Millie's Second Chance (The Town of Pearl 4)

A series of cheers went through the room and Millie looked to see the four women from the front line with their arms crossed in front of their chest and scowls on their faces. They looked pissed off, but Millie didn’t care. Who came to a mixed martial arts class wearing half T-shirts tied in the back and short shorts?

* * * *

Hank tried to hide his smile. It appeared that Millie knew a hell of a lot more about martial arts then she let on. He was impressed as she moved around the mat with such grace and quick speed. He threw a few quick strikes and she was more than ready for them as she blocked and then countered. Round and round they sparred on the mat until Hank bowed before her then shook her hand. Lena, Sage, and the others cheered.

“You and I are talking after class,” he told her with a serious expression and then smiled before he addressed the rest of the class.

* * * *

Dalton watched from across the room. He could hear the intakes of breath from the small crowd and then the cheers. It had shocked him to see Millie was sparring a little with his brother, Hank. She had lied about her training and experience. But why?

“Hey, who is that over there?” his brother, Deputy Marco, asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow then took a slug of water from a water bottle.

Dalton felt his heart rate increase. Millie caught the attention of Marco, too? What the heck was this woman after, anyway?

“That’s Millie. She’s a friend of Stacy’s and Anna’s. Apparently, she used to live out here years ago then moved to New York.”

“Damn, she sure can move across the mat.”

Dalton looked at his brother and he knew his facial expression said it all.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Marco asked.

Dalton shook his head as the other men in their group began to leave, but not before making comments.

“Who is she?” Deputy Taylor McGreever asked and Marco filled him in.

Marco and Dalton made their way over toward the mats.

* * * *

“Damn, Millie, you sure know a lot of moves. Did you train long?” Lena asked, and she and Sage joined her by the back of the room where they grabbed water bottles.

“I trained for two years. Started off with self-defense classes and then the instructor showed me a lot of different techniques from many forms of martial arts. To tell you the truth, I miss it. I love doing it.”

“So why did you quit?” Lena asked.

“I didn’t want to. My ex-boyfriend wanted me to,” Millie stated without thinking and then she looked up to see both Sage and Lena shaking their heads. At first, she thought they were thinking she was an idiot.

“Yeah, sometimes men are such assholes. They think just because they’re interested in you they have a right to control you,” Lena stated.

Millie chuckled as she recalled the story about Lena’s survival on the streets of Detroit.

“Well, at least you can get back into it now, right?” Sage offered, and Millie smiled then nodded her head. With a glance up toward where Lena was looking, Millie noticed the four women from their class gathering around Dalton, Hank, and some other man whom she didn’t know. He was very rugged and stern looking. His expression as the women talked to him seemed off. He almost looked annoyed, but how could he be? The four women were very thin, acutely aware of their great bodies, and totally invading the men’s space. My God, those women are really pushy. They sure are interested in Hank, Dalton, and the third guy.

“Those four women are Stella, Lisa, Paula, and Melody. All four are from Turbank and they come into town for a little action, if you know what I mean,” Lena offered, and Millie tried to act as if she really didn’t care. She picked up her small bag and tossed the empty bottle of water into a nearby recycling container.

“Well, men sometimes like women like that,” Millie offered.

“Not the Lewis brothers,” Lena replied and Sage shook her head in disgust.

“They are so trampy. I mean, look at the way Stella is practically wrapping her legs around Hank.”

“I think he’s showing her how to do the move from class properly,” Millie replied.

Lena snorted. “Yeah, right. If he doesn’t pull her off of him then she’ll have him on the mats in just a few more minutes.”

“Well, then let’s get the heck out of here. I don’t know about you, but I can’t take much more of the scene.” Millie began to exit the room. It was upsetting for some reason, to watch the men accept women hanging over them in such a way. They could at least try to act professional in the dojo and save the personal stuff for outside.