Knock Out Curves (Plus Size Loving) BBW Romance (3 page)

After arriving home he changed into shorts
and a t-shirt and settled down into an armchair with a spy
thriller. But his mind was still on Shelby. He wondered if it would
really be so bad if he took a chance on her. It had been nearly a
year since he’d caught his ex cheating with their next door
neighbor. It was time to find someone else, and though she wasn’t
exactly his vision of the perfect woman, he was nevertheless drawn
to her.

Would it really hurt for him to take a
chance?

****

“So did you two have a good time together
this week?” Lisa asked.

“We had an awesome week!” Dawson crowed from
below, his little body wrapped around his mother’s leg. “Can we do
it again next weekend? I like staying at Auntie Shelby’s
house.”

“I’m sure you do, honey,” Lisa said,
stroking her son’s hair as she and Shelby exchanged knowing smiles.
“Why don’t you take your backpack out to the car so I can talk to
your auntie?”

“We had a great time,” Shelby told her after
Dawson had skipped out. “He’s full of energy as usual.”

“That’s my baby.” Lisa smiled. “I’m really,
really, incredibly grateful you did this for me, Shelby.”

Shelby lifted a shoulder. “That’s what
family’s for, right?”

“Well, if you ever need a favor, advice,
anything at all, let me know, alright?”

“Will do.”

Shelby let out a sigh of relief once they
were out the door, happy to have her house back. In truth it hadn’t
been much of a hardship to have Dawson—giving up her evenings to
play with him and help him with his homework and getting up a
little earlier to take him to school did put a toll on her normal
life activities, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

What
had
been tough were the last two
days of taking him to karate classes, and trying her hardest not to
stare at Jace the entire time. She’d set an appointment for her
next lesson with him on Monday because she didn’t really think it
was right to be fobbing Dawson off on the neighbors when she was
supposed to be watching him. And she had a feeling that he was
trying his best not to look at her too—and she wasn’t sure why. Had
she done something to make him uncomfortable? Did he know she was
attracted to him? Oh gosh. Maybe she shouldn’t be taking lessons
from him after all if she was that obvious! She should really call
and cancel. Yes, she should.

But Monday rolled around and though she’d
glanced at her phone a bazillion times, she’d not been able to
bring herself to do it. She had no idea why, because staying away
from him would probably be the best thing in the long run, but the
idea of breaking things off like that wasn’t appealing.

Breaking things off?
The snide little
voice in her head whispered.
You’re not going steady
here.

She rolled her eyes. Of course they weren’t.
That was the point.

She showed up anyway, wearing a similar
outfit to last time except with a sky blue tank top instead of a
purple one. This next lesson was more brutal than the last one—he
added more steps, pushed harder, and she was so focused on trying
to keep up with his commands while still executing the moves
correctly she hardly had time to think about her attraction to him.
And when she got home the only things she did was shower and pass
out, utterly exhausted.

They made plans to meet three times a week,
and though she was still sore by the time the next day came around
she kept to the agreement. She did notice that this time he was
very careful not to touch her unless it was absolutely necessary—a
tap on the elbow here, a nudge to the wrist or knee as he corrected
her stances, but nothing more. Even so she felt the jolt each time
he did it, and couldn’t help but wonder if he was feeling it
too.

A week and a half passed, and she could feel
the muscles in her legs and abdomen tightening, growing more toned
as he forced her to engage them constantly. She grew more
comfortable around him too, so that the sessions were no longer so
nerve wracking and she was able to focus more on her breathing and
technique and less on whether she looked like an idiot or what was
going through his mind when he looked at her.

When she came in on Friday night, he was
waiting for her with a brown paper-wrapped package under his left
arm and a smile on his face.

“What’s that?” she asked as he handed it to
her.

“Open it and see.”

She tore open the paper to find a set of gi
and a white belt. “I… you… did you get these for me?”

He grinned. “You’re going to be moving into
the group lessons soon, so I thought you should have a uniform by
now so you don’t stick out like a sore thumb.”

