“I thought as much. Hey, I’m running off to class right now but can we talk after the children have left for the day? I’ll see you later, okay?” And just like that, totally unapologetic, she turned and left him standing there in the middle of the hallway.
Rafe shoved his hands inside his pockets as he stared after her. That didn’t go quite the way he was expecting. He would have thought she would open the conversation with an apology, even a quick one, followed by an explanation of her reason for keeping her seminar a secret. But, no. Instead, she’d pushed him away until the afternoon. Okay…
Rafe kept himself busy all day, not wanting to dwell on Anya’s return to school. As he kept telling himself, he was no kid. He needed to stop obsessing over this girl. Much good that self-talk did him. He was dying for the day to end so they could have that talk she’d promised.
And it was the torture of waiting for the hours to pass that made Rafe realize one thing – if ever he’d thought he was the one in control of this relationship he was dead wrong.
***
Anya was one hundred percent satisfied with herself and she had good reason. She hadn’t told Rafe she was going to be away most of the week and it had been deliberate. If you wanted to get a man really interested in you, you couldn’t be too easily accessible – not all the time. Sometimes it was good to make a man miss you. Better yet, sometimes it was good to keep him wondering.
And that advice, compliments of her late Oma, was age-old and still relevant today. She’d proved that her grandmother's saying was true. If the look on Rafe’s face was anything to go by, he’d been eaten up with musings about her all week. And he wasn’t happy. She, on the other hand, could not have been more pleased.
That afternoon Rafe lingered in the staff room as she finished up the tasks that had piled up on her desk. It was telling that even though it took her over an hour after the regular work time he did not leave. When she finally packed up and gave him a wink he quickly packed up his desk, too, and then he took her armful of books and papers and walked her to her car.
He didn’t even wait for her to open or take her stuff from his arms. “So what about that talk you said we should have? Do you want to talk now or maybe we could go somewhere with more privacy?”
“Uhm.” She stretched it out like she was in deep thought. “Why don’t we wait until tomorrow to talk? There’s no rush.”
“No…what are you up to, Anya?” Eyes narrowed, his golden gaze was sharp as he stared down at her. “Is this some sort of game?”
“No, not at all. In fact…” she clicked the car door to unlock it, opened the back door then reached for the pile of papers in Rafe’s arms, “…this is very, very serious.” She made sure to insert a hint of mystery into her voice. “And that’s why I’ve decided this should wait until tomorrow.” She gathered the papers into her arms then turned and dumped them on the back seat. When she turned back to him she had a sly smile on her lips. “Pick me up tomorrow at eight. We’re going dancing.”
And then, not giving him the chance to respond, she stepped past him and hopped into the front seat of her car. “See you tomorrow,” she said with a wave and then she was off, leaving Rafe standing staring after her, his face the picture of consternation.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nur Fur Freunde was rocking Saturday night. As one of Bremen’s top electro clubs it was the first place Anya thought of taking Rafe for a night of dancing and fun. She’d heard through the grapevine that Moonbootica would be spinning at the turntables and she could think of no better way to spend the night than dancing to their DJ selections with Rafe rocking along with her. If Anya had a vice it had to be dancing and the fact that tonight she had the perfect person to go dancing with made it even better.
Although, she had to admit, that perfect person looked sort of out of his depth. “Do you come here often?” he yelled over the house music blasting in the club.
“Not so much but when I can,” she yelled back.” “I love dancing.”
His eyes were unreadable. “You hang here with your friends?”
She nodded. “When I was in university I used to come here a lot. Now that I’m working I only come once in a while. And anyway, most of my friends moved away.”
He gave her a look that told her she’d sparked his curiosity. “So you come here…with other friends?”
She laughed. “No, I come alone. Just to dance.”
Rafe was frowning now and she could tell he didn’t believe a word of it. “You come here alone?”
“Yes. Why?”
“And all these men hanging around here, they don’t bother you?”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “Oh, them? I can handle them.”
Now his look of disbelief turned to one of incredulity. “You can handle them? I’d love to see that.”
She chuckled. “They know me at this club, Rafe. They know better than to come mess with me. Want to know what they call me here?”
“What? Karate Kitten?” He laughed, looking pleased at his joke which was actually quite lame. She wouldn’t tell him that, though.
“Nope. They call me Iron Fist. Want to know why?”
“Do I dare ask?” He gave her a look of mock fear.
She shrugged. “Okay, don’t. I’ll just show you. If a man invades my space I ask him to let me hold his hand. Give me yours.”
Without hesitation, he did. It was too easy. Rafe had walked into this one and he had no idea what he’d gotten himself into. She almost felt sorry for him.
As soon as their hands touched Anya wrapped her fingers around his and then she squeezed and squeezed. And squeezed some more.
Like she knew it would, Rafe's face went from tan to red in seconds and he tried to pull his fingers away but it was no use. With the specialized muscle training she’d done in order to achieve a super strong grip there was no way Rafe could escape. Not until she let him.
And then, because this was a man she actually liked, she did.
Rafe let out his breath in a whoosh. Then he sucked in air and let it out again like all the time she’d held him she’d cut off his oxygen. “What the hell did you do that for?” he half yelled, half gasped. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Smiling, she shook her head. “Well, you didn’t believe me so I had to show you. Now you know why the men – the sensible ones anyway – stay away from me.”