that don’t require a nursing license.”
She stopped mopping and looked at him, definite interest in her eyes.
“For instance, I know of a ward clerk on the second floor who’s getting ready to visit her family back east for two weeks. Maybe you could fill in on something like that. Sort of keep your hand in medicine but in a safer position until you feel back to your old self.”
She rested her chin on the mop handle. “How can I just walk in off the street and expect to get a job in a hospital like The Hollywood Hills Clinic?”
He flashed an overconfident grin he hadn’t used in a long time. “By knowing a guy like me? I could put in a good word to Dr. Rothsberg for you. What do you say?”
The fingers of one hand flew to her mouth as she thought. “That would be great. But it would also mean I’d have to quit my job back home.” Worry returned to her brow.
Joe was sure he was missing out on another story, probably something huge. Like, who she was running away from, and would they come after her? If only he could get her to open up. This was stuff he needed to know if he expected to protect her. Rather than press her right then, he let her finish her task and went to his room. Besides, he needed time to figure things out for himself, like the fact that he both totally looked forward to seeing her each day but dreaded how it made him feel afterwards.
After he changed into workout clothes, he headed to the back porch for some boxing, since it was the one sure way to help him blow off steam. Well into his usual routine, while she was in the other room, watching TV, he wondered if, in fact, the guy who’d given Carey her shiner might come after her, and an idea popped into his head. “Hey, Carey, come out here a minute, would you?”
Within seconds she showed up looking perplexed, and maybe like she’d rather be watching TV. Yeah, she’d probably already had it with living with him.
“Since you were mugged recently, and I’m sure you never want to go through that again, would you like me to show you a couple of moves?”
She looked hesitant, like learning a few self-defense maneuvers might bring back too many bad memories.
“Maybe it’s too soon,” he quickly.
“No, I can’t keep hiding out at your house. I know there’s a bus stop right down at the end of your street, and I shouldn’t be afraid to use it.” She nodded, a flicker of fight in her eyes. “Yeah, show me how I could have kept that creep from dragging me into the alley that night.”
“That’s the attitude,” Joe said with a victorious smile. She smiled back, that spirited flash intensifying.
“Okay.” He clapped his hands once. “I saw the guy grab you by the wrist and pull you away that night. So, first off, a lot of the information that’s on the internet for ladies’ self-defense is bogus. Here’s something that works. When that guy grabbed your wrist, you could have used your other hand to push into his eyes, or, if he wore glasses, you could have gone for his throat. With either move you also could have included a knee to the groin. That stuff hurts the attacker and surprises them. Knocks them off balance. Let me show you.”
He grabbed Carey’s right wrist and immediately felt her tense, making him think maybe he was right and it was too early to do this lesson with her. But he was committed now and pressed on, and she had enough anger in her eyes to put it to good use.
“Okay, use your left hand and go for my face,” He showed her how to make an open, claw-like spread with the fingers and how to jab it at a person’s face to do the most damage. “Get those fingers on my eyes and press with all your might.”
She followed his instructions and went for his eyes.
“Ow!” He reacted and pushed her hand back to keep her from injuring him.
“Sorry!”
“Don’t be sorry, fight for your life. It’s up to me to keep you from hurting me. You just caught me off guard. Got it?”
She gave one firm and committed nod.
“That’s the spirit. If the guy foils that move with his other hand, like I just did, make sure you put your knee to his groin at the same time.” He flashed a charming grin. “Don’t actually do that one now, okay?”
She laughed, and it felt good to get her to relax a little.
“Just knee him in the groin area and later you can practice kneeing the heck out of that boxing bag.”
“Got it, boss.” Yes, she was really into this now.
He said, “Go!” and grabbed her left wrist this time, and she moved like lightning for his face and eyes, driving her knee into his groin at the same time. Being prepared for the move, in case she got overzealous, which she obviously had, he brought his own knee up and across to protect himself, letting her full force hit his thigh. If he hadn’t, he’d have been on his hands and knees, riding out the pain, right now.
He didn’t want to discourage her efforts but, damn, that could have hurt! “Good.” Up close, their eyes locked. He could hear her breathing hard and felt the pulse in her wrist quicken. The fire in her green-eyed stare made him take notice. He stepped back, releasing her wrist. “That was good.”
She rubbed her wrist and searched the floor with her gaze, making a quick recovery. This wasn’t easy to relive, he understood that, but keeping the same thing from ever happening again was more important than her current comfort zone.
“Now do the same thing, going for my throat.” He showed her the wide V of his hand between the thumb and index finger and demonstrated how to drive it into the Adam’s apple area of the attacker’s neck. “Since most guys, like that scumbag the other night, will be taller than you, force your hand upward with all you’ve got. Okay?”
Carey agreed and he immediately grabbed her hand, trying to catch her off guard. Something clicked, like she’d gone back in time. She went into attack mode and because he wasn’t ready for it she got him good in the throat. He coughed and sputtered and backed away to recover, and only then did she realize she’d shifted from demonstration to true life.
“I’m sorry!” she squealed, grabbing her face with her hands, as if just snapping out of a bad dream.
He swallowed, trying to get his voice back. “That’s the way. See how it works? I dropped your hand, and that means you could have run off screaming for help at that point.”
“Oh, Joe.” Carey rushed to him. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.” She touched his shoulder and, without thinking, he reacted by opening his arms. Carey threw her arms around him and squeezed. “Can I get you some water? Anything?”
“Maybe a new throat,” he teased, though he really liked having her arms around him, the realization nearly making him lose his balance. She smelled a hell of a lot better than he did, and up close, like this, her eyes were by far the prettiest he’d ever seen in his life, though fear seemed to have the best of them right now.
Surprised, no, more like stunned by how moved she’d been when grappling with Joe, Carey held him perhaps a second too long. Fear still pounded in her chest. At first the lesson had brought out all the bad memories she’d been trying to force down a few months before leaving home and definitely since coming to Hollywood. Ross had changed