Her heart pumped faster—group lessons? “So
soon?” She unwrapped the gi and held it up. “I don’t know if I’m
ready…”

“Don’t worry about it. We still have a few
private lessons to go. Why don’t you go try it on?”

She went into the bathroom and came out a
few moments later with the front of her
hakama
open. “I…
umm… I can’t get these ties right…” she mumbled, her eyes on the
ground—she knew she was going to need his help, but it meant
letting her see more of her skin than she was comfortable sharing
with anyone, let alone a man she was attracted to.

“Uhh… here. Let me help.” He reached forward
to fix the ties, then froze as his fingers brushed against her bare
abdomen. His eyes latched onto her breasts, which were hidden by
the pink sports bra she was wearing, and she was incredibly aware
of how it pushed together and lifted her cleavage. Something
flashed in his eyes, and then he dropped his gaze, fixed her ties
and pulled the
hakama
shut. He then showed her how to tie
her belt, which was a complicated affair in and of itself.

“There you go.” He stepped back and grinned
at her. “You look like a warrior princess.”

“Oh please.” She turned, bowed in to the
training floor, then took a look at herself in the mirrored wall
and blinked. She was nearly unrecognizable, and though she’d been
worried the uniform would make her look fat the belt cinched at her
waist saved her figure from being engulfed by the loose cloth. And
actually the cut fit her well.

“Alright, maybe I don’t look so bad.”

He laughed. “Let’s get started. We’re going
to do some self-defense today.”

“Huh?”

“Just follow along with me.”

He took her through a set of moves that
involved peeling someone’s grip off your head and twisting them
around so you could kick them in the face. They practiced a few
times side by side, and then he faced her and grabbed her by the
hair.

“Go ahead,” he told her. “Show me what I
have coming.”

She fumbled the first two times, but the
third time she successively twisted his arm around and executed the
uplift kick, stopping just a scant inch from his cheekbone. “That
was pretty cool,” she said excitedly, looking down at her hands as
she marveled. “I guess even someone like me could do this.”

“You’re a natural,” he assured her. “With a
few years under your belt you’ll be a bona fide bad ass.” She
laughed, and he grinned at her. “Now let’s go through it
again.”

They practiced it a few more times and then
went into some other moves. He showed her one that involved
knocking the opponent’s legs out from underneath with a
simultaneous sweep and chop motion, but she couldn’t seem to get it
no matter how many times she tried.

“I think you’re going to have to show me,”
she finally said with a sigh. “Like, for real. I have to see
exactly what’s happening so I can understand.”

She could have sworn he hesitated, but it
was only a fraction of a second. “Sure. Stand across from me and
grab with both hands.”

Shelby did as he asked, swallowing a little
as his
gi
gaped, revealing an expanse of muscular chest
dusted with crisp hairs. She didn’t have much time to stare though
because he was moving then, trapping her arms against his chest,
stepping between her legs, then raising his arm above her head and
bringing it down against her collarbone as he swept her right leg
out from behind. She let out a little shriek, but his grip was firm
on her left shoulder and he controlled the fall so she hit the
ground with minimal impact. Then he pulled back his fist and made
as if to punch her, then pulled back again.

“Jesus,” she panted, the wind thoroughly
knocked out of her. She looked up to find him staring at her
intently, a gleam in his eyes again, and was terribly aware that
his knee was brushing up against her ribs, her right wrist was
still clasped in his hand, and their faces were only inches away.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Like what?” he asked, his voice low and
husky.

“Like… like…” she shivered, not sure if she
should say it, but what the hell? “Like you’re going to kiss
me?”

“Maybe because I am.” He laid his lips
against hers and a thrill shot straight through to the ends of her
toes. His grip loosened on her wrist and she snaked her freed arms
around his neck without even thinking, pulling him closer. His
musky scent surrounded her as he deepened the kiss, filling her
with a giddiness that made her head spin and her entire body
tingle, as it grew warm with pleasure. And when he swept his tongue
inside her mouth she took the opportunity to taste him, to absorb
him, to marvel in the hunger and sweetness of what they were
sharing.

