She was glad that the sight of her in the skimpy clothes brought the conversation to a halt. Her years of sweating were worth it if for just this moment! She kept her eyes on Mike and walked toward him.
When Mike lowered his pads, Luke stopped hitting and turned to look Gemma up and down. “If this is what boxing does to a body, sign me up for lessons.” He took a breath. “I mean—” He turned to his wife. “I meant—”
“We all know what you meant,” Joce said as her husband took the seat next to her. “Come on, Gemma, let’s see you knock Mike out.”
“I have five on my brother,” Tess said.
“I put fifty on Gemma,” Luke said.
Mike smiled at Gemma as he helped her on with the big gloves. Instantly, they were trainer and student, and that special bond of trust mixed with teaching flowed between them. A trainer might have no sympathy when a boxer complains about a hard hit, but if he’s knocked out, it’s the trainer who’s the first on the scene.
“Just show me some punches,” Mike said softly. “I want to see your form. You kick?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I brought the side pad.” He leaned his head near hers. “Show Colin what he’s missing—and what he doesn’t remember.”
Startled, she looked at him.
“I’m a detective. I figured it out.”
“Do they all know?”
Mike was lacing her glove about her wrist. “I doubt it. No one’s said anything to me. Ready?”
At her nod, Mike picked up the heavy pads and slipped his hands inside.
“Two left jabs, right cross, left hook, dip, right, left, dip, repeat. Got it?”
She nodded again, and slowly, she punched at Mike’s gloves. Correct form had been drilled into her. What most people didn’t know was that the lower half of a woman’s body could be as strong as a man’s upper body. The average woman would never be able to beat a fit man on arm strength alone, but the trick was to throw the muscle of her lower body into her arm punches. It had taken months of repetition for Gemma to learn how to do this. Like a marionette on a string, when her arm shot out, her hip and leg went with it. If she made a punch correctly, she felt it in her glutes—where so many women held so much muscle.
“Good girl,” Mike said when she’d finished the slow round, and she knew he was complimenting her on her technique.
“Squash the bug,” she said, referring to the way a fighter twisted on his toes to put power behind his fist.
Mike stepped back from her. “So I hear you think you’re faster than me,” he said loudly.
She’d already seen enough to know that she wasn’t, but it would be good to pretend she thought she was. “I sure am, old man,” she said just as loudly.
Mike winked at her and put his hands up again. “Luke! Time us. Three minutes.”
Gemma knew that three minutes of flat-out, no-holds-barred punching was hard. She hadn’t worked out for weeks, but she was determined to do it.
Mike raised the pads, Luke yelled, “Go!” and there followed three minutes of a lightning fast drill. Gemma kept her eyes on Mike’s face, keeping his hands in her peripheral vision. He’d decided that her technique was good enough that she could also take some random punches. He didn’t tell her when he’d be coming at her head and she needed to duck to miss him. Sometimes he lifted a left hand pad, sometimes a right—and sometimes his hand shot out, aimed directly for her face. She had to drop straight down, then come up with a left uppercut. If she leaned forward, which was bad technique, he reminded her by clipping her on the chin with his mitt.
When Luke called time, sweat was running off Gemma’s face. She made a swipe at it with her glove, but it didn’t help.
Mike picked up the big leather pad that was leaning against the tree and said, “Colin?”
For the first time, Gemma looked at the others. They were all still seated and watching her with varied expressions on their faces. Sara looked as though she was worried Gemma would be hurt; Joce was frowning; and Tess was smiling in approval. As for Jean, she seemed to have no expression at all.
All the men were grinning—except for Colin. He walked toward them and buckled the big pad over Mike’s ribs.
“She hurt her side,” Colin said. “I’m not sure this is good for her.”
“I think it’s exactly what she needs,” Mike said.
Colin looked at Gemma. “If you don’t want to do this—”