found herself cheering for Scar because, surprisingly, Jim was a contender. Admittedly, she didn’t know how they were judging this fight.

In the end, the match was over when Scar had Jim pinned to the floor and the guys shouted out until three.

Scar pushed himself to his feet and helped Jim up. Jim pounded him on the back, and Scar put his arm around his shoulders. Another guy from the gym playfully punched Scar in the shoulder. Scar cursed him good-naturedly, and they started talking.

Jim walked over to her and smiled. “So you’re dating my man here?” He jerked a thumb to Scar.

Shayla didn’t know what Scar had told him. “Uh, yeah.”

Jim looked her up and down, not in a seductive way, but rather in a speculative way. “Don’t mess with him.”

“What?” She wasn’t sure she heard him correctly.

Jim moved closer, leaning in. “Scar has given a lot to us vets, and we would not look kindly to a woman ripping his heart out.”

“I don’t plan on it,” she said, a bit taken off guard.

Jim snorted. “Hey, I’m not being rude, but I was one of the guys he saved …” He trailed off and nervously cast his eyes to Scar.

Scar wasn’t paying any attention to them. A group of men were gathered around him, and they were all laughing.

Jim turned back to her. “He’s one of the good guys.” He picked up his bag of stuff and moved toward the dressing rooms, hollering back. “Nice to meet you, Shayla.”

Shayla’s heart raced. Again, she wondered what Scar had been through. Clearly, he’d saved lives. As she watched him spar with another guy in the rink, she could tell he loved these guys, loved being here. She continued to look around the room and noticed some of the guys had missing limbs. One coming in at that exact moment had no legs. The guy without legs yelled out to Scar, insulting him and cheering for the other guy. Scar flipped him off, and all of the men whooped with laughter.

The guy with no legs came over and started talking to everyone. Scar put a hand on his shoulder. She could tell he was asking him a question.

Shayla had to admit, seeing him in his element and how he helped so many, she might be falling in love.