Eventually he lifted his head, breaking the
spell. “I… uh… we probably shouldn’t.”

“Oh. Right.” She looked away, embarrassment
creeping into her face.

“I didn’t mean…” He glanced over at the
windows. “I just meant that this might not be the greatest
place.

Her cheeks flushed as she followed his gaze
and realized what he meant—the sidewalk was only ten yards away,
and she could still see people walking about, the sun nearly
disappeared over the horizon. At that distance they probably
wouldn’t be able to see exactly what they’d be doing… but all bets
were off when it came to that sort of thing. Mortified, she rolled
away from him and stood

“I’m sorry,” she said, bowing. “I should
go.

“Wait.” He grabbed her wrist as she headed
for the torii. “I… would you like to go out for dinner?

The disappointment that had started to claw
at her heart instantly dropped away

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Well, normally when I kiss women and then
ask them out to dinner, that means a date.” He grinned at her to
take the edge off the sarcasm.

“Do you kiss a lot of women?” she
teased.

A shadow crossed his face, but it was so
quick she didn’t have a chance to remark on it. “It’s been awhile
since I’ve last found a woman I wanted to kiss. And since every
time I see you that’s all I can think about doing, I think it might
be best if we take our relationship out of the dojo.”

Her heart fluttered. Had he really? “What
time and place?”

“Tomorrow, at Bravo’s? Six O’Clock?”

“I’ll be there.”

****

She arrived at the Italian bistro five
minutes early. She’d finished dressing about an hour ago and had
eventually gotten fed up fidgeting nervously at home, and so
decided to just go. The entrance was jam packed full of people
hoping to get a seat—Bravo’s was very popular, and she winced as
she heard the hostess tell someone else that the wait time would be
thirty minutes. Hopefully Jace had made reservations, because
otherwise they were going to spend half the night just waiting
around to eat.

“Hey beautiful.” Jace spoke directly into
her ear, sending shivers down her spine, and she squeaked in
surprise and turned to face him. Her heart galloped in her chest as
she studied him. He wore an un-tucked blue and white plaid button
up shirt and khaki slacks, both of which were not baggy in the
least—she could see the clear outline of his shoulders, as well as
the powerful muscles in his thighs.

“I know,” he said, chuckling. “I look a bit
different out of uniform, don’t I?”

You look sexy as hell,
she thought,
but only smiled as he stepped up to the hostess and gave his name.
He did have a reservation—thank goodness—and they were escorted to
a table outside on the patio. A warm breeze tickled her bare legs
and teased the few tendrils of hair she’d allowed to escape her up
do.

They picked up their menus to decide on what
to order, but Jace could hardly focus on the selection—he was too
busy staring at Shelby. His jaw had nearly hit the floor when he
saw her standing by the hostess booth, dressed in a low cut green
halter dress that hugged her curves in all the right places—and he
did mean
all.
From the back it accentuated the area where
the small of her back flowed into her derriere, and made the most
of
that
area of her body too. And when she’d turned to face
him he’d nearly swallowed his tongue at the sight of her
cleavage—that dress was obviously meant to flatter a woman’s cup
size, and he knew already from spending time with her that her cup
size needed no flattering, so the effect was… well… effective.

“My skin is going to combust into flames if
you keep staring at me like that,” she finally said, putting down
her menu and giving him a crooked smile.

“Sorry.” He ran his fingers through his hair
and gave her a sheepish grin. “I can’t seem to help myself. You’re
gorgeous.”

She felt her face flush with heat and
touched a hand to her cheek self-consciously. “Thank you,
Jace.”

They slipped into easy conversation,
divulging information about who they were. She told him about her
career as an accountant, and he told her that before he’d decided
to devote his professional life to martial arts that he’d been a
professional photographer.