Kirsty fumed, as she was—yet again—the entertainment of the night.
“I can’t wait until you leave town,” she said in a voice just soft enough for him to hear.
Part of her brain branded her a liar. Part of her brain—and probably most of her body—wanted the infuriating man to stay.
“Ah, but I’m having so much fun I may never leave,” he told her. “Now, pay attention.”
He squeezed her tight and she felt a little dizzy.
“Okay, here’s what to do,” he told the room. “You elbow your assailant in the side as hard as you can.”
There was a pause. Kirsty wasn’t concentrating. All she could think about was that lazy thumb on her stomach and Lake’s whispers in her ear.
“Kirsty,” he said. “You’re not helping.”
She blinked hard as she tried to remember what they were doing.
“You want me to elbow you?” she said at last.
“Yes,” he said with patience.
“I think she wants to do more than elbow you, Lake,” someone called.
To prove them wrong, Kirsty jammed her elbow back. It glanced off him. Kirsty was okay with that; she didn’t like the thought of hurting anyone—even Lake.
“That was pathetic,” he said.
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Kirsty said.
He actually laughed, which made her frown.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Fine, then.”
With a grumpy frown she elbowed him again, putting more effort into it this time. It connected, but he didn’t even flinch.
“Better,” he said, and gave her another kiss on the cheek.
“You don’t kiss me when I do well,” someone protested.
“Yeah,” someone else said. “That’s favouritism.”
“Suck it up, ladies,” Lake said with good humour. “Now, the next thing you do after you elbow your attacker is to follow up with a stamp on the foot.”
Kirsty stamped down on this instep, but missed by a mile. She could almost feel him grin.
“That should—if you do it right—make your attacker release his hold enough for you to elbow him in the face.”
Kirsty just screwed that up completely. It was as though she didn’t have control over her elbow. Her shot missed him entirely. The women started to laugh.
“Lastly,” Lake said, “you punch him as hard as you can in the groin.”
Kirsty grinned wickedly. Now that she could do. As Kirsty’s arm swung out, Lake released her and took a wide step backwards.
There was more laughing. Kirsty glared at him.
“That’s cheating,” she told him.