Even though Anandur was sparring with his back to the door, he felt the moment Wonder entered his training room.

It wasn’t her scent, since the place was saturated with the smell of fifteen sweaty Guardians, and it wasn’t even the sound of the door opening and closing. He could just sense her presence.

Unfortunately, his momentary loss of concentration was all that Gilbert needed to get out of Anandur’s arm lock and flip him down on the mat.

The class erupted in cheers.

Damn each and every one of them.

Lying on his back with his trainees hooting and hollering because the undefeated champion had gone down so easily was not how Anandur wanted Wonder to see him.

This was the first time she was watching him in action, and instead of him impressing her with his skills and his strength and his speed, she’d seen him lose to a trainee.

Gilbert was going down.

Unleashing his full strength, Anandur dislodged the guy’s grip on him, wrapped his legs around his middle, and flipped them both over.

One punch and it was lights out for Gilbert.

The room went quiet. Anandur had never before finished off an opponent in a training session.

Damn. He hadn’t meant to punch so hard.

“Come on, Gilbert.” He lightly slapped the guy’s uninjured cheek. “One little punch and you go down like a rookie? Get up!”

Gilbert groaned. “You call that a light punch?”

Thank the merciful Fates it hadn’t been a knockout. Anandur got to his knees and offered the guy a hand up.

“Sorry, buddy. I got a little carried away.”

Rubbing his jaw, Gilbert cast a glance at Wonder. “That’s why pretty lassies shouldn’t come to watch matches.”

A few of the Guardians murmured in agreement.

“I don’t know about that,” Vernon said. “Wonder can come watch me spar any time.” He took off his training shirt, tossed it to the floor, and flexed his pecs to the great joy of his fellow idiots who started another cheer.

Anandur jumped to his feet and helped Gilbert all the way up. “You okay, buddy?”

Gilbert moved his jaw from side to side. “Nothing’s broken.”

“Good.” Anandur clapped him on the back, then turned and walked over to where Wonder was leaning against the wall.

“What are you doing here?”

For a moment, she just stared at his bare chest, then lifted her chin and looked into his eyes. “Why? Is there a problem with me being here?”

Crap. He hadn’t meant to sound so harsh. “No, of course not.” He scratched his beard. “I’m just surprised to see you here. I thought you’d go home after a long day at the café. How was it? Did you enjoy it?”

Wonder glanced behind him at the Guardians who were standing around, watching and listening to the exchange as if it was the best show in town.

“Don’t you have a class to teach?”

Anandur turned and looked at the bunch of immature old farts. “Vernon, take over for me, will ya?”

“Sure. Whatever you say, boss.” Vernon sauntered to the middle of the mat puffing his chest out like a gorilla.

Apparently, one pretty face was all it took to transform centuries-old Guardians into adolescent boys. Him included.

He grabbed the shirt he’d discarded before and pulled it on. “Let me find you an intermediate class.” He put his hand on the small of Wonder’s back and led her out. “Kri teaches one, and most of her students are females.” He cast a glare over his shoulder at the smirking Guardians. “It’s a much more mature crowd.”

“Kri is the female Guardian you were talking about, right?”

“Yes. And she is a relatively young immortal too. I think the two of you can become good friends.”

Wonder rolled her eyes. “Why, is it because she is also tall? Or because you still think I should join the Guardian training program?”

Well, yeah, they had those traits in common. Why would she take offense at that?

His friends were mostly other Guardians, not guys from the accounting department, and for a good reason. What the hell would he talk with an accountant about?

Not much, unless the guy was interested in war stories or battle strategies. Anandur could talk about movies and maybe gossip a little, but that would cover about thirty minutes.

True, it was overgeneralizing and casting people into preconceived molds, but most of the time that wasn’t such a bad approach. It simplified life.

“I don’t know, Wonder. If you hit it off with Kri, it’s fine and if you don’t, it’s fine too. I just thought it would be good for you to meet new people.”

Wonder let out a breath. “I met a lot of people today. I’m a little tired of all the introductions.” She smiled apologetically. “Don’t get me wrong, it was fun. I love it. A whole community of immortals and everyone is so nice and welcoming. It was just a long day.”

He had a good idea who were the friendly immortals who’d gone to the café today to introduce themselves.

An unattached immortal female was a big attraction, and they all had been trying to impress her.

“How did you like working with Carol?” Anandur chose the one safe topic that wouldn’t enrage him.

“I like her a lot. She seems like an interesting person, but she’s not really open. She hides behind a cheerful façade, but I have a feeling that she doesn't like to talk about herself.”

Anandur chuckled. “Get her drunk, and you’ll hear more than you’ve bargained for.”

Wonder eyes widened. “Really? Like what?”

“You’ll have to find out for yourself. Those are her stories to tell, not mine. Come on.” He opened the door to the training room across from his. “Let me introduce you to Kri.”